Berkshire 2-Day Dual Sport Trail Ride -- Sept 18 & 19

I keep hearing stories about things I said/did during the period of my memory loss:

i think i was mentally prepared for the Hancock ride to be tough on u....but Berkshire i had no idea...probably thats why i think it was little bit lesser than Hancock....then again i didnt do any hero section in Hancock either...and neither the sunday ride....so probably me unknowingly found it to be at par....

I am hurting more than Hancock...that perhaps my body telling this ride was tough

Bill, Isaac here, you probably hardly remember me... but I cleaned dirt out of your eye with my tee shirt.

I am truly glad to hear you are ok!

Walking up the trail with you to the ranger's truck, I think I explained the previous half hours experience to you about 20-30 times...

Complete short term memory wiped clean ever 30 seconds... It was hard to believe.

At one point, we asked you "who is president?" To which you replied after a pause.. "Bush?".
I then said, "Think Islamic Extremest..." which lead you to the reply "Obama!"

Just wanted to let you know... your an awesome rider! You just hit some ruff sand and hard luck... But all things considered... You lucked out!!!

Heal up well buddy!

Isaac

If you download all the waypoints to a spreadsheet, you'll figure out the exact spot (or at least, narrow it down to between 2 spots). Look for the 2 with the longest lapse of time between them.

Also, it looks like your GPS went to the hospital with you because your bike went the other way with me.

btw, on Bill's GPS map, look down in the bottom right corner. You'll see something called Bucksteep Manor. That used to be Arlo Guthrie's home. We went by it on our way back to the start. Long stonewall, stone chapel, etc.

No, Chris. I found it easier. At Hancock you have 600 riders ~ and over a hundred that should be at a race that day who use everyone for traction.

I haven't found that at any of the NETRA turkey runs.

Wow, what a great weekend&#8230;<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Started off great meeting up with some new friends Friday night. <o></o>
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Meeting up with the usual crew later that night&#8230;<o></o>
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Woke up nice and early Saturday morning&#8230;only to find that I left my radiator cap on my work bench at home (about 3 hours away), but have no fear, one of the BTR crew (Jason the Trail boss) kindly gave me the one off his own bike&#8230;THANK YOU Jason (and the entire BER guys)!!! You guys rock!!!<o></o>
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I have to say these guys have sign up and tech down to a science&#8230;this should be the model that all clubs use&#8230;<o></o>
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So 9am comes, and my crew hits the trail&#8230;by mile 1.8 we&#8217;re down one rider&#8230;.<o></o>
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we go another 12 miles, and wham-o, right at the start of the first Hero, a tree attacks my buddies bike..He is fine, but the bike suffers a broken radiator and it&#8217;s bent so far back, it breaks the spark plug too&#8230;Down rider number 2.<o></o>
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<o>Add into the mix, a heated grip separation from the throttle tube, leading to one momentary high revving out of control bike&#8230;nothing that some of &#8220;JoesSticky Stuff.com&#8221; couldn&#8217;t fix&#8230;we&#8217;re back on the trail..<o></o>
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Saturday&#8217;s 116 miles proved to be the ABSOLUTE MOST DIFFICULT DAY OF RIDING I HAVE EVER COMPLETED!! (That includes more then 20+ years of riding and racing cycles&#8230<o></o>
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But I had a smile on at every stop!!! My adrenaline was running all day&#8230;There were many times that I couldn&#8217;t believe we made it through some of those sections&#8230;Absolutely amazed we made down others&#8230;.LOL!!!

(My bikes skid plate, my body armor, and misc other protection earned EVERY dollar I invested in them last weekend!!!)<o></o>
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<o>Once we made it down the ledges on Saturday, we stopped to admire them for a second&#8230;This guy comes down behind us, turns around and rides right back up&#8230;freaking amazing! Wish I had my helmet cam on for that one..<o></o>
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<o>Stay tuned, more to come :</o>

So Saturday night falls, and I take a walk over to the festivities getting started at the NYADV camp&#8230;these guys have the set-up&#8230;<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Chef Steve on the grill<o></o>
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Some shots of the lake:<o></o>
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My second favorite part: <o></o>
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Fire:<o></o>
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Sunday&#8217;s ride&#8230;.
Uh oh&#8230;Upon my return from Saturday, the host at the entrance of the campground mentions that Sunday is to be even more challenging! What? <o></o>
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Today, our group is down to only four of us&#8230;:eek1 !!! We&#8217;re going to take another shot at the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Turkey</st1lace></st1:country-region> Run &#8230;My hands are blistered&#8230;My feet are blistered&#8230;My back is sore&#8230;so I pop a few aspirin&#8230;And follow the leader onward&#8230;\\

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Again, we&#8217;re bouncing around from one rock to another&#8230;I make it about 35 miles to the gas stop&#8230;I&#8217;m done&#8230;my clutch perch is broken&#8230;my ass is sore&#8230;I had enough&#8230;.LOL&#8230;But my crew keeps going...Crazy Fukrs!!!<o></o>
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Timing works out well, and the &#8220;ADV&#8221; ride crew comes rolling in&#8230;and so I gladly join in with them...figuring it&#8217;s better to be in the saddle, then a chair back at camp waiting for everyone to return.<o></o>
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This is another cool group&#8230;some friends I&#8217;ve ridden with in years past, and couple new ones&#8230;.Was great to re-connect with you guys (and girls)!!<o></o>
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Steve comes to the rescue with a wind breaker for me!! Thanks man, I owe you!<o></o>
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The leader guides through some nice scenery, and then to a trailhead, where we&#8217;ll split off&#8230;the smart riders will follow the leader, and the crazy fools can take a shot at another bit challenging trail&#8230;and we&#8217;ll all reconnect in about 20 minutes&#8230;.Yeah right!!!

