For some, a little background information is always helpful,
so here I go…As is usually the case, this adventure like most, was born
from consumption of massive quantities of alcohol, which just might be
something your parents never told you. It all started approximately 3-4 years ago. The allure of “Dakar” was hot and heavy in our minds as the race
was underway in Argentina, and I was facing my upcoming 49th birthday.
Now I’m not sure why but I’m rather lucky in that I have a
really understanding wife, Patty, who has given her blessing on my motorcycle
adventures, even if that includes entering the Dakar. Her only condition for me
entering the Dakar race is that she gets to ride along in a support truck, that
and the funding issue.
I started riding and racing motorcycles back in the 70’s,
raced motocross in high school. I gave up racing and dirt bikes when I started
college, started a career and did not get back into bikes until 2001. I went
almost 20-years without a dirt bike, and yes, there was something missing in my
life, a twisted throttle. In 2002, I started racing desert again, and life is good.
It was not long after that point in time that I meet Gerry and
the world, as I knew it would never be the same again. I worked with Gerry’s
wife Renée for several years before Gerry and I actually met. Renee keep
telling me he was from Wyoming, which is where I grew up (ya really, like that
will ever happen). Well what happens when you get two “old boys” from Wyoming
together and there are no sheep…that’s another story for another day. At that
point in time, Gerry was riding a BMW 1100 RT. His exposure to dirt riding was
very limited (probably need to stress the very limited part). A friend loaned
an old DRZ400, or something along those lines to Gerry for a day ride.
Several months go by, and I get an e-mail from Gerry, he had
just bought a used KTM 520exc, his first real dirt bike. At that point in time,
I was riding a 2001 KTM 520mxc. While they are great machines, they are not for
beginners. So with some level of apprehension I started riding with Gerry. I
watched him throw that bike, and then the bike would throw him, similar to two
pigs wrestling in the mud. After about 4-6 months of trail riding in the tight
woods of the Washington peninsula, I talked Gerry into trying his first desert
race, “there a desert race in Idaho, let go”. I enjoyed it. Gerry on the other
hand kept stammering about how scary fast it was, how sand is different that
hard packed dirt, and that massive (in his mind’s eye) rock ledge he carried
his bike up and over. Strange, I don’t remember any rock ledge. I know for a fact that Gerry never used 5thor 6th gear in that KTM.
Now I should point out that Gerry is an uber-geek to the
nth-degree, an engineer who does crash-accident investigations. Every crash he
has taken has been over-analyzed within seconds of picking himself or the bike
up. Myself on the other hand, I’m just a trained observer, with an uncanny ability
to point out the obvious. I have watch Gerry hit the same tree twice, within
the span of one week.
Our bike of choice for this adventure is a pair of KTM 990
Adventure (coincident on the name of the bike? I think not). Over the past 12
months I have managed to put over 11,000-miles on my bike, with several long
trips thrown in for good measure (Las Vegas, San Luis Obispo, Seattle and
Denver). I started off my trip this spring to Denver by dropping my 500-lb bike
in the driveway, as Patty watched, while I was trying to get on the tall bike.
I’m vertical challenged, being just over 5-9, and I managed to hook my paint
leg on the foot peg as I was getting on. Needless to say, I could not reach the
ground as I pushed off my left foot to the right side. Only a few minor
scratches on the bike that and a broken seal on the right side pannier.
(Pannier: motorcycle suit case).
Getting back to South America, we are slated to depart in
less than 80-days. We are both going over the spread sheet which Gerry has put
together, and yes, I have been accused of being anal by more than one close
friend. But this spread sheet is impressive and extensive.
Currently we are both starting to prep our bikes in
preparation for crating them up and shipping to Santiago, Chile. Gerry is at
his bunker in Shelton, me in my garage in Idaho. The leaves are starting to
change colors, it’s getting colder, time is starting to run short and I still
need to get that seal fixed on my pannier.
jim
