Thought I'd spin off a new thread, seein' as the other was getting a mite long. Thought this one would be for rides along the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Here we go!

Recon Ride 11/16/19.

Took Lil' Goat out for a sure 'nuf trail ride again. Actually, this was recon for Day Two of the 2021 Vinduro ride that I'm already scouting and looking for suitable trails/roads for vinduro tiddlers. Founds some good stuff... along with some that's not so good for vintage tiddler bikes and vintage bodies!

The ride started off by climbing up on the ridge of South Mountain. Once up on the ridge, there's some pretty neat vistas!





I continued along the ridge on South Mountain over some really nice single lane trails:







Eventually coming to another vista area. (There are several on this particular single lane trail.)





For decades, this particular spot has been one of my favorite places to eat lunch in this range of mountains. So, I retrieved my protein bar and a bottle of water out of my tool pack, and sat on the rocks enjoying the view and the day in general:





The great single lane continued:







At this point I decided to revisit an old trail I haven't ridden in quite some time (years). Once on it, I quickly saw that it had grown up some and the creek crossings have deteriorated. However, the Lil' Goat made short work of this rock-infested crossing:





This picture below doesn't really convey the mass of it, but there's an interesting rock formation at this particular creek crossing:





Leaving this creek crossing, I soon came upon a crossing that had scoured out quite a bit from all the heavy run-off over the years and its depth was suspect, so I cut my losses and turned around and rode back out.

From there it was more great single lane stuff and lots of exploring:







In all, it was a really good day to be out in the mountains. At this point, I'm encouraged that I think I can string enough good stuff (i.e. vinduro bike and vintage rider friendly) together so that I can used this area for Day Two of VDS Tiddler '21.

All fer now!

V-man

Soak up all the good riding weather you can for as long as you can V-man. Pretty trails, pleasant days make for great outings and fun photos. It won't last forever, not with winter stompin' its feet as it approaches your doorstep, so keep on keepin' on, and thanks again for sharing your Lil' Goat adventures with the rest of us!
_________________________________________

"Arizona's Mogollon Rim"

Thanks for posting the RR. Very nice terrain with some "moments" to deal with which makes it more fun. You certainly had beautiful weather for the ride.

We got two early snow storms which pretty much finished off any access to our high country roads. Snow sits up there and just bleeds for weeks. Daytime runoff freezes at night creating packs of flow ice.

So our Fall access got cut way short this season. Following the storms the weather has been beautiful. You enjoy as much Fall riding as you can. Snow may fly here again come Wednesday. Be safe.

Looks like a good day in the woods for sure.

Wife and I rode Monday and yesterday. Nice weather. No pics.

Bombshell on the way home: She talked like she would be up for Colorado again IF we stay with the types of roads she's comfortable with: Forest type roads.

Wow. Unexpected. Recall if you will that upon her return to riding, she was adamant: "NO COLORADO!" Also recall that Colorado is where she did a pretty brutal "stop n' plop" (more like a body slam) that resulted in bruised ribs.

Needless to say, her saying she could enjoy Colorado again took me by surprise.

However, that does raise a question: Wonder how the XT225 will fare in the higher elevations? Last one burbled once in the 8,000' and up range.

V-man

In our area there are lots of beautiful secondary roads that wouldn't present technical challenges. Elevation might be a factor as you'd likely be over 10k feet. Other roads are difficult to ride and technical. A stock XT225 will usually do well up to 12k feet. It's jetted lean to begin with which helps. Scree is a factor on many of our secondary roads and some riders don't like riding on it.

It's really hard to call another rider's "would be" impressions on a given road. In the San Juan Mountains, you'll see reasonably steep grades everywhere. This alone can be intimidating. Weather is another factor as it's always capricious in the mountains given micro climates.

Ah, that's right Muniac, you LIVE in Colorado, so you should be very familiar with the riding there!

I think my XT225 ended up being jetted a bit richer than stock on account of the boogered up jets it had.

Historically, in Colorado the wife's ridden:

* Phantom Canyon then that other railroad roadbed road w/tunnels over toward Colorado Springs, via going down "Stagecoach Road(?) to Colorado Springs. She did have an incident on the Stagecoach Road on account of that small pea gravel that I think you're calling "skree"?

* Portions of Cinnamon/Engineer Pass out of Lake City.

* Waunita Pass

* Black Sage Pass

* Marshall Pass.

* Chalk Creek Canyon road out of Buena Vista to the old town of Hancock.

* Some really nice forest roads (ran out of time) over between Buena Vista and Salida on the east side of the highway toward Trout Creek Pass.

