Looking for a dirt bike...

For your reading pleasure I am providing this link to RacerX magazine's publication of a delightful tongue-in-check article by Mark Gardiner. If you love/hate Harley-Davidson or the AMA, you'll especially enjoy Mark's work. When you read the article remember what day April 1st is. No, I'm not talking about this same day in 1976 when Apple Computer was formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

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I really am looking for a dirt bike - 90 to 125 cc, four-stroke. It is time.

There are now two blue bikes in my garage, the big one is my beloved 1200 GS, the little one is my new 2001 TT-R 125L, pictured above.

Expecting the bike to be too tall as the Honda 125cc was, when I stood the bike up and my other foot hit the ground, my jaw dropped. Damn! I won't need special boots!

Some dirt bikes have an electronic starter, this bike is a kick start. With the bike on its kick stand, balancing my weight on the left foot peg, my hands resting on the grips, I made my best attempt to assertively push the kick start level down. This isn't a motion I am accustomed to. With years of ballet and Aikido training in my history I'm prideful about moving my body well. Beginner's mind starts now - right now as I realize that my kick start motion is neither graceful nor efficient but is extremely entertaining to Paul, the bike's former owner, and Karolyn, whose connections in the biking community led me to this bike. On the fourth try the engine kicks over, I close my eyes to listen to it and feel my nostrils flare to catch the scent of the exhaust like a cat that has just heard the pull top on a can of food pop open wanting to know what's for dinner "salmon? tuna and whitefish? maybe mackerel?"

Noticing the "Fast Girl" stickers on the bike, I wonder out loud about removing them because "fast" is not a term I'll ever be associated with. How did they get there? The owner previous to Paul put them on the bike. What impresses me is that he felt no need to remove them when he bought the bike. I'll leave them on - it gives me something to aspire too.

From Craig's List I've acquired the upper body armor and the pants with hip protection from a young lady who is a researcher for a biotechnology firm. I have MX gloves already. In the next two weeks I need to acquire a helmet & goggles, boots, knee protection, elbow protection and a jersey which of course must match the pants. I'm going for the exo-skeleton type of knee protection, not just regular knee pads. I have torn cartilage in one knee from ballet; I couldn't have done Aikido without neoprene compression around my knees at all times. I'd like to avoid the spectacular knee surgery scars I've seen on some riders.

My first trail ride is the last Sunday of this month and yes it is a beginners' ride. (big grin)

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Mark Gardiner's book, Riding Man, is available on his website. Even if you have never heard about the TT race on the Isle of Man, if you enjoy good writing and stories about people who find a way to make their dream come true, I recommend this book. One caution: Do not start this book at on a weeknight if you have to get up early.

Over the past two weeks I've been acquiring new gear for riding the dirt bike. Just as it was with starting to ride a street bike, this new endeavor requires that I open a vein and bleed green. I've ordered a lift stand for the bike so that I can change the oil and perform some of the routine maintenance. Thanks to Craig's list, I've acquired chest armor and pants that were previously owned by a young woman who commutes to work at a bio tech firm on a street-configured BMW 650 GS. The jersey, boots, helmet/goggles, elbow and knee protectection are new.

The boots are proof-positive that female ridership is growing. Companies only invest in developing specialized products if they believe that there will be a return on the investment. Alpinestars has a product designed for the female ankle and foot: the Women's Stella Tech 6 Boot.

I feel a little silly walking around the house in these boots, but if I were to trip and fall, it wouldn't be my ankle that would break; this boot is designed to protect my foot, ankle and calf from shock, abrasion and impact. If I were to trip and fall, it would be my knees that would be at risk.

