Wayne National Forest Ride 8-15-2009

[Ben]

We went down to THE WAYNE as its called yesterday down in southern Ohio, was awesome. We havent been there in 4 years i think, I forgot how much of a good place it really is, it was way better then i remember it. By far best riding i have had this year with exception of the end. This ride was filled with problems of course since its still 2009 and this year is cursed. We rode more then we have there before, and we always got back to the campground on fumes on reserve on 400ex's before. We brought a bottle this time to drain gas out of dannys bike into our YFZs if needed, but i was blown away that me and heather both never turned reserve on. YFZs are by far the most effecient bike i have ever seen on gas. For anyone that has been there, we rode from the New Straitsville trailhead all the way down the Main Corridor to Door Run, did the main loop there while getting lost, and then rode all the way back.

First problem- Got pulled over on way down by state patrol for no reason. On a 55mph road and come up behind a little car doing 35mph, eventually the car goes into the left turn lane to turn so i start to pass it, all of a sudden i see the cop car flying by my drivers window and the car in the turn lane freaks out and slams the brakes and swerves right in front of me onto the shoulder. HOLY FUCK, i dont know how it didnt cause an accident. I slammed my brakes and just about put it into the ditch. I look out my window and see the cop pointing at me to stay pulled over, WTF? So hes inbetween me and the car that swerved in front of me. He comes back to me all pissed off saying i wasnt paying attention. I guess he was behind me but i had no idea since the quads on the trailer take up most of my rear view mirror, and all i was worried about at the moment was getting around that car since it was going so slow and acting weird. So he leaves all in a huff to go bitch at the person in the car. Eventually the car drives off and he comes back to me and gets all my info and wants to know who owns the bikes, who owns the trailer, full deal. Then he goes over the trailer and truck with a fine tooth comb, checking trailer numbers, looking for quad VIN #s and registration stickers, checking truck plates tags, he wanted to give out a ticket in the worst way. But he couldnt find anything and lets us go. If he did write me a ticket, there would have been an immediate phone call to his station, and tell them how that douche almost caused me to get in an accident over nothing

[Ben]

Next problem. We get going, trails were AWESOME. Not dusty, not muddy, and you LAUNCH off the rollers they engineer into the trails. ANF has them too, its like one woop in the trail every 50 or so feet in some sections, they put them there to slow down the bikes, which it does for utilities, but they are PERFECT jumps for sport bikes. ANFs are small, but at Wayne they are twice as big, it feels like a MX track in the woods. I bottomed out my front shocks for the first time ever on the YFZ off one of them. So we are having a hell of a good time, maybe 20 minutes in Heather stops, her overheat light is on. I look, radiator is packed full of mud, DAMN IT! Of course i was the one that washed it last as always, its usually never a problem in the riding we do, but for some reason at Rock Run her radiator got plastered. So after figuring out how to get the guard out using a stick to get the push pin released, we used Heathers camel back to try and rinse the mud off. Didnt work all that well. Got it cooled off and rode down to a stream, and i sat there and threw water on it for 10 minutes with my hands, worked surprisingly well. Put guard back in, good to go. There were people mud bogging next to the stream, and for anyone that has watched East Bound and Down, there was a guy there that sounded EXACTLY like Kenny Powers

[Ben]

This when danny went into woods to take a piss, he got caught in a giant web or something and freaked out, was funny

[Ben]

Now for the problem at the end and lesson learned. Weather was full sun, in 90s and humid. So we packed water and drinks with us, but we really underestimated the conditions. We forgot that riding in Wayne is by far the most physically exhaustive area we ride in. All the jumps and hills are fun as hell, but 6 hours straight of it really takes it out of you. There arent any wide open cruising areas, its all jumps, hills, ruts, bumps, turns, etc. By the time we turned around and started heading back, we were pretty spent. Also didnt help that we used all of Heathers water to clean her radiator, so me and her split what i had. By the time we got back to the truck, i felt like i got run over by a semi. I was all around beat, i havent been tired like that after a ride since probably the last time we went to Wayne. So of course the parking lot is in full sun and BAKING. I started to feel lightheaded on ride back and didnt piss once the whole ride, i knew i was way too dehydrated. My forehead was pouring sweat to the point i was getting concerned while putting bikes on trailer. We were loading as fast as we could to leave and get in AC in truck. We were finally just about done and then Heather just about passes out and falls down, she had major heat stroke. We got her into truck and then she threw up out the door, she was major overheated and i felt like i wasnt far behind, luckily danny had enough water for himself on ride and he was OK. We left and got some cold drinks right away, that and the truck AC we were fine. It was kind of a perfect storm situation it happened, the weather, the hard riding, heather losing her water, rode long distance, then it being 1000 degrees in parking lot when we got back. But it was worth it, was some good riding.

