Still Too Hot!

Still Too Hot!

We just left the scorching hot and earthquake infested area around Helena, Montana and headed for what we expected to be a much cooler climate around Orofino, Idaho. A funny thing happened on the way to Idaho, the damn heat was already there! Who woulda thunk!!!!

The incredibly gorgeous little town of Orofino, Idaho was in the middle of a heat wave with the temps reaching the 100* plus range. But since some of the trail riding around there is so good I figured I could wait it out for a few days. The days turned into a few weeks so I did the only thing I could do. Go Riding and shooting! In between, I helped string up a bit of barbed wire fence and cut up some wood with the now famous #33 Ton wood splitter!  If I had access to a wood splitter like that when I was young and never ran out of energy I believe whoever was naïve enough to let me use it would have gone broke supplying the gasoline. It is like having a CR 500 that has been over bored, ported, the head milled, a bigger carb and race gas! There is so much power I catch myself laughing as I open the throttle and hydraulics. Nothing can stop me, just like the old days! The limiting factor seemed to be when I ran out of DRY wood to split, it seems the correct way is to wait for the wood to dry out first and then split it. No wonder Paul Bunyan used an ax, if he had used one of these he would have run out of forests!

Having gained experience once again in the art of splitting wood, I figured maybe I could cut some wood while out on a trail ride. Trail clearing is always needed if we want to maintain the trail system. So I purchased a small STIHL chainsaw that I could fit into a large backpack. So my buddy Jess (aka hose-b, because he calls me Jose’) and I spent a few days doing rides with my new little Stihl and his very aggressive Stihl hand saw. So we loaded our equipment, saw, pre mixed gas, bar oil, water, food and a few tools and went out riding just looking for a tree obstructing a trail. I carried my equipment on my KTM 500 xcw and Hose-b carried his on his………………wife’s bike. Luckily, Becky has a dirt bike and is such a nice girl that she will loan it to Jess whenever he has friends come over to ride. LOL!

We ride and cut as we go.  Jess is showing me things to pay attention to as I learn to cut with the chainsaw. I have used them before but nowhere near the experience Jess has with saws. I learn very quickly to take nothing for granted and don’t go faster than my limited ability. Pretty much like riding a motorcycle! On one day of cutting we do our best to keep track of how many trees/cuts we make. I am astonished when Hose-b tells me we cut out 42 trees or limb blockages. Not bad for two guys in a single day of volunteer work. I can’t wait to come back and ride those trails.

In the next few days we do a little rifle sighting, shotgun shooting and mouse trapping. It seems the hot weather must have stirred up the mouse population cause I have seen a couple in and around the mobile ghetto (our Raptor 5^th wheel). So now it’s on! I set up a couple of mouse traps and prepare to annihilate the little vermin. On my first attempt I get the Freakin Houdini of the mice. He steals my bait and doesn’t trip the trap!  Oh No you didn’t!  We will just see about that. So I reset the next night and make sure I wedge the bait so it has to be yanked on to get it. Also I back it up with a sticky trap in the same area.  Also I plan to wait up watching TV until the little sucker comes back and I hear the SNAP of the trap. Then it happens……. Cheryl is shaking me awake telling me I have something in my trap.  I check and sure enough there is ol’ Houdini. Gotchya! Now maybe I can relax.

The next morning, I check the sticky trap and have his back up man caught too!  Good now it should be all clear. Then I find the bag of chips the little suckers had found and chewed a hole in and were making regular grocery runs at night.  So I set up using the chips and caught the rest of the gang! Took a few days but I think the word went out around the “hood” that the dude in the mobile ghetto was on the war path. They moved on. Victory!

So just about the time I thin the mouse herd I am thinking it is time to move on to our next destination until Hose-b informs me he has a trip planned for us to a place called Buffalo Hump. He has gone camping there and really seems to enjoy it, they shuttle their four wheelers there, unload and ride in to an area known as Buffalo Hump and spend the night. I think, ok, I will ride my KTM and go along since I have never been a four-wheel kind of guy. Oh No, not a chance Hose-b and his buddy Phil have borrowed me a four wheeled Suzuki 750 so I can have the whole experience. So we load up and head out with each of us on our own four wheeler. The area called Buffalo Hump we ride up into is a very scenic area with National forest, private property and ends up running into a Wilderness that eventually impedes any further progress unless you are equipped to continue on foot.

The ride is fun, the views are incredible and the weather is just about perfect. We spend the day exploring our way to the camp site Hose-b and Phil select and see several very expensive high end houses perched on sections of private property. Amazing they could get all that building material up the only access road available considering it took us a half day on 4-wheel drive machines. One house is perched on a peak made up of mostly rock and so high that the only thing equal in elevation to it is a Fire Lookout several hills away. I notice that the house has several very heavily grounded lightning rods placed on it. Hmmmmm, I would have to be very selective when visiting there.

