The good the bad and the dirty

 Chasing the rabbit. That's what it feels like riding through ruts and whipping the tail of an almost motocross style motorcycle around sharp bends on a treelined, muddy and often wet fire road. Rabbits run fast and change direction quickly, as though there's only one speed: a frenetic, haphazard, and chaotic pace. It felt that way at times anyway.

 Look up the form of racing called Hare Scramble. Typically a race course where a rider will navigate through obstacles such as creek beds, logs, hills, mud, rocks and ruts. The only obstacle on that list not tallied by me are logs. I draw the line. No logs. Maybe one day. But that'll take some practice.

 The idea behind picking up a used dirtbike was to prolong the season after it's too cold or wet or both for riding on the street. A 2004 Suzuki DR 650. It's not a motocross bike by any means but with long travel suspension, a torquey motor and beefy wheels and other parts to withstand being laid down or dropped, it can handle a lot of rough terrain.

 And the other reason to buy a dirtbike? Because it's a blast!

So yeah, I dropped the bike. It threw me off. The DR wanted out of a rut I was in and I thought we would keep going straight. Down I went with a mud splattering thud.

No real harm done, a bruised hip, sore knee and shoulder. Nothing to write home about, anyway. Get back on. Shake it off.

 We offloaded the bikes, put the beer in the fridge, and crossed our fingers it wasn't going to be too cold or heaven forbid, snowy the next day when we planned to set off first, into the hills, then the far better trails right alongside the lakeshore itself.

There was some gnarly stuff on our second trip to the West side of Koocanusa Reservoir, just north of the Montana border. Ice covered ruts. Just able to crawl along and stay upright. A lesson learned. Stay out of higher elevations when it's cold because it will be even colder.

 

 The scenery on the bank of Koocanusa Reservoir is epic. And the trails were fantastic; dry, twisty, hilly, and mostly fire roads. There were small portions of single track but happily avoided if possible, considering the size of the bike and my return to dirtbikes and need for more practice.

 

 Bring on the spring riding season!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhqk2r4LwfI&t=752s

 I've never ridden a motorcycle around the World

and there's a good chance I won't

 I just read an article about Sadhguru. I've never heard of Sadhguru before, although I suppose if I had finished that documentary about gurus in North America he may have been part of the documentary's focus, but I grew bored with it. I suppose I am fascinated by "gurus" in a way one is fascinated by serial killers; with extreme beliefs they effortlessly subdue the gullible and unknowing population. I might only be a curious and attentive sideline observer, marveling at the qualities it takes to bend the minds of this said population to their will, but Sadhguru rides motorcycles. Well then, count me in. Sadhguru, I am listening. For whatever reason, I equate the freedom of motorcycles with a collective idea of prescribed enlightenment and what better follower I would be if you put a guru on a motorbike: I'm intrigued, however harmlessly of course, as organized thought (religious, or that of a practicing guru in this context) is not going to have me drinking the Kool-Aid anytime soon. But there it is, quietly licking it's chops, as I pick away at it for meaning. Yes, the meaning of life. Bring it on, Sadhguru! It was an article in Forbes, no less. A guru leaned against a resting BMW K 1600 GT, no small motorcycle by any token. Again, To me, upon first impressions the image presented a dichotomy; the opulence of a new BMW contrasted by a white bearded man in robes or "dhoti" as I so intrepidly googled, first, and secondly the idea that this man is a guru practitioner. How blatantly extravagant for a guru! Is this just another Billy Graham? 'Listen to me, and I will show you the way to enlightenment. Read my book, pay the subscription fee, donate and you will be free of the constraints of (your) society'; those are my words, as I am not a follower and nor will I subscribe as one, so my understanding and subsequent describing of a guru's philosophy is a shot in the dark.

 

 Skip ahead a few months. I was about to add a bloggy blurb about my recent assault on a long awaited dream to ride a dirt bike again. But like I said, that's a blog entry for another day.

 

 I feel the need to end my ramblings about SADHGURU! Looking at his website and there it is; an article titled "Man and Machine". Looking at the Article photo - an unassuming youthful man atop what might be a very common machine in a country full of people riding motorcycles, that is to say, what's so strange about that - I become cognoscente of how commonplace it is and why dwell on this transcended dude? 

 

 Why? Because when you access the webpage for the article, you see a guru - white beard, dhoti and all, on all types of motorcycles, spanning what appears to be a lifetime.

 

 So now we have come full circle: the value and transcendence of motorcycling. This man claims to have slept on his bikes instead of getting a hotel room. Do I believe him? I'd like to. So cheers to Sadhguru for reinforcing how a bike - just about any bike - can be good for the soul.

 

  

   2020. THE year. The year of, well, shite. And coincidentally the year of my 15th Anniversary for my wife and I. And if life is a bowl of cherries at home then it's time for presents! Or, if it's a bowl of over ripe bananas you may still get a present, ill feelings be damned, because it's been 15 years and both of you think "whatever", give me my present, I deserve it after 15 years.

 It went like this - Her: order something for yourself. Me: Tell me what you want and I'll get it. Done deal. Now I'm the proud owner of 

Joe Rocket Reactor Dry-Tech Saddlebags. My heart quickened a little at that sweet smell of water proof rubber when I opened the bag after opening the box. Quick turn around too, from Fortnine. Although, what didn't come with the order were instructions. Now, I'm a handy kind of guy but there's some strange additions to the bags, sort of 3 sided hard pieces, 2 of them, with net pouches on one of the sides. I'll figure it out. I've had soft side cases before. Can't say it was a positive experience, what with the fire that ensued pulling into the outer limits of Vancouver - but that's another story. Straps wrap over the seat, tie the bags down to a passenger foot peg, and Bob's yer uncle. Can't be that difficult.

