it was the first time i've ridden a dirt bike (unless you count the 2 min jaunt in the backyard of my house), so i was very excited. I was told it would be a whole lotta moving around of the front and rear tires, and that i would be sore everywhere afterwards. effort was made to relay the severity of the conditions to me, but i definitely underestimated the true extent of the horrors i was getting into.
first off, on the street or track, i've rarely felt the back tire slide around. definitely less than a dozen times... and every time i was pretty skeered.
when i got on the dirt bike, whether riding through the trail or the mx track, EVERYTHING moved around. i was just overwhelmed by how much the front and rear flops around endlessly. it didn't help that there was mud everywhere, and the fact that i, once again, got too much bike for my own good (yz250f with more than just a bit of work done). this resulted in me falling about 5~6 times or more. I basically stopped counting at 5. 3 of those were tumblers (i was magically going fast enough for me to actually tumble upon hitting the ground).
luckily, i had mx pants with padding in a few places, and a good pair of mx boots, so my injuries were minimal. I had bruises here and there, and the bike is in even better condition than i am. actually, other than the mud plastered all over it, you can't tell i even rode the thing. thank you, bark busters and guards in appropriate places.
the hardest part of the day for me was getting the damn bike started after i inevitably stalled or dropped it. the bike actually starts on 1 or 2 kicks... but you have to be in neutral. and for some reason, neutral was very hard to find, especially with those ridiculous boots. otherwise, the bike is a dream to ride, though i have nothing to compare that experience to, so who knows.
i didn't attempt any jumps of any kind (I am sane and a pansy ass bitch), but i did tackle some easy hill climbs and descents, and managed to get home in 1 piece. there were a few moments there where i thought i was going to get into trouble, but the bike saved me whenever i just let it do the work. in short, dirt riding is awesome, painful, and much cheaper fun than the track.
i originally wanted to get on the dirt bike to help my street/track riding, but this might turn into a completely different obsession all together. that is, if i can get this goddamn piece of shit fucking asshole bike kick started (well, that's what i sounded like in my helmet after my 8th stall).
