Dirt Bike Date to Snoopers Rock

Last year (I think), Daniel purchased his first dual sport bike after going several years without a motorcycle. He has several friends who enjoy this sport, so when their schedules align, he likes to sneak off for a few hours in the woods.

But he has always hinted (maybe not so subtlety) that he would like me to go ride with him. He has big aspirations of doing a ride out west some day. Last January we watched The Long Way Round, and I have to admit the adventure of an epic ride like this has some appeal (especially when Ewan McGreggor's wife joined him for part of the ride through Africa... if she could do it, I probably could too).

I guess Daniel has had his eyes open for a specific size bike, and when he found out that a friend was selling a TW200 for a good price, he asked if I would at least try it out.

So I did. I haven't ridden a motorcycle since 2004, but I still have my motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license...

Even though I haven't been riding motorcycles, I did take up riding mountain bikes about ten years ago, and I have been driving a stick shift for the last 15 years. So in a sense riding the TW200 was like riding a bike, I hadn't forgotten. Though I did need a refresher on how to start it.

The new-to-us bike was purchased at the end of September, but I had not been on it since my initial test ride. In the meantime, Daniel has taken it out on the trails several times and really enjoyed it. The bike is geared really low with really wide tires, so it is really forgiving and easy to ride. Perfect for learning how to ride (again).

During Thanksgiving, we had a houseful of guests and Daniel requested that we leave our kids with my family and sneak off for a date to ride in the woods.

And so we did.

To start, I rode around the rocky parking lot to make sure I felt confidant on the machine. The parking lot was small and rocky, but I didn't fall off, so we ventured away from our car.

We started out on a gravel forest road. In hindsight, we probably should have just found some jeep trails. The gravel made me nervous and I fish tailed at least once. I also couldn't muster the confidence to ride above 20mph (mostly 15mph). I did a lot of deep breathing from yoga to stay focused and not freak out. Thankfully I didn't fall.

Then I agreed to follow Daniel down the rocky trail to Snoopers Rock. This was the scariest part of the ride and I had a hard time not riding the brakes the whole way down (and I was relying on the front brake only, which I know is a bad idea, but trying to use the foot brake simultaneously for the rear was a bit much for my brain to handle). Thankfully I made it to the bottom without a problem. I immediately hopped off my bike to a break and walk off my adrenaline rush from being afraid during the ride down.

We walked out to the Snoopers Rock viewpoint and I tried not to think about the ride back up. Daniel gave me a pep talk and told me it would be easier if I went faster and that I just had to trust the bike. Both things I know, but it is so hard to do when you are in the moment.

We agreed that I should follow him back up the trail, and it was much easier than the ride down! We also decided he should lead on the way back to the car. After a nerve-racking, narrow, winding gravel climb, I finally got the confidence to keep up with Daniel on the flat parts, going 30-35mph on the way back.

I still have a lot of riding to do before I will be truly confident on a dirt bike, but it was a lot of fun and I always enjoy doing adventurous things with Daniel. When our boys are bigger, this will be a great bike for them to learn on.

Father-Son Day: Motocross in North Georgia

After inviting another father-son on several outings earlier this year (Mountain Biking to Edwards Point and the TKO Enduro Race), Jack and Daniel were invited to attend a Motocross event in North Georgia. Which they gladly attended.

I am so glad to see my guys do things they love with other guys that share their interests. Luckily for us, these friends also have another son that is close to Isaac's age!

I know nothing about Motocross, but my guys had fun!

Jack was very impressed by the little guys that were riding this track.

Birthday Date: ATVs to Edwards Point

When Daniel and I were first dating, Daniel purchased his first motorcycle – a Ninja 250. It was a bike that was small enough that I could handle (I actually got my motorcycle license shortly after we were married), but big enough that we could ride on it together.

When I was pregnant with Jack, Daniel decided to sell his motorcycle. He didn't really have time to ride and I think the knowledge that we would soon be parents shifted his priorities. He likes to tell me that we made a deal before he sold the old one that if he ever wanted to, he could buy a new bike.

Fast forward five-ish years and he had an itch. Earlier this summer I took a road trip to visit my sister in Florida and Daniel took the opportunity to rent his dream bike from an outfitter in the Smoky Mountains – a dual sport motorcycle that he could use to explore the jeep trails and singletrack on and around our mountain. I thought he was having a mid-life crisis and just needed a ride to get it out of his system.

I came home from Florida and he was ready to buy a bike and he even knew which one...

He found it on Craigslist from someone in Knoxville and suddenly we were motorcycle owners again. Our little boys are both gaga over their daddy's new bike.

Daniel has been wanting to take me with him but free time is hard to come by, and dates are even harder to make happen. This weekend I celebrated my 36th birthday and Daniel's mom and sister came to town to watch Jack play soccer. They were sweet to offer to hang out with our boys (win win for everyone) so that Daniel and I could go out.

We felt like we were in college again, getting on Daniel's bike to ride to grab lunch at one of our favorite local restaurants. After eating, we picked up our four-wheeler and headed out to the trails that lead to Edward's Point.

We had tried to mountain bike to this view about a year ago, but missed a turn and didn't make it before the sun set. Daniel has since been back on his own (on his new dual sport), but I hadn't had a chance to go. So we hit the trails. And it was a ton of fun!

