Not bad for an old guy

Yesterday Kadizzle met a much younger guy in his forties with a dirt bike.  Today we rode together over some very difficult terrain.  About three quarters of the way through the ride the new acquaintance said " How old are you?".  Kadizzle explained that soon he would be 71.  The young fellow looked in semi amazement.  We had just conquered some of the hardest trails one could find.  Paul said " I hope I am in that good a shape when I am 70".   Kadizzle felt both proud and old.

After we stopped and had lunch Paul said he wanted one more ride.  Kadizzle took him way up on the mountain to one of the absolute worst and most difficult rides there is.  On the way to the really bad part Kadizzle debated with himself if he should try it.  The prospect of falling over and possibly damaging the cycle did not seem inviting.  Kadizzle thought about letting some air out of the rear tire for more traction.  When we finally got to the bottom of the mother of all hills Kadizzle's better brain became active.  Kadizzle suggest Paul go first.  Paul is a very good rider and will be in a race tomorrow.   Paul agreed to go first and come back to rescue Kadizzle if he fell.  Paul made it to the top.  Kadizzle saw how an expert struggled to get up the road he had conquered in the past and decided to forgo the stupidity.  Kadizzle signaled Paul to go on to the very top without him.  The last couple hundred yards are pure hell. It is steep and like riding over cement soccer balls.  Paul seemed to be taking a little too much time and Kadizzle began to think.  Kadizzle could not see Paul do the very top.  What if Paul crashed.  Kadizzle may not be able to get up there to help him.  After some time Paul did return and reported he had made it to the very top without going down.  Paul said no amature should ever attempt that ride.  Kadizzle has made it about three or four times. and crashed at least half of those tries.  In two crashes the clutch lever became broken.  Kadizzle decided to buy some fancy brush guards to stop that problem.   So Paul made it up and back, Kadizzle never made the attempt, nothing is broken and all is well.

Earlier in the ride we went down the backside of the mountain to Lake Apache.  Yesterday Kadizzle had suggested to Paul he attempt to ride up that way.  After Kadizzle thought about it, he realized it would not be a good idea.  Then Kadizzle suggested Paul ride down the back side.  Paul never made the trip yesterday, but we both did.  Since last year it turns out the road, which was already terrible became worse.  That special feeling came where you are conscious you are about to do something very stupid.  The very first part of the steep decline was basically a boulder hop.  Kadizzle could see that if he went down it would be impossible for him to get back up.  That meant the only way to go would be on down.  With a gust of stupidity Kadizzle made the decision to go down.   If there was another even worse spot farther down we would be stuck unable to go up or down.   Sure enough it got bad again, but there did appear to be a small track we might be able to take.  Paul went first .  Kadizzle took off next and the cycle fell over in the first ten feet.  The marble like sand slipped the motorcycle when Kadizzle touched the front brake.  It was embarrassing to execute a crash so easily.  Kadizzle yelled for Paul to help upright the cycle.  Before Paul walked back up Kadizzle managed to right the machine and made it down.   You know it is a nasty ride when you cannot make it going down hill.   At the end of the day we had a lot of good riding.  Kadizzle was glad to have someone to ride with.  Crashing in the outback alone is stupidity on steroids.  If you are laying under a motorcycle high on a mountain with no one around in a place you never should have gone you feel just like a Trump voter.  You did it to yourself.