- Oct 20, 2000
- 2,963
- 2
Couldn't figure out if I should post in the ride experience forum or here but this weekend was more than just about riding. It had been a long week, hectic to say the least. I was about 2 hours later than normal getting home from work on Friday to find that my neighbors grand kids had come over to visit Tigger only to "accidentally" fall in the pool. Tigger says "I told them not to play by the pool but they wouldn't listen!" These grand kids of my neighbors are the nastiest children I've ever met so I sent them home and told them they were to never come back, this didn't seem to bother Tigger one bit.
After a couple of hours more pass I'm realizing neither of us had eaten and I missed lunch. It's almost 9:30pm now and we are thinking about food and nothing else when I get this idea to go camping for the weekend. I say to Tigger "lets go get groceries and head to the track in the RV." Yeah she says so it's a mad rush to get things in order. It's to the store and back, load the trailer and RV and head to the track. We arrive about midnight, run some electricity and fire up the pilot light on the stove. 45 minutes later we are feasting on chicken breast, zucchini, squash and something else that was tasty. About 1:30am we hit the bed. I don't ever remember sleeping as well as I did that night.
We awoke Sat morning to a beautiful day. I peaked out the window to see a couple of dozers working on the flat track and out the other side a friend digging post holes for a new cover at the track. I never heard anything, I must have been dead to the world. I spent about a half-hour shooting the breeze with my friend while he did some work before Tigger got up. We promptly suited up and hit the mx track. Now Tigger has been very reluctant to ride over anything that resembles a jump since she was landed on by a 250 almost 2 years ago on the back side of a jump, some of you may remember. At 1st she wants to go around the jumps. I told her that was not a problem but it would be easier to go over them and when other people were on the track it would be safer than trying to exit the track and reentering on the back side of a jump, she agreed.
Her plan was after the 1st tabletop to exit the track and head off into the woods, I give in and say okay. As we make our way over the tabletop she continues on the track and over every jump. I notice she's standing almost the entire time. Lap one is complete and it's straight around for lap #2, #3 and so on. I'm so impressed. After a half dozen laps or so she exits the track and heads to the RV. I follow and when we stop I pull off my helmet then she says to put it back on cause all she's got to do is use the restroom.
A brief moment later we're back on the track and she's starting to go faster. I can see the excitement in her eyes like when she first started riding. By this time the track was starting to get busy with all the locals heading out to take advantage or the great weather. I could tell Tigger was starting to get nervous from all the other bikes buzzing around her. She would pull off the track and wait for them to go by then we completed our lap and took a break. She asked me how she was riding and I told her she looked great but it would be safer for her to just hold her line and make no sudden changes as the faster riders came up on her. I guess she got the idea because the next time on the track she did just that. We rode almost non-stop till about 4 when the sky opened up and the bottom fell out. It was a mad rush to get the RV out before it got stuck, it looked like our day was over.
Two hours later we were back at home soaked to the bone and everything was covered in black mud. The rain had stopped so we spent a couple more hours cleaning the bikes and RV. It's now almost 10:00pm and I asked what she wanted to eat for supper. She said she didn't care as long as we could go back to the track and eat it there. Oh man, I've created a monster!
An hour later we were back at the track for a repeat of Friday night. Only exception was we got there earlier and after we ate we had the chance to build a fire and burn a few marshmallows in it. Another perfect nights sleep was in order and Sunday was even better riding conditions on the track. We rode until 4:30 before packing it up and heading back to the house. I guess the 20 minute drive was a little much for Tigger cause she was fast asleep by the time we got halfway home. I don't know who had a bigger smile on their face, her or me.
The next couple of hours were spent cleaning up the bikes and gear. She gave me a hug and said thanks for helping her have the courage to over come her fear of riding after her big crash. And said how much fun she had and can't wait to do it again, she wants to go riding everyday. It sure made me feel good to see her having so much fun on a bike again. After 2 years I was beginning to think she would never really enjoy it like she did before that day 2 years ago.
Btw, After we had been riding for half the day Saturday a boy on another 60 came up behind her to pass and I got to see the competitiveness show up in her as she attempted to not let him blow her doors off. We had rounded a corner with a small double crossing a creek and he was on her rear tire practically. She gassed it hard and almost did her first double, she was just a little short and cased it a bit. The best part was she was able to control the bike and it didn't effect her confidence. She didn't try it again but I did tell her not to let the other riders push her into not trying something she didn't feel comfortable doing. She agreed.
