Going West!

Where do I start? We decided that we would take a road trip to Sonoma, but as the trip grew near, I switched to a dual-sport adventure in Nevada.  After reading an article in Cycle World, I contacted Matt Ernst at Nevada Motorcycle Adventures.  Once I sent him full payment for the trip, we were set to go the following month.

I contacted my dear old friend Oz Cheek in Carson City to have him come along for a day of riding.  I could not be happier.  Well, the downturned economy hit our guide full force.  It seems that he was closing down his tour company and we were not sure if we were going to be able to take the trip or get our money back.  Oz located our missing guide and we were able to pin him down to do the trip.  So, we were set to be his last guided tour of the year.

In the meantime, Oz and his girlfriend Terry, agreed to ride with us the entire four days, which turned out to make our trip a fantastic journey.  Oz has a great deal of experience in the mountains of Nevada, which was invaluable to us now in in any future plans to ride there.

I can honestly say that the riding was some of the gnarliest, most challenging rocky, hilly, terrain I have ever attempted.  I don't know how Margaret can continually cope with some of the off-road terrain that I throw her way.  I always tell her prior to our trips that she will have no problem with the terrain, but this time I had no idea just how difficult the ride would be for both of us.  Oz has become a very accomplished rider in the years that we have been separated, conquering massive hillclimbs with ease.  I was truly blown away by his newfound skill.

In spite of the fleabag motels, the lack of organization, and the poorly prepared bikes, we had the time of our life, highlighted by hanging out with our dear old friend Oz Cheek and his awesome girlfriend, Terry.  In fact, we all pitched in to cover the expenses as the trip wore on.  We felt bad for our guides predicament , so paying double for the trip was the only thing we could do to help make this ride enjoyable.  Would I do it again?  The answer is:  I can't wait to meet up with Oz and slam through some rocks on my way to 9,000 feet.  I hate to see the predicament that our troubled economy has placed on the small business owner, and I hope Matt at Nevada Motorcycle Adventures can recover to provide such a great ride for many more people to come.