Believe it or not, it wasn't some strange Dirt Rider April Fools joke. We were really going through with our Internet Bike story and everyone showed up at 8:30 a.m. last Monday morning. We chose the Keysville Recreation Area above Bakersfield, California for its scenic beauty and fun trails that didn't favor any kind of bike and gave us a chance to ride them around for an initial evaluation.
When we arrived the KTMTalk guys had a pit area set up, the 300 XC prominently displayed. The CRFsOnly 450X was being prettied up. A.J. from Service Honda had been prowling the area for the past few days and was ready with the Dirt Rider.Net CR500AF. Dirt Rider.com was well represented with Dave Dye, who use to wrench for Chad Reed, and all-around off-road guy Ty Davis lending support on our Yamaha YZ250.Then the ThumperTalk guys rolled in with their DR-Z.
The ThumperTalk.com DRZ47...
The ThumperTalk.com DRZ475
There was a quick meet and greet, a flurry of photos as the weather was turning a little bad and a quick riders meeting to give the plan for the day. We went out and shot action photos for as long as we could before the rain really started pouring. (No, photo shoots and testing the bikes are two different things, if we shot photos of us testing the bikes the magazine would put you to sleep.) Next was a real surprise as the KTMTalk guys threw a super tri-tip BBQ lunch. I want to go riding with guys that put on spreads like these, they must really think we can be bought off through our stomachs. Good thing there was a lot of food, we were going to need it.
Dirtrider.net CR500AF
Dirt Rider's YZ250
CRFsOnly.com Honda CRF450...
CRFsOnly.com Honda CRF450X
Our next plan was to take the bikes on a quick shakedown loop. And as usual we went the extra mile. The ThumperTalk DRZ was on it's own shakedown loop and missed our ride (come on guys, we know you love your bike, but you have to turn it over so we can test it...). And a few miles into the ride, Karel Kramer followed his instinct of never riding with me past 2:30pm. A few wisely followed his lead while the rest of us, Ty Davis, Ryan Orr, Chris Denison, Jesse Ziegler, Derek Steahly and a few KTMTalk guys (who have real names and internet handles which means I'm doubly confused about who they are!) got up into some snow. Here's the interesting part. Have you ever heard the tale of the three blind men and the elephant? No that wasn't the DR staff at lunch, it is how the story has evolved about our ride. You really owe it to yourself to take a look at some of the reports on the participating web sites if you have the time. And if I get the time, I'll give you the JL version of the story too...We'll call it a Weekday Warrior!
We're out testing the bikes now and it is going to be a really good story come August issue time. So until then let the speculation begin because we'll lay it all down in the pages of Dirt Rider.