So I got a nice new not-shiny at all tire for my motorbike today, and decided that it would be a Good Idea to try it out by zipping around in the NJ Pine Barrens. So, I went cruising down south (geographically, you perv!!!) and picked a dirt road that I’ve ridden down before, and know a little bit. I’ve got my GPS, and a kit of emergency items with me, so I figure I’m set. I went riding with my nice new knobby tire, flinging dirt, sand and mud all over the pine barrens. I saw a cute deer, some rodent things in Tom’s River (at Hooper U), and some snake tracks (I think). I also saw a Box Turtle, that was rather concerned by my presence- he had the most beautiful shell, with really cool patterns of brown and yellow, with a surprising sheen on it’s shell. I put Mr Turtle on the side of the trail, and carried on with my trek. I found puddles full of water striders and polliwogs, and the mosquitoes found me… often. I was riding along, getting more comfortable with riding through water, mud, and loose sugar sand, and I found… The Puddle
You see, when you go trail riding, and you find a big nasty puddle, there often is a small trail going around the puddle, or a small trail avoiding the puddle, with a demi-puddle in residence. This Killer Puddle, had two trails going “around” it, and I picked the wrong one. My legs were submerged to mid-thigh, and then I dumped the bike, because of the unseen ruts in the “road” under the vicious puddle of doom. My bike sucked in so much water that it died. I was two miles from anywhere with a phone, and the sun was beginning to set. I got my NX-650 out of the puddle, amongst much panting, sweating and grunting (It’s a heavy bike, you perv!!), and completely failed to start the thing. I removed the airbox cover, and a bunch of muddy water came out. It still wouldn’t start. I did hear water gurgling, so I removed the spark plug, and muddy water came out of the plug hole when I cranked the engine. The bike still wouldn’t start. I ended up walking through the pine barrens -in the dark- all the way to Warren Grove. Fortunately, I had my GPS, so I marked the location of my bike, and started walking.
The Pines at night have five things:
- Bugs
- Bugs that fly around, make weird noises, and don’t look like any bug that you’ve ever seen anywhere. Ever.
- Bugs that want your blood.
- Really weird creepy noises from animals that I’ve never heard before.
- The Jersey Devil, and Rodents of Unusual Size.
After walking through the these weird danger for two hours, I finally made it out of the woods, and found some nice guys who got my bike started, and helped me fix it. I never saw so much water and steam fly out of a motor vehicle before!!! It was cool.
The guys who helped me out run a website that specializes in TikiBars, Tiki Sculpture, and Animals sculpted out of wood with a chainsaw, so I may be buying a cool tiki soon. He makes sculptures out of wood with a chainsaw, and now… I want one.
That’s about it.
So far I’ve only found one tick on me.
Anyone else have some exciting adventures this weekend??
