"...with you, it's more about the trip...the people you meet...the things you see along the way..." Crewchief* says to me at some point in our journey. To this I reply..." True....I'm just happy to be on the road...with a good friend who knows the roads...has abilities...a guy I've trusted my life with when I was on the 'sharp' end of a rope, climbing sketchy sandstone cliffs in the desert...a guy who carries a first aid kit for all needs while out in the wilderness...a self taught kinda guy...that plays a mean guitar. As Tim, at another blog sometimes says..."I'm blessed, me"...got good mates...another one, kindly loaned us the truck... that made our journey possible.
At one of the nicer Motels in Oregon, Rick gets a little classical guitar practice in...
So...we made it to Washington state...found the track...met Rick Burchett who kindly allowed us to work at his garage...got the bike running pretty good. After settling down in a cheap motel...we discovered, via 'Instagram', that Travis Newbold and his friends were already setting up camp at the track...so we drove over to throw our tents down and claim a spot for the weekend. The clutch on the SL 100 was still acting up...but took it out on the track for a few laps...to see if that would help loosen up the clutch, but to no avail. I noticed that the old front tire that was still holding air...had now developed large cracks in the sidewall...started thinking about then it was not going to make it as a 'racer' that weekend....oh well, we made it up there...and the bike clutchless as it was still ok for a 'pit-bike'...and I did get to do some laps on the race track. It wouldn't have been safe to try to race it as it was, and would only have made things more hazardous for other riders on the track.
*also known as Rick
As usual having problems trying to get videos to transfer ...so regular pics it is....since I typed this last statement...my phones software got an upgrade...and it seems I can now do things with little videos by "resizing" them...interesting...And as it turns out, not that interesting...it turns them into another format that seems to be "un-recognizable"....
At any rate here is a peep at some peeps at Dirtquake USA........
This is Ben Part, art director of Sideburn Magazine. He's not really 7 feet tall...but at times he appears to be.
"Poncho"...or was that "Pancho"...some call him "Poncho Pancho".
Travis Newbold in the Triumph patched denim and his ice racing friend Mike from Colorado, are checking out Ben, on his bought at the swap meet chopped 350. Ben dubbed the bike "slow as porridge", but was all smiles as he brought up the rear of the "Chopper Class".
Skooter Farm Dave (Sideburn's Entertainment Director...) trying the 350 Chopper out ( Good thing there wasn't an empty swimming pool nearby...), also over from the UK...and looking on, is the "I" of 'Sideburn'....Conway...record shop owner and racing announcer...
I was told he was speaking English....eh wot?
DirtQuakeUK has the pie...DirtquakeUSA had pizza....
"Cowboy" aka Tommy of Tommy's Triumph in Kansas. This is the chopped Triumph 500 that Travis raced in the 'Chopper Class' ...held together with wire, bungee cords, and Hello Kitty tape...
Late Saturday night in the campground, Tommy starts the Triumph Chopper...to "drive mosquitoes away"...I don't think the mosquitoes would have survived the whiskey they would have encountered in some of the bloodstreams they would have been tapping into...
Gary Inman, Editor of Sideburn Magazine ...at the riders meeting.
Gary again, after yet another "costume" change...almost looks like he's doing a jig here.. running back and forth between the track and the pits.
This is Baja, Travis' traveling companion and main pit dawg...
Anthony of Co-built, and his best friend Anna of Custommadeuk, meeting Baja.
"Crewchief" hanging out in the pits...
Travis ,Mike and his brother Phil...also an ice racer...hanging out in the pit before races.
"Cowboy" again and Anna as the "E" in sideburn in the Newbold pit, after some races. Notice the tank on Tommy's Triumph after it came loose during the race.
Brad Peterson and family celebrating the win in the Street Tracker Class
Yes, his street tracker happens to be an XR 750 Harley Davidson that I had last seen at the Sideburn blog...after he pitted next to us and unveiled this beauty...decided for sure I wasn't going to try and race my crippled SL-100 against the likes of this...
Norman of motorcychomagazine drawn like a moth to a flame...when Brad fired up the XR 750....
Everyone in Brad's family had their bike's, this is the out rigger equipped Honda 50, the littlest one rode all over the campsites...and...
in the parade lap with her mother. That's her next to the guy from See See Coffee dressed as the 'Creature from the Black Lagoon'...
Gary again, this time as the "S" in Sideburn...chilling in the Newbold pit.
Geoff and Anthony of Cobuilt, the "R" and "N" of Sideburn...post races.
The clutchless one...relegated to pit duty...maybe next year...
Past my bed time...curious to see if any of these videos are going to play...so time to hit the publish button...there will be more pics and video coming along shortly...
