I was going to go but I decided not to. My cousin wnet and he said the wait was soo long to get in the trail, and the mud was soo bad they just stayed for the party. They didn't even bother to ride. He said the 4x4's had a ton or fun, but the sport bikes spent more effort talking the 4x4 owners into pulling them out.

THEY HAD RAIN...RAIN...AND MORE RAIN! He said it was so bad they had tractors pulling the trucks and trailers into the camping area, even the 4x4 trucks. The people staying in tents must have been in misery.

 

No Way! I just got back from there. I went up with 2 Raptors, 1 250EX, and 4 400EX's. We rode the "C" trail (suppose to be the hardest and biggest mud holes). Out of our group, I got stuck once (I got it out myself...no 4x4 needed) and one of my buddies got stuck (AGAIN...no 4x4 needed). I had a blast! In the beginning, we waited about 30-45 minutes to start...there were some piles ups in the first 1/4 of the trail. After that, it was free riding. Tons of mud...when we lined up, there was only a small sprinkle..all the rain was from the early morning (around 5-6am) and the night before. It turned out to be a great day to ride. I'll be going every year from now on...two thumbs up!


Eric

 

It sounds like you had better luck than we did. We took trail A and it was complete misery the whole day. It was mostly road riding and every time that you went into the woods, there was a huge bottleneck. With so many bikes that is to be expected, but it was much worse this year than last. I'm sure that if you ask anyone else that was on trail A they will agree. We had a great time in the campground, but the ride was two thumbs down. I will not be going back unless some major changes are made.

 

I have to agree with WVBlaster.Wewaited 2hrs TO start. every time you get off the road and onto the trail there was a bottleneck for about an hour.There are to many inexperienced riders that cant make it through a simple mud hole or over a root.I won't be back unless there are some major changes. As for the camping it was a great party. I met some great people.

 

I loved it, there were 17 of us started on trail A some how got on to trail B then back on to trail A .All sport bikes but 2 4x4 we did not have any trouble. The first 1/2 was a little slow but the second 1/2 was quick.Yea there was a lot of mud and a lot of people that ride once a year but all & all it was the bomb! I was # 6049 and there were a lot of people behind me cant wait to find out the final # of riders.

 

My buddy got a newspaper from Meadville. They already did an article on it. The total number according to them was 6,835. Last year was 7,100...so it was down a bit. In the newspaper, they interviewed someone for the poker run. They stated "this is the most mud we ever had in 12 years...EVER!"

Eric

 

We started at 10 AM, finished at 5PM, it was a long day. Lots of MUD, stuck probably 8-10 times. It was a muddy mess. Did anyone see the Red Freightliner parked up by the barn. I was with that group. There was 11 of us. Overall it was a good time, but not as fun as last year, just too much MUD!! This was the first time that I wished I had a 4x4.

Did anyone see that Toyota Tacoma pull the Full-size Chevy out of the mud... WOW!!

 

We did trail A and started around 10:00am. Never finished the whole trail as the waiting was ridiculous. After the third traffic jam took us 1 and a half hours to sit through (the big hill descent to the bridge and gas point), we had enough and took the pavement back to town. We were on the trail for about 6 hours of which over 3 hours was spent sitting in lines. I would agree that most of the problems were caused by inexperienced riders and sport bikes that couldnt get over or through difficult terrain. Fortunately for us, we stumbled onto trail B on the way back to town and rode for about 30 minutes on great terrrain with noone in site. If it hadnt been for this last bit of riding there is no way in hell I would ever go back to Cochranton.

 

I don't know about you guys but my 440ex doesnt deserve the abuse that it recieved! I bent a rim, I bent my lonestar a arms and a ton of abuse on it in general. I am sure my bike hates me now. That will be the first and last year for cochraton for me. I will keep my 10k 440 on a track instead of 4x4 territory!

 

We were the guys just above you. That kid beat the tar outta his poor truck! We got him on video when he pulled the white ford outta there too...then the ford creamed his rear bumper! What a hoot!