EVERYTHING ALWAYS CHANGES

My dad was a Hell's Angel and i was born on a Harley Davidson sidecar somewhere out on Route 66....... sounds like a country song doesn't it? That of course is not true, but it is true that when i was a teen i raced motorcycles. Wanting to revisit those old days i sped up to Washougal Washington over the weekend to attend a National AMA race on one of the best courses in America. My brother and i used to race there back before we got into cars. Back before we got into girls. Back before... well a lot of things. Upon entering the parking area there was a host of searchers who turned all the cars practically upside down looking for drugs and booze. So that was really different. We used to just drive in, pay $12 bucks to some crusty guy in a little wooden shed, park near the starting line and pop up our tent. Once inside, all that was recognizable was the track itself. Still a twisting, turning loamy trail of luscious dirt that spirals up over a big hill and down into the towering trees below. But inside the track, connected to all kinds of cool underground tunnels was endless lineups of semi trucks peddling everything from t-shirts to power tools for your bike repairs. Things had indeed become quite commercialized since the days of old. Energy drink companies were handing out free samples of their canned speed, and it was funny to see nearly thousands of people drinking the same drink. The bikes too, were totally different beasts that roared in packs up over the hill, sounding like a herd of Union Pacific locomotives on full throttle. Four stroke engines have all but replaced the two-cycle screamers of yesteryear, mostly due to environmental concerns according to some folks i spoke with. So that is pretty cool. But still my questions about Global Warming issues got some strange looks and a few blank stares. Motor heads the world over don't really want to hear that argument is seems. And i can understand why. If you have got the time and money, why not indulge in one of the planets most fun sports. Motocross racing is by any measure the most invigorating thing I've ever done. And like a friend said, we're just going to use all that fossil fuel up eventually anyway. Might as well live it up huh? There's no way that you will ever keep the gas from the people. We are addicted. Maybe they should put red dye in the fumes so we can see all the pollution going up into the clean air. That would get us to thinking. At any rate, the day was really fun (see photos), and this next week i think i will go out and buy a bike and start entering the old timers class....... that was a lie to. But i have to admit, all the way home i fantasized about what if. What if we had become good enough riders to join the pro circuit and instead of being the hobo photographer/drawing person for the last 20 plus years i had been racing on amazing tracks around the world! A gas junkies wet dreams. Guess there's no way to go back to that life now. Dang. HOBO P.S. See Zero Motorcycles for the first ever electric moto cross bike!!!!! I may be riding yet!

Comments

[slo town]

the world has gone electric:
http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/people.php

[Mary]

Does having the time and money give anyone the right to screw things up for the planet?

[dan price]

I think not, but try telling that to the guy pulling a boat going out for a fun weekend with his family. HOBO

[pete]

I used to race at Washougal also, and have thought about the old timers class as well. Until I get up from a chair and hear my knees and back talk to me as payment for the years of pounding. Are there any book stores in Joseph that carry your journals? The family is making its annual camping trip soon.
Best wishes.

[dan price]

yes, the Bookloft on nearby Enterprise carries most. Or simply order then off my website moonlight-chronicles.com HOBO