Kingsnake

[ChrisD]

So you live in West Milford...huh? We have a house just across the NY/NJ border in Greenwood Lake. It's just up the street from Happy Landing marina. In the winter, we ice race in front of Castle Tavern. There are usually about 5-10 three and four wheelers and 10-15 ice bikers from Spears Yamaha that race for fun. If you look in the background of the pic, you will see the restaurant. Hopefully the lake will freeze this winter so we can race again. It gets competitive sometimes, but is always a lot of fun.

[Kingsnake]

Hey ChrisD!
Do you live there year round, or is it a "summer-home" kinda deal? Sounds nice, this part of NY/NJ is still beautiful and not totally over-populated (yet).

So you race right on Greenwood Lake? On the NY side, right? (I doubt Jersey would allow it!) That's so cool! I've only been living up here for about 2 years, so I'm still learning the area. I'm actually right next to Upper Greenwood Lake. I've taken the X through some local paths and this one "pit", but have yet to do any serious exploring...

I'd be willing to bet the lakes will freeze over good this year. I have a feeling we're in for a long, cold, winter. We've already had snow up here at least 4 times since last week, although nothing measurable. But it's more snow than we got all year last year already! Well, maybe not entirely... lol

Ice racing sounds like a blast! How can I get involved? Can you give me more details? What do you need to qualify? Any special equipment needed (besides studded tires)? Are there certain classes that race or is it kind of a "free-for-all"? Either way it sounds like something I would love to get involved with (even though I hate the cold lol! But hey, racing's racing, right?). 8)

Let me know if you're ever riding down this way and maybe we'll hook up sometime. Just drop me an email.

Cheers!
Sean

[Kingsnake]

Hey, BTW is that you in the picture? What's that you're riding? Looks like an 85-86 ATC250R but it's kinda blurry...
Still a cool shot though... 8)

[ChrisD]

Sorry about the blurry picture, but it was clipped from a videotape. It was blurry because I was haulin' trailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro. The races are totally grass roots and are not sanctioned. It's a bunch of people that do it for the fun and the bragging rights. So far no one has tried to stop us from doing it and on some days we draw a good crowd. I ride an 86 250R and have an 85 250R as a back up. I bought a 250sx with a plow 2 years ago to clean up the track between rides.

I grew up there, but moved to Maryland 12 years ago. We still have the house there, so I try to get up there whenever I can. If the lake freezes this winter, I will be up there a lot.

They race up on Upper GWL too, but they get heat from the West Milford Police. Mostly for parking cars near the lake. I met a guy who stumbled upon us while riding on the GWL. He has a banshee and thought he was fast until he raced with us. I lapped him within 3 laps. I hope he went and told his friends because we're always looking for more people to join us.

[ATC350X 85]

Wow, thats some cool stuff. Im at the Jersey shore. There certainly is a lack of riding areas around here. I'll have to keep Ice riding in mind this winter!!

[Kingsnake]

Sounds great man! You definitely have to let me know when you guys do that again - I will definitely be there! 8) But you might have to help me out with tires - or at least tell me where to get the screws...
I've seen a couple of locals out on UGL but not too many - the ice was pretty thin last year... The West Milford cops are fairly cool about riding around here, as long as they don't get any complaints or catch you riding on the roads - at least from what I can tell, since like I said, I've only lived here for a couple of years. They've driven right by and seen us riding next to my house and they don't even slow down. But I am waiting to have someone complain about my trike, since it's so damn loud! I hope I can get away with it for a little while longer...
The biggest thing you have to look out for around here are the park rangers - a lot of trails run right through state park land and they'll chase you with quads if they see you. I've heard a few guys say that they'll just tell you to leave if your bike is registered/insured, but if you're not legit, you get at least a fine if you're lucky enough not to have your bike impounded...
Needless to say, I'm always looking for riding opportunites!
Hey Justin you should come up too if they do this again this year - that would be great! Let's outnumber the quads and show them how it's really done! hehe j/k!

Sean

[ChrisD]

My house is right across the street from Sterling Forest. We used to ride on 22000 acres. The state bought the land in the mid 90's and the park rangers are everywhere. http://www.amc-ny.org/pub_serv/sterlfor.html We built tracks, campsites, miles of trails, etc. I haven't ridden up there in a few years, but it used to be great. We had trails that connected everywhere. If you got chased by the cops, you could ditch into the woods and ride home or to a friend's house. It saved me a bunch of times.

I'm coming up to NY on November 14 and we are planning on going riding in West Milford that weekend. email me at durchanek@yahoo.com if you're interested in going.

[Kingsnake]

Hey Chris I might be working that weekend, which sux, but I'll let you know. Where in West Milford do you plan on riding?

[ChrisD]

I'm not sure of the exact place that we're going into the woods, but it backs up to your neck of the woods. You can ride out to Clinton Road and all around. It's a pretty big space.

I haven't ridden there yet, but some good firends have been riding there for about a year. I'm bringing my motorcycle up to NY for winter storage, so as long as it doesn't rain the day that I'm driving up there, I'll be there. The main purpose of the trip is to get the motorcycle up there, but I'm bringing the 85R for the ride up. If you don't have to work, it should be worth your time. It's a great bunch of guys and you'll be glad that you met them.

[Kingsnake]

Holy crap is it known locally as "the pit"? I think I know exactly where you're talking about! If it the same place, it's a pretty cool place to ride. It's almost like a small MX track, with some nice tabletops, a tough whoops section (It just beat the living crap out of me the last time I was there!) a few burms and there are lot's of trails around it that lead all over the place, but I haven't been down many of them yet. My friend Tom, who is an ex- MX'er (ask your friends if they know who "Mad-Dog" is ), claims he set it up like a MX track himself and even groomed it somehow with his quad, although I'm not sure how he did...
Anyway, I live right off of Clinton Road, and if this is the same place I'm thinking of, it's not far away from me at all. My biggest thing is figuring out how to get down Clinton without catching any heat from the man lol. Since there aren't too many 200X's around, (especially one's with flames on the tank!) it wouldn't be too hard for them to find me, you know? :shock:

Thanks for inviting me, I'm going to really try to make it. It would be great to meet some new folks around here, since I don't know too many people around here at all, especially those who ride! I'll send you an email next week with my home # so maybe we can work the details out over the phone since that might be easier. (If that's cool with you.)

Thanks again man!
Sean