Dirt Bike and get away machine.......

[oldsparkey]

Had the opportunity to pick this dirt bike up so I went ahead and did it Especially since I had been looking for a fat tire bike so I can turn it into a camper and dirt monster. I have an old rail road at the end of the street that has been turned into a part of the Florida Trail and goes down to the river.
It is hard packed with cinders and some stretches are the good old Florida sugar sand which would do a number on a road bike. From my place it is just over 2.1/2miles to the river down the old rail road.

This dirt bike is a three speed with the gears sealed in the rear hub. the 1st gear is a granny gear with the 2nd gear a more or less normal gear and the 3rd gear is for the pavement when you want to step it up and get along. Has the old fashion coaster breaks along with 26 x 3 inch tires.

I checked a 3 mile distance and my road bike will do it in 25 minutes taking life easy and coasting some. This fat / dirt bike takes 30 minutes of peddling with very little coasting which is not bad considering the difference between the bikes. The dirt bike has the old fashion spring seat and with the wide tires it sure smooths out the bumps the road bike lets you feel. I guess 40 pound air pressure and wide tires is easier on the bumps then the 80 pound I have in the road bike. .

Picked this up for the front of the bike so it can take some of my camping stuff and it is large enough to hold all the cooking stuff and food along with some paper towels. When it is not open it closes to a nice neat package. Saves space for the actual camping equipment , hammock , tarp etc.

Saving for this rear bike rack to hold my trunk and panniers which will take the rest of the camping gear.

The trunk which I have on my road bike and then can be used between the two bikes since it will fit both racks on the bikes.

Opens to this......

Looking for a way to get away when ever I want to spend a night , or two , in the woods and this is a remote area in the woods and on a river which is quiet , something campgrounds aren't.

 

[oldsparkey]

Well I have it together for back roads and camping. Tried it on a part of the Florida Trail which use to be a old rail road back in the dark ages.

The 1st part of it is grown up and nothing more then a single foot path with grass , weeds and shrubs on each side and along it.

The single tire width is ideal for dropping into a foot path that is only a foot or so wide. Later on the old rail road fill widens out and is fairly hard packed thanks to all the old cinders from the trains smokestack , before they pulled the tracks up , and the leaves from seasons past. The cinders make a crunching sound as you roll over them. :wink:

The 3 inch width of the tires is nice , you just float over everything from sand to roots to the cinders and leaves.Heck even some of the wet spots and mud was easy going , a little messy but easy going. Heck I even rode a side trail of the Florida Trails foot path since I was the only person in the area and to try the bike out.

One thing for sure , riding a bike over the old rail road is sure a lot faster and easier then walking , I covered a distance in 10 minutes that would take 45 minutes to an hour to hike.

This fall and winter when things around here get a little cooler it appears that I will have some easy camping for overnights and just enjoying the river and woods. This part of the Florida Trail goes to the Econ River which has a ton of bicycle trails all along it and threw the woods.

Now I can have it all sorts of ways , The Bike becomes a mule and carry's my stuff , or the Canoe can when traveling on water and at times I can even become the Mule carrying my pack but I do like the 1st two choices a lot better. :lol: :roll:

 

[michstripcanoe]

Chuck: Nice looking bike and gear. Strap one of your fly rods on top of the panniers and look out fish. Here comes Chuck. Dapper Al.

 

[oldsparkey]

Al.......

I have a nice backpacking rod and reel which is either a fly rod or a ultra light spinning rod depending on how you set it up. Have had it for ages and is a Eagle Claw outfit in a nice aluminum carrying case that is about 21 inches long and a few inches wide.
It does have a lot of miles on it and has been in a lot of different states and places.

Where I like to go for a get-a-way down to the Econ.
Vince and I hiked in there and after setting up the hammocks we decided to do some fishing and as luck would have it the area of the river was overgrown and narrow so a normal rod was not the best thing to use.
We cut a couple green saplings and made a rod out of them , tied on some line and a small bream hook , pinched the barb since we planned on letting the fish go..
Vince brought a couple of Venison Steaks for our supper so we cut a small sliver of the venison so it would make a person think of a miniature pork rind , a really small one. :lol:

By letting it settle into the water and then sinking really slow in the current we had a good time catching Bream , Blue Gills and Red Breasts right off the bank by the hammocks.

Here we had some fine fishing gear and we caught all the fish off of a rigged green stick with a short line and hook , with a stingy amount of Venison as bait. We tossed the fish back since we had the rest of the Venison to cook over a fire for supper.

 

[tx river rat]

Chuck
It is funny you posted this , we must be on the same wave length.
Yesterday I made a date for next sat to pick up a recumbent trike .We will see what kind of mule it makes. I had them change and put some off road tires on it that have a Kevlar belt in them ,is suppose to help on thorns.
I found out about a year ago that I was in the first stages of Parkinson and they are finding peddling and paddling at a consistant high rate seem to really help some folks ,, HE HE now I have an excuse to ride and paddle anytime :lol: I want
Ron

 

[Kayak Jack]

Ron, glad to hear about the pedalling. But, not glad about the Parkinsons.

 

[oldsparkey]

Ron......

It is great exercise and has helped me to lose 20 pounds and am shooting for 10 or 15 more. Plus it is just nice to get out and be outside for a hour of so bumming around on back roads.

