My First Solo Ride

On March 15th I turned 42.  I have done just about everything I've ever wanted to do.  Gone just about everywhere I've ever wanted to go.  I have had a good, blessed life.  But one thing I had not done was ride a dirt bike solo.  I've been on the back of my husband's bike with him driving, and I've spent a lot of time on quads.  But on a two wheel moto machine, I had not taken the leap.

We were spending Spring Break with my husband's family, who has property in North Louisiana.  We had taken all the bikes, and for my birthday, I wanted to ride a dirt bike by myself.  My son has an 85 and my husband has a 125, so I went with my son's.  They gave me enough direction to make me kind of scared, not that I wasn't already very scared on my own.  Then, my husband sat behind me and we rode about 50 feet and he jumped off.  And I went.  Not too far, but far enough for my first time.

I can't express to you the feelings of mixed emotions I had during that ride.  It was like "wow, I'm finally doing it."  With, "Oh Yeah!  I'm doing it" and some "What in the hell am I doing?" and finally,  "Woo Hoo!  I did it!"  When I got off the bike I cried.  Relieved I didn't break a hip.  Proud I had tried something new.

So, now I share my first EVER solo ride with you.  Please notice the posture as I ride by the camera.  And the three most wonderful little boys who run to me at the end.  It's ok to laugh, I still laugh every time I watch it.

Blessings.

Whats with all the numbers?

On my Facebook page, there are some really engaged users.  Not just moms, but dad's, kids and tracks.  So when I have a question, or anyone in our community for that matter, I try to put it out there for answers and ideas.  It has really become a place where we help each other.

A few months back I asked "Who buys the bikes in your house?"  while the answers ranged, I found that a LOT of moms do it all.  The research, the find, the negotiation, the purchase, the pickup, and often drive the trailer to the track when all is said and done.  (we really are amazing creatures).

Around that same time I was shopping for a bike for one of my boys and found one that I had started communicating with the lady on.  It was a listing on Craig's List, and I asked the lady what year is this bike?  And she didn't know.  That made me wonder, do you know how to find out what year a bike is?

Now, I am not a box beater about empowering women, but I am a strong believer in being as informed as I possibly can.  And I believe with knowledge comes power. So, if you don't know what year your bike is, this is your lucky day.    The year is located in the serial number, or VIN, on the bike.  Do you know where to find the serial number?  The serial number is located on the steering column, behind where the front number plate would usually be found.  You may have to turn the wheel some to find it, but this is what one looks like (this picture is sideways for reading purposes).

The 10th digit in the VIN indicates the year of your bike.  The above picture is from my youngest son's PW50.  It is a 2001.  The most in depth analysis of the VIN number I have ever read is HERE.   It is really quite amazing what those letters and numbers represent.  Anyway, with these numbers, you are able to find out a whole mess of information on the bike you are looking at.  I always first go to the NADA website to check pricing.  I am all for paying the value of the bike, but sometimes people have no idea what their bike is valued at.  They just know that they have had some real fun times and that's gotta be worth something, right?

So, if you are just getting into this sport, those are some of the first steps I advise when considering buying a used bike from an individual and not brand new from the dealer.  Hope that helps!

Blessings!

Another Texas Boy - Blake Wharton

Another Texas boy I'm kinda diggin' these days in Blake Wharton.  Not only is he from here, but that boy is a pretty darn good bike rider.  And not only that, but he can sing.  And on top of that, he is a Christian.

Now, I will concede, with that hair, in our house we refer to him as "Party Rock" and everyone knows who we are talking about. Visually, the similarities are shocking, but I think that is where the similarities end.

I do LOVE, however, these young athletes, like Blake and Trey Canard, who are not ashamed to confess that God is their Lord and Savior.  When they make the podium and give credit to Jesus for giving them the ability to get there, my heart swells with pride, just like they were my very own kids.

So, I encourage you to follow Blake and cheer him on in the 250's.  He is a young, talented rider, who I believe has a VERY bright future as a rider, a singer or a song writer.  Check out this video of him singing.  From what I understand he wrote this song too.  Very impressive! 
Blake Wharton Acoustic

Good Ol' Texas Boy - Will Hahn

If you follow me on Facebook (Dirt Bike Mom) you know that I am a big SX fan.  When the race was in Dallas there was no doubt that we would go.  We also went in 2011.  I don't remember why we skipped 2012, but we were back this year for sure. 

It is a lot of fun.  This year we jumped in with Texas FCA Motocross and got to tour the stadium while the riders were having their walk through and a short chapel service.  It was a great experience and I would highly recommend it!  If given the opportunity we will do it again. 

Anyway, the week leading up to Dallas Supercross, a local, and really national hero was buried, Chris Kyle.  He was a Navy SEAL and considered one of the most lethal snipers in US military history.  He was a pretty big deal in these parts.  His life was tragically cut short while he was helping a fellow solider try to get his head straight after coming home.  It was a huge loss in locally, but for our nation too.

When the riders were introduced that night, Will Hahn was wearing a jersey with Chris Kyle's name on it.  I found this to be most impressive.  Now, I knew Hahn was from this area.  What I didn't know was what a stand up kind of guy he was.  I mean really, these guys are busy.  They travel all week, all across the nation. The majority of them ride on a bus and don't make huge amounts of money.  They are on their bikes as much as possible, so even if he is from here, to still be in touch with local events is a big deal, at least to me. 

But, what impressed me the most, was Will Hahn's ability to be removed enough from himself to show compassion for the situation, the family and the region during that troubling time when so many people had broken hearts.  He proved that he was not so self absorbed that he still remembered there was a world outside of the area, and he even went as far as to acknowledge it.  Not many regular people know how to do that, and even far fewer athletes in the middle of their season. 