We spent two hours exploring, stopping at Edward's Point for a break and to enjoy the beautiful view. We love our little mountain and the access we have to such great vistas of the Tennessee Valley and the Tennessee River below. 

It has been years since I have driven an ATV and it felt good to discover that I still know how to handle myself on a trail. Maybe one of these days I'll give Daniel's bike a try!

Thank goodness for birthdays, lunch dates, and opportunities to spend time together doing activities we love! In other news, Daniel may or may not have laid his bike down after skidding on a thin layer of dust and leaves that covered slick clay...

On my actual birthday night (Friday), we went out with our boys to our favorite local Mexican place. Jack wanted to know if I was going to get whipped cream smeared on my face. I told him, "only if he told our waitress that it was my birthday." So he did. It's been a good weekend, a great way to welcome my 36th year on this planet.

Passing the Torch

About 10 years ago Daniel bought his first motorcycle. It was a Ninja 250 sport bike and he was thrilled to have it.  

We were dating at the time and we enjoyed many rides together. Not long after he purchased it, we went to Gatlinburg with his family. We took the opportunity to ride up to Newfound Gap. The views were beautiful.  

Shortly after we were married, Daniel went out for an afternoon ride {alone} from Cookeville to the Maryville area to ride Tail of the Dragon {which happened to be out of cell phone range}. It ended up storming and I was very worried when six hours later he still had not made it home. 

I assumed that the worst had happened and I had absolutely no idea where to begin looking for him. He finally arrived home and informed me that he had had to take cover at a gas station b/c the weather was so bad. After he stopped riding, he learned he that had ridden through a tornado warning and near an actual tornado.

While he was still an undergrad at Tennessee Tech, we would often ride up to the school to play racquetball. One game ended when Daniel twisted his ankle. Thankfully it was his right ankle and not the left {you need your left foot to shift gears} so he was able to ride the bike home {with me on the back}. Unfortunately his ankle prevented him from driving either of our cars for a week as it is hurt to push the gas pedal. So instead, he rode his motorcycle around campus with crutches sticking out of his backpack.

After this mishap Daniel decided that I should probably get my motorcycle license. So I took a weekend MSF riding course and enjoyed learning how to ride. Once I had my license Daniel let me take his bike out with him as a passenger. He learned that it is a lot harder to be the passenger than the driver because you have no control.

When we moved to Charlotte, NC I gave up riding because it made me nervous to be on roads in a big city. The motorcycle came in handy on several occasions when one of our old cars was getting repaired. We actually spent two years as a one-car family and the motorcycle {along with his bicycle} became the vehicle that Daniel used on a regular basis. As we got older {and heavier} it became harder to ride the little 250 together. Daniel had to get stiffer shocks so that we could keep riding together. When there was a gas crisis in Charlotte a few years ago, we parked both of our cars for two weeks and relied on the motorcycle and our bicycles as our only modes of transportation.

This is  painting I did in college. Daniel made the frame from a motorcycle tire.

For 10 years the Ninja was good to us, but Daniel recently decided to sell it because he wasn’t enjoying it like he used to. A couple of weeks ago he wrote an ad and put the bike on Craigslist. Just before Easter weekend, a buyer in Murfreesboro, TN contacted him. It turned out to be a 15-year-old kid whose parent's were going to let him get his motorcycle license and a motorcycle so that he could ride to and from school. He was extremely excited. 

Daniel spent Friday afternoon going over every possible detail about the bike with the kid. It was a sad day for Daniel. He was ready to move on and someday would like to buy a bigger and faster bike, with better brakes and suspension, but it was still hard for him to say goodbye to something that had been with him for 10 years.

More bad luck???

Daniel took his motorcycle to work this morning and ended having the clutch cable break on him. If you know anything about vehicles that use a clutch, you will know that it is impossible to shift gears with no clutch. Luckily Daniel was close to home when it happened and happened to be on a hill. He turned the bike around and managed to push start it and pop it into 2nd gear to ride. Problem #2, once you are in gear you CANNOT stop b/c it will die if you don't clutch, so he had to ride home without stopping - not sure how he pulled that off in morning traffic. So now I have to call around to find someone that sells a clutch cable for a motorcycle and it looks like he will be fixing it tonight b/c if he doesn't get the bike inspected by tomorrow, we will have to pay a fine! This really sucks.

On a funny note, he called me to complain that he was stuck in traffic. He started riding his bike to and from work this week so having to drive and deal with the traffic was not very exciting for him!

motorcycle...

Daniel has been very antsy lately since he not been able to walk in a week. This is understandable since he is not the type to sit around doing nothing. He has a million hobbies, all which do not involve being sedentary.

Today he decided that he needed to fix his motorcycle since we only have 2 weeks left to get it inspected. Unfortunately for me, this means that I get the task of finding him tools and holding things in order to help him since he still cannot put weight on his left leg.

The first thing that we had to do was to move the motorcycle. Being the intelligent person that I am, I pulled up the kickstand and attempted to roll the bike to the correct spot in the garage. (I know how to ride a motorcycle but that does not always mean I do the brightest things). It turned out that I had my balance wrong and the 400 lb bike tipped over. I attempted to recover and pull it back toward me but was unable to counter the extra weight. Instead I got a pulled muscle in my calf and had to drop the bike on the ground. At least it is an older bike that already has scratches and dents on it, but Daniel was not exactly thrilled.

Can you imagine if we both had bum legs? I am not sure how we would function.