The unofficial, unorganized 2005 WUDI VII nonevent web site.
| Our Chadwick guide, Stewart Hall
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E-Mail me at:jejb@att.net to get on the list.
Please check out the sponsorship page.
NEW stuff
Jeb's Wudi VII Ride Report
End of NEW stuff
Last minute info for the folks going to Chadwick. Stewart says the road going back to the pavillion where we usually park has gotten really bad. He said he drags getting back in there with his suburban and trailer. I think they're letting that road go so that they can "encourage" folks to use the new fee camping area.
So we've decided to meet at the "Camp Ridge" area for riding and camping. That's about a mile north of the main Chadwick entrance. It's right on the blacktop. My only concern about the Camp Ridge spot is that I believe the sign says day use area only or something. Stewart says they have an area for campers but, if we get kicked out, we may just end up in the main campground near the pavillion. I know, it's confusing. Point is, if we're not in the Camp Ridge, you may have to do some sluething to find us.
Another sponsor has joined up! Cycle Hutt from Bismarck, North Dakota has donated some door prizes, too. See the sponsor page for a link. It's appreciated!
Check out the newest Wudi thread on Jim's Talking Smack "Ride Headquarters" forum. Some great details in there. Thanks Jim!
We picked up another sponsor, Motosports Factory in Waukesha, Wisconsin. See the sponsor page for a link. Thanks much!
Well, the bad news first. Girard Lall will not be able to make the trip after
all. Since he was the one holding the Fish Fry, that is not going to happen.
Looks like Deb's gumbo is going to go fast again this year! ;-)
At this point, we're still officially going to Chadwick instead of the Bull
Creek area. But I got some directions to the new area from Stewart and put them
in the directions page just in case. So anyone hanging around for the Missouri
end of the trip, make sure you print those out in case we get to go to the new
place at the last minute. Stewart may find out more tonight, 2/17/05 about this.
We will be having a tire raffle to benefit the ADR. Jack Bondhus of Road, Track
and Trail is donating a front and rear tire set that we will sell raffle tickets
for at $5 a piece. He'll let the winner pick the set they want from Michelin,
Pirelli, etc offroad tires. All proceeds will go to the ADR so please
participate if you can. They're good enough to host us so it'd be nice to give
something back.
Had a nice talk with Jim yesterday, 02/15/05, and he
and the ADR are really working hard on the trails. They've been up arrowing the trails
for us so we can be more self guided this year. The trails are mostly just
arrowed at the intersections, which should be plenty for a trail ride. Jim does
want everyone to go on a guided tour first to get familiar with the arrowing
system and the layout. But here's what he did tell me about how he's running it.
There are 3 loops not including the beginners loop just off the camping area.
The C loop is about 11 miles and goes around the mountain rather than over it.
It'll be marked with blue arrows on white backgrounds.
The B loop is about 21 miles and goes through the middle of the riding area.
There will be an option for going up Big Nasty on this loop. They used the Moose
arrows for this one that are the black arrows on orange backgrounds.
The A loop is 20+ miles and runs with the B loop at first. It splits off and
does Long Ridge, the Autobahn, etc. It'll be marked with red arrows on white
backgrounds.
The roads are two way and you could meet any manner of ATV, horse, vehicle, etc
so TAKE IT EASY anytime you're on a road.
The roads going in are in good shape. There's one slightly muddy spot but Jim
says they're in better shape than last year and I thought they were fine last
year. He will be bringing the campfire barrels. There will be no fires outside
of those barrels.
Looks like the Gumbo feed is on for Saturday night. More details at the ride. Feel free to bring something to pass.
Click here to see the the hotel/accommodations information page.
Here's a page with maps and driving instructions.
We're looking at riding in a different place on the Missouri end of the
trip this year. There's a ranch where they have about 30 miles of tight
Chadwick type riding. There may be a small daily fee associated with
riding there but you won't need to buy a Chadwick permit, unless you
ride there, too. At this point, this is not at all for sure. We'll just have to
take it a day at a time on this.
Here's what Stewart "TTG" Hall says about it:
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It is not real beginner friendly though, it is doable but it will kick
your ass,it is Chadwick before ATV's were made. It is TST for the most
part with some transfer sections. It is a 30 mile loop and about 20-23
miles are TST.
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I've gotten several emails from folks that have ridden there and love it
and would like to ride there instead of Chadwick. Stewart is trying to get
this setup for us.
Jim has offered to let us use his "Talking Smack" forum for the Wudi ride discussions.
Here's a link to his
board. I started a thread under the Ride Headquarters forum. You'll have to get an
id if you don't already have one but it's free and easy to do.
The 7th annual Wudi ride is going to take place at the Train Robbers enduro trails near Hot Springs, Arkansas. See the links above for directions. We will start the festivities on the last weekend in Feb this year, 2/25-28. Jim says he plans on folks wanting to ride on Friday and Monday and the club is okay with that. Much thanks to the Arkansas Dirt Riders (ADR) for letting us come back to ride the TR trails and prepping the trails! I plan to be there Friday.
