Aging

          I have been feeling some weight of lately. Maybe it is just the post action blues from making the move over the summer and now having my own shop finally. Maybe it is just something I feel every year when the sun is not out as long and we are forced to set our clocks back an hour. Or maybe it is just the struggle of living 13 hours away from my beloved wife, my soul companion, life force, my best friend. Anyhoo, I was pretty excited to load up and hit the road and drive 14 hrs straight east to the three day Oklahoma Gold Rush Grand Prix. Not only is it a multi day weekend of different races at the most beautiful Hallet Motor Speedway but it is only a few hours from my Love. She was to meet me there. Baja dog and I arrived and got a few hours of good sleep in the back of the old van and enjoyed some track café breakfast burritos. Cowboy, also only a few hours away tracked down to join us as well. First up was the supermoto and I had my dirt track racing wheels mounted up for the cold and wet multi surface track. I battled hard with a local fellow. In the main my muffler innards came apart and clogged my spark arrester with fiber glass packing. Old Molly the CRF450X was sounding like a muffled Honda Helix scooter every few laps. I fought hard right up to the checkered flag for the win and like a fairy tale scene, my beloved princess had arrived just in time to see the finish and was there waiting for me as I took off my sweat soaked battle armor. It had been almost one month since I had last seen her and damn was she fine to hold again. That night was the infield motocross. I battled hard again managing to get up to 2nd place in the main event after a shit start. The next day was the premier race; The 2 hour Grand Prix. As we awaited the starter's flag to fly straddling our front wheel between our knees facing our bike backwards, I realized that I was the only one on the front (pro class) line without a KTM, or an electric start magic button. Or a bike made in the last decade. I got a clean leg over my stead and made a successful stroke of my kick starter. By the first turn I had several pumpkins in front of me but the leader bobbled just a tiny bit and I smoothly applied throttle until I was exiting the first corner in the lead and wide fucking open I went out of that field and onto the road race track. My knobbies were drifting all over but I held the lead off of the pavement and into some 5th gear rolling grass track and then onto the previous night's motocross track for a lap. My trusty red headed stead Molly felt like the well worn comfortable glove she is. As the course went into the dark and tight wooded section that made up the majority of the Grand Prix I felt like I was dreaming; Leading the whole pack of racers, the gold and brown oak tree leaves covered the trail, by the 2nd lap all of the sketchy roots, rocks, and ruts were exposed. Some mud pits but mostly magic Velcro red clay dream dirt. On the 2nd lap I started to get a bit of tingle hand and I tried to slow down and relax a bit to shake it off but I could see 2nd place charging right behind my with their shinny new KTM, single digit pro plate and all. I charged on and got the pit sign from my darling Cookie. "Gas next" or did it say "DICK TITS"? I pitted for gas and saw the young KTM pro take my lead. It was at this moment that I wished I had put on my other fuel tank with the dry brake and brought along my quick full gas can. I put the stretch to my throttle cable and bashed out another flawless lap regaining my lead when the other rider pitted for fuel, pulling out only a couple of bike lengths behind me. I rode all six laps with out a mistake or even a bobble and when I crossed the finish line 2nd place was nowhere near. This was my first overall at a major off road race. I have been trying for it in the Expert/Pro class now for over ten years. I felt good, especially with my Love there at the finish. It was the most fun she has ever had at one of my races cheering me on.
We went and got a room in Tulsa. Without my partner Sir Mick who is healing a broken collar bone I opted out of partaking in Sunday's team race and went to stay the remainder of the week with my Cookie at her college student home in eastern Kansas. Time together for her and me is now more valuable than anything else in my life. A few days later Baja, my trusty sidekick of over 12 years now had a bit of an episode. Like a seizure or a stroke. Her eye balls darted around like ricochet bb pellets in a beer can. It was one of the most awful, scary things I have ever seen. After a few minutes she snapped right out of it and went straight to fetch her stuffed toy. Two days later she did it again, I awoke to her unable to get up and flopping around the floor in a giant puddle of her pee. She didn't snap out of it but after a day her eyes slowed to a rolling around and after a few more days she was able to go to the bathroom on her own and after a few more she could eat on her own. I am happy to say that after two weeks she is very recovered though she is for sure not the same dog as before. It is like the poor old girl feels like she just got off the merry-go-round. Her world is spinning but she is doing very well and most importantly I can tell she is not in pain and has a better attitude about it than I do. She has taught me more about living than any other soul I have ever known. I am blessed with having some of the best companionship a dirtbike bum could ever dream of. With her condition and my Cookie's homesickness I opted out of the LA/Barstow to Vegas even though I have a special new/old bike prepared, we are all together, at home, this thanksgiving weekend; I have much to be thankful for!!! 
Don't forget to live good and hard because someday your going to be dead!