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Ocala: The Swamping Chronicles

84K views 1K replies 42 participants last post by  Kingfish999 
#1 ·
Ocala: " Roads Not Maintained" Run

Gonna start this thread for my data and any other that needs to be posted...

:popc1:
 
#2 ·
jowens..."Those were Bunny trails compared to what the guys out west run."

Just a note on this comment....I have wheeled up and down the east coast for 25 years
and now up in the Northwest for 8 years....Here is my feeling towards that type of comment. (Mind you I am not sayng this in a bad way or with mean intention) In fact, I am making this statement in respect of all wheelers everywhere...

The riders in the Northwest face way different obstacles then we do in the south and; we face different stuff then the guys in the mid-atlantic...or further north..or those in middle America....etc.etc.etc...

I am positive that if a westerner came here, they would definitely have to learn the ropes of driving in southern swamp mud...period. And when I went to the Northwest, I entered into their environment like an idiot and almost killed myself on several occasions...simple things like the amount of pedal you give in the swamp mud as opposed to the skinny pedal you ride on an 8000 foot mountain side. The PNW4x4 boys in the Northwest (Oregon/Washington) let me ride with them and seriously taught me a lot about negotiating nasty mountains trails. Colorado rock damn near killed an old chevy I had years ago...

We all know our backyards well...and every different type of riding deserves dedication to learning the system and preparation. Remember...yes you can fall off of a 10,000 mountain and kill yourself real fast...but if you get stuck for too long here in the south in mud bogs the mosquitoes will eat you alive...lol...then there's gators, leaches and black moccasin snakes that are aggressive as hell. Standing in swamp water is good for the skin complexion but you become bait...

But that being said...there is no trail riding in forest like the ones out west. Those forests are huge and go on forever. Styles of driving are a learned event only improved by doing it over and over and over again.

...and Jim, nobody blamed you for not messing up that pretty motor and the money involved in building it...we all would have backed out of that day.
 
#3 ·
lol. well I was glad I got to go. It was a blast. That first trail was fun the whole way. Where I was raised that would have been unpassable. Louisiana mud is much different than here. Back home its like clay and it sticks to everything. This is really the first time i have ran offroad in Florida, and its completely different than in Louisiana. Its actually alot easier here in that sand because it just flys right out of the tires leaving you clean tread to keep moving.

I would have kept going, but I knew yall were going to get into some deep water over by the lake, and I didnt wanna deal with that kind of clean up.

I didnt come out completely un-scathed, my throttle cable bound up on me last night, now I have to figure out whats going on with that this morning. I dunno if mud got in there somehow or if it just decided it was time to break.
 
#4 ·
ok thanks to Pfun41, I got my throttle issues solved. apparently some of that mud made it down into the throttle body bell crank and gummed up the works. After spraying it with wd-40 and working it, then taking it apart and cleaning it and lubing it up with lithium grease it now works better than ever. I probably needed to do that anyway.
 
#5 ·
I dont know if I have the guts to take on those trails out west. Those guys are fearless. Some of the things I have seen posted on trip reports here from out west, just makes me weak in the knees. You guys out west rock!
 
#8 ·
Ok cool its good....

now here are the videos in the order ... the above is number one.....

http://youtu.be/RgOn2QRwisU #2

http://youtu.be/d6F1_9SL7n8 #3

http://youtu.be/IWxnuiF8oqM #4

http://youtu.be/cAxoMAxJy6c #5


I am working on the pics, but I think the guys covered it pretty well from that standpoint...but I did think of BikerPepe when we were out there and decided to make him a special gift....soon to come....


Dang it pfun....you had me damn near peeing my pants with laughter...I forgot about scuba steve...ROFLMAO....
 
#9 ·
Wow that washout at the end of video 1 was too deep for me. lol Good thing Pfun went way left. that hole had an evil center to it.

That swamp on #4 was awesome. Im glad no one broke down severly in that mess.
 
