Keep the Rubber Side Down

Growing up in SE Texas I never rode a motorcycle.  Never even gave it much thought.   I played all types of competitive sports and was pretty much a "goody two-shoes".  Motorcycles were for the "Bad Boys".  After finishing college at Lamar U and moving to Chattanooga, I was working with some guys that had dirt bikes.  Every weekend they would talk about going to the abandon strip mine on Flat Top Mountain and how much fun it was.  I was about to finish graduate school and thought that might be fun.  At their encouragement I bought my first bike.   A Suzuki 185cc dual purpose off road motorcycle.  I had driven autos, pickups, tractors, dump trucks and pulled about every kind of farm implement you can imagine, but never ridden a two-wheeler. 

Being the cheap guy I was (and still am), I found the best buy in Huntsville, Alabama.  When I got the bike home, I decided to give it a try.  It started on the first kick and I started out the drive way, when I hit the road, I got the brake and clutch confused and laid it down.  I had driven it 15 feet and already wrecked it.  (I believe this is known as for foreshadowing in the literary world).   The guys had promised to pick me up the next morning and take me to the mountains.  The next day I was excited and pretty nervous to say the least.  I didn't have any motorcycle gear so I but on my old Wranglers and Justin cowboy boots.  At least I was in somewhat of a comfort zone.

We got to Flat Top Mountain and I was advised to remove the rear view mirrors, which I did.
I don't recall much of the details of the day, but I know that I had a blast.  The terrain was rough and muddy with a lot of hills and ridges.   My buddies liked to climb hills.  It was on these hills that I removed the rest of the unnecessary equipment on the bike.

When I returned home that evening, I was hooked.  I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew that I had found a hobby I would pursue for a long time.  From that time forward every day off was spent on some mountain trail.  I removed what was left of the non essential equipment.  I replaced the original trial tires with a full set of knobby tires.  I installed a larger rear sprocket in order to improve my hill climbing.  I even bought a pair of lineman boots to replace my Justins. I was starting to fit in. 

I found out some of my graduate school classmates rode and I made some trips with them.  It was a lot more popular than I ever realized.  The Chattanooga area was a great place for trail riding.  Within 20 miles of town you could ride in places in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.  When I wasn't on the ground with my face in the mud, I saw some beautiful scenery.

My riding skill level was improving with each trip to the wilderness.  It was on Flat Top Mountain that I did my first "Wheelie".  I rode up an incline and when I hit the flat surface I was riding on the rear wheel.  My co riders were impressed.  I didn't tell them that it was an accident and it scared the crap out of me. 

That little Suzuki was a reliable bike. Since most of the maintenance required was replacing parts that I had broken, I was able to do it myself.  I replaced the factory fenders with some Preston Petty plastic ones.  Levers and cables were damaged.  Foot pegs and shift levers straightened.

After trail riding for about a year, I was starting to feel competitive with my friends.  When we were riding trails,  I had to pass the guy in front of me.  Someone  suggested that we should enter a competitive event.  They knew about some Enduro coming up in the Smoky Mountain area near Knoxville.  I didn't know what that was, but I was going to find out sooner than I realized.