Before I Pedaled

Unfortunately for you big Worm posted a video about a group of guys doing a dual sport trip out west.  I say it's unfortunate because it reminded me of some of my moto trips, so now you're looking at poorly scanned vacation pictures from 14 (?) years ago.  In the Worm's video the group all had matching jackets and ate grilled fish while sipping wine.  We, on the other hand, bought our food at the Jr. store every day on the way out, and ate most of our meals at the Hungry Logger in the evening.

Looking through the photos I am still amazed at how beautiful the Rockies are.  The dirt bike was the perfect vehicle to cover a lot of ground on.  This was back before the days of GPS, when you had to use paper maps, and it took some degree of talent to find your way around.  We did have some sections we had to push up, and we managed to get lost a few times.  We got caught in the snow and the sleet in June.  We lost people and back tracked looking over the edge of the road for a wrecked bike, only to find him zipping down the road later.  Of course we were almost all out of gas by then and the nearest store was already closed.  On one trip, the first day on the trail, one of my com padres broke his leg.  We were such a compassionate bunch we let him ride to the hospital by himself, after starting his bike for him of course.  They splinted him, gave him some pain medicine, and sent him on his way.  I have no idea how he got his bike started in the hospital parking lot but we found him at the cabin that evening, leg propped up, and seriously self medicated.

On another more annual trip, we used to spend five days in the Ocala National Forest, riding dual sport bikes, staying in basically a fish camp, and attending the festivities surrounding the Daytona Supercross.  No wine on this trip either, unless it had a screw off cap.  Food came from the Salt Springs Grocery and usually consisted of tater logs, rolls, and one night of steak.  The riding wasn't near what it was out west but the campfire stories were just as funny.  By the end of the trip there was a certain amount of hate amongst the group, which is only natural for a bunch of guys together for that long.

I really miss those trips.  Like so many other things in life if you knew it was going to be the last one you'd have savored it a little more.  I'm not in touch with a couple of guys from this group, time and distance has a way of doing that.  I'm the only one who got out of moto entirely although none of them ride as much as we used to.  I do admit watching that video and looking through these pictures awakens the moto part of me I thought I had buried.  I'm thinking about a Honda 250.  I must be crazy.