We make camp, set up tents and have a bite to eat at a ridge overlooking a small lake probably a thousand feet below us. The view is amazing and we can see forever in almost any direction. We notice a column of smoke several ridges away and my estimation is that it is about 15 to 20 miles from us. As dusk approaches I can see the flames from the fire and it is still about 20 miles away. I am thinking flames that high at that distance gotta be a couple of hundred feet high! WOW, I have never witnessed anything like that before. But it is getting late so I finally climb into the tent to sleep. When I wake about 4am I try to be quiet and climb out of the tent with my water bottle and pop tarts to watch the sunrise. I eat, drink and watch the sun come up. There is a HUGE cliff drop off less than 100yds away. Wouldn’t it be fun to roll boulders down the cliff face!  I could see and hear them as they gained speed toward the lake if they took just the right bounce. Boy, I had a BIG TIME rolling rocks for at least a half hour. They would bounce, bash and crash their way toward the lake if I got lucky and got just the right bounce. It was like being a little kid again.

Then the little kid looked up the hill and saw the house with the lightning rods again. It looked like it was about maybe a mile and a half up hill, two at the most. I wondered how long it would take to walk there. About 15 minutes into the walk I came across and old seldom used 4 wheeler path, so I followed it and it led to the house on the hill. The house was all locked up and no one was there so I just admired the view, took some breathtaking photos and returned on the same path. I figured since it was a seldom used trail for a 4 wheeler it must be an alternate route for escape in case of fire or some other emergency. About half way back down I was on the SAME path and came across a pile of poop I did not recognize right on the trail I had just come up on. I have seen, coyote, deer, elk, bear and other kinds of poop and know what they look like. It was very fresh and looked a lot like a man did it! I glanced around nervously and then thought wait a minute there is no toilet paper and no people foot prints!  Being unsure and having left my 9mm in the tent I figured the best thing for me to do was to quicken my stride and be acutely aware of my surroundings.  Good thing it was downhill! As I made my way back to camp I was watching over my shoulder constantly. As soon as I got back I asked Jess and Phil what in the world could poop the size of a large man and in the same configuration, they both answered….....a Wolf.   Great, I am out as a rock rolling, sightseeing, novice camping, beginner woodsman and I am Wolf Bait on my first solo excursion.  Next time I will have my knife, my 9mm, and sling a shotgun.  That wasn’t no mouse!

We make our way back to civilization and I am ready to load up and get back to a motocross track where I usually just dislocate my shoulder or something! It’s safer.

#33

‘the best things in life aren’t things’

What's Your Brain Worth?

Helmets

How good is yours?

A long time ago I remember seeing a Bell helmet advertisement that said, “if you have a $10 head, wear a $10 helmet”, or something very similar.

That ad was run more years ago than I care to remember; But it stuck with me so obviously it was a well thought out ad. Boy have times changed, with helmets now ranging in price from a cheap $79 to approaching $750 for the latest and greatest in quality and technology that also doubles as a fashion statement as they have literally become works of art!

I see some absolutely beautiful helmets these days on the road, at the tracks and in the desert. But since I spend so much time on a bike, in so many different locations and types of riding I also see some very scary looking things on peoples’ heads. If I were independently wealthy I would carry around high quality helmets to trade people when I see them. Sometimes I cringe when I see such so called protective gear.

I have destroyed several helmets and suffered more concussions than I care to remember, uh, maybe I can’t remember! Lol.  So I am speaking from experience while I stand on my soapbox here and rant. What spurred me to write this tirade was a recent week long off road trip with a group of riders that ended on a sour note.

Our group had ridden several hundred miles over about 5 days and was on the last 40 or so miles before arriving at our motel for the night. We were all looking forward to a shower and a nice meal with the daily B.S. session where we all could tell how fast we went and how high we flew! Unfortunately, just before we reached the pavement to ride into our motel, one of our riders named Jeff crashed and took a serious blow to the head. He was knocked unconscious and would not regain consciousness until sometime the next day. It turned into quite the ordeal to stabilize, monitor, extract and transport him to medical facilities.

It has been almost 2 months now and Jeff is doing better at home but is not back to being himself yet. This is one of the most scary, long term serious head injuries I have seen.

It was purely coincidental that some of us on this trip had been discussing helmets, quality, cost, protection and age just the day before the incident. Someone had questioned why a helmet with all the certifications like SNELL and DOT stickers and only cost $99 was not as good as one that sells for $600 with exactly the same certifications.

While cost alone is NOT a rating for a good helmet, you generally get what you pay for in the helmet arena to a point. Now here I go on my soap box. I have worn decent helmets and VERY hi quality helmets in my 48 years of riding. I have also crashed on both types and whacked my noggin hard enough to destroy more than one helmet! Both the decent and the hi quality ones. So I am speaking from experience when I tell you I can tell the difference in energy transfer and dissipation when channeled through the hi quality helmet. It is noticeable and worth every penny when it finally happens and rest assured if you ride enough it will happen. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

I recently put it to one of our doubting Thomas types that was concerned with over spending on a helmet this way. I buy a top of the line helmet for around $600. I can wear that helmet safely for 5 or so years if I take care of it and barring any big crashes. That breaks down to maybe $125 a year to give myself the best odds possible to keep participating in my favorite sport.  I wish my auto insurance was that cheap!

