Over the past three weeks, we've had a lot of rain. This morning when I got up, it was overcast but luckily it wasn't raining. I wanted to take advantage of an hour or two of trail riding before I have to go do my obligatory "family" stuff... (birthday party's for the in-laws!)

So I come across this "puddle." It looks fairly shallow but it's pretty long. I had been doing well so far so I decided I could just cruise through and everything would be fine. Well, that was a great plan... but...

Unfortunately the water just kept getting deeper and I couldn't stop. Eventually the bike stalled and I just sat there in the water. Here are a couple of pix.





Since I was by myself, I knew I could be in for a bit of trouble. I tried starting the bike to see if it could help propel itself out. It wouldn't start. Also, the only place I could stand was in the center of the puddle (at about this time, I'm thinking of it as a small pond). Since these are mostly 4 wheeler trails, the ruts on either side of the center were very deep. Not only were they deep, but the mud at the bottom was deep.

I had to balance myself on the center ridge and try to lift first the front tire a few inches towards the side, then come around and lift the back wheel a few inches. I finally managed to get the bike near the edge and then sort of dragged it up the bank on it's side. Here is a picture of it once I finally got it free.



By this time the mosquitos were so thick I could barely breathe without sucking one in. I was thinking... ok, need to add mosquito repellent to my survival bag... check.

The bike still wouldn't start. Of course I didn't have the right tool to drain the carb. Ok, need to add one of those to my survival bag... check.

I decided to take a walk and let the bike cool down and hopefully the carb would drain itself somehow. As I'm walking through the woods, I started thinking about the bear thread we had last week... need some mace or my .44 for my survival bag... check

When I got back to the bike, it still wouldn't start. I pulled the plug and found I was getting spark but the plug was dry.

I tried it again and it finally started. Finished my ride with a happy ending. I was glad that I didn't need to walk home in shame

Bottom line is this... There are so many things that i need to add to my survival gear bag that I didn't realize I needed. In fact, on this ride, I didn't even bring my survival bag at all. I didn't think I would need it and I wanted to be light. MISTAKE. Although, even if I had brought it, it didn't have the stuff I needed at the time.

There is no replacement for experience. Next time I'll be more prepared.

It was still a great ride and I was smiling the whole time. It's better than being in front of the TV!

 

Awesome! Good stuff, we got lots of rain here too. Where you at?

I was riding with a buddy and he did the same thing in a puddle which turned out to be a small pond with about three feet of soft mud bottom... It took two of us almost an hour to get it out because of the suction on the wheels. If he was alone he'd be in the crapper!

Depending on how big your bag is, if you can fit a ratcheting strap in it somehow, that would help in that situation (if it's long enough).. Can loop it around something and ratchet your way free!

And some things I keep in my backpack whenever woods riding:
knife
lighter
magnesium fire starter
couple cotton ***** (tinder)
about 15ft of twine/string (never know if you're going to need to set up snare traps! )
same length of duct tape
same length of fishing line and a couple small hooks
tow strap
8mm wrench
toilet paper
cell phone/GPS
small LED flash light

Things on my list to get:
water puring tablets
small compass

I think that's about it.. Seems like a lot but it's really not.. I just want to be prepared in case I need to sleep in the woods.. I don't want to be hungry! haha

With all this crap, I almost want to get lost in the woods for a couple days. Survival! hahaa

Ride on.

 

Carb' breather mod!
Nice photos BTW. You had some fun all the same.

 

Glad you made it out, its a bit intimidating when your alone and your stuck. Glad you didnt dump in the puddle.

 

westoz is probably right. do the "t" mod then go back at the pond to see how it goes.
I'm betting you go right thru it. Oh bring someone along in case we're wrong.

 

Larry,

I'm in southern Maine. And I know what you mean about wanting to get lost. I told my wife that I want to pull a "survivorman" (have you seen the TV show?) and head out with my bike and spend about two nights just roughing it. I have two problems. 1. I'm highly allergic to poison ivy so that's a consideration and 2. I don't know where to go. I want to be somewhere near a river/stream so that I can do some fishin'

 

Right after I did the same thing (sunk in a rutted out puddle) I went and got some Tugger straps. They have paid for themselves a couple times now. I guess I seem to find some deep ones around here.
here are a couple pics.....

 

Good pictures and great story ... thanks for sharing your experience. Did you have the MX boots? Did they get filled also? You must have been a mess!!

 

Great pics. I can't believe you tried to ride through that. After being stuck a few times, I avoid any and every waterhole that I do not explicitly know what the bottom looks like dry. I'll plow through the woods and destroy nature before I take any thing like that, especially knowing morons on 4-wheelers ride it.

My "survival" bag doesn't exist. I carry a lighter in my waterproof bags with my registration and a couple forest service maps. When my money isn't WHACK I wanna get one of the big Camelbaks that is like a backpack so I can A) ditch the girly toolbag and B) carry more stuff!!

Glad you got out ok, mate

 

Gotta love those 4-wheelers water holes. I came across quite a few of them in New York. I did my best to avoid them, until I got a little too bold and dared to cross one them. I made it half way through before the rear end sunk and the exhuast went underwater. Engine still kept running with half the bike sunk. I got it by walking with it while spinning out the tire.