PREZ SAYS

A day like no other

This experience starts out watching the weather, yes watching what day the rain is coming as the timing has to be just right. Starting to be a regular at the pines, I had to make the trip. Eating dust with loose conditions weeks’ prior, getting rain took priority while making the drive to the sandpit called Croom. Wild card weekend, AKA football playoffs had to take a back seat this Sunday, besides Peacock can update me. Several inches were deposited at the sandpit and that meant that there was going to be epic conditions waiting for anyone that wanted to get dirty. Two and a half hours later, we rolled in and headed to our regular parking area only to find it under water, the pines hadn’t seen that much water in years! So on around the corner and head down to the next parking area.

There was enough space to slide in and be near some familiar faces known as the young guns. I know all these kiddos so I figured I would fit right in, besides the restrooms are real close which made the better half real happy. Yeah my regular buddy had to fly helicopters so I dragged my part time mechanic with me with bribes of you can sit in the van and read, turn on the heat, wrap up in a blanket and sleep as getting up way before daylight was not the IDEAL thing to do on a Sunday morning. As we unloaded, I looked around and thought it can’t be too bad as I know all these kids and their running the right stuff, you know suspension and seats. LOL I should note that there’s two AA riders and the rest are all sporting A’s with one a sportsman and a B rider in the mix.

We did a lot of free riding on the north end of the property which led to you know what. Clean outs, getting parked and your line taken away became the norm as that’s how these kids roll. As we seasoned riders stay off the whooped out trails and roads as much as we can, this group seemed to just accidently find them and just started clicking gears while I’m staying on the side of the whooped out tail eating the roost. Actually it wasn’t that bad as the whoops were solid and damp so you could actually jump a few of them. Speaking of jumping, jumping ditches was in order along with hills we found so there was plenty of action, of course the competition part came out and turned into the X Games real quick. All in all good times and nobody went home in a body bag or my friend wasn’t called in to fly us out so it was a good day.

The insane jumping into the trees and flat landing (there’s a video somewhere) was off the chart but added a good mixture to our woods shenanigans. Heading back for a PBJ sandwich was in order as we rebooted for the second half with more thrills and spills as I’m sure everyone was getting bored

February 2022

and needed to step the game up a notch. As we were finishing up, another gray hair rolled up and I felt the pressure of keeping the little 200 pinned slowly dissipating for round two. I politely excused myself from the filming of “Hey, check this out”, a J/A production and hooked up with someone a little more my age and ability. All in all it was good stuff as the boys were having a good time and they kept an eye on me when they turned it up in the woods, but I knew the Johnson lines so I was right there to their surprise!

On a serious note, spending time on a dirt bike with anyone at any age always makes memories and brings the age groups closer, something that seems to be lacking these days. Our sport is one of the few that can do that as our age difference was almost 50 years, but feeling the bond and camaraderie erased that. Spending time with young people always bridges that gap and makes for a healthier relationship in today’s world. Yeah, I’ve known these kids and their parents for some time, but the time spent with any young person is well worth the effort. I know how the parent/child relationship goes and sometimes it takes someone from outside the family to make a difference or to make the young man come around or make something click that can make a difference. These are different times we all are in now and keeping our family and loved ones riding on the right trail in life is very important as we all try to negotiate the ever changing atmosphere around us. Keep your circle tight, do the right thing and don’t let anybody fall out.

Thanks for listening, Randy Faul

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