Just food for thought, how good was your helmet when you bought it, how has it been treated, how old is it and what is your head worth? We can fix bones, stitch gashes and even repair joints most of the time. But unfortunately no doctor has been able to fix a head/brain injury yet. A good helmet is our best line of defense for participating in the sport we have chosen because it is our passion.

I hope if you read this it made you think, I am really glad you can, probably because you have a good helmet!  Ride safe.

#33

‘Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first, and the lesson later’

When Is Too Hot Too Hot?

Gettin’ Hot!!!

As the temperatures started to reach the 113* plus range in Arizona we decided it was time to head out for the cooler weather normally found on the summer tour of Idaho, Montana and Northern California. It has not worked out like I thought yet, it is smokin’ HOT Everywhere!

So the mobile ghetto got loaded with all the necessary equipment (toys), mountain bikes, off road motorcycles, dual sport bike, compound bow, shooting supplies and a few other odds and ends to make it a non-stop fun filled road tour. There was one thing missing, a bit hard to believe there was no motocross bike!  Not by choice mind you. I had sent my KX 450 suspension off to have a cryo-treating process done, since I had had the opportunity to try it on another bike and was thoroughly impressed. I figured 5 weeks would be enough time, oops, apparently not. So the show must go on or the Rolling Circus must Roll, however you say it. But think of the possibilities with an empty slot in the moto section………………  First stop, Helena Montana to visit MJ (Montana John).

We do a little riding, but only a little cause MJ doesn’t like the heat much and Helena is smokin’ hot for the locals. Jeez, it is all the way into the 90’s!!!!  I am thinking this is great and MJ is thinking he wants to stay in the shade with a cool beverage. This leaves me with too much time on my hands and I of course gravitate toward the motorcycle section on Craigslist. I figure I should start planning for the future, any moto guy can see this makes sense right? After all I just sold my 2013 KTM after 2 years with 18,000 miles on it. The first one was almost bulletproof so I replaced it with a 2014 almost new exact copy with just over 1000 miles on it in January.  The 2014 is already showing 7k on the odometer and who in their right mind would wait until the last minute. This ain’t Christmas shopping boys!

As it turns out there are several newer, low mileage, low time 500 xcw’s on Craigslist in the Montana area. Whaaaaaat!  I can’t believe my good fortune. So I whittle down the list to the most desirable 3 and start contacting the owners to take a look at these. I ended up buying the first one I looked at because it was a basically new 2016 with 396 miles on it!!!!  Poor guy hadn’t made it to the first oil change when he tipped over and dislocated his shoulder and had to have surgery to repair it. So he was not going to be needing it for almost a year, that made him more than happy to deal to get it gone. I was the proud new owner of a nearly new KTM 500 xcw. So now my problem of having an empty moto slot in my trailer is solved. That’s what I do, solve problems!

Along the way I was fortunate enough to meet and ride with the Legendary J.N. Roberts! For those of you that don’t remember J.N. he was an off road riding/racing hero waaaaay back in the day, with countless off-road wins on his resume. My mind sees J.N. on an iconic poster that Honda printed as an advertisement with him riding their new flagship the Honda XL 250 Motosport released in the 70’s. It was a single cylinder 250cc four stroke. I will always remember that photo with J.N. jumping the bike in the desert. What an honor to meet and be invited to ride on his 1400-acre ranch. It ended up being just him and I riding his cross country loop of about 20 miles. We, well I had a great time and stopped along the way to take in panoramic views and for him to show me his shooting area since he knew I liked to shoot. I would love to have a shooting gallery like his, with gongs and targets at all distances for rifles and handguns. We rode and messed around for a couple of hours before making our way back to his place. We said good bye and set up another ride a couple days later through the hills over to Lincoln for lunch and gas. By the way if anyone is wondering J.N. Roberts still hauls the mail and his bike of choice is a Beta 2 stroke.

A few more days of riding and visiting and we get hammered with an Earthquake! Lincoln, Montana is the center and is just over the hill from Helena. MJ and I ride there through the hills for lunch and gas. If you remember a ways back in time, Lincoln is where they caught the Unabomber. I found out where he had his cabin and did a ride by but everything has pretty much been erased to thwart looky loos like me. Anyway, the earthquake was in the middle of the night and felt just like someone had run into the mobile ghetto with a car. It seemed like a good time to move on, you know aftershocks and all.

So we fold up the big tent and head for Idaho, maybe it is cooler there.

#33

‘of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt’