Ride to Richloam

[mrbones]

Yesterday I dusted off my dual sport KLX250S and took a trip to Richloam. Richloam is a wildlife area in the Withlacoochee Forest that offers some great off road riding. Your bike must be tagged as all these roads are public forest roads. I saw only one parked truck the entire time I was there. I've found open areas, sandy areas, muddy areas, just about everything. No whoops at all since no one hardly ever rides motorcycles in there. It's mostly hunters with their trucks. If you go on a weekday, you probably won't see anybody.


Here's a guide and map for the WMA Richloam Area.
http://myfwc.com/hunting/wma/2008-09/Northeast/Richloam.pdf

If you ever get a chance to go out there, don't tear it up! Leave it as you saw it. Go slow near parked vehicles. Keep your stock exhaust, too. No one wants to hear a thumping 4 stroke out there.

My '06 KLX250S does the job, too. I take it up I-75 and get off at hwy 50/98, same as the Croom exit. I have it pinned on the highway and it does 75mph. I did see 80mph as I went down a hill. Good thing it was a 6 speed tranny. I know I'm pushing it on the highway, but on the trails its perfect.

I did try out a new windscreen yesterday on this bike. It was pretty big and I thought it would help on the highway riding up there. It caused so much turbulence it was shaking my helmet! I took it off and left it at a truck stop. It was really a POS. I have a mini-windshield that I'll put back on the bike.

Now, check out the pics! The ones below are scenic spots off of a road and I just stopped to take a pic. There's no real road there.

[mrbones]

This area looks like its used for 4x4 mudding.

[mrbones]

This is a nice trail along the train tracks. FR1

[mrbones]

More FR1.

[mrbones]

Same Forest Road 1.

[mrbones]

This is how most of the larger roads look like.

[mrbones]

This was a cool looking rock formation I found.

[mrbones]

Train track along FR1.

[mrbones]

I rode right into this spider web and the spider grabbed on to the mirror. I don't like spiders but kept my cool to at least get off the bike and flick it off with a stick. Anybody know what kind it is? It's big!

[CustomMagna]

Cool pictures Bones. I wish I had a dual sport to go and do that.
That's a banana spider.

[mrbones]

Ah ha. I looked up North American Banana Spider.

"The nephila clavipes banana spider of North America possesses venom similar in nature to the venom of the black widow, but far less potent, making it quite harmless to humans. A bite from a North American banana spider will not result in much more than a welt that will pass within 24 hours."

Whew.

[dt]

Wow. I totally never saw this thread before. Pretty cool!

Those f'in banana spiders are all over croom. They're ugly, but mostly harmless.

[mrbones]

Yeah, just gotta stay calm and not freak when you accidentally ride into a big web.

I went up there last June with the Jeep and it was very wet. It should dry up soon and I'm looking forward to getting out there again. There's not one whoop out there!

[mrbones]

I've only ridden there so I never actually parked out there. I said that just because I think your truck would be more safe in the Croom parking lot than over there, but it's probably ok. Hunters park their trucks just about any where. There are hunting camps around there you could park at, too. I know of one area that is not a camping area but is mostly fenced off that would be ideal for parking.

Stay on the roads? Well, the roads are the trails and some of them are pretty neglected and perfect for a motorcycle. If you go during the week, you will probably see absolutely no one and could get away with riding where ever you want. I haven't been there in months, but the place is known for it's wet areas. I try to avoid those like the plague.

[dt]

When I can, I typically flip my work week, Saturday for a weekday, usually Thursday, so I can have less traffic off road. Weekends are a zoo no matter where you go. Lot's of folks getting getting their frustrations out then, too. I'll give Richloam a try soon and report back.

[mrbones]

FYI: Here's a thread and map I put together on the place.

http://jeepflorida.com/forum/index.php/topic,32.0.html

[maureen]

Wow! This looks like fun. Someone post up next time you're planning a ride out there because I'd love to join.

[dt]

Richloam Trail Riding

Equipment: 2009 KL250G. Photos from northside (of SR50). See map in first post.