Nicholas Fluhart

Part 2: The Day-1 Sport Ride

So after getting the camp squared away, we decided to hit the trails for an afternoon sport ride. The first spot on the list was the TNT Plant. There are multiple ways to get to the plant from our camp site, so the ATVs took one route, and the dirt bikes took a second route. The dirt bikes consisted of Chris on his XR650R and myself on my KLX650R. We proceeded at a fast pace, and while headed east on a gravel road, we had a very close encounter with a deer. Chris and I were riding side-by-side when the deer jumped out of the roadside brush and narrowly avoided collision. We got it on video; check out the clip below:

At the TNT plant we took a break and climbed up to the roof, or what’s left of it…

Then we decided to check out the basement…only it was under water. After unsuccessfully attempting to persuade Moore, our resident scuba diver/pilot, to conduct some under water spelunking adventures, we just threw rocks at the entrance instead.

Leaving from the area shown above, there is a mysterious concrete sidewalk about six feet in width leading north into the dense woods. It goes on completely unobstructed for about an eighth of a mile through the woods until it runs into a massive concrete theater of sorts. This area is believed to be the small arms testing site. In the photo below, I am standing by the south wall near an indentation where targets were apparently hung.

Now it’s on to the dunes…or our version of “dunes”. To build the 68K acre complex of mostly concrete bunkers and structures, it required a large volume of rocks and gravel. The surrounding area is rich in gravel and wash-rock which is one of the reasons the government chose this location. Subsequently, there are numerous gravel quarries indiscriminately scattered throughout the area. Most are abandoned, but some are still in operation today. All were linked via railroads, as too were all the structures in the area, however, all of the railroad tracks in the abandoned areas were long since pulled up and scrapped. Two large gravel yards border our lease, so we can easily access them on our ATVs. We road over to one on the NE section of the area, which we refer to as “the dunes” because the small, fine type of gravel there gives the appearance of sand dunes. There we find a variety of riding terrain. There is an abundance of long, steep hills, open flats and table tops, as well as wooded trails and lakes. It’s fantastic.

Although we didn’t have the chance to take many photos, we did manage to grab some video footage as seen below. We did some hill climbing and general riding. I learned first-hand how difficult it is to ride a dirt bike in sand and gravel, although Chris makes it look easy. Toward the end of the clip, Brad takes a pretty big spill attempting to climb an insanely steep hill, but I only caught the aftermath on video.

After all that, we retreated the few miles back to camp to cook diner which was dear steaks, burgers, potatoes, cut green beans with bacon and a touch of garlic. And if that wasn’t enough fun for one day, we headed back out for a late-night ride at which point we had entirely too much fun which subsequently put us out of commission until noon on day-2. The Day-2 4×4 ride will be posted next, so stay tuned!

I’m very late in posting this, but as late spring/early summer goes, I’ve had little time for blogging, what with my business and travel schedules. Back in March we launched the 2nd annul, much anticipated, and best yet East Camden, Arkansas expedition with this one focused on one primary objective: ATV riding. Rather than posting an obscenely long post, I’m going to break this up into multiple posts with this being Part-1: Setting Up.

After having planned all year, my core group at last gathered at the Omni Complex for a quick trip briefing before hitting the road north to the remote region known as “The Area”. To learn more about The Area, see my post on the 1st expedition. Since this trip was geared toward riding, it is only fitting that I give a brief rundown of the bikes and quads that the five of us employed on this trip.

My machines:

– 1993 Kawasaki KLX650R- I think this is the first appearance of my 650R on this blog. At some point within the next century I intend to do a full post on this bike. For this trip, I plan to ride it on our sport bike ride scheduled for day-1.

– 2002 Honda TRX350XX– This one was also taken in anticipation of day-1. After several years of storage, I pulled it out of moth balls specifically for this occasion.

– 1998 Honda 450 Foreman– Of course I took my faithful companion. No camping/riding trip would be the same without her, especially since day-2 was slated for a 4×4 adventure.

– Kawasaki Bayou 300 4×4– Here’s a new face in the crowd. I built this quad for a backup unit and took it along as a spare. Our rides can get pretty intense, and I don’t want to be knocked out early due to ATV failure like last year. At some point, I’ll post the project build for this one.

Brad’s Machines:

-1998 Yamaha 600 Grizzly– Armed with a new set of 28″ Dirt Devil XT’s, Big Grizz was quite impressive on this trip.

– Suzuki Z400 -Borrowed from a buddy for the day 1 sport bike ride at the dunes. Seen at left.

– Honda 420 Rancher 2WD- Brought as a backup unit, this quad has been to heck and back and still runs like a champ. Unbelievable.

Chris’ Machines

-Honda XR650R-The infamous 650R, seen at center, brought for the sport ride, day-1.

-1999 Honda 450 Foreman -You’ll see more of this quad later, and only then will you understand why I say that I haven’t seen one this clean since 1999.

Brian’s Machine

– 1986 Honda FourTrax 350 4×4– A legend, the FourTrax 350, later known as the 350 Foreman, easily held its own with the newer machines.

Moore’s Machine

– Honda 250 Recon -Brought for multi-purpose use, the Recon is another one that holds it’s own surprisingly well.

I know, a lot of machines for just five people…but we like to be prepared. So, the first order of business was to get loaded and hit the road. Below you’ll see a slide show of us trailering up, hitting the road, and setting up camp which included a 20″ enclosed trailer for sleeping arrangements, canopies, and a fantastic shower enclosure I purchased on Amazon. You’ll also see that upon arrival we determined that the functionality of the gate at the road was insufficient. Chris, our resident welder, immediately sprang into action…

That wraps up the intro. Later I will be posting the Day-1 sport ride and the surrounding events. TO BE CONTINUED…