Greg, we loved Marango. Everyone we were with loved it. Belle Cote on the other hand was a nightmare and I will never return to that ride unless they change it.

 

TEXMud,

What didn't you like about Belle Cote?

 

Way too many things to list....but I'll give a few

1300 drunks - Nothing good about this. I saw some people almost fight. I had people harrass my wife. I had some guy run into my quad 4 times....he eventually broke my trunk. I saw people that were too drunk to stand riding quads.

Safety - No emergency personel there. If somethere were to happen out on that CROWDED trail the injured would be dang near dead by the time they got out. If your going to host a ride like that make sure there is more than one way out and ASK the local fire dept for volunteers to hang out in case somethign goes wrong. I'd bet money that I was the only person with a first aid kit.

Police - They escorted us down the road in the morning....afternoon, they were no where to be found.

One Way, One Lane Trail - I'm not sure this needs explaining but if you plan on having more than 10 riders then you need to reevaluate the trail system. A one lane one way trail sucks. There were too many times we sat with the quad off in single file for 15-30 minutes.

I could go on but I wont. We drove 6 hours each way to get there and paid all that money and ended up sitting for about 4 hours and riding for about 2 hours.

 

TEXMud,

Sorry that your experience was so bad........I have been to it both years, but always showed up late afternoon. I almost always prefer after 10:00 on these rides anyway, to avoid the bottlenecking and crowds......somewhat anyway. My first year, 2000, was a blast: myself and 2 friends went......got there at 4:30pm, and to make a long story short, ended up getting lost and finally found our way out close to midnight. This would've been horrible if I had driven 6 hours to attend, but I live only 6 or so miles away from the ride. I also went this year, but we avoided the "bad" loop and it didn't take near as long........it was still fun. I haven't seen the drunks, fighting, or other problems, however, last year, a guy was flying down the paved road and ran into a truck.......it injured him pretty bad, I think. On a similar note, I am glad that they don't allow drinking at Merango......drinking and any motor-operated vehicle just don't go well together, especially with large crowds of people.

Honestly, I can't imagine having to drive 6 hours home after a long mud ride.....that has to be tiring and depressing.

Greg,

Lake Greeson (Bear creek Cycle Trail), Albert Pike, Wolf Pen Gap (When open), and Broken Bow................Of these places, Lake Greeson and Wolf Pen Gap are in Arkansas, right? Where are the other two.....Albert Pike and Broken Bow? How do you rate/compare all these places to each other, which do you prefer? Thanks.

 

Lake Greeson is about 40 minutes west of Hot Springs. It is somwaht technical in places. It has about 50-60 miles worth of trails. I think they Corp says it is 37 miles from Daisy state park to Laurel creek, but there are alot of side trails. I really like this place when it is just guys riding. I would not recommend it for riding double.

Albert Pike is 15 miles north of lake greeson. there are literally hundreds of miles of logging roads and trails. There are alot of trails that are closed, but there is also some awesome scenery. There is a plce called the Blue Hole that is the prettiest swimming hole I have ever seen. The water is a deep turquoise color. It has cliffs you can jump off of that go to to 100feet or so. I will post a link to my pics for you.
You can ride all the way from Albert Pike to Wolf Pen gap if you want.

Wolf Pen Gap is near Mena, AR... it is closed til next Feb. It has some of the best trails anywhere. Some of them are jump after jump. This place is marked for difficulty and all trails are manicured and easy for your average rider.

Broken Bow is in SE Oklahoma, just an hour west of Lake Greeson (which is in AR). It also has hundreds of miles of trails and logging roads. I am just getting to know this area. It seems if you know where to go, it is awesome. If you don't, it is one dead end after another. On our last trip we got to see some great scenery and I got to climb some challenging hills.

Greg

 

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/gregsims0...=/&.view=t

Don't be checking out the wife... you are welcome to look at the rest of the pics. lol

Greg

 

Hey gregsims, I is FWP just mainly water or is there mud. From the pics on the site it looks like a lot of water. I am one of the guys that rides with walexa. My family is the ones with the Prairie 650's. How crowded does it get on the weekends and on special events like New Years. Thanks for the info.

 

It is usually a water place. Greg and I were there about 3-4 weekends ago and it was dried up and had some mud there. On a normal weekend it is not crowded at all. On an event weekend its not bad either. On and event weekend you can usually find a group to ride with and ride with about 30 people.

 

I think they have had special weekends with around 1000-1500 quads. Some slow weekends, they may only have 150 quads all weekend. I have been there where there was less than 50 quads total. For the most part, it is never really crowded once you get on the trails. I think the last weekend we were there, there was about 30-40 quads in our group... it seamed there was always someone stuck slowing up the entire group. After a while of sitting around, Todd and I went out on our own and met up with another group of 15 or so quads... that is a more managable size out there.

What Tex refers to as Mud is just that... thick mud with little or no water. That is actually where his Rubicon shines with those 237 Ft/Lbs of torque he has. If you are looking for water and mud and a challenge, there are literally hundreds of places out there to get stuck. Everyone that I know that has ever been out there (except in the middle of summer) has loved it. I think if you guys want to mud ride, it will be well worth the trip. Like I said beofre about the wolf pack... they live in Monroe and drive all the way to FWP every two weeks. They do so for a reason. It is not exactly my kind of riding anymore, but if mud/water is what you are after, you will not be disappointed.

Greg

 

Greg,

I like all types of riding.......for the most part, I avoid mud until I get good and muddy from having to go through something. Once that happens, I'm more willing to run off in any and everything (except for something I feel sure that I'll get stuck in). The guys with the Praries really live for the mud riding though.

I prefer groups of 4-10, as larger than that, and it seems you will always be waiting on someone, and the more bikes in the group, the more chances of having something break down.

You're not really serious about the Rubicon having 237 ft-lbs of torque, are you? My Tundra only has 315 or so, and that's from a v-8.

One more comment.......although it won't be for quite a while (year or 2), that SP700 does look sweet. I go by the dealership quite often and drool over the one they have there. It has an updated rear brake cylinder.....haven't seen the pads, but I know it is stronger at the foot brake. The bike comes pretty-much snorkeled from the factory......the intake is higher than the sp500, and the exhaust goes across the top of the gas tank, and comes back down on the right side of the engine.......this is more than I would need. Electric starter life should be real good (I've never had problems), since there's no way water/mud can get into the bendix now. Anyway, I won't go on and on......but these are things I've noticed about it that I haven't seen people post on. I'd like to see it offered in another color too before I'd buy.