The 2007 Pine Barrens 500
Day 1 - The Northern Loop
Part 2
When some of the faster riders arrived at Lucilles, they weren't hungry yet so they keep going. The route taking them north into Greenwood Wildlife Management Area and Forked River Mountain Reserve. Just to keep things in perspective, Forked River Mountain is only 180 Feet high, in the Pine Barrens, thats a mountain. Here's "Doc" on the one of the Sand Highways in Penn Forest.
There are some classic gravel pits in this area, and the route goes right though one. At this point, the riders had traveled about 75 miles, only about a third of my estimated distance for day one.
I got caught up rescueing Terry and his drown out 950 and had to leave the "Gorillas" on their own, some of the guys proved to be great riders and navigators, and now were more confident. Just after that I got a call of another broken down rider, His water pump seal blew in Lakehurst, at about 85 miles and the second option for lunch. My wife's office in is the next town over and I said we might be able to meet for lunch at the Lakehurst Diner. She showed up around 1 PM and saw a bunch of dirt bikers having lunch and asked " Are you guys with the Pine barrens 500?" They probally thought to themselfs " this event has spectators?"
I did'nt get to Lakehurst till around 1:30 and my wife had left already, but I found the broken down rider, an older enduro guy, waiting in the parking lot. His bike was leaking coolant bad, and there wasn't much we could do without a new seal, so I called the Support Element and continued on my way. The route continued on the highway past Lakehurst Navel Air Station for about 5 miles. About a mile from the entrance to Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area, there was road work being done, and the police were directing traffic toward a detour. As I got closer to the traffic officer, he waved for me to come to him. He had already let most of the riders avoid the detour and continue down the planned route into the forest. After Collier's Mills WMA the route was close to it's northern most point, a gravel road know as "the poors mans safari", a fire access road that borders Great Adventure's safari park.
This point on the route was only around 100 of the estimated 225 miles of the days ride, and most riders arrived after 1:00. After the short jungle tour, the route turned south toward Lebanon State Forest, and another of my favorite spots, the Whitesville Cranberry Bogs.
The bog dikes are a really scenic place to ride and are surrounded by classic pine forest trails. Here's Rob on one of the less traveled roads in Whites Bog. It was right around here where I meet up with agroup of riders who were navigating very well, but it was getting late and we were still far away from the hotel. The total route mileage so far was only about 140.
At this point, suggested that the group follow me and we'll take a short cut through Lebanon forest. This plan worked out well and at the southern tip of Lebanon we ran into Rob and his group, we joined forces and continued south through Chatsworth and into Wharton Forest. Rob, who had prerode the event with myself and a few other guys a few weeks before had traveled the route without any shortcuts and clocked about 175 miles at this point. With what I thought was about 50 miles left to go and daylight running out soon, I suggested that we hightail it through Wharton, making a quick stop at Apple Pie Hill and then heading straight back to the hotel across the forest. Here's Rob and Chris at Apple Pie Hill, a forestry service lookout.
And a view from the top of the tower.
And the tower.
The sand roads in Wharton are a great place to get that "Dakar Feeling". Here's Ed, Chris and Rob during the Pre-Ride.
By now my group had grown to about 7 or 8 riders, including Ali, a girl fron New York City on her DR650, Gregor, and Chris on their 950's, Grimmy and a few others I can't recall right now. We headed through the center of Wharton for about 25 miles encountering a few deep water crossings and deep sand sections on the way, but it was perfect jersey conditions and a great way to end a long day. We exited the Park close to where we entered this morning, stopped to get gas and rode down the highway about 6 or 7 miles to the Hotel. He we found a few riders how had managed to make it back in one shape or another.