I hope you guys don’t mind my rant. I know I don’t post a lot, but I do read almost every post and enjoy DRN and the MTR’s especially. I needed to vent my sadness and frustration. :ugg:
Yesterday I lost my best friend. It was supposed to be a fun, Sunday trip down to a Hare Scramble track near Maumee, OH. I was planning to go until my ride backed out and I could not physically get my bike to the meeting point in Plymouth. So I opted out since we were planning to ride the next weekend up north. The four guys who did go made it down to Ohio only to discover that the track closed down. Not to be deterred, they headed to the Maumee ORV area just a few miles away to salvage a ride for the day. Not quite sure what happened, the guy that found him, Rob, a co-worker and friend of his for 8 years, is still pretty shook up. It appears that the back end started swapping on him in some fairly big whoops and he hit a tree on the side of the trail. He was knocked out, but revived and was talking to Rob while the other two went for help. He succumbed to shock from the internal injuries and was pronounced on the side of the trail by EMT’s.
He was a good trail rider and didn’t ride over his head. He’s the guy that got me to get all the safety gear when I switched from a quad to a bike three seasons ago. He picked up his latest bike this past spring, a new YZ450WR and he would always grin and hit the e-button at the most sarcastic times. He wore all the good gear, Sidi, Arai, etc., and carried a huge backpack with water and all the safety needs for the trails.
He recently bought a used bike for his dad and they went trail riding up at the Meadows staging area of Bull Gap last weekend. We were planning to ride Evart and north of Cadillac this weekend and were looking to ride Drummond next month.
In talking with his dad, he is thinking of spreading his ashes up north on the trails in the Mio / Rose City area. It will be difficult to be up north or on the trails without him. He was my best friend, practically my twin brother and a great guy. He had that “give you the shirt off his back” mentality and was always helping someone with something. He enjoyed riding and was always ready to go if the opportunity presented itself. I don’t quite understand it yet, but all I can imagine is that God needed a Cadillac mechanic or a dirtbiker and he got both yesterday.
As Ole Woodsy says, to ride is to live, to ride with my brothers, is to live FULFILLED. :ride:
Michael Vellardita
8/12/69 – 8/22/04
Yesterday I lost my best friend. It was supposed to be a fun, Sunday trip down to a Hare Scramble track near Maumee, OH. I was planning to go until my ride backed out and I could not physically get my bike to the meeting point in Plymouth. So I opted out since we were planning to ride the next weekend up north. The four guys who did go made it down to Ohio only to discover that the track closed down. Not to be deterred, they headed to the Maumee ORV area just a few miles away to salvage a ride for the day. Not quite sure what happened, the guy that found him, Rob, a co-worker and friend of his for 8 years, is still pretty shook up. It appears that the back end started swapping on him in some fairly big whoops and he hit a tree on the side of the trail. He was knocked out, but revived and was talking to Rob while the other two went for help. He succumbed to shock from the internal injuries and was pronounced on the side of the trail by EMT’s.
He was a good trail rider and didn’t ride over his head. He’s the guy that got me to get all the safety gear when I switched from a quad to a bike three seasons ago. He picked up his latest bike this past spring, a new YZ450WR and he would always grin and hit the e-button at the most sarcastic times. He wore all the good gear, Sidi, Arai, etc., and carried a huge backpack with water and all the safety needs for the trails.
He recently bought a used bike for his dad and they went trail riding up at the Meadows staging area of Bull Gap last weekend. We were planning to ride Evart and north of Cadillac this weekend and were looking to ride Drummond next month.
In talking with his dad, he is thinking of spreading his ashes up north on the trails in the Mio / Rose City area. It will be difficult to be up north or on the trails without him. He was my best friend, practically my twin brother and a great guy. He had that “give you the shirt off his back” mentality and was always helping someone with something. He enjoyed riding and was always ready to go if the opportunity presented itself. I don’t quite understand it yet, but all I can imagine is that God needed a Cadillac mechanic or a dirtbiker and he got both yesterday.
As Ole Woodsy says, to ride is to live, to ride with my brothers, is to live FULFILLED. :ride:
Michael Vellardita
8/12/69 – 8/22/04
