Dirt bikes are dangerous, man. Hell, you so much as think about them enough and next thing you know, poof. You own one. It’s crazy.
Trying a hand at riding again has been at the back of my mind for years. It’s something I always had in my “12-month plan”, but kept getting pushed off due to time or money. First it was college, then kickstarting (pun intended) my career, starting my business, moving across the country a few times, you get the idea. Life happens.
This year has been wacko. Between juggling the emotions of adjusting to the new norm since losing Dad, all of this time at home due to no racing and the decision to do pour my time and energy into something that lights a serious fire in me, it was a no-brainer. Also, turning laps on Jackie Riess’ snowbike was one of my favorite memories from this past winter.
Long story short, I was buying me a gosh darn motorsickle. So up home to Minnesota I went to check out a bike that caught my eye. Since early April, I’ve spent the balance of my time at home tooling around, cleaning and fixing it up. It’s been my sanity. I’ll go into more detail on the bike as soon as I wrap things up!
New number, who dis.
I’ve been 14 all of my life. It was my number in high school lacrosse, that number followed me through college lax and even last year for my Indy United pinnie. Why 14? In high school, I actually had a choice. An easy one. What’s young chap to do but chose the number of her favorite gassers? Kevin Windham and Tony Stewart.
I figured, why not change things up? There are have been a number of other changes for me this year, why not go wide open. The story behind it pays tribute to my pops.
My mom’s brother, Unca Jeff, and my dad were pretty close. They used to sail together. As the story goes, Jeff pointed to something off in the distance on the water. He described it as, “out there about a half-mile.”
Now Dad was a brainy guy who was good at math. Naturally, he responded to Jeff’s observation, “I think it’s more like 5/8ths [mile]”. Jeff looks at Dad and responds, “Really, Cliff?”
I find this to be especially hilarious because Dad probably wasn’t being a smartass. I’m sure he was just certain that the object was “more like 5/8ths” away than rather than a half-mile. LOL
Thus, I decided to go with 58. It’s the small things.
As for my racing plans this year … a big, fat TBD! I’ll need to log some serious seat time if I decide to pull the trigger. If I do, it’ll be amateur day at the Ironman in Crawfordsville, IN. All blame can be directed at JR27, my partner in crime, for planting this seed in my head. haha
For the most part, I’ll be ripping for fun on the tracks and trails. Once I get back on the road, I sure as hell plan to bring the bike, maybe throw a dart at the map and try tracks in new places. Suggestions are welcome.
-HP
P.S. Two strokes for life.