But wait, I've got the Asterisk Cell knee braces. These knee braces are designed by dirt bike riders for dirt bike riders. The braces provide the needed protection without the cost associated with a kneebrace that is classified as a durable medical device. I tore my right meniscus years ago in ballet and have taken great care over the past nearly two decades of martial arts training to protect my knees from injury. I must have woken up in an alternative universe one morning because I honestly thought I could get my health insurance to cover a percentage of the cost of the right brace. My effort to take a proactive approach to avoid knee surgery was met with distain by my health insurance provider. Apparently if I "really" wanted to avoid injury, I would go find some other sport, like quilting, that wouldn't put my knees at risk. Knock on wood, these Asterisk exoskeleton knee braces will keep my bones from rotating in ways that nature did not intend.

Street riders know that they can save themselves about hundred bucks if they choose a monochrome helmet. The additional hundred gets you cool graphics on your helmet. You can even emulate your favorite racer by buying a race replica of their helmet. I've got other places to spend a hundred bucks, so my street helmet is a boring white golf ball replica. Dirt bike helmets are a different story, you might have to pay extra to get one without graphics. My only criteria for my first MX helmet was DOT, Snell, and fit. Tina, the store manager at the local Cycle Gear, handed me extra-small helmets until we found one that left no gaps between my skull and the padding. The O'Neal 5-Series came in pink (gag) and blue (thank heavens). I finally have a cool helmet!

While I was trying on helmets, Tina had appraised my grey hair and the fine wrinkles on my face and asked if I would be wearing glasses while riding. It is quite possible that wearing hard contacts while riding a dirt bike could be, well, stupid, and I would be wise to anticpate wearing glasses. So, no sexy slim-profile goggles for me, I've got the kind that would mistaken for a scuba dive mask. Function, safety. Function, safety. But I still have a cool helmet.

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"It is Spring." I keep saying that. I feel like I'm shedding a shroud and recovering from seven years of peri-menopause. No matter how much I tried to deny that it could happen to me, this change of life was debilitating physically and mentally. I'm trying to accept how my body is changing; never again will I wear jeans that aren't 50% lycra. I've returned to being a fishetarian to ensure that I get enough protien. Remifemin™ black cohosh saved me from becoming psychotic after months of sleep-preventing night sweats, passion flower vine tincture continues to keep anxiety attacks at bay. Seeing a therapist for a couple months helped me accept that I had to clear the decks so that I could focus on taking the next major step in my life (thank you, Valerie!).

Thirty years ago when I was traveling in Nepal and India I wondered if I might ever find a way to traverse the Silk Route. When I started riding a street motorcycle five years ago, I realized that I had a vehicle to achieve this dream. If you participated in the Moto Bloggers International 2007 survey, you know my nomination of riding the Silk Road for "a motorcyclist's dream" won the hearts and minds of the voters. I took that as a sign from universe that I should go for it. In recent weeks I've felt overwhelmingly compelled to do so.

The list of skills that I have to acquire is long. Sand, gravel, mud, slippery surfaces, going weeks without a shower - these are just a few of the scary things that I have to learn to deal with. After training for 18 years in Aikido, I'm living proof that where talent is lacking, persistence will pay off. Most people start things like this when they are younger. I'm starting this endeavor at 50 so the sooner I get going on this adventure the better. I'm giving myself ten years to acquire the skills, build the riding resume, save the money to do the expedition (with a group, not alone), and actually do it.

And isn't it interesting that BMW has just announced the G450, an enduro class bike.

My choice for the Silk Route will likely be the 650cc GS, but a series of bikes will go through my garage as I earn my way up from 125cc's, maybe this new Beemer 450 will be one of them.

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After an hour of gentle tugs on the laces, the knee braces fit my legs pretty well. The lower end of the knee brace fits inside the top of the boot. It took a while to get the adjustment straps on the boots in the right position. I look like a cyborg from the thighs down. I managed to tighten one boot more than anticipated and got rather concerned when I couldn't get myself out of it. The boot is just the beginning of many situations I'll be getting myself unstuck from over the next few summers.

Next Sunday at Metcalf in Santa Clara will be my first time on this little cutie. Wish me luck!