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safiri wrote: ↑11 Nov 2020 06:16 Took Lindsay out for her first gravel ride (on her new-to-her 13 CRF250L) Oct 31 in Chase County. Trailered to Tallgrass Preserve outside Strong City. We did 95 miles of gravel, and then hiked up to see the bison at Tallgrass Prairie Preserve when we returned to our hauler. I think a new backroads rider was found. I let Lindsay lead, with a few suggestions. We ended up heading south toward Cassoday a bit east of Strong City.

How old is Linsey if you dont mind me asking? I would love to get my oldest daughter on a dirt bike. Is it legal to ride back roads if not of legal driving age yet?

You need to be licensed ride (or learner's permit) to run licensed motorcycles on back roads.

The "Lindsay" safiri refers to is an adult. Ajayhawkfan is correct, of course. My information is a decade old, but my cousins farm in a rural county where it's legal to operate ATVs on the county roads without a driver's license. You have to have a safety flag and maybe register the ATV---don't know. So there are some rural exceptions perhaps.

From time to time, I take my 13 year old daughter out to practice driving. It is illegal, yes. I take her far out of the city to low-traveled gravel. I have assessed the risk, and for me, I have chosen the risk of breaking the letter of the law over the risk of my daughter getting hurt because she is a bad driver.

We have a few folks here on the forum with land and the generosity to share their property with us at organized times. Watch the forum for "family rides", etc. You'll find a safe place to teach kids how to ride and a supportive community. We just had the one out at Luc's place last Saturday. Rumor is there will be one coming soon at birdman's farm.

Pic from this weekends ride

Referencing prior posts: Lindsay is an adult with a Class M (moto) Learner's Permit. My son is 14 and I had him get his moto learner's permit when he got his Class C LP. He hasn't been out yet, but is legal to do this. You do need to study for the moto written test! The testing fee allows you to take the test 4 or 5 times (?) within 14 days(?) so that is nice.

New ride: Saturday, May 29. Lindsay and I did an 80 mile loop in Chase County. We trailered to Chase State Fishing Lake (near Cottonwood Falls), headed WNW, south to Wonsevu through Cedar Point, east to Matfield Green, backtracked a few miles and then north back to the trailer. I had my GPS but no route loaded; I used The KDOT county map. Not sure I've seen the flint hills quite this green. Chillier than expected; I kept my windbreaker fully zipped.

safiri wrote: ↑01 Jun 2021 19:01 Referencing prior posts: Lindsay is an adult with a Class M (moto) Learner's Permit. My son is 14 and I had him get his moto learner's permit when he got his Class C LP. He hasn't been out yet, but is legal to do this. You do need to study for the moto written test! The testing fee allows you to take the test 4 or 5 times (?) within 14 days(?) so that is nice.

New ride: Saturday, May 29. Lindsay and I did an 80 mile loop in Chase County. We trailered to Chase State Fishing Lake (near Cottonwood Falls), headed WNW, south to Wonsevu through Cedar Point, east to Matfield Green, backtracked a few miles and then north back to the trailer. I had my GPS but no route loaded; I used The KDOT county map. Not sure I've seen the flint hills quite this green. Chillier than expected; I kept my windbreaker fully zipped.

NICE~! Boys and I camped at chase lake last month.

[video][/video]Another day in the eastern side of the Rockies.

Nice pics bazooka!

In the Buena Vista area thia week.

boys and I did a thing:

Nice pictures XRnut!

Last weekends ride


Yesterday's ride

On October 12-14, 2021, Kyle, Sean, & I rode 3 days of trail in Colorado's Wet Mountains. This area is about 40 minutes W of Pueblo.



We rented a great AirBnB cabin outside Beulah Valley, CO.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6694203



Kyle made the coffee and Sean made the breakfast each morning: sausage & egg tortillas with potatoes. Start the day right!



Day 1 had us riding the San Carlos trail as well as the entire length of the Cisneros trail. The San Carlos was reported to be "expert only", but little did we know at the time, the following day's trails would make the San Carlos feel like a nice stroll.



On the Cisneros, it started to snow...and get very cold! Sean was very much enjoying his heated grips.



Kyle and I recognized this spot on the Cisneros. Several years ago, he and I along with Mike & Daryl spent over an hour cutting a path through, under, and over a massive pine that had fallen across the trail. You can still see the remnants of the tree piled up.



The next day (Wed) started with the South Creek trail. Very quickly things started getting gnarly.



Flatlanders working their bikes on difficult trails at over 9,500 feet elevation need plenty of breaks!



An easier section of trail before diving into a series of sharp switchbacks.



I think this picture was a bit of Dome Rock trail--the hardest we had to work the entire trip.



That day we only rode about 9 miles of trails and it took us over 6 hours! We literally could have walked it faster.

On our 3rd and final day of riding, we loaded the bikes in the truck and went about 45 minutes N to some trails. We were WORN OUT from the previous day's ride, so we tried to keep things easy. Sean created a route that included 2 awesome ATV trails and one not-too-difficult single-track--making sure we rode it downhill instead of fighting up hill. These trails features some fantastic views.



As we hit the road for home on Fri morning, the truck's dash said the outside temperature was 28 degrees. We took a risk riding mountains the 2nd week of October, but we had a great ride on some amazing trails in a not-so-well known area.

Very nice!!! Thanks for sharing Troy! I am glad you guys had a great time!!!

I'm glad you enjoyed it but riding and going 9 miles in 6 hours doesn't sound like much fun.

9 miles in 6 hours...if the idea of a hard enduro does not sound like fun, avoid these trails.

We enjoyed the challenge and the feeling of accomplishment when we finally reached the end of the trail just before the sun went down behind the mountains. One more serious obstacle or a flat tire, etc, and we'd have been fighting the last miles by headlight.

Great pictures! Pictures never do the terrain any justice. I'm sure they were way tougher than they look.

A handful of guys have been putting in a lot of work over at School Creek. It was in great shape today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Jg7sRnC-k

Yesterday at School Creek. T roy made an appearance.

Somewhere between Council Grove and Florence yesterday (Sun 8/21)


Rear tire went flat 6 miles S of Florence. Right side of bead broke. I didn't even notice on the gravel road, but when I turned onto the paved highway I just about lost the bike out from under me 2x before realizing "uh oh. I get to change out a tube in this heat."

I've seen it happen several times, but 1st time for me--spun the valve stem off the tube. I had just had new tires installed by a Wichita shop. Makes me wonder what kind of tire lube they are using that allowed my tire to spin on the rim--it's not like I was digging trenches with that rear tire on this ride.

This was also the 1st time I've personally tested the 21" front tube in a 17" rear tire thing. Worked as advertised--got me home.