Yanni23
Husqvarna
AA Class
The weather conditions today here in WNC/EastTN were 26 degrees...and 40mph winds, at it's worst. Ever had ice balls form on your gear from the splash of an ice puddle? Your camelback stop working because the sucker froze the Mountain Dew inside the mouthpiece?
Mud, rocks, seriously deep wet leaves, and slick roots was todays gig. Somehow, I conned my official sweep crew...Jap450EXC and BentAero...into going riding with me. BentAero's wife knows the routine...
Go riding with me, and you come home late, hungry, tired, froze, and at night....even though you told the Boss you would be home at 3:00. Never happens.
Today was a little scouting exercise. We were in search of new singletrack/2track for this season's upcoming tours. We came, we froze, and conquered 75 miles of the frozen National Forests in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. Enjoy.
Lets meet the crew for today, my official sweep riders/suckers. Here, BentAero...Husqvarna TE250.
JAP450EXC...KTM rider rollin' with the Husky crowd. He can put it down and knows his way around WNC. Definitely an asset to our cause. He doesn't complain, and neither does his wife.
And here I am, with ice balls formed on my stuff after 15 miles of dual-sporting the tundra today. I really am happy, but that is not a smile. My male anatomy is frozen to my pants at this point. I thought a thorn had caught it because of the pain. I was DEAD wrong.
Pictures just never tell the full story. Here, I can't get my buckle loose because the ice has it frozen shut. Why am I taking it off? To perform surgery on myself in the woods. Use your imagination.
No water, or Mountain Dew in my case, to be drank today. Camelbacks freeze in cold temperatures. I did not know this before today.
Is it a knight in shining armor, or JAP450EXC in full combat armor. It's cold as a weld digger's behind. Really, we shouldn't be riding today.
You get the point. Let's hit the trails.
After 15 minutes of riding time it's way past time to un-thaw our hands. I or my squad couldn't take it anymore.
LOL. Look at BentAero's face. He's saying ''I hate these freakin' rides''. JAP450EXC has no idea what he's in for.
Quick pit-stop to check out the scenery. It's very hard to use the buttons on a camera with snowmobile gloves. I better make these last and not trash 'em. JAP450EXC has my other lined gloves.
Speaking of scenery, it's everywhere in these parts. Waterfalls are classics so we take a moment.
The more I looked, it just kept going and going. Here's a tall shot.
Scouting, Scouting, Scouting. Some days you spend all day just to find nothing new. We found several new things today. All the deadends are frustrating while you're riding, but when you start connecting dots and making new routes, it makes it all worth while. Singletrack here.
Husky's do well in this stuff. 4stroke and 2stroke here. They make great bikes.
BentAero's a great scouter. Any fork in the road, turn-off, or rabbit trail...and he's on it. If I could just convince him to put on his bigger tank; but that means we'd have to ride longer. His wife would never go for that one.
Time for a break to review our plan of attack. Great minds in deep though here...not really though. We're just froze.
Lookie lookie. I think we're on to something here. This was a fun one and we added it to the list. BentAero said the jungle here looks like Vietnam. JAP450EXC doesn't say much except ''Hey man, can I have another one of your Starbursts?''
Mud, rocks, seriously deep wet leaves, and slick roots was todays gig. Somehow, I conned my official sweep crew...Jap450EXC and BentAero...into going riding with me. BentAero's wife knows the routine...
Go riding with me, and you come home late, hungry, tired, froze, and at night....even though you told the Boss you would be home at 3:00. Never happens.
Today was a little scouting exercise. We were in search of new singletrack/2track for this season's upcoming tours. We came, we froze, and conquered 75 miles of the frozen National Forests in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. Enjoy.
Lets meet the crew for today, my official sweep riders/suckers. Here, BentAero...Husqvarna TE250.
JAP450EXC...KTM rider rollin' with the Husky crowd. He can put it down and knows his way around WNC. Definitely an asset to our cause. He doesn't complain, and neither does his wife.
And here I am, with ice balls formed on my stuff after 15 miles of dual-sporting the tundra today. I really am happy, but that is not a smile. My male anatomy is frozen to my pants at this point. I thought a thorn had caught it because of the pain. I was DEAD wrong.
Pictures just never tell the full story. Here, I can't get my buckle loose because the ice has it frozen shut. Why am I taking it off? To perform surgery on myself in the woods. Use your imagination.
No water, or Mountain Dew in my case, to be drank today. Camelbacks freeze in cold temperatures. I did not know this before today.
Is it a knight in shining armor, or JAP450EXC in full combat armor. It's cold as a weld digger's behind. Really, we shouldn't be riding today.
You get the point. Let's hit the trails.
After 15 minutes of riding time it's way past time to un-thaw our hands. I or my squad couldn't take it anymore.
LOL. Look at BentAero's face. He's saying ''I hate these freakin' rides''. JAP450EXC has no idea what he's in for.
Quick pit-stop to check out the scenery. It's very hard to use the buttons on a camera with snowmobile gloves. I better make these last and not trash 'em. JAP450EXC has my other lined gloves.
Speaking of scenery, it's everywhere in these parts. Waterfalls are classics so we take a moment.
The more I looked, it just kept going and going. Here's a tall shot.
Scouting, Scouting, Scouting. Some days you spend all day just to find nothing new. We found several new things today. All the deadends are frustrating while you're riding, but when you start connecting dots and making new routes, it makes it all worth while. Singletrack here.
Husky's do well in this stuff. 4stroke and 2stroke here. They make great bikes.
BentAero's a great scouter. Any fork in the road, turn-off, or rabbit trail...and he's on it. If I could just convince him to put on his bigger tank; but that means we'd have to ride longer. His wife would never go for that one.
Time for a break to review our plan of attack. Great minds in deep though here...not really though. We're just froze.
Lookie lookie. I think we're on to something here. This was a fun one and we added it to the list. BentAero said the jungle here looks like Vietnam. JAP450EXC doesn't say much except ''Hey man, can I have another one of your Starbursts?''
thawed all right 
