Good Bye 2011 - Hello 2012!!!

As I write this closing chapter to 2011 I am thinking what a tough year it has been.  Everything from the Economy to the riding and racing. I hope 2011 was a good year for all the MX43.com readers but hope that 2012 is even better.

This past year brought some highs and lows for me.  From medical emergencies (wife’s pulmonary embolism) to crashes (Baja 500 pre run crash) being the things I would rather not remember of 2011. There was a time that we each spent several weeks sleeping in a recliner because neither of us could lay flat to sleep!

Some of the things that will be remembered fondly leaving 2011 will be some of the new places I had the opportunity to ride.  All of my new riding partners, the people and new friends I have met during the year.  This year allowed me to return to some of the places I thoroughly enjoyed riding previously and also finding new places that keep riding even more interesting and exciting if that is possible.

There were rides that were so slow and tight that it was a challenge to keep a clutch from overheating and fading. Other rides were such a high average speed that it is scary to think about it after the fact, all I can say about these rides is that “they seemed like a good idea at the time.”   There were high elevation rides that required we cross through so much snow that my feet were freezing in boots!  A few rides were so remote in deserts that I was sure I would run out of gas before I saw civilization again. One particular ride crossed so much water that I started to think a motorcycle was not the best choice for that particular trip, maybe a canoe would have been a better choice. Most of my favorite rides included using 1^st gear with the clutch while making sure your foot peg and handle bar cleared obstacles so as to not take a tumble down the mountainside because that would require disassembling the bike to get it back on the trail!

As I think of all the things good in 2011 that I experienced I believe it is the people I have been exposed to through motorcycle riding.  There is a whole list of characters that make up the experience with names like, The Don, Minnesota John, Recon, Bubba, Lyle, Marlboro Tim, Montana John, Caesar, Santana, Big Al, Hawgnutts, Fearless Frank, Zip Loc Paul, Lawn Dart Phil, Senor Doug, the Sporzales family and on and on!  All of these guys were a part of my 2011 riding experience and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and riding with each one of them. From beginners to advanced riders they all brought something to every ride just by being who they are.

So for 2012 I hope you make time to ride with a few new riding partners at a new place or two and see what kind of memories you come away with that will surely make you smile.  I know when the time comes and I am sitting on the porch, in the rocker, I will think back to some of these memories and as I do, a smile will cross my old wrinkled face…………..

May all your rides be great in 2012

#33

The Baja 1000 Flashlight Ride!

The 2011 year has come to an end with the SCORE Baja 1000 being the final race of a 3 race series (Baja 250, Baja 500 and Baja 1000) to determine the Class 50 Champions. The WPS/Fly, MX43.com, Works Connection, Lucas Oils, Liquid Image sponsored team mounted on a CRF 450X Honda came away with the Championship the hard way.

After winning the Baja 250 and 500, the Baja 1000 was not going to be done the easy way. It seems that everything that could go wrong would go wrong. I was to be the fourth rider and have a firsthand seat, literally, on the bike when many of the problems occurred.

Ok, let me back up to the beginning. We started out great with Dave doing his part and taking the bike from the start to the 90 mile range to hand off to Charlie.

 Charlie was to take it to Ray at race mile 207 for a pit and rider change. During what Charlie described as a great ride he encountered an errant rock that sent him tumbling at high speed in a very rocky section known as the Summit. Now remember he is telling this story while holding his ribs with a large bruise on his forehead and looking at me through glazed eyes! It should be noted that Charlie passed for the lead a few miles before his big crash. He gets up and going, albeit slowly and continues on to the next pit for gas. The pit crew sees him and tries to get him to call it a day but Charlie will have none of it and says he has to get the bike to the next pit for a rider exchange to keep any chance alive of winning the championship. Hardcore!