I love her with all my heart and soul and would continue doing so if she had never wanted to throw a leg over a bike again but the fact that she did made it all the better. Ya, I'm bragging a little. :)
After a couple of hours more pass I'm realizing neither of us had eaten and I missed lunch. It's almost 9:30pm now and we are thinking about food and nothing else when I get this idea to go camping for the weekend. I say to Tigger "lets go get groceries and head to the track in the RV." Yeah she says so it's a mad rush to get things in order. It's to the store and back, load the trailer and RV and head to the track. We arrive about midnight, run some electricity and fire up the pilot light on the stove. 45 minutes later we are feasting on chicken breast, zucchini, squash and something else that was tasty. About 1:30am we hit the bed. I don't ever remember sleeping as well as I did that night.
We awoke Sat morning to a beautiful day. I peaked out the window to see a couple of dozers working on the flat track and out the other side a friend digging post holes for a new cover at the track. I never heard anything, I must have been dead to the world. I spent about a half-hour shooting the breeze with my friend while he did some work before Tigger got up. We promptly suited up and hit the mx track. Now Tigger has been very reluctant to ride over anything that resembles a jump since she was landed on by a 250 almost 2 years ago on the back side of a jump, some of you may remember. At 1st she wants to go around the jumps. I told her that was not a problem but it would be easier to go over them and when other people were on the track it would be safer than trying to exit the track and reentering on the back side of a jump, she agreed.
Her plan was after the 1st tabletop to exit the track and head off into the woods, I give in and say okay. As we make our way over the tabletop she continues on the track and over every jump. I notice she's standing almost the entire time. Lap one is complete and it's straight around for lap #2, #3 and so on. I'm so impressed. After a half dozen laps or so she exits the track and heads to the RV. I follow and when we stop I pull off my helmet then she says to put it back on cause all she's got to do is use the restroom.
A brief moment later we're back on the track and she's starting to go faster. I can see the excitement in her eyes like when she first started riding. By this time the track was starting to get busy with all the locals heading out to take advantage or the great weather. I could tell Tigger was starting to get nervous from all the other bikes buzzing around her. She would pull off the track and wait for them to go by then we completed our lap and took a break. She asked me how she was riding and I told her she looked great but it would be safer for her to just hold her line and make no sudden changes as the faster riders came up on her. I guess she got the idea because the next time on the track she did just that. We rode almost non-stop till about 4 when the sky opened up and the bottom fell out. It was a mad rush to get the RV out before it got stuck, it looked like our day was over.
Two hours later we were back at home soaked to the bone and everything was covered in black mud. The rain had stopped so we spent a couple more hours cleaning the bikes and RV. It's now almost 10:00pm and I asked what she wanted to eat for supper. She said she didn't care as long as we could go back to the track and eat it there. Oh man, I've created a monster!
An hour later we were back at the track for a repeat of Friday night. Only exception was we got there earlier and after we ate we had the chance to build a fire and burn a few marshmallows in it. Another perfect nights sleep was in order and Sunday was even better riding conditions on the track. We rode until 4:30 before packing it up and heading back to the house. I guess the 20 minute drive was a little much for Tigger cause she was fast asleep by the time we got halfway home. I don't know who had a bigger smile on their face, her or me.
The next couple of hours were spent cleaning up the bikes and gear. She gave me a hug and said thanks for helping her have the courage to over come her fear of riding after her big crash. And said how much fun she had and can't wait to do it again, she wants to go riding everyday. It sure made me feel good to see her having so much fun on a bike again. After 2 years I was beginning to think she would never really enjoy it like she did before that day 2 years ago.
Btw, After we had been riding for half the day Saturday a boy on another 60 came up behind her to pass and I got to see the competitiveness show up in her as she attempted to not let him blow her doors off. We had rounded a corner with a small double crossing a creek and he was on her rear tire practically. She gassed it hard and almost did her first double, she was just a little short and cased it a bit. The best part was she was able to control the bike and it didn't effect her confidence. She didn't try it again but I did tell her not to let the other riders push her into not trying something she didn't feel comfortable doing. She agreed.
I love her with all my heart and soul and would continue doing so if she had never wanted to throw a leg over a bike again but the fact that she did made it all the better. Ya, I'm bragging a little. :)
