Forums > Adventure Touring > Hancock NY Quarry Run (Dual Sport) report

• I put some extra armor on the bike (Pipe guard and a heavy duty skid plate)
• Install some soft compound knobbies and set both tires to 15psi…The softer compound helps the tires “Grab” the slippery rocks and 15psi is just enough air to keep from getting pinched flats, but to still let the tire have some flex... (Do not run 15 in your GS bikes, in the Rocks…For GS’s or G-650’s I run 20psi..(I learned the hard way getting  more then one flat).

• And the most important step here: I adjust my suspension for riding in the rocks. To give you an example, my Forks are usually set at 15 clicks out (for compression). I reduced this to 3 clicks out (almost as soft as possible) Same thing with the rear shock….set to almost the softest possible setting…
• For rebound, I went down only half of the compression clicks.

 One thing I overlooked was to check the weather forecast, and I was not prepared for the amount of slippery, greasy mud that was to follow. Here we are on the road trip up

Notice the weather…This basically remains the same the entire weekend. Here’s a shot of James on the first trail. It looks all sweet and lovely. What you don’t see is that it about a 2” deep muddy, wet grass single track… 

  I tried to take as many pictures as possible. I apologize in advance for not getting the dramatic uphill trail climbs that most everyone else got. Here’s why;Part of the KEY difference between making it up the hill, and not making it up is momentum…I’ve been there; half way up the hill, and it’s really hard to turn around, go back down, and start back up again. Not only is this exhausting your body, but mentally, your now intimidated of the hill climb… Without the confidence and the momentum, it’s a lot more difficult to make it up that hill… So whenever a hill climb came, I with stand up and get on the gas….stopping at the top to try and get pictures of my riding buddies…. 

 So remember, next you’re out there…Momentum and Confidence will get you up or out of most challenges on your bike. So day one continues on. The entire day we find ourselves either climbing or descending rocky single track ledges. My bike is bouncing from side to side. My front wheel looks like it’s constantly hitting the front fender, something I’m not used to (using up almost all of my 12” of front suspension!) Worked in between the single track sections were these awesome grassy fields with ribbons indicating some high speed grassy track sections… 

If it would have been dry, these sections would have been out of this world. But the grass was wet. Very wet, turn after turn I made, there were guys laying all over the place…I can only compare it to riding your bike on a sheet of ice…Extremely challenging! This part of the day becomes the demise of two riders in my group. As I’m waiting at the end of the grass track for James and Eugene to catch up, James (A flat-tracker and supermoto junkie) comes flying around the last turn…He had such an admirable position, and I don’t know how he lost it, but his rear slid right out…Moments later, our buddy Eugene comes sliding around the same corner, and also looses it, running directly into James…At first it looks graceful, but James is hurt…James is able to ride a bit more, but he’s not feeling 100% 

So we make it to the first rest stop. This is a house remotely hidden at the top of a mountain overlook. Definitely an amazing place that I could only wish to find on my own. This stop was interesting. Here they offered the riders beer and some snacks…Beer, but no water was available..LOL…and I’m not kidding…I found that a bit odd!

Okay so we’re off again….some more single track trails, and now we come out to an amazing motocross track. 

I mean this was definitely well thought out. The racer in me came out. I was  holding on for dear life as I  hit the tabletops not knowing if there’s a muddy landing (or any landing at all)…What I do know is that I’m not letting this guy next to me get past me! I later found out that piece was used in last years ISDE race, and many enduro legends were doubling and tripling most of the jumps that I was just clearing!!! So now we make it to lunch, my group of four is down to three…Eugene, Frank, and I. Lunch was a bit late in the day, and a bit further then I would have liked. I was famished, and thankfully the food was good, and there was plenty of it!  

I find it so cool to see the vast array of bikes, all assembled in this field.  You would never know while out riding the trails that there are 600 other riders out there! Most of the time, we’re riding with maybe 7-10 riders through sections. Time to continue on, about 25 miles left of day one…. 

Just as I’m ready to leave, I notice that the rear of my bike looks strange…Uh oh, there’s no more plate or taillight!! Bummer…I guess the mud took its toll on it! Day one comes to an end. Believe it or not, despite the dark clouds we didn’t get rained on!   We get back to the motel, and begin to wash the 15-20 pounds of mud off…This is after driving to the local town power wash, and find the  owner very upset and shutting  it down after about 4” of mud clogged up all four bays!!! I should have taken a picture of that…But the owner wasn’t happy with about 20 bikes standing there, all sopping with mud… We head over to the local tavern, and fill our bellies…Here’s the part I love…four guys and the tab is $31! Yes $31 and all of us ate!

After dinner we head over to the campground and say hi to our Enduro club (MCI) and ADVRider brethren. (James, Eugene, and Josh)

As we pull into the field, we notice that someone found my plate, and about 6 other license plates!! LOL!

Wow, did someone lose their front end? 

I’ve never seen that many lost plates before at an enduro, never mind a dual sport!!!  I come to the conclusion that the campground is the place to be…Nothing like a campfire after riding in the woods all day…Yeah, life is good!! We cover 84 miles on day 1 Day 2  Eugene fixes his front fender.  Today we have another friend “Anthony” joining us.  James is going to stay behind and relax after yesterday’s crash. We head out and about 5 minutes in, the skies turn almost black and bam. the thunder and rain start coming down! 

Anthony and Eugene

Today’s ride loops back on some trails I recognize from yesterday…I think to myself, oh no…if 600+ riders rode this trail yesterday, it’s going to be a mess. But interestingly enough, the short familiar section leads us to some fresh trail…and here’s where the fun starts.  Here’s a shot of the first major hill climb. This one takes some teamwork to get past the top. 

After about an hour, the rain tapers off, and the remainder of the day is perfect… Look closely at the tires in these pictures…We’re not kidding about the mud!

We ride about 54 miles, and decide to cut out early and get a head start back towards home.