A Pivotal Moment! — I Still Don't Know What I'm Doing

The story I am about to tell truly changed my life forever. The more I look back and study this turn of events, the more I realize that these events are what shaped me into who I am and what I do. They are the very reason that I am an entrepreneur and probably the reason I am writing this blog and hopefully someday book. It is going to take quite a few posts to cover all of what happened but I will start with the first seemingly small step up what became and still is a massive mountain that I am headed for the top of.

The winter of 2004/2005 was a cold one back in Gunnison. I had graduated MMI and was working in the moto industry. I was reunited with my love and life was settling down a bit. The one insatiable appetite I had was motorcycles. I couldn’t get enough. I was traveling hours in the middle of winter to ride because it was too snowy in Gunni. Pre-mix was coursing through my veins and there was nothing I could do about it but ride. Ruth was super supportive because I was home finally. To say I was obsessed would be a monumental understatement. Then one day in early 2005 I found out that a movie called Dust To Glory was being released. It was a small budget film about the Baja 1000 by the son of the now late great Bruce Brown who made Endless Summer and On Any Sunday.

You might remember that one of my earliest memories of motorcycles was watching the Baja 1000 on TV as a kid and being fascinated. When I heard that this movie was coming out I hunted for theaters it would be playing in and found one on the front range. Like I said, it was a small film, it wasn’t going to be “coming to a theater near you.” I called my buddies in Ft. Collins and we made a plan to get together and see it in the theater. I was stoked but I had no idea what was about to happen. The trajectory of my life was getting ready to change in 1 hour and 37 minutes.

I remember watching that movie and it was as if I have been engulfed in a cloud of silt at 70 miles an hour and emerged a completely different person. Watching Mouse McCoy solo that race touched my soul, literally. I felt something so deep and so primal that I still search for words to describe it. I walked out of the movie theater and called Ruth. It was evening and I am sure she expected to hear me talk about the movie and the time with my friends but as she picked up the phone I had one piece of news. “Ruth, I am going to solo the Baja 1000.” That one phrase and decision changed EVERYTHING!

The funny thing about moments like this in our lives is that they never seem all that earth-shattering or important when they happen. At the moment it was just another goal, another athletic thing I wanted to try. I had no idea that it would be the catalyst for every part of my life moving forward.

Thanks again for reading this pile of words on your screen. I appreciate all of you so much. If you like it, give it a like, a share, or a comment below and share on your socials if you feel so inclined. This story is going to take a while to tell so strap your helmets on tight because it gets fun, exciting, ugly and fast!

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