Holy Moly

The weather here was fabulous this weekend and through Tuesday. I love it when the sun is out all day, not a cloud pollutes the bright blue sky and the warm breeze relaxes the most stressful situations like a sauna.

On Saturday I went dirt bike riding for the first time. Well not the very first time. Lets put it this way i had been on a dirt bike 3 times before and they were all at my friend Jarod's house. The first time I rode his Kawasaki 220cc 2-stroke and wheelied it twice in a row. I down shifted to first and released the clutch suddenly having never gotten off the throttle. Wheelie number one. It scared the shit out of me but I managed to bring the front wheel down to the dirt. As the front tire pounded to the grounded, the impact cause my throttle hand to twist down. The front end violently bucked up like a horse and my legs dangled off the foot pegs like super man flying in the sky. Again, somehow I managed to bring the front end down.

The other two times were on a Suzuki 250cc 4-stroke and i just putted around never getting out of 2nd gear or loosing traction. On Saturday, however, I ventured to Hollister Hills. not only did i have to worry about man handling the bike, i also had to worry about other traffic. My girlfriend grew up riding dirt bikes and has a 150. We picked up a 250 2 stroke from her parents for me to ride. She wanted me to start off on her little 150, so i did. after about an hour we were gonna switch and i would ride the 250. I have my motorcycle license and we figured i would pick it up rather quickly.

If you thought motorcycles and dirt bikes were the same, let me be the first to tell you, They are COMPLETELY different! You you have to constantly downshift, upshift, break gas, stand up, sit down. While all of this is going on you have to watch for other riders and maneuver the bike in muddy, sandy, and hard concrete-like terrain.

I think it was a wise choice but I stayed on the 150cc all day and we ended up having to leave because i slide out and punctured the radiator hose and bent the gear shifter so that it wouldn't shift up because it was hitting the engine. Until I do not have to think about what i am doing at every turn, clutch, shift, decelerate, front brake, back brake, turn, tire traction, accelerate, I will probably stay on that 150cc, as pussy as it looks. I would rather look like a pussy than break my neck. I will be on that bigger bike soon enough.

All in all it was a fun day at the trails and we capped the day off with a birthday party in Scotts Valley.