By Kurt Sunderbruch Part 5 The evening of day 1 provided its own excitement. We joined our fellow competitors for a beer and dinner, and lots of bench racing. There was excited talk and animated hand gestures describing the highlights of the day around the table. Comparing notes on where riders took wrong turns
By Kurt Sunderbruch After a somewhat fitful night of sleep, it was time to get up, pack up, have breakfast, check out, turn in my luggage, and head to the start. Apparently, the organizers wanted to have the start in a place where we could stage all the bikes, have a special test, and leave
By Kurt Sunderbruch Part 2: With a commitment made to doing it, the next step was to figure out how to do it. The next steps were submitting my entry, arranging a bike, and figuring out the logistics. The entry part would be the easiest, and the arranging the bike would be the hardest,
By Kurt Sunderbruch Prologue: AJ said, “You’ve been riding a long time. You certainly must have some stories about all that riding. Tell those stories.” (maybe not an exact quote, but close enough). This is my best story. It explains more about my riding experience, and what sort of rider I have become than any
By Kurt Sunderbruch From the Cambridge English Dictionary: pilgrimage noun uk /ˈpɪl.ɡrɪ.mɪdʒ/ us /ˈpɪl.ɡrə.mɪdʒ/ a special journey made by a pilgrim a visit to a place that is considered special, where you go to show your respect Usually when we hear the term, pilgrimage, it’s in the context of a religious journey, whether
By Ryan McNerney Pulling into Bakersfield after what felt like hours in the rain, I realized that I had, in fact, spent hours in the rain. My pace down 178 from Lake Isabella clocked in somewhere between “slow as cold molasses” and “glacially slow,” but I had made it into town safe and sound,
By Ryan McNerney “Riding? You’ve got thicker skin than I do; my KTM is hibernating until it gets warmer,” one of the locals told me as he filled his truck’s tank. The air temperature had been steadily dropping as I approached Lake Isabella on 178, and I was glad my Olympia jacket and pants
By Kurt Sunderbruch Do you have a local go-to road? Yeah, me too. I’m lucky enough to live in a place where some really fun roads are within a mile or two of my house. Roads I know well. Roads I feel like I can rely on like old friends. Roads that (almost) always deliver
By Ryan McNerney “What’s that they say about the best-laid plans of mice and men?” I thought to myself as I listened to the patter of the rain on the roof of my tent. I was supposed to be camping in Death Valley at that point; I found myself instead at a KOA campground
