See my Facility Rating of Two Wheels of Suches.
Overall, we encountered dirt roads such as in the next photo, very rough, rutted (washed) dirt roads, thick gravel covered roads and red clay that was very slippery, especially when it was wet. There were only a couple very simple water crossings on Sunday, although I caught a couple riders making it hard (see photos later in this post). The Saturday route included about 4-5 miles of the Wisenhunt recreational OHV area. That was single track and as you'd expect that was quite gnarly back in there. I got terribly lost taking a bad turn after my ride group totally abandoned me. Another guy did the same thing and we ultimately worked our way out. On sunday there was a hairy-scary jeep trail that had many steep inclines/declines and wicked water rutting...adventure bikes were asked to bypass. It wasn't as bad as the OHV single track but I wouldn't have wanted to do it on my 600 pound Super10. There are a lot of ways to go down, even for experienced riders. Assume you're going to fall and then think about your ability to get the bike back up in unlevel, rutty, soft situations.
My friend Howard Alexander from Lauderdale...left...who I met on the rally circuit a year ago. He just told me he was 69 years old. I need to be riding these rallies in 11 years (and beyond) too.
Torch, far right on the WR, lost it on gravel about 5 miles into the Saturday ride and ended up getting an ambulance ride to the Gainsville, Georgia hospital with six broken ribs, busted up shoulder and a bruised lung. As of this writing, he's still there.
Didn't see it happen, don't know exactly what happened. These things can be dangerous...they need 100% of your concentration! There were other broken bone level injuries on this rally...a total of three got ambulance rides to a hospital.
Lunch Saturday. On Sunday we were back at TWS for lunch before heading back out for the rest of the day.
I blew out my right AlpineStar Scout at Devils Creek back in March and then the left side here at the Hooch! I was carrying my shit-kicker wellingtons so those carried me through. Otherwise, I'da been riding with my sneekers.
I fixed the right with JBWeld, worked good so I'll use that on the left side.
Next two photos...
Okay, sitting there at second Sunday river crossing. A CRF230 seeming to be making a pass attempt on a BMW G450X right in the river bounces off the left side of the beemer and down the creek bed. Turns out dad was on the BMW and his young daughter was on the Honda. I'm sure they had some discussions later in the day.
More crossings...
This photo does not do justice to how steep that embankment is (like 110 feet) and how precariously hanging the jeep is. We couldn't see what was holding it up.
It was a great event. Hosted by Gartra, Georgia Recreational Trail Riders Association.
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