My favorite race of the year is the Desert 100 put on by the Stump Jumpers, from Washington. They are a family oriented, off-road, motorcycle club that loves to have fun while promoting motorcycling and the safe use of motorcycles. The world famous Desert 100 started in 1969 (once known as Mattawa) and has been the most prestigious off road race of the year for everyone north of California. Racers come from all over the states, and even further, to participate. Personally I started going to this race about 25 years ago and have only missed two years in all that time. It was just me and my Dad in a small camper. We would ride the Poker Run on Saturday, and then on Sunday Dad was my pit crew for the big race.
Over the years I have made a lot of friends, and started bringing family and friends along for the fun. Now we have crew of about 25 to 30 people doing the Poker Run and about 10 of us doing the Desert 100 on Sunday. 2014 will be the first year my son will be doing the full 100 miles with me and I’m pretty excited about it. I really don’t how to explain what it feels like to be standing 50 paces away from your bike, hearing the cannon go off and running to your bike to get off the line with hundreds of bikes all lined up in a row. This is one of the last races in the US that starts this way. There are a lot of people that go down hard in those first 4 or 5 miles and when you see a helicopter over head you can guarantee someone is not having a good day…. but for some reason it’s like a magnet… you just have to go back year after year. I’m in the 50 to 60 year bracket now and still can’t wait to kick some rookies butt. Search for Desert 100 on YouTube if you want to see some action.
