If you recall, after the last HS, we made plans to go to Joe and Ellen Jesse's farm in Rocky Mount, do some riding on Saturday, and ride the HS on Sunday...since it was only a few miles away from Joe's place. I drove over from Richmond and Bobby drove up from the OBX Saturday. Jim Whiting and Scott Wilson came up from Raleigh and more riders were expected to arrive later that day.

As usual, we waited till Saturday morning at the farm to do any motorcycle maintenance (Chapter 1 in "Bob White's School of Motorcycle Maintenance"), so that we would have optimum working conditions, and lots of pressure to get the job done quickly before we went on any trail rides. Bobby put a new rear tire on his 250 EXC, cleaned his filter, (sorry about that brown spot on your newly planted grass, Joe) and did the basics.

If you will recall, I had sent my fork and shock off for a revalve to W.E.R., but the shock now felt too soft, while the fork felt pretty good. Bobby also was complaining about his shock being too soft, so I ordered a new spring for his bike based on his weight (if he wasn't so overweight) and planned to put his spring on my bike (his spring was a #2 progressive, the next stiffer for mine). Anyway, we pulled the shocks off (KTM has got to have the easiest shock removal going!), swapped all the springs around and reinstalled everything. Along the way, we discovered that the locking collar on Bobby's bike was broken (a common problem), and Jim Whiting, remembering the chapter on improvising from my book, suggested that if we only had a really large hose clamp, we could put that around the collar as a temporary fix. No problem, as I rooted around in our spacious, well lit, completely stocked, 8 X 12 Haulmark Race Trailer and found the exact clamp we needed.

We set my static and race sags according to the specs WER returned to me, and set Bobby's to C-Cycle's specs as they supplied the spring. (C-Cycle has a great website that lists practically every bike known to man with proper suspension settings spring rates, etc, based on rider weight and riding conditions. There are located in New England, and work with a lot of riders from that area who ride real rocks and roots).

We went out for a ride and Bobby came back beaming. He said the bike was turning better that ever (amazing what setting the proper sag does to a bike). My bike felt like a new bike too, as the rear end now felt much better and I didn't feel like I was riding a "stink-bug". We couldn't wait to get to the race the next day.

We did a couple more rides in the mountains around Joe's farm before dark, came back and decided to get down to some serious drinking. Jim had brought a bottle of Vodka and we had tonics (which is a very pleasant drink to end a day of riding) and once again we ending up partying to all hours of the night (well, for me, until 9:00 pm when we ran out of Vodka and it was too late to switch to beer). Too bad I didn't stay up a little later, because Sam Chalk showed up with what I assumed were more liquid refreshments, about a half hour after I retired. Naturally, everyone else now had a reason to stay up to 2 or 3 in the morning, playing pool and bench racing--while I was blissfully unaware.

Next morning I was up early and ready to go to the hare scrambles, but everyone else was moving way slow. Finally, the group decision was to blow off the HS, which was fine with me, since the riding around Joe's place is great. Besides that, this was Joe's club race and he had to work one of the checks, and my race strategy was to again try to get him to punch my card with all the necessary holes, drink beer and wait for race to end. But just like the last race, he wouldn't do it, so my hopes for a top five finish were dashed again.

I sorta got even with Joe since he was working the race and left his bike behind. I rode his 200MXC all day rather than my 125EXC. His suspension felt very similar to mine, and since Joe is light years faster than me, and rides rocks all the time, I felt pretty good about my suspension. Unfortunately, I also found out I could ride his 200 (with a smashed flat pipe) a lot faster than my 125, so I guess a KTM 200 is in my future.

I've enclosed a couple of pictures of Joe and Ellen's mountain retreat. For those of you that have never been there, do not pass up an invitation to go there. Probably, the prettiest place I've ever been and these pictures do not do it justice! It is actually located close to the old Martinsville Enduro Trail and if any of you ever remember riding Fork Mountain, the "Rock Garden" and the "Cat Steps" they are all on their property.

New to the property is their new "house". Joe says that he finally has the ideal home--a garage with a bathroom and kitchen. Randall Parker donated a pool table, we're going to donate a stereo system, and more things will start showing up.

PS I've also enclosed a picture of some Riverfront property Sally and I are in the process of buying. It's about 30 miles south of Richmond, it's 30 acres....big enough for her and Jesse to have some horses and me to have a 3 Car garage and a MX track (you have to keep them happy but keep your own priorities right). The best thing is that this is in Charles City county, with a population of about 6,000, and miles and miles of forests!

This view is looking across the James River toward Hopewell, " The Chemical Capital of the South". To the right you can see the edge of an island and beyond it (and smell if the wind is right), are the Hopewell plants. To the left is the Benjamin Harrison Bridge, one of the president dudes whose plantation was just south of the bridge. In fact, this whole area is loaded with 1600 and 1700 plantations