Goose Egg Gulch!

I have a friend, Dave, that makes fun of me whenever he says, “I was riding along and then I Wasn’t!”.  On our regular Monday Taco ride we usually get two or three other riders that are not quite as fast, strong or as skilled as my buddy Mark Kaestner.  Well today was my lucky day, or so I thought as Mark was the only one that showed up to do the ride. Whoo Hoo and away we go on all the difficult trails and at a slightly higher rate of speed than normal. We made the ride to lunch in record time and beat the group we usually meet there in their side by sides, Polaris RZR’s.

We had our Tacos, beverages and some entertainment when the rest of the group showed up about 30 minutes later.  After lunch we gassed the bikes and departed for home, about a 45-mile ride that usually takes about 2 hours. This time since there seemed to be no time or fuel constraints we decided to explore a different route back while looking for new challenges. Careful what you wish for!  We do some cross country exploring and find tracks that showed us there had been a few other people with the same idea. We found an area that led down into a wash and then other riders had climbed out a very steep bank. I told Mark we should continue down the wash with steep walls and rocky drops to see if we could make it through. The others had not and that should have been a clue!

We come to the first rocky drop and it was your normal 2 or 3 ft. drop, I got down ok and Mark hung his foot up and tipped over pinning his foot against the wall. He laughed, righted himself restarted the bike and continued on to where I was. Stopped! Starring at about an 8 ft. drop into a hole that had been hogged out by running water. I looked it over and couldn’t find a way past it because the walls were near vertical and very loose rocks. Mark gets there as I am about to turn around and climb back up the ledge we had just descended, but Nooooooo!  Mark parks his bike and starts looking for a way down. He has this great idea if we move about half a ton of rocks on the left side it will leave enough of a shelf for us to ATTEMPT to ride down the slippery slope so we could have the OPPORTUNITY to drop off a 4 ft. ledge that he would pile a bunch of rocks in so MAYBE we wouldn’t crash!

I watched as Mark started moving a ton of rocks hoping he would get impatient and give up. Wasn’t happening! He just kept on throwing rocks, big rocks, little rocks and even some sand.  I mostly watched waiting for him to stop so we could go back, then I tossed and kicked a couple of rocks over the edge just to seem as though I was helping. Well he finally did it, he made a shelf on what I considered to be crumbly rocks with enough room for our handlebars and foot pegs to clear. Gotta give him credit, he built the ramp and was willing to try it out first so I got my ass outta his way and got the camera ready. I wasn’t sure how this would turn out and I wanted to document whatever happened.

Mark hopped on his bike and headed toward the shelf and the drop, which was now about 3 ft. with all the rocks Mark had piled at the bottom. He made it look so easy I was now thinking, crap, now I can’t go back. My turn. I hopped on the mighty KTM and proceeded to emulate my hero trail builder. I was surprised how easy Mark had made the drop, even though it was scary looking from the top. I survived it and almost rolled to a stop 20 feet down the trail but stuck my front wheel in some sand and tipped over! Fortunately, my left forearm broke my fall! Unfortunately, it was on a rock outcropping! I picked my bike up and checked my forearm because it was rather painful, but no blood so time to go.

We finished our ride quite uneventfully and said our good byes. When I got home my arm was still bothering me so I took another look. It actually had a goose egg about half the size of a golf ball on it now!  I guess I will call that decent, “Goose Egg Gulch”.

I can’t wait for Mark to take me out and flog me some more.  I will let you know how that goes.

#33

‘Been there done that, then been there several more times, because apparently I never learn’

2 Geezers and 2 KTM’s

Old Lyle

Having just acquired an almost new 2017 KTM 450 SX I was anxious to get it broken in and set up for the 2018 Old Timer Motocross series. Since the tracks around here are few and far between I was forced to mount up some old tires and head out into the desert.

Since I was going desert trail riding I made a call to a buddy, Old Lyle, as he calls himself and asked him if he would like to meet up for a ride. Since Lyle had just acquired a new KTM 500 EXC he was more than happy to go out for a ride on his new bike.

Lyle has had his KTM for a little longer and is in the process of set up and fitting it to himself. Now what is really impressive is that Lyle is about to turn 78 yrs. young and just bought this new 2017 KTM, so obviously he has no intention of quitting riding anytime soon!  I want to be like Old Lyle when I grow up! I think Lyle has surpassed the Geezer classification and now falls into the Super Geezer Class!

We met up at Lyle’s local riding area and proceeded to bust out a two and one half hour ride. Deep sand, rocks, lots of whoops and some singletrack rounded out our ride very nicely. Lyle rolls right along at a good clip and if I don’t stay close enough to see his dust he is gone and I am left wondering where the heck he went.

Lyle seems to really be enjoying his new 500 EXC since it is lighter, faster and handles better than his 2002 525 KTM that he rode for 15 yrs. When he gets it suited to him and all the adjustments dialed in I may have a hard time keeping him in sight.

We finished our ride, loaded up, said our good byes and headed home. As I was driving I was wondering if Old Lyle was smiling as much as I was. Yeah, I am pretty sure he was. See ya next time Lyle, maybe I will bring a younger friend for you to beat up on instead of just me.

#33

‘I thought getting older would take a lot longer!’

#33 Talks EKS Goggles

EKS Goggles

I have been going through a few different brands of goggles the past couple of years. The reason is I have been trying to find one that worked as advertised and did not require I take out a second mortgage to buy a couple pair!

There are some very good goggles on the market and several of them work very well. But I have a very high standard. By that I mean they must provide a good field of view, rarely if ever fog, be comfortable enough to wear on all day rides, absorb sweat decently, fit correctly in the different brands of helmets I wear and of course look good while being decently priced! Tall order, eh?

I have settled in the last few months on the EKS (X-Brand) goggle as the one that scores very well in all of these categories. An added bonus is that the lenses are durable enough that I have been wiping the dust on long desert rides or races such as the Baja 500 with the side of my gloved finger and am able to clear my vision many times while not destroying the lens. It is amazing how much faster you can ride when you can see!

I have flogged a couple of pair to the point of failure only because I am wearing out the elastic strap.  Outstanding!!

So I guess I have settled on a goggle I really like and don’t have to mess with, put them on and ride without thinking about them.  I can’t ask for much more than that.

Unfortunately, it’s time to go clean a pair so I can go riding in the morning, see ya!

#33

‘pursue perfection, but accept excellence’