* Other odds and ends in CO and NM.

I would sum it up by saying that if one could drive their 2WD family car over a road question, then she'd be okay with riding it.

I have a huge map of the San Juans, and I also have a thick book about jeeping in Colorado that we have used successfully to plot routes that she can handle. However, one really needs to know the area to see and ride the good stuff (scenic).

For example, on one of our trips to CO, we trailering our bikes and on our way to Crested Butte for a day of riding, we stopped at Gunnison at the dirt bike shop owned by Fritz Kadlec. Upon hearing what we had planned, he pulled out a map and showed us an old farm road that was near our proposed ride and said it was great and easy for the wife. We rode it and it was super! Something like 20 miles single lane with no civilization! We loved it.

All fer now!

V-man

You've thus ridden a lot here in Colorado. Covering front range and western slope. This is a BIG state and filled with a lifetime of rides. Possibilities limited only by time and energy.

I'm sure you know the Charles Wells 4WD drive books which are helpful in identifying rides. You may not know about Trail Damage which is a 4WD club that documents many of their runs. That site has changed over the years so I don't know how much guest information is provided. Access to some information may require a membership.

We had another snow storm over the last three days. It dumped a good amount in the north & south San Juan Mountains high country. Depending on what kind of a winter we have, dry high country roads won't be seen until July/August. This Summer snow remained in slides and north facing aspects.


Approaching Hurricane Pass July 3rd 2019.


Approaching Cork Screw Pass June 23rd 2019.


US550 near Red Mountain Pass Feb 7th 2019 (Photo courtesy CDOT)

Predictions are for another tough winter. As for slides and avalanches which do severe damage to roads, that depends on our snow pack and how well the layers will bond. This past season a lot of roads were severely damaged.


Avalanche damage on Cork Screw Pass Rd. Oct 2nd 2019.

Ride safely and know before you go.

Sorry for being lax in getting back to my Arklahoma thread here.

Muniac:

Wow! Some amazing pictures (Red Mountain Pass in the snow)... and some saddening pictures (Corkscrew Pass carnage).

At this point, the wife is most interested in stationing in Gunnison, and on Day One ride from Sargent to Pitkin, eat, return. Day Two ride Sargent over Marshall Pass, to Salida, eat and return. Day Three (IF there's a Day Three) could be Gunnison to Crested Butte via a farm road we rode our last time there, eat, and return. Of course, all this could change.

General:

I've been riding, as has been the wife, but I've been on the WR250R for the most part and I've been too lazy to take pics of us when out. I'm currently holed up on account of the weather's not too accommodating. Wife's holed up 'cause she's battling the "Crud".

XT225 plans:

Trying to put together a ride with a friend that lives about 1 1/2 hrs from me to go explore this trail:



That trail is an old trail that goes west, up and over "High Top Mountain" for a fur piece. The last time I rode it, the steep portions were rutted with significant ravines, along with being liberally strewn with softball, melon, and basket ball rocks. Not for the faint of heart. I have recently heard that the onslaught of ATV's and RZr's have caused those enthusiasts to fill some of the ravines with rocks.

I would like to have someone with me to not only see how what kind of shape that trail is in, and would also attempt 9 Mile and Rock Creek trails.

Said friend volunteered to go with me to accomplish the above exploring (good to have a bike along when tackling some potentially tough trails) so I said set up a time with me and lets go! He was going to forego riding his porky CRF450L and instead ride either a DR200E or a CRF230L.

I figure colder temps would be best, for speeds will be slow and we'll exert more riding them as opposed to dual sporting forest roads. (Except Rock Creek trail wouldn't be too fun during colder temps on account of potentially getting our feet wet.)

Alas, that was nearly a week ago and thus far I've heard no response from my riding friend.

Anyway, I have plans for the XT225 and will start accomplishing them by myself if I have too.

All fer now!

V-man
aka Andre

Thanks for the update. Good on you for the RRs and enthusiasm. Exploring new routes can be fun. Jeannie and I did a lot of that some years back. Not so much anymore.

You'll find plenty to ride on over in the Gunnison area. I think there are many miles of secondary roads that shouldn't be difficult. The idea is to have fun, avoid crashes, see sights and return safely to do it again another day.

This winter hasn't been as tough as last season (yet). We just had a storm a couple of days ago that dumped 6-8" at the house. More up in the mountains. Biggest storm we've had this season and not predicted. 4F at the house (early AM) so we've been dealing with a cold snap.

Post when the spirit moves you. Happy New Year!