JEB’s Wudi VIII Ride Report

We came, we shivered, but we rode!

I’d like to thank Jim Cook and the ADR (Arkansas Dirt Riders) right up front for the tremendous amount of work they put in for this event. Jim and others spent several weekends before the event clearing and marking trails. Thanks guys!!

I got to the Train Robbers area Wednesday night around dark. I was the first one in camp so no hurry getting the RV setup. It was a much shorter drive for me as I’d moved from Rochester, MN to Rogers, Ark this last late summer. I wanted to be there early to enjoy Thursday as the forecast beyond that really was not pretty. When I got up on Thursday, two of my old dirt bike club mates from MN had arrived. It was great to see Lynn and Tom.

It was a very nice day for riding so we got on the trail as soon as we could. We did the long A loop which is about 33 miles all told. The A loop had some great single track trails and one of the big ridge trails on it. Not “Big Nasty” ridge, though. They added a really cool ½ mile off camber technical section to this loop this year. Challenging but fun.

It was a little overcast but highs were in the 70+ range. Lynn has a KTM200E with an auto-clutch and we switched off for a bit. He’s done a nice job setting the bike up and I had a lot of fun riding it. I have my 06 KTM 300 XC-W pretty well dialed finally. It took a long time to get it there, though. I finally have the jetting set to “tractor” mode and the suspension just stays planted and driving.

When we got back to camp, more folks had arrived and the camp was starting to look lived in. It’s already been a couple of weeks so you’ll have to excuse the fact that I don’t remember everyone I rode with on each ride. We went out for an afternoon/evening ride. I’m pretty sure I was riding with Jonathon Wright and he was showing us some of the trails not on the marked course. He’s a club member and knows the trails really well so we had a great ride.

Not much in heavy festivities Thursday night but it was sure a nice day. Friday was quite a bit colder but still a high of around 40 or so and no precip so we were counting our blessings and putting miles on. Jim held a riders meeting to explain the lay of the trails and introduce some of the ADR like Jerry and Jim Holub.

Jerry led our group around the A trail and another club member, Dave I believe, rode shotgun. It was a good group and everyone stayed up pretty well. Dave ended up getting hurt up on the last ridge trail, though. I’m not sure how bad it was but it was his shoulder. He toughed it out and was able to ride back to camp. I didn’t hear about his condition the rest of the ride, though. Hope he’s okay.

I had an issue with my bike late on this loop. It kind of just got flat at upper RPM’s/WFO. Felt like the clogged screen I had on my EE SA down there last year. But that was not the issue. I checked to make sure the main hadn’t fallen out, changed the spark plug, changed out the silencer and pipe, etc. Finally figured out that it was a pin that had fallen out of the power valve arm. I eventually got that back in with Lynn and Tom’s help.

I finally rode the full B loop Friday afternoon. Up “Big Nasty” with lots of rocky ridge trail and single track. You can tell the quads have been using the trails more as they are getting wider. A common problem for us single trackers. I guess they think they’re doing us a favor or something. But the trails were still a lot of fun and the loop ended way too quickly.

Friday night was Miss Debbie’s chili feed and it was GREAT stuff! Had a really good bite to it. A little too much for some of the Yankee’s, I think. :-0 Lots of folks had arrived Friday afternoon. More than I thought would be there given the forecast, actually. Many of the folks from up north didn’t make it because they were having a pretty good snowstorm up in the upper Midwest. I know they got over 10” of snow in MN where I used to live. It looked like a pretty good attendance at that point, all things considered. There was some visiting around the fires that night. And the fires felt good. A cold wind was blowing! But it was nice to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.

We finally got the storm. We woke to a sleet covered area on Saturday. The ground wasn’t frozen yet but it sure didn’t look or feel nice. Everett and Keith talked me into going for a ride so a few of us took off. All the ruts were full of water and it didn’t take too long to have my boots full of water. Fox Forma’s are NOT very water resistant once broken it. We completed the B loop and had a pretty good time. Traction was not too bad, really. But my feet were frozen! That was the one and only ride for me on Saturday.

Many folks decided to pack it in at that point and head off to home, the St. Louis SX, other riding areas, etc. Can’t say as I blame them but the driving must have been terrible. Ark does not have the equipment to deal with snow and ice the way northern states do. They get the job done but you have to give them time.

Saturday was suppose to be the Gumbo feed and Fish Fry but Girard was unable to make it so those of us that were left enjoyed Patrick Hollier’s chicken and sausage Gumbo. It was outstanding stuff! Felt great on a cold night, too. Thanks much, Patrick! The fire barrels were popular that night, as you can imagine. We had some locals come through camp that evening in pickups just mudding. They were having a high ol’ time of it, too. Redneck games, I guess.

Since many/most of the door prizes didn’t arrive because of the restricted attendance, we just decided to not have a give away or raffle this year. That was a bummer as we raised some good money to help the club defray costs last year. I’d still like to thank all the sponsors we had this year, even though I’ll be sending back the stuff I’d gotten.

It was fairly cold over night on Saturday so the ground had frozen a bit by morning. I decided to put the Trelleborgs on. Why not? They’re already mounted on rims and in the trailer at all times so it wasn’t much work to do. Outside of having to melt all the ice off my bike from the day before. Double burner Mr. Heater did the job there. I also chose the Sidi SRS’s for this day. MUCH better. Dry feet all day, which was a huge relief. And traction was awesome with the Trelly’s so I was all set.

We did 2 more loops Sunday and had a good time considering. John was riding a 400 or 450 KTM with a trials tire and was really staying up well. I figured that might be a bit more squirrelly in the ice and snow but not so. All those rocks sure took a toll on the Trelly’s but I was glad to have them on. The ground in the woods hadn’t frozen as much as the open areas but there were still a lot of frozen and slick spots.

Not many folks were around by the end of the day, though. I’d say 90% had pulled out by then. I was suppose to ride Monday too but there was no way I was going up to Brock Creek with the conditions and since I didn’t know if I could get the RV in there. I decided to leave Monday and get home a day early. I was leaving for an extended business trip the following Monday so I wanted to get home and get stuff done anyway.

I had a great time at Wudi this year but the weather sure didn’t do us any favors. This is the worst few days of weather I’ve seen since moving to Arkansas. It’s usually sunny and dry. Hopefully we’ve paid our dues for years to come after this! The bad weather continues to follow me, though. I’ve been in San Jose, CA for 9 days and it’s not rained only one of them. Chilly, too.

To those that attended this year, it was great to see you again or meet you. To those that weren’t able to make it, we missed you and hope to see you next year. To the ADR and Jim, again, thanks so much for putting on the event. I really appreciate all the work you guys went to.

John - jeb