FDSR 304 Detour

[juddspaintballs]

My buddy James Wright hosts the 304 Detour in Fairmont, WV with his club the Fairmont Dual Sport Riders. I’ve never done it, so I figured I’d try it out. I think the DAMN folks would love it. It has tons of private tracks that are challenging and an intermediate DS ride on Sunday. Apparently, there’s some night riding tonight, too. We’ll see if I survive.

[Bucho]

Sounds fun. Please give us a ride report afterwards

[juddspaintballs]

Skinny J and family are here.

[juddspaintballs]

Here's my 304 Detour write-up:

So, James Wright and the Fairmont Dual Sport Riders club hosts this event. It's about 2.5 hours from home for me, so it was easy to get to for me. The park they hosted it from is pretty primitive for camping. There's one spigot at the pavilion, there's a two-hole flushing toilet room in one of the outbuildings, but there are no stalls (no big deal). In the rec center part, there's a toilet with a door and a urinal. I don't think the camper area had any power hookups for people because I heard several generators running. I slept in a tent in the front field and used Dude Wipes to bathe for a couple days. It rained Friday night and several times on Saturday. The rolling thunder in those hills was awesome. It seemed to last for about 30s at a time.

I didn't plan well for this event. I've been busy and didn't have much time to prep with everything else going on. I decided to pack on Thursday in the 100 degree heat because that makes sense. It was hot, so I skipped that, planning on packing Friday morning. I texted James and asked if there was anything happening Friday to see if I wanted to arrive Friday or get up early Saturday and drive in. He said there was a possibility for a night ride Friday night. SOLD! So, I packed quickly on Friday morning, did some (actual) work for one of my jobs, and then left for Fairmont in my F150. The drive was uneventful and I quickly selected a camping spot and setup after registering. After a bit, James rode around and told people to meet at the pavilion at 8 for a night ride.

By 8:30, we were heading out to do the first 15 or so miles of the enduro loop. I decided to hang toward the back because my 701 had a pretty beat rear tire already, I'm not a good rider, and the 701 is a handful in single track. Maybe half a mile in, I pulled over to check something on my bike. I lost the tail lights and couldn't figure which way the trail went, and got lost for a while. I could see a headlight a bit behind where I was in the trail, so I headed that way to see what was going on. The sweep guy (Fred) had stopped to assist someone on a big Africa Twin with not great tires and a rider decidedly in over his head (his words). I lended a hand and we decided that the Africa Twin should head back. He got stuck going up the hill and eventually gave up. I offered to ride it up the hill for him and he gladly accepted the offer. Fred and I figured he was fine to make it back, so I followed him in the right direction. Eventually, we caught up to the rest of the group when they stopped. Somehow, I broke my Swiftkicker kickstand, too. When we got back to the campground, we couldn't find the Africa Twin and no one had seen him come in yet. A few people went to the trail to find him...and they did! He was still stuck on the trail, not far from the top of the hill I rode it. James rode the AT out and that AT guy rode the bike James was on (which was actually Fred's). Everyone safely back at camp. Let the gathering and drinking commence.

Saturday, I got up for the safety briefing and then puttered around until I was nearly the last person to leave camp. I wanted to be near the back of the self-paced enduro ride. I was planning on being slow, stopping often, and heading back to camp whenever I got tired. I didn't plan to do the whole route because I wanted to save myself (and my rear tire) for the Sunday ride. I rode about 30 miles of the enduro morning route before heading back to camp. I ran into Fairmont in the truck to eat lunch, grab a couple Diet Dews, and get a massive soft serve ice cream cone. It started pouring rain as soon as I left camp in the truck and it poured off and on like that for the next several hours. The guys still out riding were getting wet. By 8, almost everyone was hanging around camp again. That's when someone walked up to James and mentioned something about a stuck DRZ. I was not part of the recovery, but I hear it went fairly smoothly and they returned around 10:30 PM. I was already in my tent asleep by then.

Sunday, I'm up nice and early to get ready for the ride. I pre-loaded the Intermediate route into DMD2 and had Garmin double check the route throughout the day. After the rider's meeting, I hopped on the bike and started the route. First out, maybe? Someone wasn't far behind me. Of course, I missed the first turn! I followed the other guy a while and then we eventually swapped places. We got turned around at one spot in the route, and so did the 4 guys behind us. Eventually, we tracked to the route again and went on a ways. That area got hit by some big rain overnight, which I'm hearing was over 4". The route started showing serious damage. There was a long uphill that was normally rocky, and I'm pretty sure the rain washed a couple miles of baby-head sized rocks into the road(?). Additionally, this part of the route had metal culvert pipes running diagonally across the road, and the rain had washed enough away that every one was a step-up with a slippery smooth top edge. It was challenging. Coming off that mountain, at the bottom, the water had come through bad enough to blow through someone's garage and put all of his garage contents in the yard. The mobile home next door was pushed off the foundation. At the next big intersection, the bridge was closed. I talked with the DOT guys there and they showed me video of the water coming over the road there and washing the road out at the bridge. They were kind enough to offer some routes around (over 20 miles). After a bit, I had them talked into pushing some of that gravel pile in the road into the hole where there used to be a road. The 4 of us stopped there got to go through and we continued on.

In Parsons, the 4 of us stopped for fuel. I topped off and continued on while the other 3 stuck around a bit. From there, I rode alone the rest of the route. I had a great ride. At nearly the halfway point, a few bikes passed me in the opposite direction. I think they were part of the event and they just ran the route backwards. About 15 miles further, I passed several more bikes going in the opposite direction. Interesting. Oh well, I can see what's ahead of me and I'm having a good time. I stopped to pee somewhere in there. I had a few surprises from washed out spots or just not looking ahead and seeing a sudden drop off. No spills or fall overs. I got back to camp, packed up, and headed home. I didn't see anyone else at camp.


I had a great time. I'd do this one again. I'm pretty sure the rest of ya'll would have fun on either or both of the days. Today's Intermediate route was a lot like a portion of one of the 24HOA events. I'm sure the simultaneous Adventure route would be good for big bikes or newer riders. I didn't do most of the enduro routes, but I think any of the single track riders in this group would have gotten plenty from that, too.

[Bucho]

Cool. Thanks for the write up.

Your rear tire is looking pretty rough