How many of you guys ride Watkins?

[Glassman66]

I'm 10 minutes from the track. The main track has gotten head and shoulders over what I want to do. I used to be able to clear everything except the long table.

Now it rediculous. There are still a few I can clear but it seems to take every ounce of balls left in me to shoot them.

The middle track sees no love at all, but I can beat the crap out of it. The needs to be a advanced intermediate track. ?

[Wayward Son]

i have 2 kids.i stay far away from there anymore.its ridiculous.

[HighPlainsWR]

Roger that. Never, ever on a weekend. Good for a fix on weekday mornings, but too many Flight for Life's taking off on weekends. ?

[Wayward Son]

i have not set foot there since a very good friend of the motorcycle industry was killed there.

god speed jim forington.

[endurodog]

I actually go out there a lot. It does seem like a more jump oriented track than most. I like it though. My girlfriend that is learning to ride likes to go on the back side (nontrack area) and play around. I guess it comes down to different strokes for different folks.

A more tame track that is really taken care of well is Aztec in the Springs. I go down there a few times a year to meet up with guys. The South track has fewer jumps and not as technical as Watkins and its well taken care of and it's a blast to ride. It may be what your looking for and worth the drive.

[Merfman]

Ditto Aztec... I ride there a lot during the winter.

Probably headed out there on Saturday if the weather is nice. It'll be close to perfect if all the snow melts.

Merf

[Wayward Son]

berhtoud,aztec and two rivers get a ? from me.i have no problem jumping all the jumps at watkins.the problem is the people that dont jump them can get landed on.its not there fault,its just the layout of the track.there are a couple do or die jumps also.big jumps are fine,but ending yourself by coming short isnt.

[Hokie]

I have never been to Watkins and I don't have a burning desire to go there.

Now Milliken (two rivers) I love that place!

Berthoud ain't bad either....

[Biker63]

I use to ride Watkins all the time when Gene was around to groom the track. I have not been there in over 6 months. Seems like its hit or miss with grooming and watering. Too many people for my liking. My kids like the beginner track so I go for them. I do like the air but sure wish they would take better care of it. I love Berthoud(track), Grand Junction(Skinny), and Montrose(ridges/Air)riding. Need to get down to Aztec and up to Miliken soon.

[Thumpleupagus]

Where is this track in Grand Junction that you're talking about? Skinny? And Montrose-they have a good one there?

We got about 14" of snow just sitting where I live-no riding (but maybe in Junk-town...) ?

[jwriott]

I used to ride there tons when it first opened up. About 8 months later, I had a nasty wipe out and got air lifted out of there. Broke my tibia, fibula and crushed my ankle and had a plate with 9 screws in my leg. Now I stay a lot closer to the ground. ?

[Biker63]

I was talking amount the ridges at Grand Valley OHV north side of I70 below bookcliffs. Excellent hill climbs, ridges, big air jumps, and cross country. It is BLM land. Skinny ridge is a nasty hill climb that is straight up at the top and about a foot wide at the top. Montrose also has some great riding. They are both BLM land and you can ride for free and camp. I did hear there is a track in Junction by the water tower but have never ridden it. They were building it last time I was there that was over a year ago. We ride Junciton and/or Montrose every spring and fall.

[Wayward Son]

i was at watkins the first day it was open.my memeber number is 223.its gone way down hill since then.

[endurodog]

Admittedly it's not as well cared for as others. I was out there a little over a year ago and parked next to a really fast guy and we got talking about it. He said that he use to only ride the groomed tracks then he started thinking he was only gonna practice on rough tracks to make him better. He felt he got better, learning to ride in the poor conditions.

I think it's gotten a little better lately, no where near as good as they keep Aztec or Berthoud.

I have a pretty early rider number, starts with a letter and then a number. They don't even give those out anymore now it's all numbers. I joined out there in 95, it had all ready been open for several years then. God we are showing our age arnt we.

[Wayward Son]

all about the rough ungroomed part.i love that stuff.if you can fast on it you can go fast anywhere.its the rest of the layout that sucks there.

[Glassman66]

I joined in 1991, my number 1s 656. I ride there because its so close. Berthoud and Aztec are such a hike and Miliken is rediculous.

I rememeber you freind losing his life there. That long table has taken so much from so many. I was there when a guy stpped his bike at the landing for it and a pro hit him as he landed. Nasty.

I remember Gene. I think his ticker finally gave out. Maybe its time for me to venture to some other tracks.

[JimT]

A friend of mine was riding there once on a weekday, it was just him and two other riders, a father/son group. He was doing laps around the track and the last thing he remembers was hitting the little kid head on on a jump. The kid was going the wrong way (this is one of many problems there). Anyway, the next thing he remembers is waking up in the weeds next to the track with the track employee standing over him. No sign of the father and son. Dislocated hip, major surgery to reattach everything. That was five years ago, and he just finally got back on a dirtbike a couple months ago. I guess this is just one of many horror stories at that place.

[endurodog]

I had a similiar experince out there but didn't hit the kid. Going around mid week, just me and a couple of others. I come up to this one jump, blind landing, hit it hard (thankfully). As I leave the jump face there is a kid coming right at me on a little 50. I sailed over him. I stopped and went and talked to dad who was by the jump face. He told me that he told his son to go over the jump and come back but hadn't told him to come back off of the track. The dad said my rear tire missed the kids head by about 6 inches. I was shaking so bad thinking about hitting the poor kid that I had to pull off for almost an hour.

Now with that being said I have seen people hurt on every track I have been too. The sport is dangerous and sometimes people get on all tracks going the wrong way. Especially when there are only a few people in an area and it's hard to establish the correct direction by the crowd going around.