I'm alive and well!
I stayed on the main course, mostly. Just one deviation onto an alternate C+/B- loop, and that was by accident.
I rode all morning, until the bike broke down 
just before lunch. Got a ride into the staging area from another rider. Got the truck and picked up the bike.
Weather was rainy, which did keep the dust down, as many were saying. It also made the rocks slippery. But, the ground wasn't particularly muddy or soupy. Though I did discover that deep wet pine needles are remarkably slick.
All it all, it was a good ride. Hard, without being overwhelming. My brake pedal is smashed flat, I had to pry my shift lever out of the case, and the belly pan needs some repair work. Some log jumping on the main route, and slammed down hard on one stump hidden under the loam in a work around where a tree had crashed down on the route just a few hours earlier.
I was nervous, make no mistake about that. And little guardian angels or God were playing their rolls or roll. Very early on the bike shot out from under me in some loose stuff, very much like what happened when I crashed I think. Instead of crashing, I just dabbed down and stayed standing, brought the bike back under control, and continued on. A few more events like this, as well some challenging things like riding along a wet log through some muck. It let me figure out that indeed, I can do this, even if it's not going to be particularly easy.
A generic picture of some of the trail stuff on the main route. There were tighter and steeper and more rocky areas. This is simply one I stopped in and took a picture. It's moderately steep downhill here, though it doesn't look it. It was a tail dragger decent as I recall. If not here, there were several others that were tail draggers.
And here's a shot of the "big bike friendly" alternative route I accidentally got onto. This was so tight that I had to lean the bike back and forth to thread the handlebars through the trees. Two little cliffs to jump off of between trees. And then the mountain laurel, like you see here in this picture. This stuff was so thick that the bike is standing up on its own in the stuff.
As I said, right before lunch, about half way through, the bike broke down. Spluttered to a halt like it was out of gas. It wasn't. Something is blocking gas flow into the carburetor. As it was raining again, and I was getting tired, I chose that as the excuse to call it quits. I'd done what I wanted, successfully made the ride.
Huckleberry, would I care to take a big bike through this? No. That said, there was a big 1200 BMW that had been going through it all just fine. As well several other big bikes and big guys.
The folk that put on this event were very nice. They remembered me from a few years back. It was surprising to hear my name as I was checking in, because they recognized my face. By no means was I a crash celebrity or such. But, I was definitely known. Because I had failed so spectacularly the last time, my entry check was returned to me and I was allowed to ride for free. Very sweet of them.
The route was very clearly marked, as well the alternative loops. A roll chart is basically necessary, but almost just to clue you in as to when to look for the 6"x10" white placards with the mile stenciled on them. Really, to get off course, you'd have to work hard at it. The alternative loops were very well marked with a zillion yellow arrows to follow.
The lunch was very good. I'm sure being hungry helps one say that. But, I still think it was pretty durn good. Plenty of food and ice cream, and porta pots even. It was a very well orchestrated ride.
Will I do it again? Probably not. Really, I'm just not a dual sport guy for around here. Nor am I a rock crawler with my 4x4. It's tiring and not very scenic. Mostly you're just riding through trees without any particularly pretty views. It's just exercise. If I lived in Colorado, that would be different.
. He may have been using polite flattery instead of saying "that sort of hooning isn't what this is all about, you should go to a berkeleying track day with that E36 M3".