I would love to have a recumbent bike since I understand they are a lot easier to peddle and even pretty fast. One nice thing , you can't fall off one if you make a stupid move , something i did a few weeks ago and skinned up my knee . leg and foot. Something I have not done from the age of 9.

Thank God I had a bike helmet on because my head hit the pavement and that helmet stopped me from cracking it up , No , not my head the pavement. :roll:

Sad to hear about the Parkinson's but biking should help you in more then just one way. As we age it is best to stay as active as you can.
As I like to think and a Cancer patient ( Andy " Astro" Lyons) in a article Backpacker ( March 2015 ), published about him walking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada put it. He passed away shortly after completing the trail.
Here is his thought..........
" LIFE IS A TERMINAL ILLNESS AND WE HAVE NO EXCUSE TO NOT LIVE EACH MOMENT LIKE IT'S OUR LAST."

As a Heart patient for the last 22 years of my life I have to agree with him. One day at a time and with the most you can get out of each day.

 

[tx river rat]

Thats the main reason for the trike ( not falling off) . They are super comfortable and way to expensive ,but you only live once.
My grandfather had Parkinson and it got pretty bad in his mid ninetys, if I live an active life to that age I have beat the odds a long ways.
When I was in my twenties there were folks that told me I better hurry up and go to Nam before I got killed.So as Jack said beat the odds again

To me a perfect vacation is going to be loading the yak and the trike and hooking up to the Casita . Travel and paddle and peddle to my hearts content.
Ron
I just have one problem ,I dont figure I would look good in one of those spandex things the biker wear. :shock:

 

[oldsparkey]

When I am on the road or close to it with the other bike..........

Ha Ha Ha , Mine is a pair of lose fitting polyester , fishing , shorts from Bass Pro , a camouflage pair of Crocks for shoes , a white "T" Shirt with one of the bikes , Don't Run Over Me ( slap you in the face ) Green Vests and a white bikers helmet.

The Helmet has a modification to it since I go in the early mornings and the sun is low , shining in your eyes. I added a Brim to the helmet.
Da Brim , the razzon extended bill.
http://www.dabrim.com/html/products/cycling.htm

It also works really well in a hard rain at keeping your glasses dry. the 4 inch bill.

The spandex crowd will come down the road and pass me and then take a 2nd look at the helmet and just keep going. :lol:

 

[Kayak Jack]

Some riders around here have little rear view mirrors. Some glued to a helmet; others taped to glasses.

I don't like to ride on the road unless thr shoulder is set up for a bike lame. Though it's legal for a bike to be on the road, it is both inconsiderste and unsafe. The two conditions together add up to stupid, kn my opinion. Lessee, car wrighs 2000 pounds, bike and rider weigh 200-250. Let me see if I cam figure this out?

 

[oldsparkey]

About 90% of the roads around here , The new ones , have a 4 foot wide bike path along each side. Around my area due to all the destruction ( some folks call it construction ) and subdivisions there are sidewalks , anywhere from 3 feet wide to 10 feet.
Then there are all the paved bike paths which use to be RR Tracks in the Tracks to Paths program for Bicyclists , Hikers and joggers.
Best of all are the bike trails in all the State land which are Sand or Dirt and even sometimes Mud trails.

I agree with Jack , if arguing with a vehicle the bicyclist will lose every time so it is best to be seen if you are close to them and even if you are a grass strip from the highway on a cement side walk.

I put one of those mirrors on my helmet and it is not there anymore , it was a pain to use. Fortunately the traffic is light after the 8:00 A.M. Rush hour and quiet enough so you can hear a vehicle approaching but it is always a safe bet to stop and look before crossing the traffic lanes.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Chuck, my bike tires are 1.75" X26". Yours look to be at least an inch wider. What is the tire pressure in them?

A good friend in northern California, has solid innertubes, no air. A thorny vine there punctures regular innertubes, and even disables self-sealing ones. I've never encountered thorns like that here. Did in Korea, though.

 

[oldsparkey]

This bike has 3 X 26 inch tires and I use 40 pounds in them. I can let some of the air out to make them softer with more rubber on the dirt.
The road ( Specialized Crossroads , Hybrid bike ) is a 700x45c tires with 80 pounds in them. ( 29 X 1.75 inches )
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=10042

 

[oldsparkey]

Ron.......

If you need an excuse ( I know you don't ) to take out and just have some fun , check around and see if there is a book on the rails to trails for Texas or any state you might be interested in visiting.
Then there are the National parks and if you have one of the Old Farts Passes ( Senior's Pass ,The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass ) it lets you in at a discount and usually there are a few trails to peddle down and with some luck a few to paddle down. When you get it , Mine was a $20.00 application fee and is good for a life time.

Bike trails in National Park's.
The most used one over here is the one in the Smokies , Cades Cove , a 10 mile loop trail.

Only bicycle and foot traffic are allowed on the loop road until 10:00 a.m. every Saturday and Wednesday morning from early May until late September. Otherwise the road is open to motor vehicles from sunrise until sunset daily, weather permitting.

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/cadescove.htm

Florida has the Shark Valley Trail at the Everglades National Park.
http://www.floridarambler.com/florida-b ... h-florida/