Fitness....as in, lack of.

I am looking at fitness as more then just having the strength to survive, but as a means of injury prevention.  Since getting so far out of shape, it doesn't take much for me to get sore, or cause muscular injuries.  I want to be able to take the beating, fight off injuries, and if an injury does occur, a higher level of fitness will be beneficial in the healing and recovery process. 

So for my fitness strategy to conquer I will dive back into my military training.  I was never the fastest, or the strongest, but I could hang on for days.  My level of endurance and high threshold for pain and misery carried me for years.  Since getting out, almost 4 years ago, I have not got back into any sort of physical training routine.  It was'n required to earn a college degree, I had no time or extra money to become involved in anything that demanded physical training, so it all just slipped away.  The days where I could wake up, goto the gym, have a 2 hour lunch to goto the pool, get off at 4 and got for a 5 mile run are behind me now.  Free time is a scarce thing these days.  So whatever I do I will have to make it work in short intervals.

Between the typical military physical beat downs and body hardening I did a few months training with a crossfit gym and at one point followed more of a body building type regiment.  I think for this I am going to to a little of everything.  I don't have access to a pool, so that will be cut out, even though the pool was one of the best exercises I got involved in.  My schedule allows for about 45 minutes in a typical corporate gym, 3 treadmills, a smith machine, a bike, and an elliptical, and a bit of time after work after my son goes to sleep and between whatever home projects I am working on.

At the gym I use at work I want to focus on cardio.  I've got 45 minutes to use, and figure sprinting until my lungs burn and riding hills on the bike is a good use of this time.  At home I will reacquaint myself with the pull up bar and my old friend the kettle bell.  I will have to see if I can modify some interval training schedules to accommodate what equipment I have access to.  Ultimately if I can come across a used rower, this would be a huge help.

Shortly I will have some sort of baseline recorded.  I know where I stood at the peak of my military career, so I will compare to that as best I can.  As of now, I am 220 lbs, and slow.  At my best I was 190 lbs and nothing on earth could have made me give up whatever task was placed in front of me.  Now, I am pretty sure my past self would have slapped my present self into a bloody mess if we met.

This fitness portion will be ever evolving and I will record the baseline I create to show progress over time. 

My riding experience.

When I first got interested in this race I was sure I was going to be the only new guy, the one unprepared guy on an old bike in a sea of professionals and factory teams.  I don't know where that stigma came from, but in my research and reaching out to prior racers I found this was not the case.  I was an amateur, budget racer, that was just looking for a finish, not the win.  I made a lot of assumptions that seemed to put this out of my reach, which ended up not being the case. 

Assumptions such as: I need to be a pro level rider.  I need to have a huge budget and a fleet of chase vehicles.  I need the newest bike with all the best parts.  In reality, if you have a few bucks, a desire, some mechanical ability, and a good attitude you can probably make this happen. 

So to tackle the assumption that I needed to be a pro level rider.  This is not happening for me, period.  So this excuse was crushed once I came to the conclusion if I waited for this I would never make it.  I just ride as much as I can and try to ride different disciplines.  

I have been fun riding since I was a teenager out int he Utah desert.  It wasn't until I was in my late 20s that I started taking on races and competitions.  Each year I do a handful of motocross, desert, vintage motocross, and have done a few stints into street/supermoto bikes here and there.  I believe they all teach you good riding skills and have aspects that transfer from one discipline to another.  Unless I tried these different riding styles I would never have made these connections from one style to the other. 

I am far from an expert level rider, novice to intermediate depending on the type of riding and organization.  I do feel I am consistent thought.  I do not go out twist the throttle and get over my head.  I typically ride to my ability and calculate the risks and pick my lines carefully.  From talking to folks who have done these long races luck, good prep, fitness, and mental attitude go a LONG way into completing the event.   

Being in southern California I am very fortunate to be in the middle of dirt bike heaven.  Thanks to organizations like District 37, District 38, CALVMX, and Pala Raceway, I wouldn't have nearly as many experiences or met some incredible folks who all have good advice or tips to help me become a better rider.

 The point of this whole rant to to get those guys out there who are on the fence or think they need to have the best of the best, be the best, and have tons of money to really look into this event and do some research.  Its a huge event, but thanks to the Best in the Desert Organization it is still doable for the grassroots guys.  

1994 ATK 605 DSES

This is the first of a long string of ATKs for me.  I came across this on a trade for a Yamaha Blaster my wife had.  She was over the quad due to a rollover and figured I would give this a shot.  Got as much info as I could find on ATK, which isn't a lot, and headed on out for the trade.

 If your not aware of ATK, they are an American motorcycle company that opened shop in the early 80s.  They started in Laguna and then moved to LA.  Their early bikes were all ahead of their times and full of small innovations.  Linkless PDS rear suspension all the way back in the 80s, years ahead of KTM.  Actually the guy who designed ATK is the same person who designed KTM's PDS system.  Early ATKs had the rear brake mounted on the counter shaft.  Race bikes in the 80's had fuel injection and all kinds of trick parts.  Frames were hand welded C&J units and all had the legendary robust Rotax motors.  If you like small business innovation and history, read up on ATK.  They have had a pretty interesting history and always seem ahead of the game.

This particular ATK 605 was made in Los Angeles.  WP suspension all around, electric start, large tank, Talon hubs, etc.  This bike had it all out of the box and this particular bike also had an aftermarket cam and a full Up-Tite racing stainless exhaust, this is vintage, exotic, unobtanium.  The bike did great and it got me into old 4 strokes and dual sports.

This bike handled its weight really well as long as you kept your speed up.  All the primo parts worked great.  I did mostly single track and a bit of desert on this and folks were always pretty impressed with its nimbleness.  The motor has more torque than you know what to do with and it can lug way gown low.  This was a bike you can put in 3rd and leave it there for most of the day.  You just point the front wheel and throttle over it all with this pig.  The only real complaint is the seat.  If you need it for more than a few hours, you're going to pay the price.  

I sold this bike, not full appreciating what it was.  I thought there were bigger and better things out there.  So it went to a knew home, and from this point on every bike I ever rode was compared to this.

Since I got turned on to ATK, I think I have only seen one other in person.  Then out of the blue I started seeing questions about ATKs in the local dual sport club forum.  Shortly after I saw some pictures, and to my surprise it was my old bike!!!  The story is, the guy who bought it from me neglected it pretty badly.  To the point it no longer ran.  It was picked up by a new owner who dove into it with a new top end, new transmission, and continues to ride this bike all over the southwest and Baja.  Outside of a broken clutch cable the bike has never let him down.  ATK owners are a pretty small community and I thought it was pretty cool that I can see the new owner still taking this bike out on some very impressive adventures. 

Same bike, new owner.

The 605 is still having some amazing adventures.

  

A short history of Vegas to Reno

To give you all a little background about why I picked this as my first "long" race, I will tell you a bit about the race itself.  The race is put on by the Best in the Desert racing association and the Vegas to Reno race is one of several longer races put on each year.  Vegas to Reno's claim to fame is the fact that its the longest point to point off road race in the U.S.  Casey Folks has put this race on every year since 1996 and and to this day still sits at the starting line giving each rider words of encouragement as you wait to get the go ahead to take off from the starting line.  This race has gone through several revisions of the years, from single day events, to 3 day events racking up 700+ miles.  It seems to have settle back into single day races with anywhere from 500 to 600 miles.

 Now with all this lineage and huge mileage, why would I choose this one?  Well several things pop into my mind as a budget minded average racer.  First thing I think about is safety.  There are much bigger races with much more notoriety taking place south of the boarder, but I have no experience in Baja, and out there experience and knowing the lay of the land is everything.  I just don't feel comfortable taking myself and being responsible for a support crew into Baja at this time.  Hell, working on the logistics in the U.S. is going to be challenging enough let alone dealing with another language, remote pits, booby traps, pre-running, and 1000 miles of seat time.  If I go down and need help I have comfort knowing helicopters, ambulances, safety vehicles, etc are near by.

Second reason I chose this race is the cost.  Entry fees are relatively cheap, I can camp at the starting line, and typically all but 1 or 2 pits can be accessed by just about any truck or van and are close to main roads.  I don't need to convince several teams of friends to bring several chase vehicles with duplicate or triplicate parts and pit for me.  Being on a budget, this race can be done with one chase vehicle, and I can afford a pit service to pit for me in the remote pit locations.  So, get 2 or 3 buddies in a truck loaded with fuel, food, parts, and a good attitude and I am set.  I have talked to several teams that went down to Baja to race and it seems tens of thousands of dollars to prep, get there, race, and get home is the norm for motorcycles.  Maybe another day.

The race is a high speed event.  In reading about bike prep for this event, the normal gearing question usually comes up, and the answer is always the same, "gear to the moon."  This course usually offer long sustained high speed sections, and this is where time can be made up.  I am sure we can all say the day before the race, that "slow and steady wins the race," or "to finish first, you must first finish", but that usually goes out the window the second you see another person.  I have to practice patience in this situation, because when I see dust ahead my race pace picks up and the competitor in me kicks into gear.

