Lacey Middlestead is a Montana native and freelance writer currently living in Helena, Mont. She loves meeting new people and helping share their stories. When she’s not busy writing articles for newspapers like the Independent Record and Helena Vigilante, she can usually be found indulging in her second greatest passion–playing in the Montana wilderness. She loves skiing and snowmobiling in the winter and four wheeling, hiking, boating, and riding dirt bikes in the summer.
Two weeks ago I hit my final puck of the hockey season with the thwack of a hopeful stick. Unfortunately, the goalie was the victor on that Sunday. But when the final buzzer sounded, I knew it wasn’t just marking the end of hockey season but also the beginning of dirtbike season!
While I have already rode my bike twice this year, last night was the first time I made it out with both my dad and fiancé…..and we’re pretty much the Three Musketeers when it comes to riding. With my oil freshly changed and my handlebars swapped out for taller ones to make riding easier, I couldn’t wait to hit the mountain trails. Thanks Dad!
We pulled up to our usual parking spot at Sheep Mountain out in Clancy and starting getting changed. All of us struggled a little with remembering the systematic order of putting on motocross gear instead of hockey gear. Any my only thought every year is why the heck do you seem to wear so much less gear to ride high speed bikes than when you play hockey? In hockey you’re padded up like a rhino is going to hit you. I always say I’m going to switch the gear sets so I feel more protected on my bike. My dad always laughs at that but admits that I do bring up a valid point.
After dressing, we unloaded the bikes, ran their engines for a few minutes to get them warm and we were ready to go! Andy took the lead, followed by me in the middle and my dad picking up the end. We didn’t have to ride down the trail much for me to notice how much better my handlebars felt. I could more fully extend my legs when standing and not feel like I was hunched over steering with T-rex arms.
The trail system on Sheep Mountain is awesome, but you’ll get lost in hurry with all the intermingling loops. Andy has most of the loops programmed to memory by now. My dad and I, on the other hand, usually don’t have a clue in hell where we are or how to get back to the truck. Thus we tail after Andy hoping he won’t lead us astray.
When we came to the first steep downhill section, I groaned inside my helmet. I recognized the spot and remembered it being especially steep and windy down between the trees. I dropped my bike into first gear, took a deep breath and began inching down the trail. I’m pretty sure I held my breath most of the way to the bottom, but I made it!
We came to another downhill section later on that I’ve practiced going down at higher speeds, but I’m still always a bit wary. When we got to the bottom of that hill, we paused for few minutes. “I want to see you doing this going downhill,” my dad said making flipping gestures with his finger. I knew instantly that he meant he wanted to see me clicking up gears and going faster downhill. It is a long-standing joke between us that I hate going downhill on pretty much anything—bicycles, snowmobiles, dirtbikes, etc. “I’m trying, I’m trying,” I said laughing.
For about an hour and a half we sped around on different loops, occasionally doing part of a loop in reverse on the second go-around. Andy was the only one who had a minor wreck after taking a corner too tight. He may have laid the bike over on top of his leg, but at least he missed hitting a nearby tree. He took the fall in good stride though…..only really complaining about bending his brake lever and getting his new riding gear dirty. My dad just reminded him jokingly, “If you aren’t crashing, you aren’t riding fast enough.” Of course this is easy for him to say since he’s raced motocross since he was a kid.
Overall, it was a successful night of riding. When we finally made it back to the truck and started changing, Andy made fun of me for my dirt mustache. Oh the joys of following someone on dusty trails! But I just figure, if I have that much dirt on my face it must be because I was able to keep pretty good pace with him……..something I’m just starting to be able to do. And with our first race of the season coming up in June, I’m all for picking up a little speed.