Ride Reports > Dual Sport Ride Reports
The Maine Adventure Trail
TN2Wheeler:
It boils down to doing what you enjoy. I enjoy this kind of thing more than street riding and far more than touring. Not everyone does. I get it. No problem.
I live in an area that others come to visit FOR the twisty pavement. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just a bit jaded. When DS/adventure riding I can ride the same area over and over and each time it's a little or, if a few days have past, a lot, different. Surface/traction management is all important. You have to pay attention. I suspect it's similar to (but undoubtedly less) the intensity that track-day junkies enjoy but without the extreme speed and lean angles. We probably should be paying that level of attention when street riding too. But on the street I find I spend a lot more time watching out for other vehicles than just for enjoyment.
And FWIW, I think off pavement riding is a bit safer than the street. You may fall down but it's likely to be at 20 mph rather than 60 and for sure you won't be run over by an idiot on their phone.
But hey, that's just me. I have been a member of MSTA for a couple of decades and I used to love to roll up those miles. You guys enjoy!
PYG RYDR:
--- Quote from: TN2Wheeler on January 18, 2016, 06:54:48 PM ---Most dualsporters know about the TransAmerica Trail running from eastern TN to the Pacific coast. MSTA member Rick Giddish painstakingly laid out a mostly unpaved easterly adventure stretching from the eastern end of the TAT in Tennessee to the northernmost tip of Maine. He he called it the MAT or Maine Adventure Trial. In 2011 and 2012 a few MSTA'rs (Galen Diehl, Bill Hammomd, George Goad, Jon Durhring and, of course, Rick and I) rode the MAT in 2 parts.
A picture blog of MAT2 is here: http://www.jimrandall.net/MAT2/mat2.htm
There were LOTS of pictures. I culled a bunch, really. Even so there's probably more than most people want to view, except possibly those who went. Enjoy as much as you can stand
Jim
--- End quote ---
Jim, Thanks for trip down memory lane! Big Fun Trip!!! Galen
PYG RYDR:
I plan to ride a large northern section of the MAT in June, the week before STAR 2016, and end in Vermont. (I have ridden the southern-VA/WV/PA sections several times already!-2 1/2 times with Jim, once with Rick and once alone)
For 2012 I rode my TYGR PYG, but considering both the LTL PYG and BYG PYG for the second trip.
For this riding any dual sport/adventure bike with a knobby front and semi-knobby on rear will work, if you have experience, in my opinion.
If anyone wants to join my ride, let me know.
BTW, I will be stopping at Mamies in Martinsburg, PA for some excellent food! http://mamiescafe.com/ I had the best sandwich-Reuben and donut-maple bacon, ever on a previous trip!!!
Galen
TN2Wheeler:
--- Quote from: PYG RYDR on January 19, 2016, 08:43:04 AM ---...
BTW, I will be stopping at Mamies in Martinsburg, PA for some excellent food! http://mamiescafe.com/ I had the best sandwich-Reuben and donut-maple bacon, ever on a previous trip!!!
Galen
--- End quote ---
I didn't do the maple-bacon donut but I absolutely agree - best Reuben ever!
donmoe:
--- Quote from: TN2Wheeler on January 18, 2016, 09:15:55 PM ---It would have been ridable by a strong rider on a big bike with aggressive tires.
Tires are important for this kind of thing. The typical 50/50 tires that come on "adventure" bikes are not up to the task on loose surfaces, particularly on a heavy machine. That's really the catch 22 - tires that work well on pavement suck off pavement and vice-versa so it's always a compromise.
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the advice, Jim. Before leaving Washington for my tour to Alaska last summer on my R1200GSA, I had Heidenau K60 Scout (50/50) tires mounted and had no problems on the several unpaved roads or under repair that were definitely worse than those shown in your photo collection, except perhaps at the end where Galen bailed out. I'll have to consider whether to mount the Scouts again for the MAT. I got surprisingly good mileage despite lots of pavement riding on chipseal as well as asphalt. I also give kudos to the RawHyde training course that I attended in July in Colorado for giving me the confidence and skills to ride that big bike in such conditions.
Don
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