thoughtnot

I’ve found a new hobby! And probably to the shock of my dad, it involves getting dirty! Of course, not in HIS sense of getting dirty. That would be me digging a ditch or a post-hole so I could build a barn or put a bird house on a pole or something. I’ve been often accused of not liking to get dirty, but that’s not true! I can tolerate “dirty work” if I enjoy what I’m doing (e.g. riding horses). But of course, THIS has nothing to do with work…

Like a few of my other hobbies over the years, I have to blame my friend Troy for this one. Prior to October 2008, riding a 4-wheeler is not something I had really thought much about. I’d ridden his a time or two around the farm, but I had never “gone 4-wheeling”. Not in the true sense of travelling somewhere to ride a marked trail. But it sounded fun! So when the opportunity came along last October to go on a 4-wheeling trip to West Virginia, I was game!

I’ve written before about how I am somewhat of a “hobby-jumper”. Perhaps it’s the appeal of and desire to try new things that causes my interests to drift. Of course, usually I stick with a hobby unless something gets in the way of it. For example, road cycling was fun until I was hit by a Jeep. I picked up mountain biking, but I crashed too much and was too unbalanced to stick with it for long (but I still ride the bike!). I enjoy playing guitar, but my fingertips crack badly and it hurts to play sometimes. I really love working with horses, but finances got in the way of that one for years. I’ve recently renewed that hobby, though, and hope to show cutting horses this year. And hey… I’m still driving and working on my truck!

Back to the trip… Along with our friend Danny, I found a place in WV to rent a 4-wheeler and signed my life on the dotted line. Those rental agreements are more treacherous than the trails!. I packed my bag and a “survival” backpack for the 4-wheeler, and we headed south for the weekend to the Hatfield-McCoy Trails. We arrived at our cabin on a Friday evening and met up with Troy’s dad, our friend Mark, and his dad Jerry. From there we went into the town of Mann for a bite to eat. Danny joined us later. The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur, but suffice to say everyone had a great time. =)

On Saturday morning, our 4-wheelers arrived. They were well-used, but ran fine. We rode into town for breakfast, which I only choked down because I knew I’d need it. Suffice to say I wasn’t feeling 100% that morning. lol! We then hit the trailhead and headed up the mountain. I nearly wrecked 5 minutes into the ride when my wheel grabbed the side of the mountain on a switchback! It took a few minutes to work out the pain, but eventually I got the feel of it and had no further incidents. That is, until Troy lead us up a “black diamond” (expert level!) trail. That’s when I rolled my 4-wheeler on it’s side while climbing up some steep rocks and whacked my knee pretty good. Fortunately the bent handlebars were fixable and the knee healed.

I won’t go into the rest of the details except to say that, overall, it was a BLAST!! Danny and I really got into the speed-factor. I really wish we had been able to ride more while we were there, and I look forward to going again in the future. However, I don’t want to just go back there… I want a 4-wheeler!! That way I can ride without worrying about scratching it, and can go other places, too. Unlike mountain biking, I see a greater ability to do this while enjoying the fun stuff like campfires, cabins, comraderie, and some great scenery. And it does require a bit of physical stamina.

I’ve been wanting to write about this for a while, but have been waiting to get my pictures from the trip scanned in. Next time, I’ll opt for digital development! If you want to check them out, click here or on the picture above.