 However, the hard pieces included are not mentioned in any document (instructions pdf), or on the web anywhere (that I could find), including the Fortnine website. Still a mystery; they may very well create a conversation among my fellow riders to see if someone can solve the puzzle, when we do a trip this spring of 2021, and mark my words, there will be a trip no matter what. Maybe a camping trip to get around using motels during Covid...

 I have already started to accumulate camping gear. The summer of 2020 was lousy with people buying up camping things - tents especially - whether they went camping or not is questionable. But it proved impossible to find a decent and particularly inexpensive tent anywhere. Later, in the fall, I found a used tent and it looks brand new, claiming it was only used once, for almost half what a new one would cost.

 I did borrow a neighbors tent to get out for a night of camping this past summer of 2020 and all went well. Myself and two others rode up to Sylvan Lake Alberta for a night. Weather was great and I found half decent secondary roads that proved to be somewhat scenic.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JDUK-JnXP8

 

 Now that I'm on this camping bent, there are so many other things I need and have compiled a list. Let's all hope the summer of 2021 proves far more entertaining and free.

 

Killing time

   Up until not too long ago, like I'm talking the last approximately ten years, I used to watch more television, you know, the Simpsons, and Sienfeld. And of course the news on occasion, that is, until kids came along, both figuratively and literally, wanting to watch the frenetic and mind numbing pre-teen animations that tend to rattle my brain far too quickly, relegating me to a laptop, PC, or tablet looking for anything not dripping with transformer-esque graphics and childish innocence.

 

 In comes youtube. Finally something worth watching (lets not kid one another, real life beats the trappings of Facebook any day). The real stories with and without motorcycles. Travel, "how-to" videos -  an awesome resource - and endless reviews. Mostly though I stick to the motorcycle related channels, car or "gearhead" focused stuff and those related to travel.  

 So there's a lot of "look at me", and the onslaught of requests to subscribe to all the channels. And yes, it's narcissistic in nature but aren't we all?? I've even thought about doing my own channel but couldn't see myself constantly seeing myself in the camera, admittedly out of fear and a lack of confidence. Do you have to constantly be talking into the damn action camera? Actually, no. I was surprised to stumble on a lowkey vlogger located, at the time, in Bali, a place I can't get enough of. This vlogger had an ambient style music as a garnish to his amazing scenery, and footage of himself going about his day. I could actually see myself in his daily activity on Bali; capturing each moment whether traveling on a motorbike - a crazy experience any day on Bali - or simply eating, walking to the beach, etc. I was fascinated and not distracted by a constant describing or narrating. Each video was somewhat short, not more than 10 minutes typically. I'm actually ok with 20, 30 or even an hour video but the latter is rare. 

 I'm also surprised with how talented people are with editing and using different formats like overdubbing dialogue as a narration, as apposed to talking while filming. Maybe adding voice after, sitting alone in a room and choosing the words more carefully, is easier to accomplish instead of having to talk into the camera. Personally I feel I look awkward when filming myself but it may just be me. Strangely I think it would be cathartic to practice talking into a camera. Next bike trip I'll make a more concerted effort to sharing my thoughts and perspective on what I'm filming, and get out of my comfort zone. And maybe it'll suck. But maybe not.

 

 

 Little was going on with Real Estate so I bought a robust laptop to be used for potential contract drafting/mapping work. I spent a couple days in an office in Calgary attempting to setup a piece of software but the "deal" fell through, unfortunately. Where am I going with this? The laptop had yet to be purposeful. It was staring at me begging to be worked on. What could i use it for? It has loads of digital closet space so I saw an opportunity to put the huge video files from a recent motorcycle ride to Jasper on it. This now left me staring at a new-to-me piece of software to make videos. It took some time, spending evenings stitching video and music clips together, and I admit the result is a bit sleepy, but if I think about it, it's a decent digital photo album. Here's the result:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd-V69fHZGGQZVPBlxov9kQ/videos?disable_polymer=1

Today I packed. Tomorrow I leave to meet the group. We're riding to Eureka Montana the first day, Lewiston Idaho via Missoula the second day, back to Eureka the third day - a loop of sorts - and then home the 4th day. There's a couple longer days in there, just as I like em. See the tent there on the back? I'm hoping it will do the trick for the two nights in Eureka. It looks kind of top heavy but I've seen worse. Still digging this bike. And I put a new rear rack on but no pictures until I unload it. Ride like there's no tomorrow. (I am seriously disappointed Blogger no longer has the app on iphone, it was easy to update the blog on the fly, now it's a PIA)

 There is definitely a resurgence of mullets. I've seen it with my own eyes. It's not my bag, baby, but please...fill your boots. I was riding home recently, enjoying the affects of my new Puig clip-on visor. It does what it's supposed to do; reduce the wind and in turn, reduce the wind noise. I think it stands out a bit and says, "why yes, I'm a gentleman and a motorcycle enthusiast". I'm embracing my age and the need for a bit more comfort. However, my bike has a hooliganism to it. It's fast.

 Business up front and party in the rear (tire).

It's very adjustable, too.

And to add to the blurple theme, I'm pleased as punch to present My New Levers :

I have not been disappointed with these purchases. If you are interested in where I ordered them from, check out my post from Feb 18. Its got the goods on the levers, screen, and tail tidy (fender eliminator).