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The Big Woods 200
By Dennis Oaks
I was asked by Dieseljo ( Joey) if I would
be interested in riding this event . Last year he had done
it and said it was a good time and he thought I might enjoy
it as well. I was told that the day consisted of some pavement,
gravel roads, two track ,atv trails and hero sections. Hero
sections? you ask? Well I asked the same thing. This was some
tight single track that they said was going to be optional
for those who wanted to ride these sections. ( I was thinking
these would be fun !) but not to excited about riding down
the blacktop and gravel roads on my dirtbike. I am as most
of you know a guy that likes the( tight stuff ) tree infested,
muddy, rocky, hills and creeks the tougher the better ! I
live for this and enjoy seeing guys scream for mercy trying
to ride up and down and through some of the worst stuff this
great country has to offer. But Joey is a good friend and
I enjoy riding with friends so I told him I was in.
I dragged my feet getting registered. The info
said the cut off was 160 riders and all must be pre-registered
for the event. I waited till the last minute (not sure why)
and ended up having to fed-ex the entrance fee to assure my
spot. None the less I was signed up and passed on a district
16 race to do this. I browed a bike from Petrie's ( my new
bike has not yet showed up). I prep the bike a few nights
before I left and felt that it could hold up well enough for
this mild dual sport ride.
The town the event is held in is Wabeno WI .
A small town in the north central part of Wisconsin about
4 1/2 hours from home. Bikes pretty much take over the town
and looks kind neat as you start to feel the amount of people
who have shown up from all over. I drove up Friday night and
met up with Joey and Jeff. We all bs'ed a while and then hit
the sack. Saturday started early with a breakfast up town
at a diner. This was all very organized and I started to see
some other riders that I new. The riders' meeting was brief
and everyone was ready to start. This ride is done with a
roll chart and for those who have never done this it is fun
and puts a twist on your riding abilities. I was dragging
my feet getting ready and most everyone was gone. Joey was
ready and patiently waiting for me. I think I was still not
looking forward to taking off down the black top road.
When you leave you have to "check out"
you are given a rider # and a wrist band. This is the way
they keep track of you (and maybe the bodies of broken down
riders there buddies had left for dead)? When we left I thought
to make this fun maybe we could just blast through this and
catch as many riders as we could? ( I have been getting used
to that with my bad starts racing lately) so as we began I
was getting the feel of this bike, well no sooner did we start
and I was forced to stop! The bike just quit? Like the gas
was just shut off. I just thought to my self (not this) I
was going to push this thing back and call it a day? I couldn't
give up that easy and Joey was waiting ahead for me. I unscrewed
the gas cap (not looking for gas) but to let air in there.
I hit the button and off I went! Now I was a little pissed
and full of "steam" so I hit the gas and decide
it was time to "RIDE".
The course was kind of boring at first and when
the first "hero section" came up I was looking forward
to ripping it up. It was tight and rock infested. Trees and
small hills everywhere! I was loving this but missing my 300
in here. As we came out back on the road I was feeling a bit
better now and I think Joey and I both busted out wheelies
and hit the gas! Not really saying much but seeing that both
of us needed that for some inspiration. We started catching
riders right away and found are selves going faster and faster!
This was starting to get fun! Bike after bike we continued
to pass... some of these guys out there were wondering all
over the place, a few even falling down right in front of
us. We had to laugh to ourselves remembering how it was not
so long ago when we were being controlled by the bike. I was
having fun and I know Joey was too. When we came out to are
first gravel road the roll chart reading had 4-5 miles of
it. To our luck at least it was twisty, Joey is a very good
rider and has lots of time riding SuperMotard and ice. The
first curve was him blowing past me and pitching the bike
into the corner! Wow I thought that was cool (except for the
rocks he pitched at me) So I picked up the pace and caught
up to him. The next corner I went in a little harder and wanted
to get the feel if I could hang with him. It was 'not bad
but he was pulling away and I couldn't keep up so I remembered
him teaching me the last two years on the ice and started
to just ride it like I was on ice and what do you know ! I
was stoked! It was working and I kept pushing it harder and
harder! We Were cutting in and out of each other and have
a blast! (Joey said if I got in front of him the spray of
rocks would hurt so bad it reminded him of the moment in the
Happy Gilmore movie when he was standing in front of the pitching
machine! )The gravel roads seemed to go quickly and the route
would turn from gravel to grassy two track with hidden rocks
and lots of ruts. I was really getting into this now and just
kept pushing and turning passing riders and looking ahead
for more! Joey was right there and I have to say that I have
learned allot from racing and can keep a pretty good pace
for a long time, but Joey kept the pace and then some showing
me a wheel were ever he could! I was impressed and he has
become a darn good rider. We found the lunch stop and again
what a great set up. 27 different kinds of chili with all
the fix en's (it was good! ) Along the way there were gas
stops that were available and marked on the roll charts. We
took advantage of every one not wanting to run out in the
middle of nowhere. In the afternoon we came up on a wooden
bridge that crossed the Peshtigo River. There were about 20
riders there looking things over so we stopped to take a peek.
I was looking over the railing below at the depth of the water
and the rocks and dead trees that were lying in there. A truck
stopped on the bridge and the driver got out to see what was
going on with all the bikes. There were two boys in the truck
about 8&9 and they too were excited to see all the bikes.
One of them said to me as I was looking over the railing "do
you think you can ride your motorcycle through the water?"
I got this grin on my face and wondered if he had just read
my mind. I said only if I can here lots yelling and cheering!
They were jumping up and down as I walked to my bike getting
ready for the "thrill ride across 150' of water"
I dropped down through some trees as everyone gathered on
the railing as I "jumped in" over the trees and
of a few rocks I made it across and enjoyed the ride, so much
that I did it one more time (to the request of the two boys
of course).
Back on the trail Joey and I regained the pace
we set early on and found ourselves riding through some really
bad dust trying to catch some more riders. This was blinding
and very hard to see anyone in front of you. Getting to the
front was a relief and we planed on staying there picking
up the speed even faster. There was a moment that I had the
speedo on and looking down saw some high mph I looked over
at Joey who was maybe an inch and a half away from my hand
guard! This is hard to describe but we were riding like this
sliding through corner after corner and some times over lapping
bars one above the other in the heat of battle. The best way
I can put it is "It felt like a moment from "on
any Sunday" in slow motion" Before we knew it we
were at the last hero section and riding again on single track.
Tight, twisty rock infested single track the kind of stuff
I live for. But you know what; it's all good no matter what
you're riding. It's the friends you ride with that make it
enjoyable. And you can count on me to get signed up early
for next years "Big Woods 200"
Dennis
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