So with probable broken ribs and a concussion he sets out to the next pit for a rider exchange. Word has come over the radio that he has had a crash and will be late. Ray is the next rider and waits anxiously with Jim Dizney (rider of record) at the next pit. Charlie arrives about an hour or so late and is helped off the bike. The pit crew looks over the bike, sees the visible damage and begins to work at straightening things so the bike will make it to the finish.  About 30 minutes later Ray is on the bike and on his way with a noticeably bent subframe, handlebars and clutch lever.  We are now about an hour and a half down from the leading bike.

Ray has a good ride in his section and makes up a bit of time. He did mention later that he called me a few names when he had a crash and came to his last set of endless whoops during his 125 mile ride. You see it was my call to divide up this part of the course between Ray and me for the race. I tried to be fair and gave Ray the earlier part of the day to have the most daylight during the race. As it turned out I gave myself the shaft without knowing it!

With the crash and bike repair we were now later than planned and my section went from being a daylight/dusk ride to mostly a night time ride.

I had approximately 130 miles to cover and got on the bike about 4:30pm at race mile 330. This section should take me about 3 hours. The sun was setting about 5pm and with the mountains to the west it was dusk when I climbed on the bike. It all went well for the first 30 minutes of my ride until I was forced to turn the lights on for the remainder of my section. This was my first experience at racing in Baja with lights at night. It was kind of fun to ride at high speeds with only the headlights to find my way. The fun suddenly ended when the lights went out about 10 minutes after turning them on. Talk about dark! Next time you are driving on a country back road turn off your lights and try to stay on the road! I could barely see the ground much less ride at any speed. It seems that the lighting system had suffered some sort of crash induced damage when Charlie took his tumble. It was not visible and there was no way of knowing until they failed. So I was stuck in a desert sand wash with a bike that ran fine but had no lights on a moonless night. I tried to keep going at a walking pace for a bit while hoping someone would come by. Finally a rider did come by and I jumped on his wheel to use his lights for the ride to the next pit only a few miles away.  At the pit we looked over the lighting system and couldn’t find anything visibly wrong.

 The mechanics charged my battery for about 20 minutes and I was once again on my way……….for another 10 minutes! No lights again when they drained the battery. So now I am stuck in a canyon with no lights and again waiting for a rider to come by. Finally rider #305 comes by and I jump on his wheel to use his lights. When I tried to talk to him he answered in Spanish so he and I didn’t have much of a conversation since I speak no Spanish, but he realized what I was doing and didn’t have a problem with it. I rode with him for about 30 miles when we got to San Felipe to see if we could do something about the lights. Unfortunately there were no parts and no fix there so Jen (Ray’s wife) taped a flashlight to my helmet and showed me where the switch was just in case. Thanks Jen!

I waited for about 5 minutes for the next rider and hopped back on the course to follow my new best friend!  We were now headed for the infamous San Felipe whoops. I have measured this section on my pre run and found there were 25 miles of whoops that did not allow you to sit down until you were out of them. I did my best to ride off my newly acquired friend’s lights through some of the deepest whoops I have ridden. It was all going very well when I suddenly see a small dirt booby trap built across the course. I also saw a couple of guys standing in the dark alongside the course and can only assume they were the builders of this obstacle. Since they were not very good at it they hadn’t packed the dirt very well and both me and my light providing partner blew through it with just a minor kick from the rear end of our bikes. All went well after that until I had to pit for gas. Adios to my riding partner.

I spent the next hour in this pit while the crew changed the stator to no avail. The lights still wouldn’t work. So I waited for the next light to come along. I used a quad for a while then was left to my own devices to make forward progress.  Remember the flashlight taped to my helmet? Well it was now down to that or stopping altogether. I switched on the flashlight and did my best to keep moving. I immediately realized this was going to be my biggest challenge so far, the flashlight produced enough light to know which direction to go but not really enough to ride with. Sort of like turning on your parking lights to drive on that country back road. I literally rode in 1^st gear with my legs out as outriggers to keep from falling down because I would hit holes, rocks and sometimes even cactus! This part of the ride went on for what seemed like the whole night but was really about an hour. I was now being passed by Trophy Trucks and Class 1 buggies. They make so much dust there was not a chance in hell of riding off their lights. Then a miracle! A quad rider with a fantastic light bar came along. I jumped on his wheels and followed him all the way to his pit stop. He handed off the bike to another rider and I told him what I was doing and he was ok with me following him to my pit about 10 miles away. They were riding a Can-Am and I didn’t get their number but I owe them a big Thank You!

