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 Topic: Ramblings of a Mad ManThe new items published under this topic are as follows.
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Well, it's been a while since I've done much writing, or riding for that matter. The last couple of years have been interesting (well not so much) and challenging. For the most part I gave up riding. Dirt biking on the weekends and sitting at a computer all week had my wrists hurting so bad that after about 15 minutes of riding I couldn't even hold on to the bars. My doc told me to give up riding for a while to see what happens. This combined with continued arrhythmia problems resulted in me sitting around getting fat, lazy, and horribly out of shape. With that there were more arrhythmia problems, mildly high blood pressure, a few "unexplainable" ailments and all the discomforts of being fat. Now, I suspect that the riding was the only thing keeping this old bag of bones alive.
Well, the kids started hounding me to take them riding. Yes, I can't believe it but my six-year-old daughter has taken over the PW50 and loves to ride. My son stepped up into a TTR-90 and has just started shifting gears.
So with pressure from the kids and significant changes to my "day job," this January I chose to make several other changes in my life. The good news is that since around mid-January I've already lost 19 pounds and 2+ inches of my waist. It probably would be more like 20+ pounds, but a weeklong business trip and some vacation time ate into my workout schedule and briefly interfered with my diet. I hit the gym 3 times a week for 30 minutes of weights and 45 minutes of cardio workout. I do stomach crunches 7 days a week and I am also playing racquetball once a week. I modified my diet to get it down to between 1000-2000 calories a day and significantly reduced my fat intake. Yeah, this is the diet I was supposed to be on for years because of the liver and kidney problems, but I've ignored it the last few years. I feel healthier than I have in a very long time, but the most significant thing related to all this is that I can now squeeze back into my old Fox riding pants. But that however was just the first step in getting back on the trail.
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January, 1998
"High Sides" by Ev'Mon
I'd always been terrified of motorcycles (my parent's fault I'm sure). My first experience on a motorcycle was in seventh grade when a buddy and I took a joy ride on his dad's bike. I don't remember what it was, I think it was a Kawasaki 550 (something like that). Anyway we were going through downtown Milwaukie (that's in Oregon), when a cop started to pull us over. We took off, and after a VERY SHORT chase, we low-sided in some gravel. No major injuries, but a major grounding. After that I didn't go near a bike for a couple of years. In high school I was down on bucks and desperately needed a ride. A friend suggested a dual-purpose bike. I thought NO WAY. Well, she talked me into trying hers. It was a little Yamaha and after riding it around in the dirt for half a day, I was hooked. I immediately went to the local dealer. At this point I was living in a small town called Bend, and I think we only had one dealer. I perused the selection of used bikes and found the perfect one (the only one I could afford), a '70 Suzuki TS 250. This was a 300 lb., no suspension, 2-stroke with a top speed of 45 mph on a downhill – quite a deal for only $250. It had a separate oil tank so I didn't need to deal with pre-mix, "COOL."
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Every year for, gee I don’t know, maybe 20 years P&D Promotions have been putting on the Heart On Classic. It’s more commonly known as the Hollister National Hare Scrambles. For the last several years I’ve been helping them out. I usually work the start of the race, one year I directed security for a while. This year, in addition to working the start I was also the official event photographer for P&D Promotions. I hope to get pictures posted soon.
For those not around, despite almost constant rain, it was a lot of fun. The weather did make putting on the event a lot of work. Most of the course was laid out by Friday before the race. That evening high winds had ripped up most the banners and many sections of the course were not runnable. Early Saturday morning we had to redo all the banners and I think the course had to change four or five times during the weekend. More on these details later, maybe…
Anyway, my point is that this race really happens due to, almost entirely, the efforts of volunteers. These volunteers put in so much hard work and endure so much, just for the love of the sport. For that I just wanted to throw out a big THANK YOU!, to anyone who volunteers to help make one of these events happen!
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Well where to begin? As I mentioned on the cover page of this month’s issue I'm going solo for a while. I’ll try to guilt the rest of the guys into contributing, but it hasn’t worked so far. Despite the fact that there have been minimal updates we
still get 50,000-60,000 readers a month. Wow, that blows me away –
Thanks! Also, I regularly get a lot of really great e-mail, unfortunately
I can’t respond to all of it (I get as many as 300 a day). So anyway, to
get you up to speed with what we’ve been up to, I’ll start with Bryce.
I think I mentioned, in a previous issue, that he got married. We’ll he
is now a proud father of a 1-year-old son. He is also back in school
working on his masters degree. . .
Brad finally got his masters degree
and went on to get his pilot’s license. I believe he’s currently
working on getting his instruments rating (or something like that). He’s
busy with work, his wife, and raising his two daughters.
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Since we last spoke, I’ve been really trying to get into good shape. My routine includes a 6-11 mile bike ride daily. It also includes 45 minutes with weights and 45 minutes on a cardio machine (or my mountain bike) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. On top of that, I ride my mountain bike as much as I can. Unfortunately, that seems to be a big part of the problem.
 | | 2000 Kona NUNU |
You see, I really I haven’t been much into bicycles since high school. After getting a little bored with the usual cardio workout, I decided to give mountain biking a try. I had an old, cheap, heavy department store bike that convinced me that pedaling was hell. After checking out some of the newer bikes, I ended up getting a nice new Kona hardtail. I had no idea how much fun a bicycle could be.
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Well, I sit here stumped. Mulling over several ideas to title this month’s High Sides, I have no idea. Yeah, I know what I want to write about. However, I don’t yet know what my point is.
I had been planning on riding the Jackhammer Enduro last year. I spent a few months seriously preparing for this. So seriously that I hired a personal trainer and started working out. I modified my diet to lean more towards the healthier side, all things being relative, including reducing my beer consumption. To my wife’s dismay I actually had ridden nearly every weekend for about two months. When it looked like George wasn’t going to make it I talked Brad into going with me.
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I've never been one to buy into New Year's resolutions or setting personal goals. Most of my life has been, basically, career driven. I also figured that if I were successful in my professional life, the personal stuff would fall into to place. Don't get me wrong -- my personal life is important, after all I'm writing this on a plane to Las Vegas while the rest of the All-OffRoad crew are already there hanging on to their XRs as they fly through the 106 degree heat in the Las Vegas desert. Why? Because I chose my daughter's first birthday party instead of attending an epic send-off ride for Bryce (you see this Las Vegas trip is his bachelor party; he's the last to get hitched and this is probably the last of a series of unbelievable bachelor parties). Anyway, the point I'm headed towards is that I've always had an idea of what I wanted out of my personal life but never really worked for it -- it just fell into place. All in all, this isn't as bad as it may sound to some. However, all that's changed.
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Working at a competitive high-paced software company in the Silicon Valley, being a husband and a father of an almost four-year-old and a 9-month-old, and taking care of All-OffRoad in the evenings (assuming the kids get to sleep early enough) takes up most of my time. The rest of my time is used up playing guitar, taking pictures, riding motorcycles, and any other hobbies that I can think of. This means that I don't have time for everything -- certain things must go. So far, in my case, it has been health. I have asthma, a bleeding ulcer, had a minor heart attack, and more kidney stones that I can count using my fingers and toes. I’m overweight, out of shape, and generally lazy. I avoid going to the doctor at almost any cost. Even when I go to the doctor I’m not at all convinced it’s worth while, except for the pain killers.
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 | | Me, before I started to suck . . . |
OK, as a dirt rider I suck. Well maybe "suck" is too strong of word. After all, I’m usually pretty hard on myself. Lame may be more appropriate. I’m certainly not fast. OK, so how’s "technically competent but slow" sound? Pretty pathetic, huh?
Over the past several years, due to having kids, buying a house, and increased responsibilities at work, my seat time has diminished considerably. In 1998, aside from a couple of half-day rides at a local county park, I went riding twice. The first was a ride in Rasor Valley and the second was to Ocotillo Wells. By the time I had gotten to this point of only riding twice a year I was very frustrated. As much as I hate to say it, I wasn’t having fun. I had gotten fat and out of shape. A three-day trip was thoroughly exhausting. This combined with problems with my RMX had me about ready to give it up altogether. On our 1997 annual Rubicon ride I rode for about an hour the first day. During that time my RMX wouldn’t idle at all (a long-standing problem that’s finally been fixed). I spent the rest of the long weekend sitting at camp, drinking beer, eating chips and either reading or playing solitaire. It was actually a nice vacation but I was very bitter about not being able to ride.
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 | | The Early Years |
Having a one-hour commute gives me a lot of time to reflect. Tonight, on my way home from work I had an epiphany. When I was a young child my father worked in a service station. This was when a service station was just that. There was no AM/PM, Taco Bell, Carl's Jr, or Baskin-Robbins attached. It was a sheet metal building with a glass front and a garage, used for repairing cars. There was no little booth with bulletproof glass. There wasn't some idiot sitting in said booth that didn't know the difference between the hood and the trunk of a car, not even capable of changing a cash register tape, and afraid for his life to leave. There wasn't pay-at-the-pump. This was when you pulled up and a guy, or two, came out and pumped your gas, checked your oil, checked your tires, and washed your windows. I spent many days sitting in the office with a coloring book and watching the goings on. This was the greatest.
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