MSF Dirt School...this should be interesting

Morning...

After riding for eight years now and surviving several thousand miles off-road on my BMW R1200GS, I've decided it was time to take a class to learn how to do more than survive. Today I will be attending an MSF Dirt School to learn how to ride a dirt bike. I am hoping to learn skills that will allow me to be able to take advantage of the vast off-road riding available near my new home in Southern California.

After looking around at different companies that offered off-road training with options from three day camps at $1,400 riding your bike to half day courses bike provided. I have signed up with is www.schoolofdirt.com to attend their half day course, for several reasons. First, I'm an aspiring writer, former software engineer that is currently unemployed so, cost means allot. Second, I don't like the idea of using my bike to take a class where, I know, I'm gonna end up in the dirt which risks my expensive bike, part of the reason I want to take the class is to minimize the risk of damage to the bike, not to mention myself. Third, proximity is a big deal. The School of Dirt is only twenty five minutes from my house, which means I can be home in time to cook dinner, as well as, be close enough to go back in with follow up questions or additional instruction without having to plan a major trip in advance. Finally, my biggest deciding factor was around community. This organization is run by local people that have found a way to give back to the local motorcycle community by teaching responsible/safe riding and do something they enjoy. Working with a small organization gives me an opportunity to meet locals and hopefully begin establishing my own connections to the community, in which I am new.

My research suggests the intention of this class is to teach basic techniques and how to ride dirt bikes responsibly. Further techniques developed are riding strategies, direction change, signaling, control, starting and stopping, traversing hills, emergency maneuvers, and negotiating obstacles.

Well, time to get ready! I'll write a full review after I've completed the class.

Live like I ride...with a smile...
...it only takes one lifetime to get it right...
...but all of them to whine if you don't!

The Trip That Wasn't

I think I've been time warped again. I guess that thats one of the downside of having Merlin (the master of time warps), as your guardian or guide. I've been dreaming off and on for the past six months about the ride to and from this years BMW MOA International Rally in Salem, Oregon. Riding up the California Coast on the Pacific Coast Highway then follow the 101 all the way to Otis, Oregon turning east onto 18 the Salmon River Highway through the Siuslaw National Forest and then Oregon State Highway 22 into Salem. I had big dreams of checking off at least four of the final six states in the country, I have yet to ride. I was hoping to be able to check off forty nine states in 2013, but it appears that is not in the cards this year. Last week, between writing the Story of Dax and Amanda Arach (The Original Crusade), researching blue water capable liveaboard sailboats and cooking diner for my family, I mapped out the ride and cost of attending the rally.

It was with much frustration, that I resolved myself to the fact that, seventeen months of being unemployed has drained my savings to a point, I can not make the trip to Salem. Oddly, before mapping it out I was confident that the trip would be possible since, it was on the west coast this year, where I happen to find myself. However, upon completing the map it turns out that the round trip ride would be a little over 2,500 miles not including my hope to hit Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington on top of Oregon. In spite of the continental proximity, the trip would require a two day ride to arrive and a minimum of two return days and a potential price tag of $700 - 1,000. In a previous time in my life, that wouldn't be a big deal, as it would have been less than half of what I made while on vacation. But these days, that would set back my solvency by a month. Not an option!

The big adventure for this summer is going to be lived vicariously through the Instagrams, Facebook posts, emails and Facetime calls from my two little sisters (Carly and Carrie) and my Mom (Colleen Sayre). I have gotten accustomed to being the adventurer in the family that everyone is living through and now I get to be a watcher. Don't get me wrong. I am happy for them to have made their dream come true. This trip has taken over two years to plan and bring to fruition. As I write this, they are high above the earth traveling from Orlando to Philadelphia in the first leg of their trip to Scotland. They will be spending the next ten days traveling the Scottish Highlands and drinking in all the Outlander sites they can behold, as well as, camping on my sister's, Lady Carrie Wood's, newly gifited land in Glencoe.

As far as the rally is concerned, I will content myself with reading about the antics at the rally, in next months issue of the BMW MOA Owners News. Oh and see if I can find an off road training class close to home and learn how to ride in the sand or just disappear onto a winding road for a few days...Shhhhh!

Live like I ride...with a smile...
...it only takes one lifetime to get it right...
...but all of them to whine if you don't!