Will came in 3rd that night in the 250 Main Event.  On the podium he dedicated that ride to Chris Kyle, an American Hero.  For that, Will Hahn will always be a class act in my book.

Camper Coma

For those of you who don't know me, I am a bit of a free spirit. I am also a horse trader born 80 years too late. I am willing to give just about anything a shot, at least once. I do not know that there are any limits to my abilities. And when my parents told me I could do or be anything that I wanted, I did not understand that it didn't necessarily have to all be at the same time.

I am always coming up with a new idea or plan that is going to make our lives better then it already is. I pull "stunts" and make messes. And when they go good it is amazing. But when they go bad it is monumental.

So, that brings me to my latest "stunt." I decided to buy a travel trailer and refurbish it so we could travel as a family on the weekends to tracks for motocross races. About 2 weeks ago now, I bought a trailer. Well, where I went wrong was I bought it at an auction. Sight unseen. Bad idea. We had to travel from Dallas to Mississippi to pick it up. Bad idea. We brought if home and got 8 miles to the gallon in my rig. Bad idea. Are you seeing the trend?

We got it the beast home last Wednesday morning about 1:30 am. On the 12 hour trip back, we decide that we can rehab it, however, it is going to tie up some money for longer then we wanted, and of the dozen projects we have going, we really didn't want to add this one. So on Wednesday afternoon I listed it on Craig's List.  We also decided what we really need is a Toy Hauler, and this still won't fit our needs even after a total overhaul.

Now, I am not sure what kind of scam it is, but I am certain there is some type of Craig's List RV Scam going on. In the first two days I was contacted NO LESS than 100 times, and I am not exaggerating. Of those calls, texts and emails, 99% of them asked if I had a title right after they asked if I still had it. Of course, within an hour of this type of response I was suspicious and googling "Craig's List RV Scams" on the Internet. I never found anything, but I promise there is something up.

After several of them got my address and promised to be on their way, put my day on hold, only for them not to show up, we moved the beast to storage. During these 2 days it was parked on our street my head was spinning. My emotions were tripping over each other going from excitement to anticipation to disappointment to total frustration, and back again, over and over during these 2 short days. Everything in my home was neglected - kids, dishes, laundry, dinner. This beast totally turned our lives upside down. This has led to my hate of it.

We have had some "real" people come look at it. And when they are honest, and speak English, they tell me it is a bigger job then they want to take on. And I am honest right back and tell them I completely understand.

I am now preparing to go back into the camper coma as I am dropping the price to exactly what we have in it and posting it on Craig's List again. But this time, if one of the first two questions are about the title, I am hanging up. I don't need those losers wasting my time. Besides, the kids need clean underwear.

A kids gotta race

On our Facebook page I like to find out what the moms, and dads, want to know.  Tonight one of the answers was "Where to find races" and "national caliber" races specifically.  

We are in Texas, and I have just started traveling with Dirt Bike Mom and MX Outfitter to races, so I am constantly researching where to go. And I'll be honest, finding races is easy.  Finding races of national caliber, such as Loretta Lynn's, is not so easy.  Loretta's is kind of the pinnacle for the young racer, and from what I can tell (and I am certainly no expert) you kind of work your way back from there.

Let's took at it like this, AMA  is kind of like the NASCAR of the motocross racing community.  As far as I can tell, AMA is in every state sponsoring races.  Here we have other groups/series, but AMA is everywhere.  Loretta Lynn's is the National event.  To get to Tennessee, you need to win the Regional, to get to the Regional you need to win the Area.  To win the Area, you just need to be experienced enough at winning to win.  This is the  2013 LL Area Qualifier & Regional list.

AMA also sponsors State Championships.  To get to the State level, you go through your districts.  The districts are drawn by AMA.  And, again, to win the district, you just need to be experienced enough at winning to win.

I have found a great resource has been the track owners and/or managers.  They know all things racing if they have been around for a few years.  They want to get the big races at their tracks and they can give you some direction.  It is also a big feather in their cap to be able to say that " ___  is the home track of  ____ who won ____."  And lets be honest, we don't mind letting our kids train where champions also train!

Finally, there are the local races.  Again, Texas is really all I know, but we have a good community of tracks that, for example, are currently having an AMA Texas Winter Series that consists of 5 races at 4 different tracks.  This is great experience for your rider and is base level.  I have bookmarked a long list of tracks and sit down every month on a specific day and go to their calendars and make my list of who is doing what.  To make my list of tracks I used DirtWerkz state directory and went from there.  Once you get to looking at track schedules, you will find a series that will lead you to another track, and next thing you know, your calendar is full!

Blessings!




 

When in doubt

This week on our Facebook page the question was asked "how do you  responded when family does not agree with your decision to let your kids ride motorcycles?"

And the responses were all worded very differently, but were unanimously in agreement, that
1) this is valuable family time
2) this sport is dangerous, but so is anything else kids do
3) its better than too much TV time or getting in trouble time unsupervised
4) we give them all the safety equipment available and trust God to do the rest.

Personally, agree with all of these, but probably most with the last one.  I know firsthand how tragedy can strike.  I have also experienced extreme loss when everyone was doing everything right.  On the other side of that coin, I have seen miracles happen before my eyes.  Things, protection, that only a power greater than mere humans could provide.  Things that could have only come from God. 

So, if you are ever doubting your decision to let your kids ride, ask yourself if they do it for you or if they truly enjoy it.  If they are having fun, then put them in the best gear you can afford, say a prayer over them, and put 'em on a bike.  God has it planned out.  It doesn't matter what we do, what we say, where we live, or how much money we have.  God has a plan, and trusting him with our children is the best thing we can do.

Blessings!