The N00b train consist of Hawkman, ewommack, and Bobby Ginger. We are all relatively experienced on the road, but there is lees than a year of off roading experience between us. The ride started with a joking response about an afternoon ride and turned into a two day bike camping trip. I had never camped off the bike, and Hawkman bought his tent the day before the trip, the N00b trip. I shameless stole the trip from this thread http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=632036. The goal was to meet up at the southeast corner of the route, cut out the on road route to ATL and camp at F.D. Roosevelt State Park. Hawkman and ewommack were to meet up and burn I-10 together an meet me at the beginning of the route. I had opted to stay at my parents house in Valdosta, to avoid the two hour slab trip before the real adventure began. I received a phone call at 8:30 saying the weather had caught the guys in Lake City and they were going to wait it out. I suggested we meet in Valdosta since the storm was moving southeast. Finally just after 10 AM the guys showed up and we could start our trip. By the time we fueled up and found this trail it was close to 11 AM, not the best start Eddie says let get this train rolling! And we are off. And we are stopped :huh The beginning of the ride was nice, it started near where my late grandfathers farm is. Ah! Canopy roads. And Barns Finally what we came for, the dirt Within 5 minutes of dirt three deer tried to have an up close encounter with me :eek1 ADV begins where the road ends Somewhere between dirt roads I feel a wobble in my back tire. Ut oh this cannot be good. I had recently put a set of TKC's on my GSA. I try to do as much maintenance as possible myself, I figure that if a failure on the trail happens I have a better chance of being able to fix it. Well in this instance my torque wrench failed me. I thought that the pressure was a little light but I blew that thought off. I thought I had torqued the wheel to 44 ftlbs but my POS chinco wrench was out of calibration. All five of my lugs were loose and two were ready to fall out. I am grateful I did not get hurt and that I did not lose any lugs. This could have put a quick end to my trip. In this photo Eddie is happy because his machine is running well, karma is about to come back to bite you bud I should also mention all the gas stops, time for a bigger tank on XR You will have to pardon my poor camera work. I take pics while riding and my settings spin off of auto which result in pics like this. But I had no idea that I had roads like this so near to where I grew up! Rain threatened all day, but for the most part we stayed dry. If you look below the bottom edge of this big oak you can see a small turkey flying away. There was a momma and three babies. Wildlife is usually too quick for me to take pics, but these guys were not in a hurry. This guy was sunning himself on the road like he did not have a care. He was about three and a half feet long. First stop of the day, time to stretch our legs. Everyone is happy so far. Lets go find some more dirt! On these dual sport trips, the small towns are always interesting to me. I love the old adds painted right on the brick. Riding through the country was nostalgic of my youth growing up in Georgia. We saw the gambit of crops: corn, cotton, tobacco, tomatoes, strawberries, watermelon, and peanuts. There were probably a few more that I missed. There was a section marked deep sand on the map. I am getting use to sugar sand but fortunately the rain had packed down everything really nicely. I had to find softer spots to spin the tires. No bikes went down the entire trip, and unfortunately we were not challenged much. Most of the day was overcast which kept the temps down. It was humid and we were sweating but not miserable. Taking a photo opportunity at one of our many U turns. I was still learning my new Montana, yea that's what I will blame it on Every time the rain would get close we would head north or east and get away from it. Georgia red clay, we had a few opportunities to splash through some clay/water puddles Along with the building adds I find the random political statements amusing. This was Kelly forest or something like that on the map. It was a really nice riding area. The clay was soft enough to spin the tires in the corners without being soupy. Another deer tired to put me down during this section. More nice adds After the close encounter with the deer, Eddie decide he would give me and the deer some room Cool old stuff So in Plains, GA the rain caught up with us. I suggested we eat and let the rain pass. This was not the dinner I was hoping for, but the timing made since. Pulled the pig up to get out of the rain Remember that karma I was talking about? After Eddie had filled up he noticed his blinkers were not functioning. I had already moved across the street to the restaurant when he tried to fire up the XR. The magic button resulted in no magic, and Alex had to help him push start it to get across the street. Since the bike was running right before the stop the guess was the battery was dead. We looked up the address to the nearest parts store and we were in luck, only ten miles away. Dinner last about and hour and a half including the bike inspection and at this point we know we were not going to make the campground. Fortunately with these guys, when plans change they just go with the flow. So there is a famous guy that is from Plains, GA any guesses Highway to...Parts store One of my better shots on the trip So meanwhile at the parts store while Eddie tries to replace the battery, I caught up on the events of the day. With the XR purring like a kitty we are ready to go! Alex with the selfie At the suggesting of Alex we find the nearest KOA. I was impressed. For $33 bucks we got a camp site, and two bundles of firewood and kindling. Alex shows off his boy scout skills and started the fire in wet conditions. The showers had great water pressure and HOT water for a sore back was nice. Stay tuned for day two, there is a twist on that whole karma thing.
If the n00b train ever runs through northeast GA and NW SC, let me tag along. Been on the slab for almost 20 years and just now finding out how amazing no boundaries really are on my new to me '07 GS Adventure. n00b definitely describes me!
