After 40 + miles they recoup fairly well with smores and a camp fire. A little tired and dirty from the days labors, but no worse for wear. The one boy who actually shed tears earlier in the day is already looking forward to tomorrow. Through suppressed sobs he made the most memorable statement of the day, "HOW MUCH LONGER IS THIS STUPID SAND WASH?!!!"
They were even excited to sleep in dads RV/camper. Ok, it wasn't exaclty the posh living of grampas Executive Diplomat II with rhino liner floors instead of soft green shag carpet but it kept the scorpions and frost out.
Breakfast prepared by our infamous chef. And yes, even after being told multiple times the Beninator still managed to walk right through the kitchen and kick over an entire dish of food into the sand.
Day two, Devils Race Track. TWO boys would cry and beg for mercy by the end of this day. And, an all time record of 55 desert miles was set on the KX65 . . . after siphoning a bit of gas out of bigger bikes. But a record still for the little rider on that machine.
Yes, that is the trail or correct direction at least. Our rider is so focused on the rock in front of him he doesn't notice the 500ft drop into the canyon to his right. We all cheer him on and hope he doesn't deflect the wrong way, bounce off the cedar tree and plummet to his death. He just wants to keep up with the group.
Stanley running sweep in the wash. Sweet roost Riles, finally getting the hang of that sand.
Day 3, Dead Cow Wash. No tears this day, they are too distracted by the deep pools and their first ride in a slot canyon, pretty cool.
Rilers taking a stab at the first major obstacle going back up the next slot canyon. Dad was nice enough to put that little rock in front of the step up since the smaller boys are not quite able to wheely on command yet.
The man/child in the hand-me-down bionic suit makes short work of the next technical feature. Wet tires to three foot vertical stone step up, no sweat.
BRAAAAAAAAAP . . . Nicely done.
Classic Benners. "Go slow into this next one" dad says, "it's deeper than it looks." Maybe he heard wrong, something like, "PUT HER IN 1st AND PIN IT." At any rate, it makes for a sweet picture.
Stanley still running sweep.
Classic woop section coming out of the slot canyon heading over to ten mile wash makes for a good bit of racing.
Having forgotten how he broke his arm last time he rode here Jordan has a go at Shaner, everyone's favorite desert race legend. Doing about 50-60 mph here.
Not quite there yet, a few more years and at least another 50cc . . . then maybe.
Ben is always willing to try the next obstacle. Please note that everything in this photo is solid sand stone. No soft landings here. Ben really uses his HEAD on this one.
Tis a lesson you should heed:
Try, try, try again.
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try, try again.
No shortage of guts here. Sharp corner (out of frame) to a 2ft wide ledge from which one must make a sharp right turn and jump. That might look like some stylish riding but please note the unnatural position of the back tire (in the air) and the pre-eject posture. He may have been knocked cold on this one as he claims to have no memory of the landing. It was about an 8 foot drop to another stone landing where he slid to a stop under his bike.
Question, "Are you ok?" Response, "everything hurts." Question, "can you still move your parts?" Response, "yes." Reply, "then get up, it is still a long way back to the truck."
It was Albert Einstein who said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
It was dad who said, "SWEET SKID MARK."
And Stanley who said, "WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T JUMP UP AND DOWN."
No comments:
Post a Comment