Above everything else, I am an endless adventure seeker and history enthusiast. I ride because I love to explore. I have seen things on two wheels which most people will never see. I have visited hard to reach ghost towns, mines, historical points of interest and experienced some of the most amazing geologic features and wildlife. I have met many interesting people, made lifelong friendships, and discovered some amazing food and drink destinations along the way. I have been exploring my home state of Nevada for most of my life, and I am not even halfway done. I am inspired to continue to explore until I have seen everything this state hides and ridden every trail in every valley and mountain range.
My love for two wheels began when my parents bought me a brand new 1988 XR100 as a 6th-grade graduation gift. Some of my friends already had bikes, so I had to learn to ride pretty quickly to keep up with them. I soon graduated to an XR200, then several XR250s, an XR600 named Big Johnson (sold to me by the legendary Rich Thorwaldson), and a 2001 XR650R, which I desert raced in the MRANN Series for more than five years. I have since had a fleet of various KTMs, including a 2004 525 EXC, a 2008 450 XCF hybrid with the 525 motor stuffed into the chassis, a 2012 350 XCF, a 2014 450 XCF, and my current ride, a 2017 450 XCF.
My favorite type of riding is “gwarly singletrack” (Gwarly is a step above Gnarly in difficulty on the trail rating scale for those not familiar.). I enjoy linking together huge loops of difficult trail with the least amount of road as possible. I enjoy going on all-day rides and pushing the limits of the gas tank and daylight. I love to race desert and enduro events, but motocross isn’t for me. (I only leave the ground if the ground leaves me.)
I have been fortunate enough to have so many epic and legendary rides it’s hard to single one favorite memory. I think the ride that would be most memorable would be riding the South Fork of The Salmon River in Idaho with Jon and Charles from Rekluse, along with my friends Keith, Josh, and Jim. In a nutshell, the saga is we were nearing the end of an epic day when Keith lost his bike off the edge of a cliff. The result was riding miles in the dark to the town of McCall to seek help from a fellow rider and friend. It was an epic day, of which the crazy details and insane video can be found here.
Nevada is my home and the best state for riding, in my opinion. You can go from wide-open desert valleys to dense pine forests, to vertical slot canyons, to 11 thousand feet tall mountain peaks in a single ride. I can camp and ride in remote parts of the state for weeks at a time and not see another human. The vastness and solitude can create situations which potentially can turn into a matter of survival. You must possess the riding skill and be prepared for anything to return from the desert safely. Nevada is the last frontier of the West. You quickly get a sense of how early westward settlers felt traversing this vast landscape.
2 Comments
Great post Nate! Well said and all true. Makes me yearn for no snow and 10 degrees warmer now!
Where are those beehives? Great writeup!
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