#11 ·
if you want to have the video appear in the post just put youtube inside [] at the front of the link and /youtube inside [] at the back of the link. You only need the part after the = sign in the youtube link.


That whole area looked flooded. was it like that up in the woods off the road too?
 
#12 ·
So the pics I have are few but I believe they are not doubles of anybody elses...of course I'm an old senial fart so...

The campsite...




The trucks showing off their dirt...notice the campfire pit...covered, policed, and clean...zero impact baby!




And now a hello to BikerPepe in the only way Pepe could understand we love him...



Well, I'm done folks....time to go scrape mud of the truck...
 
#19 ·
That black bronco was bad ass too. He has that thing looking good. Still working out a few bugs, but damn, hes got it goin on.

I think everyone on the ride had a fantastic rig! Lots of Bronco love goin on in Florida!
 
#20 ·
great videos...really wish I could have been there for that last part...getting stuck and unstuck is half the fun....

Frank, where was that trail with all of the water? I want to mark that off on my map.

this is what I'm talking about...

 
#21 ·
I marked it but you will be the only one driving down it...LOL....that sucker is a killer. This whole SE area has been known as a truck killer. We met up with some guys while we were doing an extraction and they were doing a trail repair...

Eric has 40 inch tires and was under water to his windows on the last part that I wouldn't try...we would have all had to be extracted if we tried that trail. Even the forest service workers said it was a ball buster. We were working on his truck and I think a trout bumped me in the leg...
 
#23 ·
I want to make a map of all the trails yall ran on google earth. It shows all the trails very clearly, much better than the topo map. Frank, can you scan the marked map, I will try to mark it up in Google earth from that.

Also Frank,

I was looking at the map, and I noticed there seems to be what looks like some trails over by you. Are these open for trucks? I looked up that town and damn, theres only 12 people that live there. lol

 
#24 ·
jermil01...pulled up on some forest service workers that were preparing for a controlled burn just before going into the trail from hell.

jowens1126....yes the trails you have highlighted are open for riding but they are a bit sublime...just sandy. Yes Weeki Wachi is a very small town...I think of the 12 people, the mermaids at Weeki Wachi Springs Park count as 6...LOL.


Now let take an inventory of my weekend escapades....

jowens1126 will probably never go on a trail ride again as long as I am in charge of picking trails...

ANGELO and his Dad are pretty sure I am nuts when it came to me telling them about my side work in the forest...

89Bronco302 just stared in amazement at my silly azz...

pfun41 is gonna let the air out of my tires after me picking on him with the yellow submarine video....

and BikerPepe is waiting for the kill shot on me now....

....that just leaves jermil01 who left too early to find out I was crazy...cool...I netted 1 riding buddy out of 6....damn good haul for a weekend's work.



Word: truth is....pfun41 is one badass trail doctor and will be a necessary addition to my toolbox on runs from now on. (solid work bro)
 
#25 ·
Those videos are awesome. Really puts it into perspective. I was too worried about some of those holes to video myself. Despite my issues it was a blast though. Can't wait for the next one, already started back on the bronco this morning. Next time I think I should test the depth in those big holes before I just go for it. Not my smartest move.
 
#26 ·
lol. Im ready to go again. I may not follow into the water, but I will take the dryer trails any day. I need to learn that area. In a couple of years me and the wife are moving up to Eustice to live on the lake, so all that will be much closer for me.

Frank, we need to go fishing. You got a boat?
 
#28 ·
jim you didn't see the videos??? LOL...I use my Bronco like a boat. No I don't anymore. When we left Florida I couldn't afford to store the boat and all of our stuff from the sale of our house so I sold it. Yes, I miss it now that I'm back. But those lakes up there have always been good for lunkers...Lake Kerr is good and Lake George...but there must be 10,000 other small and medium lakes that have good fishing there in that vicinity.

Yes we can go sometime...i love fishing. I have to align some obligations coming up for the next couple of weeks but by February I could go anytime.
 
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