Well, it's been a while since my last dual sport ride report -- so I thought it was time to provide an update on what I've been doing with my time lately... 

About a year ago, a riding buddy of mine (Eric) started bugging me about hitting the local motocross track. Given that I was in my late 30's and had never before stepped foot on a MX track, I kept dodging his requests.  "That's not really my kind of riding..." was my typical response.  But fortunately he was pretty tenacious, and finally got me to take my CRF450X out on the track. Despite the fact that the X bike was a real handful on the track, I was instantly hooked.  So much so that I've since picked up a YZ250F and a YZ450F for my weekly trips to the track. 

Fast forward to January of 2007... another riding buddy (Don) has been working on me for a while to try a race series called WORCS (World Off-Road Championship Series).  Because I was pretty happy with sticking to practice laps on the track, I kept dodging his requests.  "I'm not really into racing...", etc. Fortunately, he was also persistent, and finally got me to sign up for the WORCS race in Phoenix. 

For those not familiar, WORCS races are a combination of motocross and desert racing. You basically start off on a MX track; but about half-way through riders are diverted off the track to compete several miles of an off-road section. Riders are then taken back to the MX track, where you complete the lap and start all over again. Each lap takes about 10-12 minutes to complete, and the race lasts 70 minutes long. The more laps you're able to complete, the higher you place.    

The Phoenix race was a complete mud-bog (we had record amounts of rain that weekend), so I wasn't able to get any pictures. But I made it through the 70-minute race and was instantly hooked.  Which brings us to the second race of the '07 WORCS series... Victorville, CA.

Don and I made the trek over to California and spent Friday afternoon familiarizing ourselves with the MX track. Saturday morning was the first race for Don's class... 

Getting the bikes ready	The starting line for Don's race	Don getting ready to launch	Don in the air
Another great jump	Transitioning back to the MX track	Pit row for the pros

Unfortunately, Don went down in his final lap and broke his collar bone. But he wasn't about to let that ruin the weekend, and stuck around for my first race later that afternoon. 

Let me just say that there is no other experience that even comes close to sitting there on the starting line with 30 other bikes, waiting for the green flag to drop. Talk about one hell of an adrenaline rush... Then the race starts and you spend the next 70 minutes going as fast as you can for as long as you can.  It's the most exciting, exhausting, fun, scary, mind-blowing, draining and invigorating thing I've ever done.  

Getting ready for my first race	Hitting the tabletop	Coming around a corner	The crowd around the track
Shots of me taken by the professional photographers...			Loving the big step-up
	Same jump, side view (shot of one of the pros)	Steve's family

I made it through both of my divisional races and was pretty pleased with how I finished.  (12th of 22 in the 30+ beginner class and 13th of 26 in the open beginner class.)  Considering this was my second race event EVER, I'm looking forward to climbing up into the top ten, with the ultimate goal of standing on the podium. 

After finishing my second race on Sunday, Don (who had some good pain-killers at that point) and I watched the pros run their race.  It's quite a rush to watch those guys fly through the same track you just completed. It's amazing to see how fast they really are... and just further proves what's possible out there.

One thing's for sure... I'm forever thankful to Eric and Don for convincing me to break out of my comfort zone and try something that I didn't think was feasible. I've never had more fun on two wheels.