[Heather]

even though i fainted and got all funky at the end, best trip in a LONG time! Very good riding. Towards the end I got far behind and I could feel in my muscles that something was not right. By the time we got to the parking lot and started to cook alive, i felt really sick and I mentioned that I thought I was going to pass out. I remember calling Danny, grabbing onto the truck and then from there until I was in the AC I dont remember. I remember trying to vomit out the truck, but having nothing in my system I didnt puke.
Riding however was fantastic! Very different from what I remember. Alot more challanging and very fun

[Ben]

I would put this place right up there with Hatfield McCoy for trail riding. Being an hour closer is nice too. Just 10 minutes into ride i was shocked how much fun it was, i forgot all about that place. You can camp at the trailheads too, may have to use that sometime

[Heather]

I would say that Hatfield is a little easier terrain then Wayne...at least the green and blue.

[Pete]

nice algae in the mud stuck on Heather's radiator  

and of course you guys got hot, look at the color you were wearing!

[Heather]

i dont think wearing any color different would have changed anything. it was hot as balls out and seeing that we all ate pop tarts and a drink and then barely any water or fluids not to mention any food all day, yea pretty much we should have thought better.

[Pete]

probably didn't help though :)

[Ben]

nice algae in the mud stuck on Heather's radiator  

and of course you guys got hot, look at the color you were wearing!

wasnt algae although it does look like it, thats a reflection in the water on top of the mud from the bright green plants all around us

[DannyBoy]

haha that is funny how we're ALL wearing black.  Luckily we didn't empty my bladder so I wasn't dehydrated at all.  But once we got back to the parking lot, it was fucking BRUTAL!  It was 5pm, where the sun is at just the right point in the sky to really beat down on your ass.  Not to mention the sun reflecting off the trailer, etc. 

I remember Heather walking by and saying she felt like she was going to faint and I laughed and she said she was serious.  Then a minute later she was walking around the truck and I was changing shirts and I heard her say my name, next thing she is on the ground.  As Ben said, ol' blue welcomed Heather in with his big air conditioned arms and saved her.     

Once we were in the truck, man I could not stop sweating.  Luckily we found that gas station and were okay after that.

Other than that, the ride was kickass.  Other than dune trips, I don't think I've ever jumped so much on a single ride before.  Wayne is a hell of a lot of fun.  But like Ben said, we are so out of ATV shape.  Wayne beats you down and lets you know just how much you suck. 

[chevyjk33]

Sounds like fun riding, but no way I could do that heat in riding gear and engine heat pouring over you.  I can't imagine how bad that parking lot was. 

I don't remember a bunch of rollers at Wayne.  Are they new?  I thought we went to New Straitsville before. 

[Jen]

I'm not surprised you guys got dehydrated- this weekend was REALLY hot. I'm glad everyone's OK. Wish I could've gone. Had my 10 year high school reunion this weekend and it was all football players and cheerleaders so I was all awkward. On the plus side, everyone commented on how different and how much taller I look! I only stayed for 2 hours then I went to a movie

[DannyBoy]

Sounds like fun riding, but no way I could do that heat in riding gear and engine heat pouring over you.  I can't imagine how bad that parking lot was. 

I don't remember a bunch of rollers at Wayne.  Are they new?  I thought we went to New Straitsville before. 

I remember there being jumps at Wayne but not like this.  Except for a few really bumpy parts, riding a utility there wouldn't be super fun.  The rollers are too peaked.  You would be slowing down a lot for them.