Update: Sorry it’s going to be a long one…
It’s been ages, since I posted an update. Um, just over a year to be more accurate. So I figured that I needed to get my act together and get it done. It’s been a pretty busy year at that!
Some of these things I’ll break out and post up a picture page for, since there was a lot cool things to see.
So starting with July 2016:
I was still new rider director, so I was busy instructing at the track for all the SMRI events.
There was some dual sport riding with the Triumphs in Taos group. A great bunch of people, and a fun weekend of riding.
I also worked as an instructor for the All Girls day down at Arroyo Seco, in October. A really fun day working with some 40 women on bikes.
There was the Rubber Chicken Ride in Oct as well. I had an amazing time doing those rides, right up until I got cross rutted at about 40mph. I landed on my head. I ended up with headaches for about 7 months after that. Had to have an MRI, I did take a bit of time off from riding during the late fall/early winter. But was still doing more than I should have been.
In Oct I took a dirt school with West38Moto, this ended up being a great thing for me. I got way more comfortable riding the Tiger off road. Also the riding I did with a local endro racer doing dual sport rides, and the instruction I received from him, helped me land an instructing gig with West38. I still have a great deal to learn, but you’ve gotta start somewhere!
I spent the winter doing a great deal of off road riding on the Husky and the Tiger, it helped me make some great progress with my dirt riding. I’ll even go so far as to say all that dirt riding has helped me with the track and street riding.
I did a long weekend trip down to Big Bend. Did some dirt riding with a group of guys from TX, that I met in the bar the first night there. Poor guys, they had no idea if I could ride or not, but they let me tag along with them.
There was the better part of a month spent helping get Jim and David ready for the Sonora rally. I really wished I could have gone with them, but it was a boys trip. ;-P
I had my long time BFF from Alaska come down for a visit. I forced her to get back on her dirt bike and go riding with me.
There was the Brewsday family trip to Moab for a week. I really got some great riding in there. I also ended up with a kidney infection… not so great, but at least it was at the end of the trip so I didn’t have to miss out on much.
After that was instructing for West38 for a VERY large group. It was an awesome time. That was followed up by a trip to Flagstaff for the Overland expo. It was there I was interviewed for an article on me by Women’s ADV. Second article in 6 months, the New Mexican did a story on Jaime and I about our trip to Alaska.
I did do a race in Deming in March, I wanted to see if I could still ride a race bike. It was slow in coming back to me, but I did finally during the last race manage to pull out some better lap times.
I’ve not done much racing compared to the past few years. I had decided to not chase any championships, since I was going to miss a couple of SMRI races during my trip to Alaska and Canada. I did end up doing couple when I got back. In addition to doing the race schools and the track day schools for the club.
After 10 years of racing I decided at the end of 2016 that I need to take a real break from the club. I stepped down from the New Rider Director position. I also decided to make it a relatively clean break too. I stopped going to must of the events, for no other reason than, I just needed to re-evaluate if it was something that I wanted to keep doing.
For 2017 I had been planning doing only 4 races during the 2017 season. One with each of the clubs. (SMRI, MRA, ASMA, and USBA) It didn’t quite work out that way, but I’m pretty pleased with how things have gone.
I ended up riding at 1 track day and did some instructing, I also did some races the next day. Had great time, but wasn’t happy with how I rode in the races. It confirmed that I really did need to step back from there and work on my riding, instead of spending so much time teaching. Also that I really needed time away from that track, it just doesn’t hold my interest anymore.
I did some instructing at Sandia for some track riders and a couple of racers. I really enjoyed doing that, and I’ll try to do more of it for the 2018 season.
In July 2017 I went with W38M to scout the UT BDR (Uath Backcountry Discovery Route). BDRs are really nice dual sport routes designed for larger dual sport bikes. It is about camping and riding a great deal of dirt, the routes are set up to be around 7 days long. We were riding from north to south on the UT one down to Green River. It was a challenge for me, as well as a learning experience, I would have NEVER done a lot of the on the Tiger without the support that I had with the group. I’m hoping to get to go along on the Baja rides they are going to do in 2018. There were some really tricky moments for me, but I didn’t fall or drop the bike a single time!!!
After we made it to Green River it was a ride on the road back up to SLC so we could run the Booth during the BMW MOA Rally. I’ve never gone to one, so I really wanted to work the booth each day, and see what it was about. There were some great vendors there, I also managed to pick up a sponsor for the racing!!
In between all this I was doing some more instructing at the track, a few days of instructing for dirt riding, and I was coaching MSF classes. It wasn’t like I wasn’t getting any riding in this year. Lol.
I needed the track time, to get ready for the MRA 4 hr Endurance race weekend. Jaime and I head up for that one. We tried hard to get some others to go with us, but alas everyone else bailed out. Had a great time, I was dropping time with each session. I managed to get down to my personal best time by the last day and finished 4th in the LOR race. I was really pleased with the weekend.
Next up was more dual sport riding up in Meeker, CO for the TrailTaker Rally. I took the Husky up for this one, good thing too. I came back with some nasty bruises from falling down a few rock faces. I went up alone with my Toy Hauler. Met some really great people from CO, ID and UT. Had really nice rides for 4 days.
September was a pretty quiet month, there was just work and an overnight camping trip with the local Triumph Tiger Troop. I finally got to see some of the sights in the eastern side of the state. Had a great time getting to know that group better.
After that weekend I spent the next two weekends getting my MSF certification updated so I could teach the new BRCu curriculum. I really like the way it laid out and that we are going to be using the ecourse. I think the range exercises are better too!
So that brings me up to date and to October! I was really luck to start the month off helping Jim and David get ready to run the Baja Rally.
I rode down to Baja with Jim. I got to drive his earthroamer around Baja from campsite to campsite. Talk about scary…. That thing is huge! Then add on an 8×14 trailer, Mexico roads and drivers. Yiikkes! It was the first time I’ve gotten to go to Mexico. It was an experience. The roads are narrow, don’t have any shoulders. There was also the border crossing at Tijuana, holy cow what a zoo! It took hours. The flight back was long, but without drama. I liked that latter part. I wasn’t detained at the border so that a good thing.
Next up are some MSF classes, a couple of W38M Classes, an ASMA race, Thanksgiving, and a Hogs on the High Seas Cruise. My first cruise ever. It’s all Lori’s fault, it’s what she wanted to do for turning 50 this year. I’m looking forward to doing some scuba diving!