The beginning of another enduro – a sea of Husky testosterone! (pic 06) Ah yes…the left-kick 430….surprisingly, I had no trouble starting it without getting off the bike and right-kicking like so many did. This must have been in 1985 as I finally purchased my very own boots! (pic 09) Here Dick and I are getting ready to leave the camp site after the gas stop / lunch break. I wish I still had that bike - what a bullet-proof work horse. (pic 08) In 1985 Dick bought another new Husky - the latest technology, water-cooled WR400. Near the middle of the 1986 season he had a bad wreck and hurt the guy he ran into. Although Dick wasn’t hurt, it sort of “changed his outlook” and combined with failing eyesight (he was 56 and couldn’t get used to bifocals) he decided to hang it up after the season. I was getting married and Dick was the motivation for me, so I too sold the bike and exited the dirt-bike world. Fast-forward to 2008, I got the bug, got a TE250 and entered BER’s Rattlesnake Enduro in Crossforks PA. Dick has a camp down the road from Crossforks and he badly wanted to see how enduros changed since the 22 years we last rode. The second last picture shows us before the start – his wife Joanie, in the middle, is responsible for all the previous photos (new gear, but I’m still wearing my boots from the 80’s). The last picture shows him after he took my bike at the gas stop and rode it past my wife….the expression on his face (now at 78 years old) says it all – priceless) Note the “Sandy Lane NJ Enduro” shirt he’s wearing that he saved all those years. (pics 10 11) Sadly, Dick passed away this April – closing in on his 80th birthday. The friendships that are forged while riding these “toys”, playing in the mud like kids, is just impossible to comprehend.
