Hatfield McCoy Riding

[Heather]

 
better not put in the spark arrestor ....then youre better being stock

[Ben]

I can tell you that its NOTHING like that at HM. I love it there

On friday we went to the Bearwallow Trail System there, really good trails. They just got done regrading a lot of them, could really rip around. We came up on this coal slag pile and met the guy on the KTM there, real nice guy. There was an easy way up and then me and him we trying harder ways, we both failed 2 times. If anyones bike should have rolled down a mountain this weekend, should have been mine, i was asking for it climbing this with the damn rain ruts in it. Real problem was how soft the stuff was, needed some wheel speed to get through it. People in PA ride on slag piles WAY bigger then this, they actually run built banshees with paddles on them

[CBerg]

Jason is starting to resemble Brock in that pic.    How far is that from your place?   You guys usually camp for the weekend?
   

[Ben]

He was flexing to impress the KTM guy

We stay in cabins in town there, and you can ride down the roads to the gas station, then right into the trails. Its about 5.5 hours to the Rockhouse System. Its 5 hours to Bearwallow System, and 4.5 to Little Coal System. Then there's 3 others we havent even been to yet, hundreds of miles of trails

[Heather]

other then the mountains trying to eat Jason and the Brute Force..... Hatfield has by far the best trail system i have ever been on. Absolutely awesome! the towns appreciate the riders, which is really hard to find, plus the trails are awesome.

[Pete]

christ, RIP Brute Force.  The Hayley crash with it was just a pre-cursor! 

[DannyBoy]

christ, RIP Brute Force.  The Hayley crash with it was just a pre-cursor! 

Hahaha, her wreck was a scratch on the plastic compared to this! 

Jason, I'm sorry, but even as I'm reading the story and looking at the pictures, its 6:45 at work, and I can't help but laugh.  The helmet rolling down is one of the best parts.     That was one nasty ass hill, I got stuck on it back in December but that was nothing compared to this.  My bike nearly stalled quite a few times going up it in 2nd (just cause of all the rocks and having to be on and off the throttle).  When I saw Jason coming up the hill, I was worried because of the slow speed.  When I saw the brute roll back, I'm just thinking "stay on the trail, stay on the trail" but to watch it go over the hill and tumble...one of the worst things ever.  Then Jason's slams his helmet on the ground, cursing ATVs, and it goes chasing after the brute force to be re-united, hahahahha.

We ended up meeting back up with the other group later in the day and talked with them for awhile.  Holy shit I can't remember the last time I laughed so much.  Even with all things considered, it was such a fun weekend.

Other than Ben's suicide attempt on Bear Wallow, Friday was an absolute blast.  Even when we were on a trail that was about 5 minutes from the parking lot (starting to get dark), and we ran into a huge ass downed tree and had to go way out of our way to get back, was still awesome.  I love Hatfield!

I am very happy I took the Brute Force with Hayley to ANF on 4th of July weekend and put around 140 miles on it (even the bike trail!).  I have very fond memories of the Brute Force, it was a great quad and it sure as hell went out with a bang.

The real lesson here is...RIDE SPORT BIKES!  I absolutely agree that Hatfield is WAY more fun on a sport than utility.  I've rode HM on the king quad, brute, drz400, and I have the most fun on my Z by far.  The funny thing was Jason's quad got totaled, Ben got a big ol' slice in his tire going up that nasty hill, leaving the Z400 (for once) to be the only quad in tip-top shape!  It's going to live forever (or at least as long as Ben wants it to  ).

[Raistlin 12]

Glad everyone was alright,,,,,,, but that story was funny as hell.  I was laughing so hard this morning my stomach hurts........  I guess it's because I have had a couple of close calls there on my Honda as well, and we all know of al's stories on his Z.

Good stories that you will never forget!!!

[DannyBoy]

Glad everyone was alright,,,,,,, but that story was funny as hell.  I was laughing so hard this morning my stomach hurts........  I guess it's because I have had a couple of close calls there on my Honda as well, and we all know of al's stories on his Z.

Good stories that you will never forget!!!

I have a feeling that will go down as one of the funniest days of my life.  Don't get me wrong, it was horrific for a little while, but after that...just wow.  

I still do feel bad for Jason and the brute force, though.  Long live the Brute in memories!  Jason was in the lead on our ride back on Friday night and me and Ben didn't even see him for 90% of the ride, he was an ANIMAL!  So at least between that Friday trip and me taking it to ANF, it had some good last rides.

[Ben]

I definitely wont forget it anytime soon. Just the sight of watching it do half a roll off the side of the trail and disappear and be there and gone in a second, one of the most surreal things, i couldnt believe i was watching it.

When i was on my way down i had the rediculous thought of MAYBE we'll see the bike at the bottom and it will be beat, but not totaled, and this story would be about how we couldnt believe it wasnt damaged more, but when i rolled up and saw it smashed into the tree, those thoughts quickly disappeared. We're lucky that green trail was down there, made recovering it way easier, if it went 300ft down a moutainside and it had to be pulled all the way back up to get it out, the tow and recovery would probably cost more then the salvage value of the bike

[cataway]

ah yes good ol #32 , had problems on that trail my self riding a 650 AC,even close to loosing it , i was fortunate enough to have some one grab the front and hold it down so i could get to the top ,then some guy on an old honda walk right up it  and the other time it was a come down  i winched my self down it had to hook to 3 different trees to get to a point were i felt safe about it .
#94 is another one thats bad so is #29

[Ben]

We did 29 last december, WOW did it get a little hairy at the top. We've never been on the red/blacks, i'll leave that to the 4x4s.

Were you winching down the trail on 32, or down through the trees??

[cataway]

down the trail , call me a wossy if you like , but i am still alive and the cat is in one piece

still I think #94 was the one that came closest to rolling down the hill, i had to get off with the cat balancing on 3 wheels to a hook up the cable and the pull up to a safe ground

[CBerg]

looks sweet, can't wait!

[chevyjk33]

Well, between flexing for the KTM guy and my bike plummeting off a mountainside, it was one kick ass weekend.  By the time I made the 3/4 mile walk down 32 and back to where the quad landed, all I could do is laugh.  It will be a story that lives on forever.  I would have paid to see the bike sail through the trees and slam the tree with those guys busting up only to freeze thinking the helmet coming down the hillside had a head in it.  Even with the carnage, it was a great weekend there.  HM is by far THE BEST place to go riding (minus trail 32 of course).  

My poor, poor Brute Force .  While it was amusing, it ripped my heart out to see it totaled.  Now comes the crappy part of dealing with insurance and what to replace it with.  While I would love to think Razr, Can-Am or Rhino, there is no way that's gonna happen.  At best, I MIGHT get $5000 for it and then have to sniff out a good used bike.  Between my new gay roof I need and main waste line, there isn't gonna be any extra money for something too flashy.