The dirt is calling me again!

[Power Hungry]

In my youth, I spent MANY hours bouncing trough the Florida dirt (as well as bombing down back streets) on just about anything that hand an engine on it.

My first "bike" was this shoddy little steel framed thing with a 3 HP Briggs & Stratton edger engine on it. It had a seat that was made of wood with a piece of foam and wrapped in a towel. No fancy vinyl here. If it was wet, so were your pants.

Now the sketchy thing about this was that it had no throttle/cable. It did at one point, but I got attacked by a dog that was chasing me and he broke the cable. So I did what any sensible kid would do... I'd ride with one hand on the handlebars while reaching under the seat an opening the throttle directly on the carburetor. Governors? Those are for sissies. I'd run that thing wide open at like 40 MPH. Did I mention that I was steering with one hand? Yeah, pretty stupid. At least this one had brakes.

My next bike was a 1970 Honda Z50A. This was my first real dirtbike. Working throttle, 3 speed manual shift, still with a towel seat, no actual factory fuel tank, and no brakes. Yeah. I mean, as long as it goes forward, you can figure out stopping later, right? I rode this thing for nearly 3 years (I was almost 15 now) until I saved up enough money to get a larger bike.

I got a deal on a Yamaha DT250, put a piston in it, and rode that thing until it completely died 10 years later. It was a great bike even though it caused me some serious injuries on occasion, particularly when I took a jump I shouldn't have and messed my back up pretty badly. Even still, I fondly remember blasting along trails and hitting mud holes day after day during summer break.

Then life moves on. Since about 1992, I haven't really spent much time in the dirt. With work, kids, being broke, and all the other things that revolve around daily life, I just couldn't find the time to get out, much less even afford anything to ride. Bikes and ATVs are expensive, and places to go riding were becoming more and more scarce.

When we were kids, we used to ride out at the "Ponderosa"... A huge chunk of property that extended from the Turnpike to NW 27th Ave and from around NW 190th Street up to Snake Creek (C-9). This property would eventually become the location for Joe Robbie Stadium, but in the '70s and '80s it was a wondrous place with varied terrains and absolutely perfect for just about any type of off-road adventures.

Once that got cleared out, there just wasn't anywhere to really go except way up around West Palm Beach to the J. W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area. This was also a fun are to ride, but it was a long drive up and back, and with old equipment that was prone to break down, it just wasn't as fun anymore.

The was also the big mudhole property on the east side of US-27 at Griffin Rd across from Holiday Park where people would get together with dirtbikes, dune buggies, lifted mud trucks, and just about anything else you could take off-road, but there wasn't much place to ride and you just spent most of the time digging your bike or ATV out of the mud. It was fun, but also a pain in the ass.

Over the years, I've had the itch to get back out in the dirt but just didn't seem to have anyone that shared that passion with me. The same went for street bikes. It's not much fun riding alone, and it's hard to ever get anything scheduled with friends who ride. Everyone has lives and free time is often scarce. However, I was greatly blessed when I married Angela. She's an outdoor girl with a sense of adventure and a love for bikes. We've been riding street bikes together now for almost 9 years and it's been filled with amazing adventures. Now she's ready to get back into off-road biking and I'm super excited!

We've had an Arctic Cat 500 4-Wheeler now for about 6 years. It's a solid machine, 4 wheel drive, and is pretty fun to ride. Liam spends many hours running around on it and he's gotten to the point where he's reach the fun limit of it. He was wanting to switch to something a little more sporty... Something with a manual trans.

So 3 months ago I came across a local ad for a 2003 Yamaha Blaster. I picked it up and upon tear down realized just how big of a mess this thing was. There was no way it was driveable in the condition it was in, so I started the process of a complete teardown and rebuild.









In the meantime, I came across another 2003 Blaster that was in near mint condition and picked that one up For Liam instead. He's ridden it a couple times and I think he's ready to find some terrain that's a little more challenging that our back yard.



I'm at a point with "my" Blaster that it's almost ready to go. This was basically a frame up restoration and it's nearly brand new at this point.





This past week, one of our customers posted up on FB that he was selling his 4-wheeler, a 2006 Honda Sportrax 300. This machine was just about as clean as it gets and is a perfect machine for Angela. Electric start, 4 Stroke, 5 speed with reverse... It just doesn't get any better than this. We are super excited to be able to add this to our garage and we now have a 4 wheeler for everyone to go take out to the woods, the track, or wherever else we feel like romping around!

We have several places in GA where we can ride, two of which are Georgia OffRoad Adventures (Formerly Durhamtown) and Iron Mountain Resort. Both feature RV camping sites, MX tracks, trails, and other terrain, and are an ideal family getaway for the outdoor and off-road crowds. We have a trip planned for Iron Mountain in September and we're going to be spending the weekend with another family that also enjoys the outdoors and riding ATVs.

I can't begin to express just how amazingly blessed our family has been. To be able to share these adventures with friends is amazing, and to be able to share these adventures as a family is absolutely priceless.

Time to go riding!