It is June already, I figured I really should get on posting up for the May events and trips that I did. I know, I’m a slacker, but in my defense, it’s been a really busy month. It also doesn’t look like it’s going to let up any time soon, either.
I missed out on the May double header NMTA event. (New Mexico Trials Assoc.) Instead I spent 5 days riding the dirt bike up in Montrose at Peach Valley OHV area. I also did a clinic with Meg’s Braap (you can find her on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube) while I was up there. Really, the clinic is what precipitated the trip. If you are going to have to make a long drive make it worth the time!!!
Peach Valley OHV Area:
I’ll just say up front that dirt there, is something. If it’s wet, you DO NOT want to ride on it. For all but, our last day there (which was fine, since we were just packing to leave) was perfect. That last day, however, was a trip, not in a good way!
I’ll just leave you with these two pictures… I’m sure you’ll understand without me having to say more.
The area was perfect for hanging out for 5 days. There was some shade, picnic table, MSF training area, MX track, baby MX track, and a OHV training/park area. That last one was fun with the dirt bike and the trials bike! I took that with me so I could play on it once I was too tired to ride the KTM much more. The dirt was pretty dry for all of our riding. Unfortunately, Mike was having back issues so he wasn’t riding with Kristy and I until the end. We spent the first day hanging out, catching up, and playing on the trials bikes. I headed out a day earlier so I could stop off in Farmington to see Brian & Cass. So I got to Montrose earlier that Mike and Kristy. It gave me time to find some new batteries for the trailer and to stop off at Highland Cycles to meet Morgan. He was the one who’d sponsored the Meg’s clinics. I want to meet him, thank him, and to pick up some maps. What a great guy!
The first day out we went out with the father of another girl who was doing the Friday Meg’s clinic. I had no idea about where any of the trails were or how to navigate around the area. Mike was the one who’d been doing the research. I prefer to just follow along. This trip I was going to have to lead! Yikes! On the other hand, I really didn’t eat much dust. It was really nice! Most of the stuff closer to the parking area was up hills and along the tops of ridges, not my favorite, they weren’t narrow, so I could deal with it. Kristy on the other hand had an anxiety attack about the heights/ridges. So she hung out at the MX/OHV park for a bit. Randy and I did a bit more exploring, we found a trail that I knew she’d like. Once Geneva showed up the three of us went up that trail again, so Kristy could get some fun in for the day. It was a bit of a short riding day, I had to spend some time doing things for work. Sometimes it is nice to work while out camping. Mike took his van to Adrenaline Vans for some suspension work. They brought it back to the campsite that night with pizza. It was great to see Tim again, it had been a number of years, and as he put it a number of concussions ago. Lol. (He didn’t remember who I was until he actually saw me.) Tim, like Mike and I are recovering road racers. Which is how I met both of them.
The next day Kristy and I spent the day exploring more trails. Geneva was off to her Meg’s Clinic for the day. That left poor Mike at the camper with his bad back and dog sitting. I suspect that he did a fair amount of sleeping that day. There were a few shorter rides around the campsite that we did in the am. After lunch we headed out to find some washes that promised to be a blast. We wondered around until we found one of the washes. After that we searched for the Monster Wash, it took us about an hour to finally stumbled onto another trail that would take us out to it. It was worth the effort to find. See the video. After that we had to find our way back to the campsite. I wasn’t worried too much about how to get back until my GPS battery died. I had to resort to using my phone since Kristy had left hers behind. It was before I got my replacement and the battery life on it was crap. By the time we worked our way back to camp I only had 10% battery left. So, I did have a bit of anxiety toward the middle third of our ride. Once we hit the area we had explored a bit the day before, I was happy. I was also really ready for a cider and food. I would say it was fantastic day. However, just as we got back to camp we all got a front row seat to a bad crash between two bikes. It resulted in both riders going to the hospital, one with a fractured femur in the ambulance and the other with her family immediately after that. It was obvious that she should have been in an ambulance too, after watching her try to walk to the truck.
The next day Mike was feeling up to a ride, he wanted to see / ride the Monster wash too. Yeah, it was that much fun that I wanted to go back again. The four of us headed out, I got to lead again for the first ¾ of the day, I really loved not eating dust. After, when we did a bit more exploring Mike took over the lead. We did a couple more of the lil washes, again lots of fun. After that we headed back so that we could check on the dogs. After a late lunch it was trials bike fun time. We played on the baby MX track the OHV park and the MX track, until it started to rain a bit. We decided to load my truck with mine and Kristy’s bikes so that we could take the truck to the clinic the next day. After that the rain really kicked in.
The next morning when Geneva got up to take her dog out, we discovered just how bad the mud is there. That stuff is super slick and she almost fell just walking over to the bathroom. She was also so covered in mud that she just decided to load up the dog and leave. Good call on her part. It was also a really good thing that her car has all-wheel drive, or she would have been stuck! Kristy and I left our flip flops where they were to get into my truck. There wasn’t any way I was going to get them in with me and not coat the truck with mud. Mike was supposed to go ride with Morgan, but he couldn’t get the van out.
Kristy and I rode all day in the rain at the Meg’s clinic. It was still a great time! I learned a few things, so it was the cap to a great long weekend. I’m not going into details, if you want to know what she teaches, take the class!!! It’s totally worth it.
We stopped to wash most of the mud off the bikes before we headed back to the campsite. It was even muddier so we left the truck in the main parking lot and just walked to the camper. We had a nice dinner, a few drinks, after which Kristy and I just crashed! We worked hard in class!
The next day it was a bit drier, but it was still work getting things loaded up. I made a huge mistake when getting the trailer out, I ended up taking the second step off the trailer. (&%)(&%)&#)@&_!@_% I wasn’t happy about it. (Thankfully, Jim was visiting from his Europe gap year. He fixed if for me last weekend. On a side note: That man is absolutely awesome!!! He did a number thing around the house for me so I wouldn’t have to hire someone to do them. Just because I let him crash at the house while he did some projects for his brother at the dealership. He is so talented. I did have to bake cinnamon rolls, of course, to pay for all his hard work.)