Posted: 7/16/2006 7:38:18 PM EDT
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Never Ride Alone: That lesson was driven home to me on Saturday. Fortunately I wasn't riding alone when this happened. I was riding up at Reiters Pit with my son. I was driving my Kawasaki Prairie 700 and my son was driving a Kawasaki Praire 300. We were headed up a hard trail to a place known as "The Wall" which is an 1,800 foot cliff overlooking the town of Index. We were pretty far down the trail and went though some serious mud holes when the tie rod broke on my left front wheel. We were in a very swampy area with lots of mud and logs which makes for some callenging riding even when your machine is working properly. Breaking a tie rod in this particular area made the extraction of my Quad very difficult. We were able to walk the Quad out of the difficult terrain and back to the road but only with a great deal of dificulty. It was definately a two man job and three people would have been better. I have a winch on my Quad but unfortunately it wasn't working at the time. Having a working winch would have made the job a lot easier. Once we got to the road we still had problems because the road that leads into the wall really isn't that great of a road. There are some serious mud holes in this road that have to be negotiated. Actually there is no negotiation, you have to blast through them. We strapped my Quad on to the back of the Kaw 300 with a 12 foot tow strap and my son towed me out. I was a little concerned about this because I wasn't sure if a little 300cc bike was up to the job of towing a heavy 700 cc machine out of a difficult area. To add to my concern is the fact that the Kawasaki 300 was not a 4 wheel drive model and we ha several long mud holes to go thru. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the little Kaw 300 was up to the job. I was also able to assist by driving my Quad and shifting my weight to the rear wheels as far as possible to unweight the front end. A couple years ago I took an ATV safety course. One of the axioms that was driven into our heads was "Never Ride Alone." I'll admit to having done a few solo rides in the past, but those days are over. Thank God I wasn't riding solo when this happened or I would still be out in the woods with my Quad. You don't want to leave a broken Quad, dirt bike, or 4X4 out in the woods at Reighters Pit because when you come back for it, it will be stolen or otherwise stripped out. There are a few Meth-Heads in the area who are looking for opportunities like that to support their habbit. You never know when you might run into trouble, mechanical or otherwise. Fortunately for me this trip had a good ending but it could have been worse if I had been riding alone. This experience reinforced several things for me. It is a good idea to have a decent tool box. You want something above and beyond the Mickey Mouse tool kits that come with the bike from the factory. I had a metric wrench kit with me and I was able to remove the broken tie rod so it wouldn't damage other components when I was being towed out. You also need to have a tow strap or a good heavy duty rope. I have both but I'm going to change my tow strap and use a 20 foot strap from now on. A 12 foot strap really isn't long enough. It is also a good idea to have a survival kit in case you have to spend the night out in the woods. I do have one that I've put together along with a small compact tent in case I have to spend the night out in the boonies. It goes without saying that a firearm is also part of that kit. I also have a strobe light and a FRS radio. Fortunately I didn't need to use any of the stuff in my survial kit but the thought did cross my mind that I might have to spend the night out there if things didn't work out. Everyone who rides in the woods here in the Pacific Northwest should have some basic survial tools with them or at the very least some members of the group should have these tools. You never know when things will go south on you. It's like the Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared! This experience brought it home to me, Never Ride Alone. |
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Most of my recon was lone, rode the ridges looking for lost cattle alone, worked energized manufacturing lines alone, pretty much like free-climbing or working without a net, you will be just fine as long as you don't screw up. I guess if it just a pleasure sport it's nice to have the safety though. |
I'm not worried about me screwing up. It's the unforseen things that will get you. |