Don't Shoot Me Bro!

Riding on a Saturday in the fall always makes me nervous but with everything going on this weekend the only time I could get out for a ride was Saturday moring. I oranged up and headed out. The weather threw me for a loop. The house thermometer was showing 49 degrees but when I got to the forest it felt like 60 and I was wearing my riding pants for the first time. Hunting shirt, orange flamed helmet, and orange riding gloves. All of which for the temperature was overkill.

Still, wearing my Bikerag.com Don't Shoot Me Bro fall riding shirt was essential because the parking lot at Echo Valley was full with cars sporting Cabelas and NRA stickers.

I was surprised there weren't more leaves down as I hit the fire road on the Echo Valley side but even more surprising was all the tire tracks in the leaves. I did a little exploring at the intersection with the fire road and the white trail - probably not the best idea during hunting season but figured it's much more open and since I looked like a cross between the Budweiser Snow Sleigh with all the bells that I was wearing and the Great Pumpkin on two wheels I figured any hunters would not only see me but also hear me.

I rode the skidder paths/swaths towards kissing oaks but didn't quite get there. Still, riding through here might make a nice alternative to get around the swampy area that the white trail traverses. There is also the potential for some great log rides, too, that I will have to explore further.

Over by the Gussy Trail head on the fire road I found this huge paper wasps nest! Never knew it was there and I have ridden past it probably a hundred times this season. Still, it's a little disconcerting to realize that it's there now and it's still active.

Yikes, that is one big wasp nest and so close to the trail. I am surprised no one has gotten stung. Cindy Miller reported in late summer there was a Yellow Jacket nest near a downed tree on west side equestrienne trail that she disturbed while riding over it. After all the run-ins I have had with wasps and yellow jackets in the past I have avoided that trail completely. I will just give this nest a much wider berth in the future.

The Short Log Ride is a blast! I took some video of me riding it back and forth but haven't edited it yet so in the meantime, here are a few stills of me on the stunt. The shot below, I am headed south.


And here I am coming back up. I had a few failed attempts, too. The trick is in maintaining the proper speed to keep you upright. Not too fast because if you turn too quickly you will never recover in time and most likely go OTB when your front wheel slides off the log. Too slow and you will fall over.



Here is a little YouTube-age: