Tuesday
May232023

Dual Sport Perfection

 

Nevada County Woods Riders (NCWR) held their annual fund raising event this year this past weekend at the Skillman campgrounds in Nevada County, which is located about 20 miles above Nevada City CA. Dry camping was available and I’d estimate over half the camp sites were full and by Saturday morning the entire campground was full.

Because of all the snow this year’s event was limited on the amount of single track available do to fallen trees and huge snow drifts still covering a lot of the trails. Skillman is just below the 5000 ft altitude marker, so most of the trail system is above 5000 feet. In past years the event typically started out with the first forty miles single track, then back to camp for lunch then an 80 mile loop consisting of as many dirt roads and two tracks as possible. The second loop doesn’t need any alternate routes

This year’s event was sold out with 140 entrants and started with a 97 mile loop with as many dirt roads and two tracks as possible. After having to postpone the event a few times because of the weather, the weather this past weekend couldn’t have been better. Finishing the loop back at camp for a BBQ lunch provided by the club was waiting; those who wanted to participate in the raffle had to buy their tickets before they left on the 97 mile loop. Because when they got back to camp for lunch the club volunteers had pulled the winning number’s bagged their prizes along with a 2023 Dual Sport T-shirt and other goodies they put the rider’s numbers on the bags so all they had to do was stop by the tables and pick up their goodies. And it turned out the club had enough swag to give out to all the riders, thanks to the very generous donations from the manufactures and motorcycle shops that help support the club. After lunch for those who hadn’t had enough riding could ride a 26 mile loop of single track

Some side notes, two weeks before the event, Skillman Campground had about four feet of snow covering the open areas. One of the members brought in his bob cat to clear the open areas of snow. There were thirty NCWR’s club members and five club members from the local equestrian club (Skillman Campground is a popular campground used by equestrian clubs) volunteered their time to clean up the campground of branches, twigs and stuff to help get it ready for the event.

I’ve said this before and it bears repeating, one of the things that makes this club so special is the willingness of its members to give back by volunteering their time to something they know to be worthwhile

Everyone I talked with had smiles on their faces when asked how the ride was.

It’s very rewarding and comforting to see a large group of like minded people show up for one purpose, to help put on an event like this and to be able to enjoy being part of an event like this doing something they all love doing riding their motorcycles.  

A reminder, this can happen to any of us any time we ride, two of the riders who were riding together collided and one of them sustained major injuries and is as of this writing is still in the hospital, we all wish him well.

Doug 21J

 

Tuesday
May092023

Kid’s Ride Day

 

On a beautiful Sunday the Nevada County Woods Riders and Scott Rabeneau hosted a ride day at Scott’s home, I think this was the third one he’s hosted. Scott has an area that has been used as a trials riding area for years. Sunday morning before the families showed up a friend of one of the club members showed up with a big skid steer and reworked the track into a very nice track for the little guys and gals. The club provided some barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs and the rest of the food was pot luck, which always means plenty of good food.

There were a couple of grandpa’s there with their grandkids plus the moms and dads, plus us spectators Stan and I were there and we are the two oldest members of the club at over 81. Stan brought his E bike and put a few miles on it.

It was so enjoyable to watch the little guys do lap after lap, after lap. There were of course a few crashes along the way. One little guy had a pretty good little get off, got up and hobbled off crying his head off. When they took his boot off you could see the black and blue appearing on his toes before your eyes. I walked over to him while he was still sobbing and asked if he was done for the day, through his tear stained cheeks and still a little sobbing he shook his head NO. And sure enough he did put his boot back on and rode the rest of the day. And that says a lot about his family and all the other kids who crashed not one of them quit for the day. There weren’t any soccer mom’s and dad’s there yelling, all the kids rode at their level and by the way they all got better by the end of the not because someone was yelling at them, because they were riding with each other and against each other as well. There was no bickering amongst the parents or the kids.

One family had seen the Face book posting Scott put up, called and asked if it would ok if they came even though they weren’t members, Scott said yes. Their little almost three year old daughter was amazing to watch on a Stasic by the end of the day it was clear she had no fear. Their father will be joining club by the way.

In this day and age with all the negative things in this world it was wonderful and reassuring to spend the day with families who are great role models for their kids and are instilling great values that will help them and give us all a little hope for the future.

And cud do’s to Scott for being willing to offer his place and heart to do this for these kids, the future of our country. 

I’m so glad I spent the day watching these guys do lap after lap I think some may have done 500 laps. One of the little guys still on his bike with his helmet on the handle bars fell asleep.

Doug McCaleb

21 J

Monday
May082023

21J Deep Thoughts

Sometimes in order for me to truly understand what I’m thinking or feeling I need to verbalize it or write it down. I wrote this for me, but my hope would be in reading this you might find something that resonates with you. If you did nothing could make me happier. 

I’ve always believed throughout my life I’m lucky and unlucky at the same time. During my life time I’ve had things happen to me and I could say that was unlucky but, at the same time I could also always say yes that was unlucky but it could have been so much worse.

Most of my life I considered a lot of the good things that happened to me as being lucky. As I’ve gotten older I no longer think some of those good things were just being lucky. I use to always say things like I’m lucky, things like I’ve been pretty healthy my whole life. I’ve been lucky. I’ve been able to race and ride dirt bikes for all these years.

Well yes, I have been lucky in that way, but I no longer believe it’s been just luck. Somewhere during these past years I started realizing, this isn’t just luck. I’ve never been religious, never really been exposed to organized religion. If someone asked about my views or beliefs regarding religion I would usually say something like I consider myself to be a spiritual person and not much more. Interesting though for many years, say after a day of trail riding on my way home, I would sort of look up and out of my windshield and say thank you, thank you for allowing me to do this again even if I had tweaked myself a little that day.  I also started saying this was the best ride ever (Thanks Eric), especially if someone asked how my ride was, because it could actually have been my last ride.

My views on spirituality have changed and continue to evolve. One of those changes was recognizing I am blessed. I can’t say I feel them around me as some people do, but I do believe there are sprits (Some people call them angels and spirit guides) who have looked out for me all my life and there are forces at play in my life if I listen to will help me along the way.

I spent nearly fifteen years as a Hospice volunteer, I found it to be very rewarding and my views on death and dying have changed. If you know you have made a difference at the end of someone’s life and if you’re lucky (That word again) they made a difference in yours and if you are willing to let that happen, it can be one of the finer moments in your life. And, at that moment, you will know what it means to be a human being operating at your very best. There are unlimited things we can do to feel we have given ourselves to something greater expecting nothing in return other than the inner feeling of just being a human being in the best possible way.  

But, I am a human being and I don’t always do the right thing for the right reasons. I’ve had many times in my life when it didn’t go my way perhaps at some else’s expense or at my own. I’ve had times when l felt like I’ve had more failures than successes, but I’ve learned when I’m am truly being the best possible human being I can be, I know I’m being successful. 

I spent most of my life thinking of myself as primarily a physical person. That’s who I was. I put no value on myself as being anything else. Certainly not as an intellectual person, I didn’t begin to think of myself in that way until later in my life, thankfully I did.  At about the same time I began to realize someday I will begin to lose this physicality, then what? Fortunately I was also discovering I had other things to offer and as time has marched on and my physicality has begun to diminish those other attributes I discovered began to supplement the physical me.

I had two years of dealing with neck issues that sort of started preparing me for the day I could no longer ride. Intellectually I knew that day was coming for years, but not today, right. Well when it finally happened I was still hoping for a fix, still am to a degree, but my sights are a lot more realistic now.

I’ve sold most of my bikes and surprisingly when I sold the dirt bike I had bought, but never got the chance to ride it was a relief and in many ways brought closure to that part of my life.

Again I’ve been blessed. I’m now over eighty and complaining that I have just recently lost my ability to do what I did for nearly fifty years. I’m also blessed in that I’m still able to form complete sentences and like many others do struggle with CRS but as long as I can continue writing things like this I’m doing alright.

Now I find myself at another crossroads the one extreme physical and mental activity (motorcycle racing) I had done for nearly fifty years is suddenly gone. I have had the time and been able to develop my other skills and now my other skills are taking the place of all that physicality. One of the things that has been very important to me all my life is daydreaming. I’ve done it my whole life.  I’m very good at it and practice doing it all the time. When day dreaming I can do anything, be anything, be anyone, go anywhere, I can have good endings or bad ones, I can be a good guy or a bad guy and I have done all those things. If I’m someplace and I feel comfortable and I am left alone I can close my eyes and daydream. Even if I’m someplace where I’m uncomfortable if I’m alone with my thoughts I can close my eyes and daydream. I can take myself anywhere and be anyone. Still those physical abilities are diminishing and for someone who has relied on, depended on those abilities it is freighting.

But I am adapting and I am better equipped to handle the inevitable changes coming in my life. 

Doug - 21J

 

Monday
Feb062023

NCWR Giving Back!

Nevada City CA

The second annual NCWR (Nevada County Woods Riders) Awards Banquet / Meeting was held in Nevada City, CA on February 1st this year. And this wasn’t just another motorcycle club meeting.

Besides enjoying the trails and back roads of Nevada, Placer and El Dorado Counties and the surrounding Sierra mountain forests and the vast Nevada deserts, the NCWR is very involved in promoting responsible trail use, advocates off-road vehicle OHV access rights and fosters trail improvement programs with the Tahoe National Forest Service. They are a charter member of the AMA (American Motorcycle Association) and District 36 (The AMA’s regional motorcycle competition arm) 

The club works very closely with the National Forest Service in that the club helps maintain existing trails by clearing overgrowth and fallen trees, they help in laying out and the clearing of new trails. (That’s right new trails) They also work with the Equestrian clubs in helping clear fallen trees on the trails that run through the existing OHV trails in Nevada County. By helping the Equestrians we also help the bicycle riders who also use the Equestrian trails. Yes it’s a very delicate balance and can be very challenging but it’s worth the effort. The club also works very closely with the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship which is a Non Profit Organization that builds and maintains hundreds of miles of trails in the Sierra’s. They are also working on a project called Connected Communities (through trails) There are a lot of small communities in the Sierra’s that suffered greatly when logging in those communities all but disappeared. This project will connect fifteen of these communities by creating multi use single track trails to and through each of them, when this project is complete it will add an additional six hundred miles of trails in the Sierra’s. And this project is not a dream it is in fact very much underway.

The club easily donates 1000 plus hours per year to the Forest Service and many additional hours to the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. The special part of the clubs volunteer work is The Forest Service and the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship receive funds from the Government based on an hourly rate for the volunteer hours, a huge win for everyone.

A brief history of the club, back in the late seventies there were a lot of trail riders from Nevada and surrounding Counties who also rode Dist 36 Enduro’s, one of those riders Pete wanted to put a club affiliation name on the entry form, so He started putting down Western Nevada County Dirt Riders (WNCDR) eventually others started doing the same until one of the riders Doug thought the name was too long and they changed it Nevada County Woods Riders (NCWR) Doug also had some T shirts made with the new Nevada County map as a logo and the new name and a club was born. Eventually the club became more organized and at first the club was basically an Enduro riders only club, but as the years went on  and more riders joined it became more like it is today, primarily focused on trail riding and maintenance but Dual Sport and Adventure bike rides are also part of what the club does.

As the club has become better known for what it does the membership has also grown and today has over two hundred fifty members. It’s very gratifying to know the vast majority of the members are members because they want to give back, help and be part of something where what they do matters, is very rewarding and positive.

The club has been drawing increased attention from other clubs and organizations from a regional to the national level, because of its success in working hand in hand with the US Forest Service and other local groups and organizations that have a shared interest in what happens in the forest. There are few if any other clubs who have this kind of success and commitment and other clubs and organizations want to know how the club does it, well one thing is certain it has taken years of hard work, flexibility and continued commitment is a key.

 

This meeting drew some 200 members and family plus key note speakers from the Deputy Director of the CA state OHV (CA State off Highway Program) who brought us up to date on what’s going on in the OHV world. They also announced a new program whereby they are looking for input on opportunities to expand current OHV locations or where there might be new opportunities to create new OHV sites.  The US Forest Service brought us up to date on current and future projects in the Tahoe National Forest.  And a long time advocate for the rights to off highway recreation also spoke to us about the progress this club has made and continues to make and what a difference they have made and has become and inspiration for other clubs to follow. The director of the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship spoke to us about the continued commitment to maintaining a vast network of single track trails and their current and future plans of expanding the trails. There were regional as well as national representatives from a number of manufactures who have supported the club for years and several others who have expressed an interest in supporting the club in its efforts.

Awards were given out to members for reaching twenty plus and forty plus hours of volunteer service for 2022. Special Service Award and Volunteer of the Year awards were presented to two of the NCWR club members by the AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) along with a few surprise awards and gifts. And one of the big surprises of the evening was the NCWR (Nevada County Woods Riders) a nonprofit club presented to the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship also a nonprofit org. a check for $5000 to help in their continued efforts to create trail systems in the Sierra’s.

All in all it was a great evening and it’s amazing what can happen when you bring together a large group of diverse but like minded people who share in a common goal. 

 

Doug 21J

Thursday
Jun092022

21J's 2nd Hangtown Adventure

From a different prospective part 2

 

At last year’s HangTown National I was an “Event Security” volunteer assigned to the Husqvarna Factory pits, my choice. I was looking forward to seeing Zac Osborne who was at the time the defending 450 outdoor champion and Dean Wilson with whom I wanted to talk about grandpa Earl. They also had some fast young 250 riders. Well, that didn’t work out so well Osborne retired, Wilson was hurt and the only healthy 250 rider was RJ Hampshire.

Well, I had my choice again this year and I chose the Husky pits and again it didn’t work out so well. I still wanted to talk with Dean Wilson about Grandpa Earl but he poked a huge hole in his butt and was out again. I was also looking forward to meeting Malcolm Stewart; I’m a fan of his. Was never a fan of his brother though? Well he’s out with an injured knee. At least this year there was a full complement of 250 riders. And RJ Hampshire is one of my favorite 250 riders, he’s tough, he never gives up and he’s fast enough to compete, but he falls down a lot. There was also Jalek Swool and Stilez Robertson. Swool was banged up from the first round at Fox Raceway. The other reason I chose Husky again was the people most of the same mechanics were there as last year as well as other personnel. And I like the way they work, if something needs to be done they just do it. And their pit area is at least as clean as any other factory team. Although Honda’s pits are pretty dam clean.

I may have mentioned Paul last year he’s the one who politely told me to get my parked Kawasaki motorcycle out of their pits, duh on my part. He turned out to be a really nice person. He was there again this year. I don’t know what his last name is but I know he was in the past a team manager. But he enjoys his current roll which is a team hauler driver and the resident chef. I call him a chef because man oh man can he cook. It’s as good as any food I’ve had anywhere. I felt a little more comfortable this year and actually begged for a little food.

I did things a little differently this year. After the pits were closed to the public without the proper creds, I walked around the pits and checked out all the other teams. I went to the starting line with the riders and mechanics and after the gate drop went with the mechanics to the mechanics area where I watched the races. With my wrist ban color I could go anywhere that was cool. After each moto I’d go back to the pits and do it all over again there was only one 450 rider on the team Shane McElrath who was filling in for Dean Wilson.

I need to say something about the team riders. RJ Hampshire and his wife both actually remembered me from last year as did some of the mechanics and other personnel that was very cool. Shane was very friendly and easy to talk with. Jalek Swool was also easy to talk with, his longtime girlfriend came over and introduced herself, she had a great personality, I told Jalek she was a keeper and he agreed. I did not talk with Stilez Robertson he pretty much kept to himself with what looked like his folks, but I think was probably a nice young man. (Turns out he has signed with Star Yamaha for 2023)

As I did last year I really enjoy watching the mechanics working, repeating over and over after each practice and moto. Cleaning the bikes, changing out certain of parts on the bikes, doing whatever needed to be done so they always looked brand new the next time they went to the line. The mechanic for Stilez Robertson was chasing an issue with the engine after both practices and finally got it fixed just before the first moto. Electronic issue can be the worst, after the first practice he checked certain things after the second practice he changed out the wiring harness and finally at the last minute changed the ECU and solved the problem literally five minutes before they had to line up, a little stressful to say the least. 

The weather was about as good as it gets, it was overcast all day so the temp was mild, and it  sprinkled a little bit. The racing was from my perspective anyway very good.

I had told RJ in the morning I thought he was one of the few who could give the Lawrence brothers a battle. In the first moto he was hanging right in there but went off the course and down the side of a steep hill. He  ran into Austin Forkner’s mechanic who hurt his leg. RJ got back up fairly early in the moto and finished sixteenth. By the time I got back to the pits he had left for a checkup at the hospital. His wife was gathering up their stuff I assume go to the hospital. Her demeanor indicated to me he wasn’t too bad. But I as well as she found out later a stick had broken off and punctured and collapsed a lung and had broken some ribs. They operated on him later that night for something and he was expected to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. I’ve always admired RJ because he was tough and never ever gives up, but man oh man this goes way beyond that. He is my hero.

Before the first 450 moto Alex Martin was sitting on his bike in the start gate with his helmet off, I went up to him and said, “When I first saw you this morning sitting in your pits you didn’t disappoint me you, were eating” He looked at me sort of weird I could tell he didn’t get it, but for those who watch his vlog. “Troll Train” he’s always eating. The look on his face told me he doesn’t realize he’s always eating on his volg.

There were a few other riders who impressed me that day, but for me the one who stood out the most was Chase Sexton. Sure he was caught and passed by two of the best 450 riders today, but they didn’t leave him, he no doubt studied their lines and came back to finish right behind them. He is so smooth it was interesting to watch him and Roczen who is also very smooth out front. Then in the first moto along comes Anderson who is not smooth but also fun to watch catch and pass them both. I watched an interview with Tomac and he said he was very surprised Sexton stayed with him in the second moto, says a lot about Sexton.

Back to the first 250 Jalek Swool hung in there with a sore shoulder and finished very well in the first race. Unfortunately, in the second moto he fell on his injured right shoulder and couldn’t finish. I heard them say he thought he had separated it and it had pooped back in, I wouldn’t expect to see him or RJ next weekend.

Shane had an ok weekend I could tell he wasn’t happy with his performance. I had asked him earlier if he was riding the 2021 KTM’s at Rocky Mountain or 2022’s He was on 2021’s and said the 2022’s were much, much better but he was still trying to adapt to the 2022. I think he’s a much better rider than he’s given credit to be, I hope he figures it out and can put in some good results a little later. I think he deserves it.

Stilez Robertson had a very quiet day and ended up I believe 7th in the 250 class.

While I was standing next to the rails in the mechanics area literally feet away from the riders as they went by towards the finish line the speed they were carrying was impressive and downright scary.

I had a great time, but this old man was totally wiped and slept off and on all day Sunday.

Don’t know if I will have the opportunity to do it again time will tell.

Doug 21J