We arrived at my pit about midnight, almost 8 hours since I first got on the bike, and my Can-Am buddy waved good bye and continued on. We spent the next hour trying to find out why the lights wouldn’t work. The guys at Honda Pit #11 were awesome mechanics and had waited an extra 2 hours past their scheduled pit closure. Once again everything was changed and our next rider, Paul, went out for all of 15 minutes until the light went out.  Since it was now only a few hours until daylight, Paul wisely decided to wait for daylight to continue on since finishing was now the immediate goal.

As daylight approached Paul was back on the course. It was about to get even more interesting due to the fact that pit personnel had packed up and gone home! The strategy was now to keep the bike moving and make the 32 hour cut off time and be declared official finishers to receive points for the year long Championship. Jim Dizney and Dave Potts coordinated with each other to meet at points along the course to refuel the bike about every 50 miles. There was approximately 250 miles remaining to make it to the finish with one more rider exchange scheduled. Jimmy Sones was the rider to complete the 30 hour ordeal and brought it across for an official finish with only 2 hours to spare.  Mission accomplished!!

A big Thanks to the Honda pit crew #11 for their dedication and help, all the riders on our team for never giving up and our support crew of Jen, Taryn, Senor Doug, Cheryl and Marjorie.

I would also like to acknowledge our sponsors, MX43.com, Works Connection, FLY/Western Power Sports, Lucas Oil and Liquid Image Goggles for their support.

For the 2012 racing season Jim Dizney’s team will be running the coveted 500X number plate to signify the class 50 champions!

Uno más Cerveza por favor!

#33

Lawn Dart Baja Trail Ride!

After going north to ride on one of the most incredible trail systems Idaho has to offer I went south to ride with another group in Baja Mexico.

What a trip!  It started in Ensenada, went over to San Felipe, back up to the Famous Mike’s Sky Ranch and ended up back on the coast a bit south of Ensenada.

I took a few pictures but was limited on camera use because I was putting guys back on their bikes and laughing my butt off during the whole 350 mile ride!  I guess I should have gotten a clue on the first night at dinner when after a few Cervezas some of the guys started betting who would be first to San Felipe.  There was some serious trash talking going on at that table as the night wore on with the Margaritas and Cervezas flowing.  It got me to thinking, we have 11 riders starting this trip, how many will we have three days from now……………

The first day started out well enough as people got used to the area and riding conditions in a whole new country and type of riding. Then it started to turn ugly as guys settled in and started to pick up the pace. The flat wide farm roads turned upward and headed into the Pine Forest that a lot of people never knew existed in Mexico. The roads got smaller, steeper, twistier and more fun. The grins got wider as the roads got more challenging and the speeds crept higher. 

We all know what happens when you get a bunch of guys on motorcycles together and headed down the road in the same direction. Yup, a race broke out!  Well, not really a race but when you are having that much fun you just can’t let the guy in front of you get away or the guy behind pass you. So when the speeds go up it usually means someone is going down. As I rode along watching this unfold I noticed a few places where the slide marks and tire tracks were getting closer to the edge of the road. Then I see my first little tip over. Nothing big, just slowed down for the sandy section and had the bike knife in a plow in the sand. Up and going with no injury and no damage. Then another slide out, but up and going with no problems. Now if you notice I am not mentioning any names here to protect the guilty.

I head down the trail several miles and see several riders stopped with bikes on the kickstands. I am thinking one of the bikes must have broke down because no one is in a big hurry or waving their arms like someone is hurt.  Then I round the corner to see what the riderless bikes were doing there. The riders were off the trail trying to help a buddy pull his bike out of a tree and back onto the road. Our rider who shall remain nameless was ok and the bike was up and running once we straightened a couple of things and got it restarted.

Lesson to be learned from this should have been that those Mexicans are sneaky. They will make all these awesome sweeping roads that let you pretend you are Jay Springsteen and then throw in a 90 degree turn to see if you are paying attention.  Let me tell you this was not the last time someone would be caught sightseeing on a 90 degree corner.

We roll on and encounter more of the same until we start to descend out of the pine forest and get down to more traditional Mexico riding in flatter, faster, rockier and sandier roads. A couple more guys get caught by a 90 degree corner with deep sand and tip over with the luxury of landing in deep soft sand.  We eventually tie into the Baja 1000 race course that has been marked for the race in a couple of weeks and get to ride part of it while watching over our shoulders for Trophy Trucks or Class 1 cars that run some of these roads at speeds in the 60 to 100 mph range.

We finally stop at a place often referred to as the 7/11 store. Basically it is a shack with a trailer next to it and a few very skinny dogs and some chickens. But the old timer there sells snacks, Soda and beer. We are greeted by the dogs as we get off the bikes and remove our helmets for a break. We drink some warm soda have a few snacks and talk to “Jose”. He is the old timer that runs this place that has been in this location since he relocated here in 2000. We gathered this information through Tom who spoke Spanish and asked Jose a few questions. It seems that Jose is 91 years old and his eyesight is failing.

Back on the trail we head for our destination, San Felipe. We made it without too much trouble as long as you don’t count a couple of suspected broken ribs too much trouble. Sorry Stacy, I didn’t see your crash and didn’t know you might have broken some ribs until that night.  So our 11 rider group was now down to 10 as Stacy wisely elected to ride along in the truck.

I heard someone say (maybe Phil) that there had been so many crashes that they were going to get a trophy for the best “Lawn Dart” crash.

On our way into San Felipe we spotted a Fireworks stand on the side of the road and this group couldn’t resist. It seems Tom likes to watch displays and hear loud booms. He bought a bag full of stuff they called “Fireworks”.  Let me give you a little heads up, not one single thing in this bag would be legal back in the States.

Of course there were the normal bottle rockets, but Tom didn’t stop there, he kept going until he had purchased a couple of everything that shot up and exploded in the sky. I am pretty sure a couple of those things could be used as boosters for the space shuttle.  Then of course he had to have the little red sticks that looked like small versions of dynamite. The box was labeled with a name I don’t remember but I am pretty sure it was the GRANDE 2000 or something like that. I was looking forward to seeing those suckers go off.

After dinner, which by the way was much more subdued than the first night probably due to the mileage ridden (about 160) the fun began.  After the right amount of alcohol was consumed the “fireworks” showed up on the beach just outside the bar.  Of course restraint was not part of the plan so the boys started out with the Shuttle boosters. They were spectacular and usually the kind we only see on the 4^th of July when we watch our local city put on a display.  One word of caution though, quality control is not high on the priority list when they are purchased at the local roadside stand. Some of the fuses were normal and some were instantaneous. So quickly the method became light it and RUN!

Whenever there was a spare minute between shuttle launches one of the GRANDE 2000’s got lit. I am no expert on explosives but I was beginning to think these things had to be somewhere in the neighborhood of ½ a stick of dynamite!  Those things rattled the doors and windows in the bar. They were being set off on the beach and could be heard a long way down the road past the bar, motel buildings and the parking lot.  Yet no one in the bar paid much attention or called any cops. I found this business as usual attitude refreshing from our normal reaction to extremely loud explosions.

Even the small bottle rockets were quickly turned into a spectacle when someone came up with the idea of putting a whole package in a glass and lighting them off all at once. It was fun to watch as each guy took his turn lighting and running for fear of one of them going in his shirt or hair before he could get away.  Mission accomplished, we didn’t take anyone to the hospital that night.

The next couple of days were blessed by rains that had covered the area west of us while we were in San Felipe. So the ride to Mike’s Sky Ranch was awesome. Some of the route was perfectly watered like someone had driven a water truck ahead of us.  The roads were rolling, twisty and moist.  The grin factor went up and so did the speed. With the newly watered ground I could see the track from each bike in front of me. I observed several turns with a track or two going right to the very edge. I could only imagine the grins from ear to ear when one of those track makers saved it at the last minute. Of course there were a couple that went a bit too far and had to recover from slightly off the road and I could imagine the sigh of relief from each of those track makers. I watched one of those track makers named Jesse ride right to the edge and then a bit more. He ended up in a small drainage ditch next to the road by the time he got stopped. With his heart pounding I am fairly certain.  I could see the grin in his helmet as I rode slowly by and gave him the thumbs up for the save.

The final day was a trip from Mike’s Sky Ranch to the coast that included some spectacular views of mountains, valleys and finally the Pacific Ocean as it came into view for the first time.  The ride was now in its third day and the mood had changed from race your buddy to maintain and not fall off as people began to tire.  The one exception might have to be Phil, remember mister “Lawn Dart” trophy guy. I happened to be following him when he failed to negotiate a corner that had a small rock wall on the outside of the turn.  He clipped it, swapped with feet going over the bike into a flying W until he and the bike touched down while going sideways. That started the barrel roll of both him and the bike with Phil leading the way. When Phil and the bike came to a stop they were both on the other side of the road, down the hill and luckily in the sand. Once I rolled up and found out Phil was ok I laughed my butt off while explaining to him how he looked during the whole episode. We had to loosen the bars and levers to get them straight and away we went with Phil no worse for wear.  Next stop, the coast or wherever the next crash occurs……………..

When we hit the coast we stopped to take in the view and take some breath taking pictures of everyone with the coastal background.  It is truly awesome each time you see it and doesn’t matter if it is the 1^st time or the 10^th time.  We rode the coast for miles until it was time to turn inland and head for the road that would lead us to the trucks for the trip home.

When we arrived at the trucks to load the bikes, lunch had been set up by the support crew.  After a roadside lunch and loading the bikes we headed for the border to cross and drop everyone off at the hotel to say our goodbyes as everyone headed for home.

It was great trip, new acquaintances, great riding and never ending source of entertainment by everyone in the group. I hope sometime we can do it all again and until next time I will remember these guys at certain points along these routes when I ride by them again.

#33

Second Annual Pilot Jet Riding

Well, my second Annual Pilot Jet Riding trip is now in the books.

I was concerned that this trip might be a letdown after the almost incomprehensible trip I experienced last year. However this year turned out to have every bit as much flavor with a few new twists along the way with new riding partners and mechanical issues. 

The riding partners were an interesting mix of riders from very advanced off roaders all the way down to, well, advanced off roaders. These guys could all ride!

Paul seemed to be a bit concerned about holding the group up.  Believe me he didn’t hold anyone up except when he was stopping at the creek crossings to refill the radiators on his Gas Gas.  For those of you that may need to refill a radiator on the trail, try carrying and using a zip loc baggie as a water carrier/container. Paul did this on several occasions and seemed quite happy each time he did it. Something makes me think he has experience doing this sort of thing.  For me it was a lesson learned, I now carry a spare zip loc in my pack.

My next lesson came during a ride when I smashed my chain guide hanger on a rather large boulder just as we were nearing a summit with a look out post that affords incredible views of the area. I carry a stout set of pliers but  had to borrow a pair of vise grips to finish the job. The vise grips worked for clamping and twisting beyond what my little girly man pliers could provide.  So with that repair made (no chain guide) I was sent limping back to the truck by myself while Dave and Brad finished the rest of what I suspect was another epic ride.

Those guys were really concerned with me finding my way back to the truck, I could tell by the way they burned out as soon as I told them I would be ok. I spent the next 2 hours retracing the route back to the truck in 1^st and 2^nd gear since I was now riding without a chain guide. I had 2 goals on this ride and added a 3^rd on the trail. My first goal was to not derail the chain at speed or under a heavy load for fear of throwing the chain through my cases and ending the week of riding along with adding the expense of a catastrophic repair.  My second goal was to not get lost and have to spend the night out there in the higher elevations where it gets cold and dark!

Then as I rode along my third goal came to me.  Why not use the new to video all of this 1^st and 2^nd gear riding and do a little narrating while I had the time. Riding by myself with no one to say hurry up, making any dust or having to keep them in sight so I know which way to go in an area where I don’t have a clue as to where I am. Besides if I never made it back I was fairly sure they would find the goggles and  would be able to use the video to find out what happened...

Since I did make it back and shot over an hour of video on just that slow return ride it was not a wasted day for the mx43.com viewers. I actually enjoyed the slow ride back giving me even more of an opportunity to look around and use the Liquid Image video goggles to see and record some of the incredible views and trails.

The next day was a repair day for me as Vern (Dave’s dad) and I took my bike in search of a Heli-Arc welder to straighten and re-weld the broken hangar. I lost a day of riding because we had to drive about 80 miles each way to find a welder.  We had a good breakfast, visit and met some really cool people along the way. The Heli-arc guy, Byron, had a heck of a story to tell us about when he used to ride motorcycles, then he moved on to dirt track cars and then Bonneville for land speed record runs. That was one clever old timer! I never imagined those guys would go to all the trouble to move a motor an inch and a half to the rear to increase traction on a dirt track. That was one of many tricks he let us in on. He talked for awhile about racing and told more than one fascinating story. I really enjoyed having the chance to meet him and hear some of the racing stories he had.

Byron fixed us up and we were back in business with the chain guide repaired. He saved my week of riding since this was only the second day.

The next couple of days provided some of the most challenging trails and awesome views an off road rider could ever wish for. There were rain showers throughout the week and this kept the trails in an almost unbelievable condition. With those rain showers came a few lightning storms. On more than one occasion my tour guides Brad and Dave stopped and took a break under some cover until the lightning moved on. We were able to catch some of the lightning on camera and video so I guess their caution had merit. I was too inexperienced (read dumb) to know any better.

One day in particular stands out with the lightning, rain and creek crossings. Our group had grown to 8 riders on one day and had turned into quite a long day with people carrying extra gas in jugs and bumming gas from some that had gas tanks like the Exxon Valdez.

We had hidden from lightning during this ride, stopped to dry out after getting caught in a shower that passed over us and dumped everything it had on our group, then we did the fuel transfer thing to get everyone to the end of the ride. This ride ended up showing about 108 miles on my odometer.

Just toward the end of the ride we had to cross a creek. Well, creek is what some of the more experienced trail bosses called it. I looked at it and immediately took it out of the creek category and reclassified it to the small river category. These guys seemed to love to fill their boots with water for some reason!  I had long given up on keeping my socks dry a few days ago, but now I was more concerned with not submerging my air box!  So now I watch as the first few riders take their turn crossing the “creek”.  As I watched I decided it didn’t look too bad as long as I used my legs to keep myself upright with an occasional dab. That seemed to be the norm for the first 6 riders. A couple of close calls but no one went down as long as they used their legs as outriggers. Did I mention their boots were full of water when they got to the other side?

Now it is my turn as the 7^th riders across. I don’t have a really good feeling when I look across and every rider that has already crossed has parked his bike and is now standing on the other side of the “creek” waiting for the next chump, I mean rider. I then notice that a couple of them have their video cameras rolling and a couple of them are holding cameras. I am starting to wonder if I really like these guys.

I take the plunge with my legs out, a hand on the clutch and a little bit of throttle to make sure Big Red doesn’t quit. Things go quite smoothly and I think I disappointed all the would be photographers by making it with only a minor dab or two. As I emerge from the other side feeling good and lucky at the same time I now I have to park my bike to watch the last rider make his attempt. By the time I get my bike out of the way and walk back to watch the 8^th rider, his name is Rett, he has not only started crossing but has fallen in the “creek” and is having to push the rest of the way across. Rett rides a 250 KTM and it was submerged completely. I can’t wait to see the video. When he finally gets it across everyone is very helpful and willing to help him get it running.  You gotta love these guys.

He gets help taking the spark plug out, draining the float bowl,  removing the air filter to wring it out and then turning the bike upside down to pump the “creek” water out of the motor.  I didn’t know a small 250cc motor could hold that much water!  I think a lot of it must have been coming from the exhaust pipe which I am sure was fairly full.

So when all of this is accomplished and he gets the bike back up right he gets it fired up in 10 or so kicks. Impressive.

Away we go with only another 20 miles or so left to get back to camp. At the final split we say our goodbyes since part of the group is heading home the following day.

It was quite a memorable trip and fantastic riding in Idaho as usual. The new riding buddies taught me a few things and provided a ton of entertainment along the way. I hope to ride with them again and am looking  forward to it.

But the thing I am really looking forward to is my next trip to these incredible trails they have in Idaho and seeing what new adventures we encounter.

As long as it doesn’t involve me and a “creek” crossing.

See you on the trail and keep your socks dry!

#33

Moto injuries, sooner or later we all have one!

Recovery  Riding

Holy Crap! The last thing I expected to be doing was writing about riding while recovering from a crash.

If you read the last article then you know that I took a hard tumble on the last Baja 500 during my pre running. I was knocked unconscious, broke a few ribs and have some severe bruising that by all appearances went to the bone.Professional Stunt Rider - Do not try this at home!

3 weeks of sitting very still and not wanting to move due to rib fractures and swelling left me with a bit of time to think. Yes, for all of you wise guys I do think if I sit still long enough!

Then 3 more weeks of doing simple things like taking a shower, driving a car, making myself something to eat was the first phase of recovery. WOW, the things we take for granted every day!

I just began getting out and doing walks, trying to ride a bicycle on the road (less bumps) and riding the dual sport motorcycle on the street. What fun! 

I am being serious, we go about our business of practicing riding fast (which is a relative term at our age) and training for fitness by running, bicycling or hitting the weights. But when you are forced to do it at a reduced rate like I am with the injury recovery you seem to enjoy it even more. I take a little time to look around and see things that get missed when I blast through my workout.

For instance, I love to bicycle as a way to train for riding my motorcycle. But I am usually out of breath and keeping a good pace, well  guess what happened when I went out to ride my bicycle while recovering from this injury, I saw a bunch of things along the way that were pretty cool that I have passed by literally a hundred times but failed to notice because I was busy working out!

I noticed several things that I thought were cool ideas and vowed to bring the camera on the next ride just to capture some of them in pictures. I noticed signs that were very informative, saw decorations that were clever and attractive, met dogs that usually chase until I stopped to visit then they usually came over to greet me and check me out. I think I will start carrying Milk Bones in my back pack for some of my new friends.

The first ride or two was really discouraging because I sucked so bad compared to where I had been just a few weeks earlier. But each ride has been a bit better and the recovery is coming along pretty well although not as quickly as I would like. But if you are forced to try to get yourself back in shape after a layoff for a myriad or reasons, like an illness, family crisis, injury of any kind or any personal issues that may have kept you from working on your fitness don’t get discouraged. Use your  time to rehab at whatever rate you are capable of and see how much enjoyment you  get out of the small improvements that will come from each effort.

I started riding the motorcycle on the track at a slower pace also. Guess what I discovered there!  I needed to clean up a few basics that have been overlooked by trying to ride too fast most of the time. With my physical limitations I noticed that I was not doing some of the basics like sitting forward entering turns, having the leg extended, using the throttle earlier and smoother and keeping the elbows  up a bit higher had all become sloppy because I was trying to do them too quickly. The recovery riding on the motorcycle is teaching me to slow down while practicing and do things a bit more correctly while enjoying the ride, much the same as on the bicycle.

So I guess the best thing about crashing and getting injured on the motorcycle, if there can be a good thing, is that I have been forced to slow down for a bit and have my eyes opened for  me.

Don’t wait until you crash, slow down once in a while a take a look around. You may see a bunch of things you have been passing right by and meet a few dogs you really like.

Now get out and ride, I am!

#33