Steve doesn't return as expected after escorting Tom to the motel & his truck , so we backtrack towards Frackville & somehow lose Mike & half of the other riders. Where are they???????
After 1/2 hour search & waiting near the Shenandoah coal banks for their return, we head off toward Ashland & our normal hangouts in hopes that Mike & the others will eventually see or hear us & once again link up with the rest of the Speedball's.
About an hour later as we head off to view a monster hillclimb, Mike & the others merge with us at an intersection & join us to see IF ANYONE will dare challenge this beast of a hill??????
Once at the bottom & looking UP , EVERYONE'S A$$ puckers up !!!!!!! NO WAY !!!!! Mike Yucha & his mighty Raptor is undaunted by this monster hill climb & heads UP the BEAST!!!!!!!!!!!!
After a few more futile attempts at this monster coal bank , we head out for Mt. Carmel . It's early afternoon & the HOT sun has severly dried out the trails & the back markers are getting lost at regular intervals in the THICK DUST!!!!!!! CHOKE! CHOKE ! COUGH! COUGH! It's only getting worse & WORSE as the day goes on! We WANT to stick together , BUT can we?????????? At one point we had three seperate groups looking for each other???? NOT GOOD! Like Mose's on the mountain where he got the " Ten Commandment's " from God , we were looking for a sign!
DS650 suffers rear wheel problems! TOO MANY folks in one group under these severe dusty condtions ! Folks can't see WHAT they need to see & WHERE they are going! NOT SAFE! PLUS we got some who want a quicker pace & NOT pssible with this many folks under these conditions !
So after Chris & the other make trail repairs to the wounded DS650 & inflate all the other leaky tires with Steve's air pump , we divide into two groups.
Mike , Chris , V-Force John & others who want to bang bars , head out in one direction , while Speedy & Steve take the less skilled & less aggressive riders another.
Speedy & his group head towards the " Moon " & the mountains ranges above it to see WHAT they can see & traverse a few shallow creek crossings along the way. As we exit the mountain & approach the back side of " Moon " , we see that someone has pulled a MAJOR BOO BOO & gotten too close to a DEEP sediment pond!!!!!!!!!!
With dusty parched throats , it's time to head off & find somewhere to get something COLD & WET to quench that every growing thirst & refuel for the LONG ride back to Frackville! Along the way we meet the Mike & the others & once again the DS650 is crippled!
Carl's thumb throttle is broken & ONLY works by scewing it IN & OUT to get more revs out of the wounded quad. NOT GOOD! Being the slugs of this Great Adventure , we volunteer to let this speedster limp back to Frackville with us. LOL!
Half an hour later we are sitting under the new overpass in downtown Mt. Carmel , refueled & drinking a COLD soda & munching on some much needed nourishment.
Refreshed & refueled we head out across Rt. # 54 & across Speedball Ridge & make good time except for a flat or two. The sun in getting lower & LOWER on the horizon , so I ask everyone to pick up the pace , just a LITTLE!
As we cross Rt. # 901 at the top of the mountain I hear what sounds like V-Force John & the others down below us blasting along the lower ridge in a huge cloud of dust! As our merry group recrosses Rt. # 54 south of Ashland I spot the last rider in Mike's group disappearing around a bend in the trail, about 200 yards way. Ain't it funny , how they go one way & us the other & we stiil seem to meet along the trail! HE! HE!
As long as we stay on fairly fast trails , Carl & the DS650 with no thumb throttle seem to be holding their own. BUT nearing Shenandoah the DS 650 begins to overheat BADLY!!!! NOT GOOD!
The rest of the homeward journey is spent with the DS 650 being towed by Steve's hard working 650 Honda Rincon 4x4 . As the sun begins to disappear & settle below the horizon & the shadows get longer & LONGER we finally get Carl & his severely crippled quad back to Motel 6 in Frackville, Pa. " BOY , WHAT A DAY! "
After nearly twelve hours & 103 miles of bouncing up & down every mountain from here to Mt. Carmel & back , it's GREAT to see that big blue & red & white sign for Motel 6 !!!! YEHAAAAAAA! Some of our first timers have NEVER ridden like this BEFORE & suffer a SERIOUS case of BABOON ASS & are flat out WHOOPED!!!!!!!!!! See photo below for " ALMOST " living proof!!!!!! LMAO!
Once again I thank everyone for making this day's Great Adventure a SUCCESS & head off to soak my AARP bones & wash the coal dust from my throat & lungs! Till NEXT TIME this is Speedy racer saying! GOOD NITE!ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! & SWEET DREAMS!!!!!
SPEEDY RACER