The terrain is relatively "easy", the course is well marked, and pre-running weeks in advance is not allowed or required.  I am not the first to do this as my first long race, but it doesn't make it any less challenging.  The best part is that I will have a chance to run with the professionals and off road legends on motorcycles, quads, and cars.

 I will have 24 hours to get across the state, trying to keep Trophy Trucks behind me, and trying to beat the night.  If it comes to it, I will be running in pitch black, with only a headlight, getting passed by trucks that are capable of 140 mph IN THE DIRT!  This is incredible and terrifying all at once.  I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend.

Bikes that have come and gone.

Since I first tried to get the Vegas to Reno show rolling a few years ago I have had a few bikes come and go.  A few winners, and a few I was glad to let go.  First thing you all have to understand is I tend to go for either practical or odd.  Not sure why, but if its a solid runner or if it was just some thing you don't see every day I was into it.  The new 4 strokes are here to stay, but I still love everything about a 2 stroke and even the old tractor 4 strokes.  The new bikes are obviously the way to go if you want to best of the best technology has to offer, but as a hobby racer, I do not have the time or money to rebuild the bike at least twice before this race.

Since the idea of racing the KX500 I have always longed for another desert ready KX5.  I passed on the idea of going this route for 2 reasons.  First, they are getting hard to come by in good shape, and I would really like to find an old retired team green bike and let it loose back into the desert, and secondly I wanted a bike with a plate.  Here in Temecula there are a lot of killer desert riding areas that are closed off to everything that isn't street legal.  With the plate I can do half day or morning training rides and be back for dinner.  I want the seat time but don't want to miss out on local opportunities.

Here is a quick rundown on my bike history.  Each bike made me realize what I really wanted in a bike and what was and was not necessary in a long haul race.  I will just mention the desert bikes and by pass my stints back into motocross.

1989 KTM 500 DXC
This bike has a great reputation in its hay day in Baja and Australia.  At one time this bike had the highest horsepower rating of any production dirt bike, at 64HP.  I got it all Bro'd out and spent a lot of time scraping paint.  It road pretty good but parts are very hard to come by.  I needed something with a reliable parts source.  Wheels, top end parts, all parts seemed very hard and expensive to come by.  If I can every get to the point of having a second fun bike, this will be one I keep in mind.  Outside of maybe the NORRA Mexican 1000, I don't think this would have been a great choice for Vegas to Reno.

This is the potential of what it could have been.

More bikes to come.  Along with ride reports and the opinions and comments of the "Average Joe" racer that I am.

Years later the dream remains.

To anyone that might have looked at this for even a split second and wondered what the hell happened between the last post and now.........well, life happened.

The initial attempt at the BITD Vegas to Reno race never took off.  Team mate went to the other coast, went through a handful of bikes, got out of the military, went back to school full time, went to work full time, had a baby, moved to another town, and changed jobs a few times, to name a few things.  It happens, I know, but every years I look ahead into August and hope this will be the year. But every year things come up or I just can't drop it all to prep, train, and race.

So fast forward to 2015.  I am several months away from finishing up my degree, I have a good job in the Aerospace Industry, we live even closer to riding areas, I still have a bike, I have done a lot more desert races over the past few years, and I still dream of Vegas to Reno.  With the good things comes the bad, mainly I have gotten out of shape.   I am far from  the shape I was when I was in the military.  There is just nowhere near the amount of "runnin and gunnin" in the cube farms that there once was with the Marines.  Instead of morning PT, ruck runs, and miserably long field Ops, its early morning commutes to sit in a cube and glaring into a desktop all day.  I think I have fallen into the slump a lot of infantry guys fall into when they get out.  I have no goal, no mission, no reason to train, no purpose to sweat and bleed.  I am hoping with a future goal and a sense of purpose my discipline will kick back in and I can focus.

Back to the mission at hand.  The goal at the moment is to prepare to race the 2016 Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno off road race.  Prepare myself, my bike, and a support team.  At this point it will be a solo run, but if I can get another rider that can roll with the punches and I can get along with, this may change.  Until then, this is going to be a one man show.

Over the past few years of dreaming I have gained a lot more knowledge and experience in the desert, on bikes, solo riding, and learned more about myself.  Since the military I have worked in the motorcycle industry, tactical industry, and the aerospace industry.  Each of which have started with talking to somebody about bikes and how one day I want to race this race.  Funny thing is, all of these great opportunities started with a conversation about motorcycles.  It's crazy that my life changed and doors were opened because of a shared passion of motorcycles.

Anyways, I'm back in the game.  Forming a solid program, got pounds to shed, got bikes to prep, and got just over  a year to prepare myself for the early morning flag drop.

Is this thing on!?