Looking for people to ride with! IL, WI, MI

[Maximus83]

What's going on guys? It's been years since I've been on TT and I've spent just about the same time off the bike. After college real life set in and I had to focus on starting the career and a family. Now a few years in, I'm ready to get back to my #1 love in life (now #4 behind God, my wife and son). I spent 2 years in Arizona, a bit in California and 7 years in Southern Illinois where the riding was all amazing. The Midwest really isn't the trail riding capital of the world so finding people to ride with is difficult. I'm willing to drive up to Michigan, Wisconsin, etc. to find some good riding. If anyone is in a similar boat and is looking for someone to hit the trails with, shoot me a message. I'm located in the Chicago area but I'm wanting to travel up to the UP, northern Wisconsin, etc. to experience what that area has to offer. 

I can hold my own on difficult single track but prefer faster stuff. ANY riding at this point would be great. 

There are private riding parks within an hour of me but I am not a fan of riding from fence line to fence line in 10 minutes and that being the extent of the riding area. 

Right now my bike (09 WR450) is set up enduro

[RND]

Where are you located? I live in Willowbrook. A buddy of mine who lives in Salem, WI both ride off road. No tracks, nothing fast really, just ride where and when we can. Rode Atkinson Motor Park a few weeks ago. Trying to ride some of the trails in WI, or the UP hopefully sooner than later. I have an 09 YZ250f and he rides a Husky 250. Liking to ride the Badlands soon. Been there before?

[Honda addict]

I live in North west ill have a few places to ride and lots of great gravel Roads.I ride 2015 xr650l.u guys are welcome to come out and ride. 

[RND]

That's sounds good to me. Where are you exactly? I'll bring it up to my buddy as well.

[Honda addict]

Just south of lanark ill 5 miles south of 52-64.15 minutes east of the Ole mississippi 

[motox331]

 I have been riding up at rocky glen OHV in Rockford with a few other guys from the site. Has some decent trails and tracks. Next time we head up there I can shoot you a PM!

[Maximus83]

On ‎7‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 1:18 PM, RND said:

Where are you located? I live in Willowbrook. A buddy of mine who lives in Salem, WI both ride off road. No tracks, nothing fast really, just ride where and when we can. Rode Atkinson Motor Park a few weeks ago. Trying to ride some of the trails in WI, or the UP hopefully sooner than later. I have an 09 YZ250f and he rides a Husky 250. Liking to ride the Badlands soon. Been there before?

RND, hey sorry for the late reply. I live in the St. Charles area (Campton Hills). It's a been a busy week with the passing of an old friend. But I just read what you said. I've been to the Bandlands a handful of times a while back. Great place to rip around for the day. The UP and Northern Wisconsin would be awesome to hit up before the end of the summer or maybe even this fall! Any takers on possibly planning a trip up there?

Honda Addict, I'd love to come out for the day some time! You're not too far away and I bet the scenery up that way is super nice! Do you ride from home or do you trailer your bike to the locations?

Thanks for the replies guys!

[NINferno21]

Hey dudes! I ride with Motox331 up @ rock glen. Like he said we met on here and pop up there for a session here and there.  It is small but for a quick ride it is nice and close to Chicago.  If you would ever like to ride hit us up!

As for single track, I just did some riding near Baldwin, MI a couple of weeks ago. Pretty awesome ! It just goes on for miles. I did the Little O & Lincoln Hills area; the maps are here:

http://vvmapping.com/trails/trailInfoMI.html

I have been trying to get up there again sometime soon so if any of you want to  make a 2 day riding trip out of it ( I am only off on Mondays & Tuesdays) let me know! I'm always interested in riding so if you all are going to setup a UP or Wisco trip make sure you post it!

If anyone wants to ride locally to Chicago, I suggest posting it, you never know who wants to ride!

 

-Ralph

[RND]

Maximus83, no worries. I know Campton Hills, looked at a few places out there. Just too far from work but nice area. Sorry to hear about your friend, that sucks. Love theBadlands, may be trying to get a trip there soon. I'd live to do the U.P. and N. WI if I could find the time to pull off a few days. My buddy would join us for sure I know. Just need to check the calendar. Work starts soon for me, I teach. Summer just about done.

[RND]

Not a huge fan of RG, too many hot shots, speed demons, etc. for me. Plus I'm not in to the tracks really, rather ride the trails. Had a few instances there where some young guns tried to intimidate me until I stood my ground. They have zero respect for others. Plus, I tend to ride at my own pace, not looking to tear it up. Unless I go on a Monday or Friday, I stay away.

[NINferno21]

Right there with you RND. Mostly just ride the trails there and take it easy. We have families we want to get home to.   I'm always trying to ride weekdays but if the stars align and the wife grants a weekend day off I take it ? Usually get there early and leave early before the UTV and the boys in cut off t shirts start whipping around.

Any whoot I will be riding Fox Valley on Wednesday (weather permitting). If any one has the day off join up ! Wardy over there commands respect from the younger chaps! Fun single track and good elevation changes.

[Maximus83]

When does school start back up for you, RND? I also posted this in North region and got some responses from guys up there. I might actually make a trip in a couple weekends (12th-13th of August) to Michigan for a few days. If anyone is interested in joining drop me a PM and I can give you the details.

I also want to plan a trip in the fall up north so when things are in the works I'll make sure to post it. I also have odd days off so a Tuesday-Wed. might work for me in the future for a two day trip.