Stay tuned, more to come :
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Well, we crazy mofos take off down the trail&#8230;.Gregor (The guy on the Husaberg) charges into it like a pro,,,He&#8217;s gliding from rock to rock, he&#8217;s a very talented rider&#8230;and it was awesome watching him&#8230;until I see him flying through the air pulling a superman pose!!!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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I couldn&#8217;t believe he got up from that crash so quickly!!! F&#8217;n amazing!!! Thankfully he&#8217;s okay&#8230;.Cosmetically, the bike got a few bruises though&#8230;<o></o>
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Back on the trail, we come to a trailhead&#8230;and Mr. Friendly Park Ranger Rick stops us....<o></o>
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Checks our Registrations against the frame VINS&#8230;.Thankfully, we&#8217;re all legal!! And he lightens up&#8230;.He mentions that he&#8217;s uncovered 9 stolen bikes while running these checks..<o></o>
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A few minutes go by, and the group behind us is nowhere to be found. Then we get a call&#8230;man down, but he&#8217;s okay&#8230;just shaken up&#8230;then a few more minutes go by&#8230;another call&#8230;man down, and he&#8217;s a bit foggy&#8230;
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We make the call to have him start walking up the trail, it&#8217;s about a half mile to a location where the ranger is, and from there, and it&#8217;s another mile to the main road where the ambulance can pick him up&#8230;
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We pull our resources together, and put the plan into place to get his bike out of the woods..It won&#8217;t start&#8230;Steve to the rescue!<o></o>
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Here&#8217;s Steve rebuilding the carb&#8230;with nothing but a screw driver, rock, and a stick&#8230;10 minutes later, wham-o..It&#8217;s running!! Thanks again Steve!!! <o></o>
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When we eventually get out to the main road, here&#8217;s a shot of the scene. (Bill, if you&#8217;re opposed to these pics being shared, please pm me, and I&#8217;ll promptly take them down&#8230<o></o>
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After that, it was back to camp, and then back home to NJ&#8230;The weekend flew by way too fast&#8230;You can count on my return next year&#8230;and I&#8217;ll be sure to bring a few more friends along&#8230;

Some more misc pics: (Notice all the smiles!!)
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Sallydog<o></o>
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The accommodations:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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The door to my room: (not exactly sure what to expect, thankfully the duck never showed up!)<o></o>
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Another Room<o></o>
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Bobby&#8217;s NYC Cabin&#8230;<o></o>
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John swapping in a new trials tire on Saturday night<o></o>
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H couldn&#8217;t wait until dinner:<o></o>
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Kirk making us a nice healthy dinner....




More coming:

Here a shot of the Ginger Bread house: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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And in my closing, again I’d like to sincerely thank the BTR gang for an excellent weekend…It’s been awhile since I had this much fun…The camaraderie these events bring is second to none!!! And I’ll always remember some of those crazy ass sections…next time I’ll get some video…See you next year!
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This was the infamous pissed off land owner. I led a group right up to him. He had the trail blocked with his truck and was waiting for us with stick and rabid dog.

He was pissed but not a raving lunatic. I turned off my motor and politely asked "would you allow us to pass?" He said no and I kept apologizing for us and promised not to roost the trail.

His big gripe was that the organizers were choosing to agitate him by sending us up that way instead of re-routing us around him.

He also claimed that someone rode up close to his house while his daughter was taking an outdoor shower. :eek1

He eventually let us go by when I said "the organizer is down at the bottom of the hill, go talk to him."

He didn't strike me with the stick, nor was I bitten by the dog. Disappointing to say the least.

holy shite....i totally missed this dudes daughter....TON WHERE the F@#$ were both of us :)

I have ridden with you, and rode some of the same enduros as you have and I have to say your statement says something. This sounds like it was freakin hard, and now I am even more jealous.

A little street ripping to get back to camp.

That's funny, we heard the same story from him about his daughter. However, when we returned to the camp grounds later that day, the story was slightly different. We spoke to the bikers who were the first guys out on Saturday. The land owner had pulled down the arrows so the riders went up his driveway by mistake to find HIM naked, bathing outside in his yard. They got out of there fast!

We bumped into an officer in a SUV heading up to this land owner. He asked us if we had any problems with him. We never saw the guy.

Mike

Yahbo you are the MAN! That is best damned picture yet, and there are some good ones. But that one says it all. Is that a still from your video?

Clearly blocking the trail with his sabre in hand. I can't stop laughing!!!

Thanks to everyone who came out and made a good impression, especially at the campground. We all learned a lot last weekend, there's room for improvement, of course.

Congratulate yourself if you rode even most of Sunday's route. You just did a BTR enduro!!!

Bill, glad you are Ok. I would like to THANK everybody that came out and supported BTR and the Tolland Fire Dept. Also THANKS to everyone who helped get Bill out of the woods and his bike back to camp! It amazes me the camaraderie in our sport! The members of BTR are already talking and planning for next year. See you guys at the HAMMER RUN!!

Oh, does that white truck in the pic belong to the pissed-off landowner?

Just after Ross stopped and warned Glenn and I about the landowner up the road, we made our way quietly up, and that white truck came barrelling down towards us, not giving an inch.
Luckily, there was enough room along the side to pull over. I gave him a friendly wave and a big smile.