Jim says the following about the TR trails:
"The Train Robbers trail is a combination of rocks and dirt. Not as
mountainous as Cass or Chadwick, but there are some real climbs. The
riding area is on the first real foothills of the Ouachita Mtns. I
would say to wear soft to intermediate tires. I will either use 756 or
S-12 tires. A M-12 front will work very well."
There is camping at the TR trails but we will not be able to have open fires there. Jim brought some fire barrels last year so hopefully we'll be able to use those again this year.
After the weekend at WRM, we'll move up to Chadwick, MO, aka "The Rock", for a few days during the week. This
area is just SE of Springfield, MO. Stewart "Two Toes Gone" Hall will be the local trail ride guru at Chadwick. Stewart's club maintains trails, sets up the HS and Enduro held at Chadwick and rides there often. He's a great guy and a hotshoe A rider. You have not ridden at Chadwick until you've followed Stewart there!
Chadwick has a well developed and marked trail system. It's very rocky but not like boulders or anything. Mostly planted flat rocks with a lot of loose rock/large gravel in some areas. I love riding down there but it's hard on tubes and tires. Make sure you get thick tubes from Jim.
Speaking of which, it's time to plug our sponsor and namesake. Jim, for those of you who don't know, owns Smackover Motorsports in scenic Smackover, Ark. Click on his name or picture above to link to his website. He sells GasGas dirtbikes. Jim can get you almost any part for whatever bike you ride for great prices. He's a great guy who will give you the shirt off his back.
You can still see the real Jim by clicking on his name from the spodelist. ;-)
Chadwick requires a permit to ride. They may be purchased in the town of Chadwick. They've been working on the trails the last couple of years so make sure you ask for a current trailmap when you get your permit. Spark arrestors are also required at Chadwick. Permits for Chadwick were $5 per day and $35 per year last year. We will not need permits or stickers to ride at TR.
On the other Wudi trips, temps were mostly from near freezing at night to 50/60+ during the day. We're due for a warm one so keep those fingers crossed. Altitude will be up to 3000' so no rejetting should be required.
I've ridden both the TR robbers trails and at Chadwick and there are a lot of fun, fun riding at both areas. Should be a great combination for Wudi 6.
Email me, link at the bottom of the page, if you want to get on my e-mailing list for this event.
So just what is annual WUDI ride? Good question! It stands for the annual WUDsracer Invitational. "Wudsracer" is Jim's handle on the rec.motorcycles.dirt usenet group, which is where I first got to "know" him. It happens each year in February to let us northern types get some winter riding in. The only riding we get to do at that time of year is on snowmobiles up here in Minnesota. It's only open to whomever, oops, that's all ya'lls who can come so it's not much of an invitational, actually. Please pass the word on. The more, the merrier.
These events started when Jim Cook extended an invitation to my Yankee self and friends to come down south and ride. He's since come to regret the offer but he's too much of a gentleman to turn me down when I come begging each winter. It's grown from there into whatever it is now. This is NOT a full blown spodefest. I always try and round up some sponsors, too. Well, besides Jim who's been sponsoring this ride since '99. We did pretty well last year on sponsors and lots of folks got some nice swag.
I talked to Jim at length about tubes and tires. He says:
I like the Kenda Unadilla/Milleville (same tire). I am selling these for
$40/front 21" and $50 for the rear. I've been using one of these on the front of my bike
for the last 4 months, and it has done very well. Some really like the rear tire,
and some do not. I like the Bridgestone M402 rear at the TR property, but it is a
"full priced" tire. I can do a three tire deal with Dunlops, with 1 front and two rears for $167
(100/100-18" rears), $172 (100/90-19" or 110/100-18), or $177 (110/90-19" rears)
You should run very heavy tubes in both tires. Moose Super Tubes are, in my opinion, great tubes and Jim does sell them. MSR Ultra Heavy tubes are a good choice, too. There would be no shipping charges on stuff you have Jim bring along for you and maybe no tax. You'd have to talk to him for specifics. Give him a call at 870-725-3966 to place your orders or click on his picture at the top of this page to go to his web site.
Jim also carries a full line of Moose/DP brake pads, barkbusters, lenses, goggles, roll-offs, and most anything that you could want for your bike. Just let him know what you want, ahead of time, if possible.
Post your questions and suggestions on the Smackover Bulletin Board that I linked to above.
Links:
Click here to go to the 2004 WUDI VI web page.
Click here to go to the 2003 WUDI V web page.
Click here to go to the 2002 WUDI IV web page.
David Jones' RMD page: http://www.motosports-boise.com/rmd/
Chadwick map.
This is where Chadwick, MO is. You can camp there, stay in Ozark or in the Branson area.
This web site was built by John Brunsgaard aka jeb.
E-Mail:jejb@att.net
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