2014 March Moto Madness Ride
I learned of March Moto Madness by complete accident... but after seeing the promotional video below (filmed at the 2013 event), I decided I absolutely wanted to make it this year. The event is held in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, near the Smokey Mountains, at a large private campground. I rode down Thursday on my KTM 990 Adventure, rode dirt and gravel most of Friday and Saturday, and then my plan was to meet my dad on Sunday to take a few days to ride home.
Having just performed some preventative maintenance on the bike over the winter, I was hoping it was ready for this big of an event. For me it was a 420 mile ride down, followed by a few hundred miles of abuse off road, and then anywhere from 1000-1500 miles of pavement again going back north.
The only ride-specific modification I made was a more aggressive front tire. I replaced my hardly worn K60 front tire with a new Michelin T63. I'll put the K60 back on after the ride, but, for as little as the T63 cost, it was more than worth it for the increased fun-factor on the trails down there.
My ride started from Columbus at 7am on Thursday. Because it was only 420 miles, and I had all day, my route avoided interstate freeways. It was 28 degrees when I left home, and a couple hours in, I found myself riding in freezing rain. It didn't last long, and eventually I hit the Ohio River. I opted for a $3 ferry crossing rather than a boring old bridge. I crossed into Augusta Kentucky.
The temperature quickly broke 40 in Kentucky... and the rest of the ride down was so uneventful, I can't seem to remember much of it at all. I do recall, the first other motorcycle I saw wasn't until I was down within 30 miles of the rally. Then. at the gas stations near the rally site, I started seeing piles of bikes. I arrived, registered quickly, and went to setup camp. I setup in a half full axillary field, about a quarter mile from the party barn.
Worth noting, after setting up my tent, I pulled my hard luggage and luggage racks off. I figure, if I drop the bike out of the trails, I'd rather scratch some plastic, than bend metal. I love the quick release luggage racks.
I wanted to take off for an hour or so ride after I got my tent setup, but I decided, after the 9 hour ride down, it was best to just walk around the place, and watch it fill up.
As expected... the place continued filling up all afternoon.
The wind began picking up, and I quickly realized that my rain-fly took flight with every gust. It would inflate like a parachute, and lift a good 12" above the tent. This wouldn't be a big issue, but we were expecting some rain this evening, and with the rain-fly lifting, the top of my tent becomes exposed mesh. I addressed the situation after several beers; my tow rope was tied snug around the tent, to hold the rain fly down.
I also propped the bike up as a wind blocker.
Worked like a charm.
Friday had one group ride planned, an easy fire-road ride. I signed up, and met up with everyone in the morning. There was probably 50 riders, so we split up into two groups. I left towards the back of the first group; taking every opportunity to safely and slowly pass everyone, till I was with the ride leaders riding the fastest pace. It was still not a technical or difficult ride at all, but the leaders held an enjoyable pace, and I was sure to add my own elements, like sliding around nearly every corner, jumping rocks, and wheelying off ledges and over puddles.
We came across two trees down across the road. I keep a folding saw in my dirt-go-bag, so they were only minor delays.
Also worth mentioning, a KLR650 with a side car was on this ride. I was impressed! We even used the spare gas he keeps in the side car when a DRZ became overly thirsty.
About 120 miles later, we arrive back at the campground. Still mid afternoon, I went off to ride a bit more. I took a suggested route sheet for a shorter ride, and was about to head out alone, when I noticed a group of three, all suited up, and kicking their bikes into gear... I slid to a stop in front of them...
"Are you guys headed out for a ride?"
"Yeah, just a short one"
"Off-road?"
"Yeah, just some dirt and gravel... oh, and water crossings."
"Perfect!!! You mind if I tag along?"
"Cool, lets go!"
Turns out, just around the corner from the campground is the official start to the Trans-American-Trail, and within the first several miles, are 4 water crossings. We rode for another 20 or so miles.
Back at the campground, I blasted up a muddy hill climb, and took this picture looking over the rally.
Then I stepped in front of the bike, and took this picture:
And about that time, I hear a SLAM. The kickstand sank in the mud, and the bike hit the ground.
So, after 120 miles of sliding sideways and general hooliganism, then water crossings, then a hill climb... the bike hits the ground while sitting on the kickstand.
I pick it up and examine for damage... nothing noticeable at all, but it bent the end of the clutch lever. I roll back down to my camp site, and bend it most of the way back.
Stupid thing.
Then... a Trials demonstration:
Saturday had a variety of group rides planned. I was, without a doubt in my mind, planning on riding the "Big Bike Hard Ride". That's what I came for... a challenge, an adventure, and a story to tell after. That is... until I made the mistake of talking to the ride leader. Now, I try to keep these ride reports positive and all... but this part is a downer... He did a real good job of talking me out of going... and I listened, and succumbed to his negativity... and have regretted it ever since. I lay awake that night in my tent regretting it.
My tires weren't good enough. I wasn't going to be able to make it. I was going to hold everyone else up. Med-Flight out of there costs $25,000. I'm going to brake something. I'm going to get stuck.
These were a combination of what he was saying, and what I was processing in my mind. There was more, but whatever... moving on...
Long story short... I didn't go on the hard ride. I guess the blame is 100% mine; I made the initial poor decision to inquire what the ride would be like... and I made the final poor decision to not go. Talking to a couple guys who were man enough to freaking do it... they said "there were a few slick hill climbs, but other than that, it was fun! You could've made it".
The fact that this will forever be one of my most prominent memories of the event is extremely disappointing.
Done with the negativity...
So I ended up on another group ride Saturday. There was mass confusion in the morning... but I joined a group that was doing mostly fire roads again, but with a couple harder spots. It had already rained a bit this morning and more rain was in the forecast, so even simple dirt fire roads took on a level of difficulty higher than the previous day. I started in the back once more, and like the day before, negotiated my way towards the front. I was able to 'fall behind' the group once (pee break), and got to ride at mach speed to catch up. Despite it being only a couple minutes, it was one of the only parts of this whole event, that I actually rode "in the zone". At full 10 tenths, as fast, and as hard, as I can possibly ride. Two wheel sliding around corners, tunnel vision, not a care in the world whether both tires are making contact with the ground or not.
This about sums up "In The Zone":
Regardless... there is an obvious reason why I don't ride like that often... but every once in a while it's necessary.
So, after that distraction, and I catch back up to the group, next thing I know, we're at the bottom of a moderately steep, very muddy, hill. This is one of the two 'harder spots' on this ride. After a short break, I took off to hit this hill climb. I'll admit, some assistance was necessary at the very bottom, where it was very hard and slick (wet clay), but once moving, and once my rear tire could dig into the soft deep mud, I took off, and hammered up the hill. It was a blast, there were several rain bars cut into it, which I used to catch some air. I enjoyed it enough to come back down to the bottom. I then helped some other bikes who were having trouble, and when about everyone else was up, I flew up once more. Good stuff.
The other harder spot was a hill climb that was fairly rocky, with some ruts.
In the end, the ride lasted well into the afternoon, and the rain didn't let up much. The temperature started dropping, and everyone was about ready to be back. It was another 130 mile day I think.
Back to camp. The rain stopped for a bit, but the temperature was dropping. Dinner... Awards.... Raffle.... Then more rain. Many of us crashed early this night.
Here are my random 'rally' pictures:
The rain had moved on by morning, so I packed everything up and headed to breakfast. Huevos Rancheros. It was excellent... like all the food that was served at the rally.
Then off to the nearby gas station to contact my dad and find out where we were meeting.
The original plan was to meet in Memphis and spend a couple days riding through the Ozarks. Rain and snow delayed his departure by a day, so we went with plan B, meet in South Carolina, and stay a couple days with family down there. That meant I was to ride east... over the Cherohala Skyway, passed The Dragon, and through the Smokey Mountains. It was to be a good day! Unfortunately, it started with the realization that my rear brakes were gone! Gone gone!
I wore the pads out so quick, the pad material actually clogged the holes in the rotor. So here's a free tip, when you're brake pad shopping online, and you find the sets that are super-rediculously cheap, don't waste your time. Mine were long gone after just 1500 miles. Bummer. It's Sunday, so I'll look for a new set tomorrow, for now I'll just ride without using the rear brakes.
Several delays at the gas station... but eventually... I'm off! Headed up and over the Cherohala.
At the first scenic overlook I see tons of folks... cars, bikes, trailers... I normally pass on busy overlooks, there will be empty ones on up the road... but from the middle of the pack, I see someone flagging me down.
It was Shane! Only, I didn't know that yet... what I know was "It's that red-BMW guy from the rally". I spoke with many many people at that rally... including this guy. I specifically remembered him from the first group ride on Saturday. He made a point to ride behind me, because he noticed how much fun I was having (sliding and hitting rocks and puddles). He was keeping up just fine... I was impressed. Then we spoke several time this morning at the gas station.
Anyway about this time, I'm also noticing that the high elevation trees are beautifully covered in frost. It's pristine! He walked up to me and said "reports say snow and ice on the road ahead". It's probably 45 degrees and sunny... It didn't even occur to me that there could be snow and ice ahead. I told him that it's the route I have planned, and I'm gong to go for it... and I set off. 2000 feet elevation, the trees are snowy. 2500 feet, the sides of the road are very snowy... then around a corner... bam, the road was covered. I slid to a stop, threw the kickstand down, and started pondering. I'm 10 miles in; it's a 40 mile long road. I'm 2500 feet up; the road goes over 5000 feet. A VW pulled up (towing a couple dual sports from the rally) and said they were going for it.
Several delays at the gas station... but eventually... I'm off! Headed up and over the Cherohala.
At the first scenic overlook I see tons of folks... cars, bikes, trailers... I normally pass on busy overlooks, there will be empty ones on up the road... but from the middle of the pack, I see someone flagging me down.
It was Shane! Only, I didn't know that yet... what I know was "It's that red-BMW guy from the rally". I spoke with many many people at that rally... including this guy. I specifically remembered him from the first group ride on Saturday. He made a point to ride behind me, because he noticed how much fun I was having (sliding and hitting rocks and puddles). He was keeping up just fine... I was impressed. Then we spoke several time this morning at the gas station.
Anyway about this time, I'm also noticing that the high elevation trees are beautifully covered in frost. It's pristine! He walked up to me and said "reports say snow and ice on the road ahead". It's probably 45 degrees and sunny... It didn't even occur to me that there could be snow and ice ahead. I told him that it's the route I have planned, and I'm gong to go for it... and I set off. 2000 feet elevation, the trees are snowy. 2500 feet, the sides of the road are very snowy... then around a corner... bam, the road was covered. I slid to a stop, threw the kickstand down, and started pondering. I'm 10 miles in; it's a 40 mile long road. I'm 2500 feet up; the road goes over 5000 feet. A VW pulled up (towing a couple dual sports from the rally) and said they were going for it.
The longer I stood here taking pictures, the better the road was becoming. The sun was working very quickly. About this time I see another bike come sliding to a stop behind mine... it was Shane!
And then there were two of us!
Feeling better about my odds at this point, we decide to press on!
We make is several more miles. It was a serious struggle at times, but at this point we were laughing about it.
Then the road conditions worsened. I slid to a stop on the left side of the road, Shane made it a bit further before sliding to a stop on the right side of the road.
And then there were two of us!
Feeling better about my odds at this point, we decide to press on!
We make is several more miles. It was a serious struggle at times, but at this point we were laughing about it.
Then the road conditions worsened. I slid to a stop on the left side of the road, Shane made it a bit further before sliding to a stop on the right side of the road.
It was about this time he turned to me and said "Hey, I'm Shane by the way." We had a good laugh.
Unfortunately, the first several cars that passed us here (going the other way) were the same cars that had passed us already; they were all turning back. NOT GOOD. Then came my VW friends towing their trailer and dual sports. They couldn't make it. Everyone is telling us that the tire tracks completely disappear, and it turns to solid snow. We didn't want to turn back now... so we did what any reasonable man would do... we stood and stared at the problem. Then... A big Toyota truck, the likes of which I did not recognize! They stopped...
"Did you guys make it over the pass?"
"Yeah! We think we were the first; there were no tire tracks at all."
"Wow... Do you think we can make it?"
"[laughter] no."
More talk... then they left.
Another Truck! The conversation went similar, and we learned the road doesn't get any better for at least ten miles. They also didn't think we could make it.
But then...........
A PT Cruiser! An old couple pulls up, grinning ear to ear!
"Did you guys make it over the pass???"
"YEAH!"
"AWESOME!" (If a front wheel drive Chrysler can do it... I have a shed of hope again)
"We wouldn't have made it, but two big trucks were in front of us, and we just stayed in their tire tracks"
"If you were a risky kinda guy, you think you could make it over on one of these motorcycles?"
With out hesitation... this guys just blurts out "YEAH!!!"
And it was freaking ON! I threw my hands up in the air and cheered, and Shane shouted... WE'RE GOING FOR IT! We all laughed... and they wished us luck before continuing on.
Now, despite the fact that it will take away from our awesomeness... I should mention, about this time another bike pulled up. A monster BMW on TKC knobby tires. We spoke a bit, and he tore off again. Shane turned to me and informed be that it was Blair Young... GS Trophy Cup qualifier (he will be representing Team USA riding the BMW off road) and he also taught at the BMW performance center. So basically, we were just passed by adventure bike superman... I think I can live with that.
We pressed on! I'd get stuck and Shane would pass me... then he'd get stuck and I'd pass him... banked corners led to sliding sideways at 3 mph... Over the summit the snow was so deep it was hitting our foot pegs. It was awesome! We started back down the other side, and things cleared up fairly quick.
We blasted down to the bottom (probably 10-20 miles after the snow ended), and passed a snow plow headed the other way. We continued on to the Tail of the Dragon store for a quick break.
Unfortunately, the first several cars that passed us here (going the other way) were the same cars that had passed us already; they were all turning back. NOT GOOD. Then came my VW friends towing their trailer and dual sports. They couldn't make it. Everyone is telling us that the tire tracks completely disappear, and it turns to solid snow. We didn't want to turn back now... so we did what any reasonable man would do... we stood and stared at the problem. Then... A big Toyota truck, the likes of which I did not recognize! They stopped...
"Did you guys make it over the pass?"
"Yeah! We think we were the first; there were no tire tracks at all."
"Wow... Do you think we can make it?"
"[laughter] no."
More talk... then they left.
Another Truck! The conversation went similar, and we learned the road doesn't get any better for at least ten miles. They also didn't think we could make it.
But then...........
A PT Cruiser! An old couple pulls up, grinning ear to ear!
"Did you guys make it over the pass???"
"YEAH!"
"AWESOME!" (If a front wheel drive Chrysler can do it... I have a shed of hope again)
"We wouldn't have made it, but two big trucks were in front of us, and we just stayed in their tire tracks"
"If you were a risky kinda guy, you think you could make it over on one of these motorcycles?"
With out hesitation... this guys just blurts out "YEAH!!!"
And it was freaking ON! I threw my hands up in the air and cheered, and Shane shouted... WE'RE GOING FOR IT! We all laughed... and they wished us luck before continuing on.
Now, despite the fact that it will take away from our awesomeness... I should mention, about this time another bike pulled up. A monster BMW on TKC knobby tires. We spoke a bit, and he tore off again. Shane turned to me and informed be that it was Blair Young... GS Trophy Cup qualifier (he will be representing Team USA riding the BMW off road) and he also taught at the BMW performance center. So basically, we were just passed by adventure bike superman... I think I can live with that.
We pressed on! I'd get stuck and Shane would pass me... then he'd get stuck and I'd pass him... banked corners led to sliding sideways at 3 mph... Over the summit the snow was so deep it was hitting our foot pegs. It was awesome! We started back down the other side, and things cleared up fairly quick.
We blasted down to the bottom (probably 10-20 miles after the snow ended), and passed a snow plow headed the other way. We continued on to the Tail of the Dragon store for a quick break.
We headed out of the Smokey Mountains and onto the interstate for the rest of the day. My lack of rear brake was not doing well in the twisties, and we both lost a couple of hours playing in the snow. I blasted to Greenville, and he continued to Charlotte.
I hit the road with my dad Tuesday morning. We had a couple days to get back to Ohio, and no clue as to our route. I have a suggested route that took us up the Blue Ridge Parkway, and then over to US-23 north of Johnson City. First stop was a KTM shop for rear brake pads! This turned out to be a fiasco; apparently KTM dirt bike dealership computers show the wrong part number for 990 adventure rear brakes. In the end, we simply went to a KTM dealership, and I handed them my worn out pad, and they came back with replacements. For what it's worth... the KTM 990 Adventure rear brake pads are the same as nearly all smaller KTM dirt bike front brake pads (and Husqvarna, and BMW G450X, and several others). I swapped them out in the parking lot, and we were off... to Asheville, to pickup the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Unfortunately, about 50 of the 60 miles we were going to ride on the Blue Ridge was closed... so we ended up on other roads.
The route took us up Rt 421 "The Snake" near Boone, NC. A very twisty and scenic route from Mountain City to Bristol. We figured we'd find a place to stay in Bristol. We were surprised to find no such thing. Bristol didn't have much of anything relating to accommodations. The closest thing we found to a restaurant (not fast food) was Applebees.
But they do have a gigantic race track... of which we found a way in.
We found refuge in nearby Kingsport; a hotel room, BBQ, and beer. It wasn't a record breaking day... probably only around 300 miles, but we were out a good 10 hours or so.
The only other car in the parking lot opted to squeeze in next to us.
Wednesday took us straight up US-23, from Kingsport, into Columbus. Another 300 mile day, but only around 7 hours. Uneventful... they were calling for rain, but we didn't see any. The temperature dropped the further north we went; from nearly 75, down to close to 50.
And then we were home. And another trip was completed!
My front tire was still in great shape after around 1700 miles (the majority of which were on pavement). I had no real issues. I wore out the cheap rear brake pads (and replaced them)... my chain is due for replacement, but I knew that before this trip. The rear tire (Heidenau K60) is probably a bit past 50% worn, but it has nearly 6,000 miles on it now.