[Maximus83]

Hey guys, I'm going to be up in the Wolf Lake (Baldwin) Michigan area this weekend on Sunday and Monday. Anyone going to be riding? I'm bringing the wife and baby up to hang out at the lake while I do some riding during the day. If anyone wants to meet up I'd love a riding partner!

[NINferno21]

Are you staying at the Wolf Lake Motel? 

[Maximus83]

Unfortunately they were booked since it was a last minute deal so I'm at the other one down the road. I was actually going to PM you NINferno21 since I saw you mentioned in another post that you did something very similar with your family and a trip to the area. Got any good pointers for me? Brand new to riding up there.

[NINferno21]

I'm going to run it past my wife but I'm not going to get either of our hopes up.  How old is your little one? 

We stayed at sunset shores in Cadillac which was ubber nice! I had the same thought process leave wife and baby on a lake while I ride. I rode the upper loop of Little Manistee. It has a wide ORV trail with a narrow single track motorcycle only trail running parallel to it.  You can alternate between the two. Hop off one and ride the other for a bit. The wide trail is sandy as shit but fast, nice to cool off.  The single track is whopped,  sandy in spots but much more fun to ride.  Pack as light as you can. Everyone says how much you bring is directly correlated to how much fun you have and I learned that first hand. I recommend printing the maps from vvmapping and buying their gps software. If I relied just on the paper maps I probably would have missed a turn and been lost.  Bad for me cause I got a small tank on a 2 stroke. A GPS is just cheap peace of mind.  Also rode the Caberfae MCCT section. Tight technical and fun but we did 10 miles and turned around cause we were wiped out after trying to get around a downed tree.  That section was definitely not well marked and the gps saved our butts.

On facebook there is a group from people just looking for riding buddies in that area. Im certain someone from that group will hook up with you to ride: Michigan Motorcycle Trail Riders https://www.facebook.com/groups/MiMotorcycleTrailRiders/

[Maximus83]

LOL! I had to "run it past the wife" earlier today. She was just happy I wasn't going by myself like I initially had planned. My little man is 5 months. How about yours?

I'm stoked for the trip. I'm putting some soft terrain tires on as we speak and trying to get everything else ready to go. So a GPS and paper maps are crucial, good call on that one.

Let me know if by chance your wife clears ya!

[NINferno21]

Happy wife happy life. Ha! My wife shares the same wish. 2 months. We love going up to Michigan so it has been a great way to throw in some biking & have the little guy get lulled to sleep by the car.  I wish I knew years sooner that they have so many trails up there!  

Like I said before we are always off Monday & Tuesday. So to hear you say Sunday Monday peaks my interest.  I'll PM you in the next day or so.  

 

In the meantime I am heading up to Rocky Glen tomorrow if you or any one else would like to join for a causal romp. 10am-2pm.

 

 

[Maximus83]

Wish I could have gone out there today with you but I have the little man and then work. Plus the wheels are still off the bike. Tomorrow morning I have to prep the bike and load up to leave around 4 pm.

You mentioned packing light as possible. Think I should lighten up my hog of a DB for the sand, meaning put the stock tank back on and take off my 10 lbs of lighting I have up front?

Sent from my STV100-2 using ThumperTalk mobile app

[Maximus83]

Just got back from the Baldwin area. Only got to ride yesterday (Sunday) and did way less than I wanted. From what I saw Michigan riding is fun and I can't wait to go back! I woke up Friday and had come down sick with a flu/cold. I had already made reservations and took Saturday off work (one of my last personal days for the year) so I was going hell or high water. I woke up Saturday with the cold chills and throwing up. Luckily my mother-in-law came over to watch my son so I could sleep until my wife got off work. When she got off she helped me load up my bike and truck and we hit the road 3 hours later than we wanted. I rolled in town Saturday night at 11:30 ET and fell asleep. Sunday I got up and was determined to go riding even though I was still under the weather. I didn't message or call anyone locally to meet up because I was not on my game and knew I'd be a buzz kill to anyone looking to hit it hard (or even ride a normal pace). Got a late start after sleeping in but I ended up riding some of the Little Manistee to the MCCC connect to the Little O and then south along the Little O for about 20 miles. The loamy sand on the Little Manistee to the connect burnt me out before I even got to enjoy the ride. HAHA. None the less I pushed on to the Little O trailhead. I had to spend about 30 minutes at the trailhead to cool down and regain my composure. I set out south on the Little O and initially thought, "oh no, whooped out loamy sand. If this goes on I'm going to kill myself."  A couple miles into the loop and I was loving life! I took another break, cooled down and then pushed on. I didn't end up doing the whole loop because I was feeling like absolute shit, physically, but I was loving the ride. I ended up heading back north and hitting the pavement back to 37 and north to Wolf Lake. I wasn't supposed to be on the road like that was I? I thought at any moment I was going to pass a copper and I'd have a ticket (My bike is "street legal"). I know I've heard other guys say they "hit the pavement due to lack of day light" but when I was up there I saw ZERO bikes on the highways hitting it back to camp for the night.  Anyway, I got back just before sun down and went to bed early. Woke up in the middle of the night soaked in sweat. That combine with the Little O being closed for maintenance today, I decided the whole world was against me and came home today. Next time I'll be better prepared and know what to expect. Would like to plan a trip in the future, possibly early September! 

Edited August 14, 2017 by Maximus83