Brian A. Hopkins
Two-Wheeled Terror?
Some Pics from the
CrossTimbers Riding Area
(Lake Stanley Draper, Oklahoma
City, 25 Feb 2006)
Here I am with the new CRF in the parking lot, waiting for the other loons to show up. When they got there, they said my little fanny pack looked gay, but I didn't have any place else to carry my wallet, permit, and junk. (BTW, all photos on this page are courtesy of Chris Marlow, the only one who brought along a camera.)
Rich shows up and immediately starts working on his DR-Z125 ... something about a footpeg that he bent crashing in a race the weekend before. See, I'm not the only one that crashes! Of course, what Rich may or may not tell you is that he actually crashed in the practice lap, before the race ever started ... TWICE. Ha! Rich and I swapped bikes for a few minutes that day. Pretty sweet little 125, but his bar risers made the bike feel a bit awkward for me. Sounds awesome with that BBR exhaust and seems to be making a good bit more power than stock. If my daughter ever rides Rich's DR-Z, she's going to want to upgrade hers...
"Better let me help you with that, Rich. You're liable to hurt yourself." That's Chris's DR-Z400 in the foreground. You might recall it from our Moab trip. He's changed a few things since then ... most notably, the black side panels (losing the cool "007" stickers that were there before) -- still has the funky eyes on the headlight shroud, though. Some of the trails through the woods at Crosstimbers are extremely tight, but Chris did okay on the big DR-Z. You won't be catching me there on my F650GS, though. The CRF seems to be the right size for dodging oak trees.
This is Garrett. He works with the rest of us at Tinker (but try not to hold that against him). He rides a monstrous Yamaha 550 ... TWO STROKE! This thing is a beast. Garrett's a big guy, but even so it took him five or six high jumps to kick start this leviathan. (I just push the nifty little button on the CRF. Ha.) Don't try to keep up with Garrett in the dirt ... Trust me on this; you'll only wind up hurting yourself. Of course, he's a young whippersnapper compared to the rest of us old farts ... probably wasn't even sore for days afterwards like I was. ::sigh::
Chris decides he just has to have a photo of Garrett with his pants down around his ankles. Draw your own conclusions.
There I go on the little Honda...
...with Garrett hot on my heels (no doubt because he let me get in front of him). "Stay in the saddle, Garrett!" Note the hydration pack. What is it with these guys always wanting to stay hydrated, instead of allowing their bodies to naturally dry up like an old prune?
There I go chasing Rich over a hill and down through a nice bermed corner....
...and here comes Garrett, still flying that leg in the air. I think he was trying to mark the poles as he went by. These pics were all taken on the big, open dirt track area at CrossTimbers. Chris didn't take any pics in the woods. I think he had his hands full. Also, the trails are so tight that there's not really any place to pull over and shoot. We had a good day of riding. As far as I know, Chris and Garrett stayed vertical the whole time (though I did see Chris almost go down). I crashed once when my front tire crested a berm. Had another scary moment when I got airborne, lost it on the landing, and nearly went over the bars. And I took a wee bit of an excursion into some underbrush. Rich smacked a tree and went down, but no one saw it. ("If a motorcycle falls in the woods and there's no one to see it...")
And that's it for CrossTimbers photos. Sorry. We were there to ride. Want to know more about the CrossTimbers Riding Area at Lake Draper? Here's the website: http://www.lakedraper.com/OffRoadRiding.htm
After riding at CrossTimbers, I added EMGO Pro handguards to the CRF. They're aluminum wrapped in plastic. There were several times when I thought I was going to smack my hand on a passing tree on the tight trails, which would have resulted in a crash and a broken hand. Can't ride with a broken hand, doncha know, so we had to do something about that. Had to put something appropriate on the number plate, too. Not sure yet what I'll be putting on the side plates. I also removed the intake baffle, drilled out the exhaust baffle, and changed the main jet, pilot jet, and needle in the carb to get a bit more umpf out of the bike.
See ya on the trails somewhere soon...
Brian A. Hopkins
at Road's End, Oklahoma City
4 April 2006