Twisted Throttle

I resisted the temptation to get humbled at the last local skate ski race of the year or get thrashed on the team group ride by heading out to the West desert. After months of just riding on the road, I finally got my new WRR dirty. The Pietrzaks and I went out to Delle for some good old-fashioned redneck fun. There was no broken bones, broken equipment, spectacular crashes or stray gunshot wounds, so you'd have to call it a successful day.

I hadn't ridden a motorcycle in the dirt for a long time. It took a little time to get comfortable, but I was quickly reminded how much fun twisting the throttle can be. It's just the opposite of MTB riding for me. On the MTB, going down is the most fun, while on the moto, rallying up hills is the most fun. I had fun pulling little wheelies and hitting little jumps. However, I'm definitely a low to the ground kind of guy. I watched the motocross guys hitting the big jumps and it's way beyond my comfort zone. I can't even get up the nerve to jump a 15 foot gap.

The little Yamaha worked really good. It's just what I was hoping for: a bike I can ride to work and get 60 - 70 mpg but still be fun off road. For more serious trial ridding, it needs a little lower gearing and better tires, but it was surprisingly dirt worthy. I've always been a Honda guy, but Yamaha did this one right. Also, the drummer in me has to like a company that produces high quality motos and drums.

With the good weather, there was a pretty big crowd at Delle. It provides entertaining people watching. Moto and ATV guys are very different than the bike racing crowd. Let's just say most haven't spent much time working out. We was happy not to get hit by some drunk guy trying to see how high he could jump.

The forecast is for rain in St. George Saturday. Figures. I finally get a chance to go South and it's supposed to rain. I guess the good news is I can pretend it's a cross race. Maybe I'll pack the Tricross.