Backroads Touring - September 26, 2009

September 26, 2009 ... Broomweed Bloom in the Flint Hills. We had fourteen riders gather in Cassoday to ride today including; Steve Starkel - Bel Aire - Cagiva, Jeff Gilliland - Wichita - BMW GS1150, Jeremy Duerksen - Hillsboro - XR650L, Bob Morgan - Topeka - DR-Z400, David McCune - Independence, MO - KLR650, Ken Clifford - Wichita - DR650, Darin Rafferty - Overland Park - WR250R, Lonny Mendenhall - Wichita - KLR650, Thurman Brittingham - Rose Hill - KLX250S, Phil Denk - KCMO - KLR650, Chris Owens - Garden Plain - KLX250S, Glen Krause - Emporia - KLX250S, Dena Weber - Westphalia - BMW 650 X-Country, Larry Weber - Westphalia - BMW X-Challenge, and Roger Baugh - Wichita - KLX250S.

Steve and Jeff rode only the paved portions today, as they were getting their bikes checked out for a "long hauler" the following weekend. The rest of us jumped off-pavement a mile out of Cassoday, with the intended point being the ghost town of Clements, roughly twenty miles away. The going got rough approximately five miles into the ride, where the roads turned greasy from the overnight saturation of rain. One rider went down, no injury to rider or damage to the bike.

The mud conditions did call for a much slower pace, and we needed to alter the route in order to make Cottonwood Falls in time for brunch. It still meant 20-25 miles riding through some very sloppy conditions ... so we were fairly "adrenalized", covered in mud, and very hungry by the time we finally arrived!

Sue Smith, owner of the Emma Chase Cafe', put on a great spread for us, and we ate well! The effects of sun and wind had substantially dried the roads by the time we were ready to ride again, so we headed south out of Cottonwood Falls to Den Creek Road, then on to Bazaar, where we picked up the Sharpes Creek Road and open range riding. We rode towards Matfield Green, then picked up Little Cedar Creek Road and Madison road, transiting to Texaco Hill. Heading south, we rode to Teter Rock. Leaving Teter Rock, we then rode further south to Lapland, then headed west through the 777 Ranch region.

Six miles out of Cassoday, we discovered that Darin's Yamaha had a rather large nail embedded in his rear tire. Crossing our fingers, we first attempted making the repair with the wheel still mounted, popping open enough space to allow the tube to be pulled out and inspected. Darin found a single puncture, and was able to patch the tube, reinsert, spoon back on, and become fully mobile again ..... without the hassles and time required of a wheel / chain / disk caliper disassembly and reassembly. Total repair downtime was maybe 10-15 minutes.

We had great group chemistry going, the scenery was fantastic, and everyone made it through the difficult moments exceptionally well. The knowledge shared by the experienced riders to the "mud novices" included; shifting weight from the seat to the pegs to lower the overall center of gravity and better maintain balance and control, light touch on the steering and throttle, and weight shifted rearward to unload the front wheel and give the rear tire better "bite". The tips were helpful, we had minimal "get-offs" when there could have been more ...

I checked the tripmeter, 252 miles on the KLX250s ... a long and satisfying day in the saddle.

... rb

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