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I trekked
out to the Allegheny
National Forest to explore a GS
riding opportunity 100 miles from my home in Pittsburgh, PA.
Prior to the
trip, I gathered mostly negative remarks from my ATV buddy Bob and my
KTM
Adventure riding buddy Norm. Bob didn't like paying the $10 per day,
($35 for
the season) trail use fee charged by the US Forest Service and Norm
felt that
better opportunities existed at Cooper's
Rock State Forest, just over
the Pennsylvania state line in WV. Still, I felt compelled to
explore the
Allegheny National Forest for myself.
As anyone who knows me would expect, I got lost on my way to the
Forest. Taking route 28 from NE
Pittsburgh, I failed to take the right direction at a fork in the road
in New
Bethlehem, PA and remained on Route 28 when I should have taken Route
66.
I figured out my mistake in Brookville, where I stopped at Rich's
Outdoor Store to buy
a Pennsylvania Atlas-Gazetteer (which
later fell off the bike unbeknownst to
me, goodbye $20). A local fellow told me to take Rt. 36 to 949,
crossing the
river at Belltown and taking some other small road to Marienville, PA
in Forest County. Well, again, I missed my turn
and wound up in Ridgway. No complaints, as the leg through Clear Creek
State
Park on 949 and the several miles afterwards were well worth the
inconvenience.
From Ridgway, PA, another local suggested I take T3002 (Main Street in
Ridgway,
changes to Laurel Mill Road and then changes to Spring Creek Road,
before changing again to T2005,
which is called Loleta Road. It is less confusing than it sounds, as
even I
managed not to get lost. This was awesome GS pavement. Most of
the route
is only one lane wide and the pavement surface is marginal. A street
bike rider
would probably grumble, but an asphalt-loving GS rider would find it
just
right. I was able to ride 70-80 mph most of the way, which is WELL
ABOVE the
posted speed limit.
 I found
the
Marienville US Forest Ranger's Office a few miles north of town on Rt.
66 (a
first-class facility or a waste of taxpayer dollars/use fees, depending
on how
you look at it) and bought my daily trail pass for $10. If
you go, make sure you have your vehicle
registration and/or other proof of ownership, as it will be required. I
headed north about
13 more miles to the Timberline
ATV trailhead, which is billed as the easiest
and widest trail. The dirt-bike motorcycle trail is to be avoided
on your
GS. It is apparently single-track and filled with the kind of mud, hill
climbs,
jumps and other obstacles better suited for a CR125. Perhaps when I get
my TKC
80's, I'll venture into the more challenging areas, but with 2/3 wear
on my
Michelin T-66's, and recent rains, I thought it unwise.
The Timberline ATV trail is a wonderful GS experience for most GS
riders with some
successful offroad experience. I consider my offroad abilities on my
R100GS to
be "intermediate" and I was just challenged enough to feel like I did
something, but never felt like I was in over my head. I was concerned
that the
ATVs would have the trails ripped up, but this is the "easier trail"
where you'll find morbidly obese ATV riders and families with kids
riding at a
very sane pace. The trail is generally well groomed and the mud holes
are
minimal. This of course, could change after a few days of heavy rain.
The bulk of this trail is encompassed in the "A" loop. I took the
"A, B, C and warm-up loops," logging about 25 miles on the
odometer. I really wanted to do it again, taking in the full 37
miles,
but I was expected home around 7 pm, and there was no way to call my
wife since
my cell phone and Gazetteer fell off my bucking Rubber Cow.
Seeing the reaction of the ATV and bike riders on the trail was
priceless. Mounted on their 200lb, chainsaw engine powered dirt
bikes,
making all the smoke and noise they could; they were completely
incredulous at
the sight of a very quiet 1000cc Teutonic monster lumbering through the
forest. Typical comments were, "What the hell is THAT?” or "Did you
take a wrong turn on the highway?" or "I've never seen one of THOSE
out here," but what shut them up was how well I kept up with the noisy
swarm of lightweight 2-cycle dirt bikes.
Let's be fair. Given that these riders chose to ride the easier trail,
tells me
that these mostly adult and family group riders were probably novices
and not
inclined to ride like a bat out of hell anyway, but whatever their
skill levels
were, they couldn't lose me with their CR250s, Yamazuki 125s and KLX
whatchamacallits, and in fact, some of them couldn't keep up with me.
Yes, I
had the most weight by far, but at 60hp, I also had the most horsepower!
I admitted to the curious that my 465lb bike was about 200lbs too
heavy to be the ULTIMATE dirt bike, but in spite of its behemoth size,
it
is surprisingly nimble and the weight, while requiring some extra
muscling around, is not
an insurmountable problem until you fall. Picking the damn thing up or
pulling
it out of a mud hole is where the weight becomes a HUGE issue.
But on the plus side, you don't need a $35,000 Ford F350 or a $3,000
trailer and
you can take the bike on the forest service roads where ATVs and dirt
bikes are
banned. Plus, you can comfortably cover 600 miles a day on the
highway if
you want to.
I don't
think I won any GS converts, but they were sure as hell
intrigued.
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