I may be riding over near Charleston next weekend. Wish you could have been there, but then it would have not been the N00B train The shelter is so I would not have a wet seat, I could care less if the bike got wet. C'mon man! Say what you want, but if I am drinking cheap beer I'll take the PBR any day
Mmmm vintage lager . My step grandfather has one with dinner every night. If it was good enough for him, then it is good enough for me.
I was up with the sun. My sleep was interrupted all night with the loud insects and the humidity. I left the slow pokes to read the paper and have coffee while they finished packing. We had a nice lazy breakfast and took off for the day, until the first stop light. Remember that karma coming back around? At the first stop light, Eddie stalls out and attempted to restart the bike, no magic, when the magic button was pressed. We now know that the battery was only a result of the problem, but not the root cause. Any guesses on the problem We locate the nearest Honda dealer and track back twenty five miles to Amereicus, GA. The plan to start the day, was slab up an hour to the beginning of the dirt sections for day. two. When we got to the dealer, he said it was one of two problems and that he did not have the parts. The owner did not seem too helpful at first, but after a few minuets of explaining our story he was more accommodating. They just happened to have a brand new xr650l out front and the owner said he was willing to take parts off of the new one for Eddie's scooter. Grumpy Eddie :ddog Happy Eddie with the broken voltage regulator. With the Honda once again running, when embarked back towards the trail. It was already eleven, so we just picked up the trail where it intersected the highway between Americus and Cordele. Not much to say about day two riding, I was tired and was moving at a good clip. There were no complaints from the other guys so I kept a constant 45 off road and 65 on road pace. Setting off on camera, for a few pics We came in from the north side of Brooks county. This is one county over from Lowndes, where I grew up. The town recently lost three teenage boys in a car accident. They were football players and the small town was feeling the loss. Having grown up in the south, I can say that at times it can be backwards, racist, and boring. I do appreciate how these small towns pull together when a tragedy hits. There were messages of support on church and business billboards. Summer road crew. I felt bad for these guys. It was approximately 4000 F when they were paving this road. I was hot while moving, these guys were almost at a standstill. They must have been roasting. Nice sunflower field We stopped on 84 and Eddie realized he could take that home. Alex had not had enough riding and wanted to take back roads back to OP. I was only 15 miles from my parents house so we shook hands and went our separate ways. I don't think I'll be camping again until the weather cools some. We had a great time and going with people that are not up tight about specific plans makes the going easy. We are all ex-sailors and I believe the cohesion of our group was made easier from our background. I think we all leaned a few things that will help us on future trips. The next trip is already in the works. I suggest the perimeter of GA from the southern part of the TET. N00Bs gone wild three THE END.
I''ve had me share of PBR at Pete's Bar. Awesome trip. Would love to do something like this when it dips below 4000 degrees.
Great trip. I was wishing I good have gone...and then you reminded me of the 4000 degree camping :huh Nice job
I just wanted to comment on the awesome time I had with the guys on this ride! Both Caleb and Alex are definitely my kinda riding buddies. Caleb did a great job leading the ride and Alex was a lot of fun to hang out with. When things went south on my 20 year old bike they were both easy going and just rolled with what ever happened. No one complained about having to wait or got bent out of shape when we didn't make it to the park or get to make the whole ride because of my problems. Oh and both of them helped push the bike off on several occasions. If you get the chance to ride with these two take it. I am glad we camped out it really added to the ride in my opinion. Sitting around the campfire rehashing our military experience and talking bikes really was one of the best parts of the ride to me. And the canopy dirt roads and old southern towns really helped me appreciate the area we live in. Just goes to show you really don't have to go out west to get in some quality dual sporting!
What started out as a suggestion for a local afternoon ride, preceding last Wednesdays CADS meeting, turned into a great two-day ride through the scenic farm country of South-Central Georgia. Thanks Caleb for the brilliant suggestion and for leading our small expedition. Thanks also for risking life and limb to take so many pictures and post the RR. Well done!!! I hadn't tent camped or done more than a day ride in over 30 years so I figured this would be a good "shake-down" for trips to come. With a brand new tent and gear borrowed from Caleb strapped to my F650GS I set off to meet XR Eddie, for the ride to Madison, FL; our rendezvous point with Caleb. It was clear that we might have lacked in dual sporting experience we easily made up for in enthusiasm. Neither one of us had slept (or checked the weather) in our anticipation of the ride. And things went pretty smoothly for the first 30 minutes or so… To make a long story short we faced challenges and we overcame them. Our rain gear was severely tested and deficiencies were noted. We’ll be better prepared next time. And while we might have enjoyed a slightly higher level of difficulty off-road we had plenty of challenges to tackle and as it turns out, that’s half the fun. We met a lot of nice people along the way and saw a slice of America most interstate travelers miss. Personally, I learned a lot and greatly enjoyed the easy company of two very resourceful and multi-talented traveling companions. Looking forward to the next ride. Be safe and have fun! Alex
You boys need to get onboard the Silver Bullet Express next time it runs, which is usually October or February-ish when things ain't 4000* btw, nice ride and write-up guys. The noob train from yesteryear... http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=663193
"You boys need to get onboard the Silver Bullet Express next time it runs, which is usually October or February-ish when things ain't 4000*" Sign me up boss!