This year the sand was deeper than ever at over 12 inches in some areas, making some of the riding quite challenging, as the event was specially designed for adventure bikes 500cc and over.
Jack O'Connor and the Pine Baron Enduro Riders who organized the XPLOR event last year did a fantastic job this year, with self-guided GPS tours in areas of the Pine Barrens where motorcycles aren't always allowed. As the name implies, the route was 300 miles - which may not sound like much, but after picking up a bike a dozen times a day, believe me, it’s a marathon.
Saturday October 11
The first day included a long 12+ mile stretch of deep sand that never seemed to end, where many of us came to grief. The day ended after a tour through the Cranberry Bogs where all those berries that end up in your Ocean Spray are harvested. But don't worry. None of us dropped a bike in the bog, so adding the slight taste of motor oil to your cranberry juice.
That night at the group dinner we watched Paris Dakar racers on a giant screen and suddenly didn't feel like such heroes for getting through that stretch of sand after all. We saw an amazing presentation by Chris Grimm on the Hero’s Legend Ride which covers the same route as the original Paris-Dakar Rally, and a slide show by Kevin Burnett on trail riding in Ontario’s rugged forests.
The sand was deep, the trails were narrow, the falls were many.
Sunday
The second day many were eager for a repeat performance but also very sore! The route provided more pine forests and fire break trails, which are notorious for being deep and narrow in these parts. Lunch at Hedger House was culture clash, as a hundred off-road riders converged with the usual Sunday crowd of hundreds of Harley owners. A great time was had by all, there were only two crashes resulting in injury, and these were relatively minor.
Cultures collide!
Pictures and Descriptions
For descriptions of this ride you can go to the following string on ADVrider:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=374825&page=26
Pictures from one of the sweep riders, Chris Giordano on a G 650 Xchallenge:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/PB30008#
http://www.bmwxplor.com/galleries/list/TOOFAST4UU
Pictures from another participant, on an F 800 GS - Tom Byrum:
http://picasaweb.google.com/HyperiatePics/PB300#
Pine Barren Thank You
BMW would like to thank the following persons for this superb ride:
- Jack’s wife, Maria and his kids for putting up with his obsession.
- Pine Barons Enduro Riders
- Chris Bethman, Brendan Byrne State Forest Superintendent
- Bob Coleman, EMT on the trail.
The Support crew:
- Ken Pettit
- Chris Giordano
- Rob Magura
- Rob Girard
- Rob Pao
- Scott Mizerek
- Brian Donovan
- Gary Vitallino
- Chris Chrico
- Dan Kuntzner
- James Jolly
- Jason Burfield
- Brian Hamilton
The Presenters
- Chris Grimm – Heroes Legend Ride
- Kevin Burnett – RallyConnex (www.rallyconnex.com)
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