At 68 years young on the way to 69 this year, it still cracks me up that I hear the siren song of speed, adventure, adrenaline, whatever you want to call it. Cue the danger zone music….
My love of skydiving and flying my body has never waned, but I did make the decision to lower it on my priority list. Finish college, work the career. After a multi-decade pause, I took up tunnel flying, but while fun it proved more expensive than I wanted.
As did car racing. Most of my time was spent in Miata’s, which are relatively cheap to run. But it's costly to play at the top of the regional level, much less the national level. So, I dropped car racing for vintage motorcycle motocross and enduro racing. Two well prepared 70s dirt bikes cost 50% of my tire budget for the year of car racing.
I was 65 when I broke my first bone during a vintage motocross. I thought I’d dislocated my ankle, but it was a bit worse with a titanium plate and screws. Then I started writing and sold the bikes. Three years later, I bought some dirt bikes to use at the cabin. There are thousands of miles of dirt roads, ghost towns, and mountain tops to climb.
Last year, a copy of the first dirt bike I ever bought with my money became available and I did a two-day dash to California to pick it up. Suddenly, the idea of getting back into vintage motocross came forward, and I bought another dirt bike to use for enduros.
Believe it or not, this will be a slow and measured reintroduction back into racing. It’s a top five goal for the year to get back in, but that’s it versus winning a championship. Last time I raced at that level was 2016… Now the goal is fun. I know I’ll be faster after the race with a beer and friends but that’s okay.
Collecting experiences versus plaques is where it’s at.