rmc_olderthandirt
~SPONSOR~
- Apr 18, 2006
- 1,533
- 8
Okay, I was riding out in the California high desert over the Memorial Day weekend. Weather was great, not hot at all. We were camped out near Apple Valley in a nice area, lots of other people around but not crowded.
Sunday night a few of us fired up the quads and went for a night ride (none of the bikes had lights). We are heading back towards are camp and I see a light facing us. From a distance it looks okay but it isn't moving. As I get closer I can tell that the light is really close to the ground. When I get close enough for my light to illuminate the scene I can tell that there is a bike laying on its side and someone standing next to it.
I stop to see if they need help, discover that it is a young boy, couldn't be more than 12, definatly not more than 5 feet tall or over 100 lbs. The bike is a new looking KTM 625 SMC (street legal dirt bike). This bike is huge! The basic problem is that the kid can't pick it up.
I help him lift it up (damn, it was heavy!) and expect him to jump on and take off. Instead he starts pushing it and immediatly drops it again. I pick it up again and then help him push it back to his camp. There are about 8 motorhomes in a circle, and we wheel the bike right through the center, right past all the adults sitting around a fire to where all the rest of the bikes are parked.
No one said a word when they saw the kid pushing the bike back in. It didn't even appear to register with them that a stranger was helping the kid push the bike back. I turn around, wave to the folks at the fire and leave. Not a single word of thanks or even acknowledgment.
Can someone tell me who lets a kid that small get on a bike that big?
And who the hell lets a kid go riding off into the night alone?
There was no moon at all that night, it was pitch black out. If he had fallen in a gulley a 100 yards from their camp and knocked the light out they might not have been able to find him or the bike until daylight.
Its been a couple of days and I am still upset about it.
Sunday night a few of us fired up the quads and went for a night ride (none of the bikes had lights). We are heading back towards are camp and I see a light facing us. From a distance it looks okay but it isn't moving. As I get closer I can tell that the light is really close to the ground. When I get close enough for my light to illuminate the scene I can tell that there is a bike laying on its side and someone standing next to it.
I stop to see if they need help, discover that it is a young boy, couldn't be more than 12, definatly not more than 5 feet tall or over 100 lbs. The bike is a new looking KTM 625 SMC (street legal dirt bike). This bike is huge! The basic problem is that the kid can't pick it up.
I help him lift it up (damn, it was heavy!) and expect him to jump on and take off. Instead he starts pushing it and immediatly drops it again. I pick it up again and then help him push it back to his camp. There are about 8 motorhomes in a circle, and we wheel the bike right through the center, right past all the adults sitting around a fire to where all the rest of the bikes are parked.
No one said a word when they saw the kid pushing the bike back in. It didn't even appear to register with them that a stranger was helping the kid push the bike back. I turn around, wave to the folks at the fire and leave. Not a single word of thanks or even acknowledgment.
Can someone tell me who lets a kid that small get on a bike that big?
And who the hell lets a kid go riding off into the night alone?
There was no moon at all that night, it was pitch black out. If he had fallen in a gulley a 100 yards from their camp and knocked the light out they might not have been able to find him or the bike until daylight.
Its been a couple of days and I am still upset about it.