After about 9 years, I had the opportunity to go back to Carnegie SVRA. Paid the $5 and explored the park for 2-3 hours. This was a very last minute (what do I do on a Sunday afternoon? – type) ride so I was alone.
I explored Pottery Loop Trail – did that 3-4 times as I gained confidence. The dirt at the bottom of the trail was very loose and the street oriented tires on my KTM were not able to give me adequate traction. I had to sit down on the seat a few times, shifting my weight to the back so that the rear could get traction.
I also explored Juniper Trail and Middle Track – both were relatively easy. Finally I rode across the park – North to South a couple of times on the fire road – practising body positioning and breaking traction on my rear tire. All in all I spent about 2 hours in the saddle and that can be very tiring off-road.
Best of all, it was not very hot, which is unusual for Carnegie in June. The temps were in the 70s and I had a cool time exploring the park. I’d love to do it again, hopefully with a few friends on big adv bikes.
The KTM 990 is in my opinion the perfect dirt-oriented adv bike. It cruises effortlessly on the freeway, handles the twisty stuff well and is very confident in the dirt. I’m so glad I own this bike!
Sujit Kirpekar 