Another 3 High Rides Rider

James Holt of Knoxville, shown here at the observation tower at Brasstown Bald on June 8th, is the latest to lay claim to a 3 High Rides shirt. James rode Mt Mitchell and Clingman's Dome on September 15 and 16th last fall, and only needed a ride down to Georgia to complete the trio.  Looks like he picked a great day to do it. Jame's ride is a 2008 BMW R1200GS.

Haulin' For Holly Tag Team Hare Scramble

June 23rd, There will be a 2 hour Tag Team Hare Scramble and Fun Ride to raise money for the Penny F. Garrett Sarcoma Foundation for Cancer research. This ride is in Honor of Holly Miller, a cancer survivor, and Steve's daughter. The ride will be held on Steve's property in Lenoir City, and is limited to 80 riders. No exceptions. The cost is a $25 donation, and lunch is provided. Sign up is at 7:00am , and the race starts at 9:00am. Racers names will be put into a hat, and names drawn at random. For more info and directions e-mail Steve Lewis at llewis3066@aol.com

ITSA Trials at Joe Terry's farm

This past Sunday I rode in my first Trials event at the ITSA (International Twin Shock Assoc) event that local legend "Pappa Joe" Terry graciously hosted at his place in Lenoir City. The "Twin Shock" designation means that this is pretty much a vintage trials organization.  Being Twin Shock also means that this was more old school trials than modern. No huge jumps, big rocks, or anything that could break you or your bike in half if you didn't make it.

 About a year and a half ago I picked up a 86 Honda Reflex to play on, so I had one of the newest bikes there. These old Reflex's came as a Trials / Dual Sport bike. They are decent trials bikes, but horrible dual sports. I took off the street stuff, geared it lower, and moved the foot pegs to make it more trial worthy. Due to work travels I wasn't able to get practiced up as much as I wanted before the event. My total trials riding experience consisted of tight figure 8's around tree stumps in the back yard, and 1 ride at Joe's. Perfect. Lets go jump in the deep end!

The course had been laid out the day before with ribbon, and sections were rated A,B,C,D, with A being the hardest. As a first time novice I rode the C and D sections. You made three loops of the course, and each loop included 5 C and 5 D sections, for a days total of 30 sections. 
Of course the whole idea of trials is to "Clean" a section, ride though it without dabbing (touching your foot), stopping, rolling backwards, or crashing. I did manage to clean a few sections throughout the day, but I scored a lot more 5's (max) than I did 0's. I had a real hard time breaking my dirt bike habit of touching the ground, and some turns were just beyond my novice skills.  I told my mentor (Dan) that I had a 3 touchdown lead after the first loop! He said that I seemed to be a little confused on the whole scoring thing!

 I got paired up with two great guys, long time trials rider Bruce Carmon from Hendersonville TN. who was riding a super cool, tricked out, 1968 BSA Bantam, and Darren Shepard of Elizabethton TN who was also on a Reflex, and also in his first event. The catch was Darren had rode a Reflex years ago, and had just now got back into riding. Both of them rode great, didn't mind that I rode bad, and we had a whole lot of fun. I was really appreciative of Bruce for taking a newby like me under wing.

 Darren and Bruce checking out Bruce's BSA

Butch (left) and Dan (right) check out Kenny's recently restored TY175

Trials riding is extremely fun, and not at all like riding a regular dirt bike. The body english that you have to use made me aware that I need to get some of those core muscles I hear people talk about. Heck, I was sore before I went to bed that night! Move slow, hold your body at some weird angle, it's sort of like Motorcycle Yoga. 

 If you like playing around on a dirt bike and want a new challenge, I highly recommend you give trials a try. The ITSA folks are eager to introduce new people to the sport, and everyone does all they can to help you out. It was a ton of fun. I'll definately do it again. 

 






 

Vol Riders Getting Ready for Fathers Day Weekend Ride

This past weekend some of the Volunteer Riders went out to scout the route for the upcoming ride on the Saturday before Fathers Day. (16th). Shown here are Brian, Bart, Isaac, and Steve. The five of us endured a horribly Sunny day of temperatures in the mid to upper 70's riding 50 plus miles of great trails. Hey, if your club is going to host an event, you've got to do the work! Actually, there is a reason to pre-ride the trails, because things change. One trail had been "compromised" by a logging operation, and one trail had been blocked by a huge tree that had fallen within the past few days.

 

By the end of the day we had figured out a great route, some bypasses that can be used if needed, and some great views. The ride on the 16th should be a good one. Hope you can make it!

Ted and Dana make the 3 High Rides

Ted Visscher and his girlfriend Dana Tucker of Knoxville Tn, are the first couple to tell us of their 3 High Ride adventure. Ted and Dana did the trip over two days, starting with Clingmans Dome and Mt Mitchell the first day, and the second day cruising down to Brasstown Bald. Ted was on a 07 BMW650GS Dakar, and Dana made the trip on a 96 Honda 250 Rebel! (The smallest bike yet to make the ride). Ted said their total trip was right at 500 miles. Here is a picture of them and their bikes on Mt Mitchell.