AbnMike
Husqvarna
A Class
So after having the battery drain issues and after a week of rain I finally got back out to ride the TE310 this past Sunday. Wasn't too warm and there were clouds threatening around Pipestone but I went anyway.
After not riding a dirtbike for 30 years and having only about 4 hours on this one I probably shouldn't have gone into the wilderness and simply pointed my bike at trails and took off, but there's only one way to learn, right?
Rode for about an hour or two on some fairly tame areas. Rode back to where the wife was hanging out and had some lunch, then took off again "for a quick ride before the rain hits"
Famous last words.
I don't have a Go-Pro but I found a video of the area where I was riding. The picture is one I took on the trail when I stopped. This was likely the more tame area where I was. I was the only rider out on Sunday, and then heard thunder.
And I was lost. I couldn't figure out where in the heck I was missing my turn off to get back to the dirt road to get back to the wife and kept trying different routes.
Then it started raining.
Then it started hailing.
The trails were covered in flash floods and an inch of ice within 15 or 20 minutes. I stopped, pulled out the phone and texted "am ok, but lost" The only way I knew where any sort of trail was was by looking at where the water was running and making decisions based on "trail" or "not trail"
I was already way beyond my skill level to be on these trails, much less alone, much less alone in a thunder/hail storm where all the trails were washed out and if you could even see them it was only because they were washing out from the flooding.
I stalled a couple times but luckily I never dropped the bike. My intent on getting back originally was turning around and following my own tracks since they were fresh. The rain and flooding put an end to that right quick.
I still don't know how I got back but somehow I did. Wife was a saint and didn't complain about loading up in the rain and sat there idling the truck with heat on high and served me a beer.
All in all a great day of riding and I was pushed so far beyond my skill level as I had to adapt but I definitely need a riding partner.
Photo I took before the mess hit and a video I found of the area I was in:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pasbx0p_B6s
After not riding a dirtbike for 30 years and having only about 4 hours on this one I probably shouldn't have gone into the wilderness and simply pointed my bike at trails and took off, but there's only one way to learn, right?
Rode for about an hour or two on some fairly tame areas. Rode back to where the wife was hanging out and had some lunch, then took off again "for a quick ride before the rain hits"
Famous last words.
I don't have a Go-Pro but I found a video of the area where I was riding. The picture is one I took on the trail when I stopped. This was likely the more tame area where I was. I was the only rider out on Sunday, and then heard thunder.
And I was lost. I couldn't figure out where in the heck I was missing my turn off to get back to the dirt road to get back to the wife and kept trying different routes.
Then it started raining.
Then it started hailing.
The trails were covered in flash floods and an inch of ice within 15 or 20 minutes. I stopped, pulled out the phone and texted "am ok, but lost" The only way I knew where any sort of trail was was by looking at where the water was running and making decisions based on "trail" or "not trail"
I was already way beyond my skill level to be on these trails, much less alone, much less alone in a thunder/hail storm where all the trails were washed out and if you could even see them it was only because they were washing out from the flooding.
I stalled a couple times but luckily I never dropped the bike. My intent on getting back originally was turning around and following my own tracks since they were fresh. The rain and flooding put an end to that right quick.
I still don't know how I got back but somehow I did. Wife was a saint and didn't complain about loading up in the rain and sat there idling the truck with heat on high and served me a beer.
All in all a great day of riding and I was pushed so far beyond my skill level as I had to adapt but I definitely need a riding partner.
Photo I took before the mess hit and a video I found of the area I was in: