After reading some of the other posts, how about sharing yor favorite riding areas with the rest of the group? I've noticed some people like to travel to ride. A comprehensive list of public or even private places to ride could help in planning a vacation, or even lead to maybe a gathering of like minded people. Give it a shot.[^]:)[:p]
Here is one place I have ridden for 5 years now. It is very good, if not exceptional. It used to be leased by the Austin Motosports Club (AMSA), but now, the owners of the property manage it now. However, it is a premier place to ride off-road. Located in Central Texas about 75 miles east of Austin.
http://www.cherokeecyclepark.com/
AMSA also has leased private property in several places in Central Texas. Most are about 50 miles south and east of Austin. Members can bring guests to the properties. If you are in the area and don't mind riding a Honda CR500, you can enjoy a day of fast fun time. Ahh I am just picking... I'll ride the 500 ...if you prefer a wimpy Honda CRE 250. However, in whatever time it takes to ship here to Texas, I should have in my garage, a 1980 KTM 250 that I have purchased from Tom Brosius. You can have your cake and eat it too with this bike.
The Red River area north of Dallas.... Put it this way, the place is so awesome, I used to drive from SC to Dallas and then north to the riding area that the Red River Enduro Riders have on the border of Texas and Oklahoma to ride for a weekend. When I was offered a job at Dell, first question I asked...how close are you to Muenster, Texas?
Freddie
Yeah! Anybody in the Maryland, N. Virginia or southern PA area with a good spot to meet up with some more Penton People?
JE
You can meet some at the York vintage swap meet on Jan. 22. Even get to visit with Pres. Danik.
Lew Mayer
Will be there!
Come on now, Texas is the only state that has a decent riding area??Or nobody wants to share?;) There are alot of members in this organization, but only a small percent seem to contribute. Youre not all riding in your backyard??[8D] Or are you? Somewhere, anywhere??Step up and share.[^][^]
Hi all, new member to POG, this will be my 5th year going to York swapmeet, would like to meet the Vets of POG, is anyone bringing any show bikes ??, thanks, Mike G. from NJ.
73 Jackpiner
Thought about replying...... but really didn't know were to begin. It's like trying to pick a favorite child. But since you are goading us to share.......I will put in my two cents.
As indicated on the post -- Ultimate Retirement Places -- there are some amazingly beautiful places to ride (except in Mars and Illinois) ....... each one is great for a different reason -- tight single track, magnificant views, high mountain meadow, etc... But I pick Chafee County, Co.
The Berkshires, the Ozarks, Moab, the Smoky Mountains - GA, SC, TN, W.VA, Idaho all have some magnificant trails ..... but Colorado has the most open land, the widest variety and more trails than I will ever be able to ride -- right outside my back door or a short haul down the road... but then I haven't been to Texas so what do I know!!! (but you know how those Texans always stretch the truth!)..... and oh well Big Mac -- Malcolm Smith may have put Oregan on his top ten... but he has a ranch where we are! :D
One of the things that I found of most value is either riding with a local who knows the trails -- or having a damn good map. Even so -- we have been horribly/dangerously lost at times... even with GPS.
Let us know where you live... how many days you have off and how much driving time you want to do and I bet we can map out a great vacation for you.
P.S.... maybe here is my next job opportunity -- a dirtbike travel agency!
One more thought -- when my husband and I started on our search for the best retirement place (AKA best area for trails)... we started at Billy Uhl's off-road training school in Atlanta, ID. My husband was new to the sport and it had been decades since I had run enduros........... it was invaluable information (for anyone at any level) plus a guided trip through some of the most awsome trails you will ever see and accomodations available in charming 200 year old mining cottages. http://www.ohvtraining.org. As a matter of fact, my husband is riding right with many 30 year veterans at an incredibly respectable pace (except tight single track <grin> which just happens to be my specialty!)
Thank You, this is the type of info I'm talking about.;)So now if someone wants to utilize this, it's out there. Could be made into an annual gathering.[?] The possibilities are endless.[^]
Regarding your suggestion for a gathering of like-minded people -- The three best annual gatherings that I have been to are Dave Mungenast's Museum in St. Louis, the ISDT/RR and the POG Annual Meeting (an amazing immersion in Pentons and AMA Museum History).
We have the nearby Ozarks near Dave. Obviously the ride piece is built into ISDT/RR............ and I know that there is a great meeting and a good dinner after the POG Annual Meeting.... but not sure about any riding opportunities -- perhaps the day after??? We could always go out and race John and his tractor on his farm!!
O.K......... who is the designated event coordinator or Concierge for the POG meeting??
Thanks Lynn, We're up to five[?] gathering opportunities. 48 contiguous states and all we can come up with are 5???[8D] In a seperate post there was mention of a place in Kentucky. Why not add that here??[?] Come on people don't waste this chance, speak up.. With a real effort we could come up with a riders guide of places to ride along with people in that area, of like mind, who could be "hosts" while your in that area. They could recommend lodging, resturauts, local sights and other things of interest. A Penton riders guide to the US.[^][^] It'll be a little work, but worth it in the long run.
We have several goverment land trail systems for ohv in South Caroilna.Enoree,Manchester,Parsons Mountian,Cedar creek,Francis Marion.Enoree,Cedar Creek and Parsons Mountian are in the upstate and Manchester is middle of the state and Francis Marion is in the low country and it has about 40 miles of trails.//www.sore.truespode.net
Also we have a GNCC Hare Scramble here called the Big Buck.And if not mistaken the Penton team has blasted the Swamp Fox Enduro back in the 70,s !! Wish I would have seen it but I was finding out how a Penton could become a Flat Tracker!!
Thomas Carmichael
1970 125 Six Day
1976 250 Hare Scrambler
Thanks, Thomas, :) come on people keep them coming.[^][^]
There is a trail system in West Virginia called the Hatfield/McCoy system. I haven't officially ridden it but probably been on some parts of it. When I went back to visit my folks last year, I found out that a spur of the system begins about 5 minutes from their house. The trails are laid out for any degree of difficulty, and I hear they have an annual ride in the summer.
The Hatfield and McCoy website is pretty neat. It can be found at
//www.trailsheaven.com I would love to ride something like this but its a pretty long trek from Nebraska.
I'm going to take this opportunity to list all the great public riding areas in Nebraska. Here they are................
Pretty sad, when I was a teenager, riding mx and enduros, they had alot of great places to ride. In fact we had a National Mx track in Herman, where they hosted a AMA National event every year.
Nebraska law holds the land owner liable for any injury.
Iowa on the other hand has developed ,with the help of area off road clubs, public areas where for a fee of $15 per year you can ride to your hearts content. Last year I was out almost every weekend from March to the first week in December riding one of these areas. Their web site is //www.iowaohv.com Also in SW Iowa there are MX tracks where you can become a member and practice during the week. The only problem for me on this they aren't very geezer or vintage friendly.
Rod Whitman
1972 Six Day (Rider)
1972 Six Day (Project)
Thought I'd kick start this thread again-Im gathering intel, as we use to say in a previous occupation.
My dad passed on several weeks ago and I may be moving back to the family home in southern Garrett County, MD to take care of mom. I'm looking for off-road riding areas in the far western MD, WV, PA area. Growing up was a long time ago and neighbors were different, less development and we were allowed to ride on adjacent land. Of course, times change. Here in Central TX, I buy a membership to a family ranch that has off-road riding.
Any insight, direction, etc is welcomed.
the State of Maine has 14000 miles of approved ATV trails. And the lobsters are cheap right now also.
Check it out @ ATV Maine.com ;)
Raymond
Down East Pentons
If I move back, I think I'll start looking around at the larger propertyowners and investigate if they would be open to a lease-type agreement for access(like purchasing a deer lease). Of course, it would involve having good release and legal agreements.
Maryland use to havesome ORV trails but I think they are all closed by the libs.
Since the Casey Illinois motocross track was purchased by Thompson Motorsports in Terre Haute Indiana, they have managed to virtually eliminate the Vintage grass track to add another modern track to their venues, I am sad to say, but they do have a meriad of woodland trails through their 200 acres. We haven't been their since Stevens injury earlier this year, but we usually get a years membership and ride their often throughout the spring, summer, and early fall months, and we will be back there next year for sure. Mike
Michael R. Winter
I enjoy rebuilding and appreciating Pentons!
1974 250 HS Pentons-1980 KTM 175-400'S
1975 Can Am 175 TNT & 77 250 Black Widow
1979 Husqvarna OR390
1976-78 RM & 77-79 PE Suzuki's
1974 CR250M 07 CR125R 79 CR250R
Mike your only about 25 miles from a great place to ride. 20 plus miles of single track trails. 8 1/2 mile loop, lots of fun stuff, rest area, and no 4-wheelers have cut the trail up. Some sand, no rocks, but no hills just good riding, takes 40 minutes for 1 lap. No road riding, all trails and full shop if U have trouble, Two minutes from gas, Mal Mart, Beer, McDonalds, even Pizza delivery. Ride with old farts most over 50. Also you might pick up some old Penton parts and bench racing is always welcome. 242
Mark P,
Here's a good link for riding in the Del/Mar/VA/PA region.
http://www.enduro.4t.com/riding.htm
There's also several riding clubs in the area as well.
I belong to Potomac Vintage Riders Club (PVR) --- great group of folks with alot of great regional vintage and post vintage racing.
Here's the PVR link:
https://www.google.com/search?q=potomac+vintage+riders&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Here's the Ahrma North Atlantic link:
http://ahrma-northatlantic.org/
Hope you find these helpful.
JCHubbard
Dave,
I've been trying to get down and ride with you and Gary among other for over 2 years now, I just can't seem to get the timing right with my schedule. Hopefully we can remedy that soon! Mike
Michael R. Winter
I enjoy rebuilding and appreciating Pentons!
1974 250 HS Pentons-1980 KTM 175-400'S
1975 Can Am 175 TNT & 77 250 Black Widow
1979 Husqvarna OR390
1976-78 RM & 77-79 PE Suzuki's
1974 CR250M 07 CR125R 79 CR250R
Quotequote:Originally posted by JCHubbard
Mark P,
Here's a good link for riding in the Del/Mar/VA/PA region.
http://www.enduro.4t.com/riding.htm
There's also several riding clubs in the area as well.
I belong to Potomac Vintage Riders Club (PVR) --- great group of folks with alot of great regional vintage and post vintage racing.
Here's the PVR link:
https://www.google.com/search?q=potomac+vintage+riders&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Here's the Ahrma North Atlantic link:
http://ahrma-northatlantic.org/
Hope you find these helpful.
JCHubbard
JC
This is EXACTLY what I am looking for! Many thanks!
Regards
Mark
I enjoy traveling to races but in my opinion the best riding areas are the ones you have good access to. Something that's getting hard to come by for many. There is a great comfort level knowing that any time you want you can fire your mount any be riding within minutes. That's why I live in Arkansas, dang good riding and the trails are right outside my door 24/7. Also, kudos to the Michigan trails system which has been in existence since 1968 & has over 1000 miles of trail & more importantly a group (the CCC of Michigan) that activley manages the trails. I used to live in Michigan but during the week I was limited to a old gravel pit & having to drive 3-4 hours to ride trails on weekends was not my idea of fun. Have not been to Colorado but a lot of my friends have. All I hear is rave reviews about the trails there.
Pete Petrick
175 Jackpiner
Slow but Good
Quotequote:Originally posted by Rain Man
the State of Maine has 14000 miles of approved ATV trails. And the lobsters are cheap right now also.
Check it out @ ATV Maine.com ;)
Raymond
Down East Pentons
Rainman!!!
I know it's nice to ride this time of year, but I wouldn't be doing any riding in the Winter, it's got too much of that white stuff on the ground....lol
Donny Smith
Paragould, AR
This is a beautiful part of the U.S. that covers a huge area in Kentucky. LBL is also in Tennessee.
Yamaha done a lot of testing in this area.
http://www.lbl.org/OHV.html
ya Donny, nobodies on the trails up here either !! you can ride all day long and never see another group of either wheelers or bikes.
Winters actually my favorite time to ride. everything thats wet, is frozen, and I have a bit more free time. You can actually put more miles down in a day. Big bores rule in January !!
Raymond
Down East Pentons