Not too many people can say they’ve done something for 28 years consecutively, except breathe. It all started with Scot Harden and Casey Folks deciding they were going to meet once a year to go trail riding. The plan was to gather some friends and excuses to not show would not be accepted. That was 28 years ago and they’ve been meeting in Caliente, Nevada every year since. The name of the gathering is the Nevada 200. I’ve been making the trek up for the past ten years and only missed one a couple years ago when my son was born. I figured mom might have been mad if I was out roosting while she was giving birth. I tried discussing it with her but it really didn’t go over well.Scot and Casey know the area around Caliente like flies know poop so the trails they layout for the three day event take riders through a diverse and beautiful landscape. In my ten years I’ve been rained on, snowed on and dusted out, sometimes just in the course of three days! This year the dirt was a slice of heaven for the first two days but the third day’s cold and wet weather dwindled the group participating drastically, showing who the die-hard riders really were. I admit, the first hour of Sunday’s ride was a bit brutal with monster snow flakes packing up on the goggles, but after a quick three inch snow dump the sun came out and fun factor blew the ceiling off. The chocolate ribbon of trail through the white stuff had Sean Finely, Jesse Ziegler and me spazzing out of joy for the remaining hours of the ride. It would have been so easy to load up and go home in the comforts of the Dirt Rider Dodge but I would have missed what turned out to be the best day of riding out of the trip.The Nevada 200 is an invite-only trail ride but you can get in with some perseverance and a little luck, so if it seems like a good idea (trust us it is) get on it and make it happen. You’ll be surrounded by great people and good times. Go to www.harden-offroad.com or www.bitd.com, beg, borrow and plea your way in.
