Riding……A Family Tradition

We went riding this past weekend at my Great Uncle Donnie’s property near Gorman, CA. My daughter Bailey has graduated from her 50 to 85KX. This was her first trip using a clutch and she was very nervous about the new bike, it is much bigger and faster.

As soon as we got there Uncle Donnie came out and started talking to her, teaching her about the bike. “You need to let the clutch out easy at first and get on the gas pretty hard”. I heard him telling her. All of a sudden I had a full circle moment. “OK, a little more gas...more …more….let out the clutch a little more”. Stall, “Ok let’s try again”. This went on about three more times and then….off she rode. It was like I was 10yrs old again, sitting on one of Uncle Donnie’s old dirt bikes, stalling out. I got a little choked up and then it occurred to me, Uncle Donnie has taught my whole family how to ride dirt bikes.

It’s funny I never thought about it before. But he has taught generations of my family to ride. My dad, my uncles, his own children, grand children, me, my brothers and now my daughter all learned to ride from the same man. He even gave us a place to ride when he bought about 80 acres of land with Uncle Eddie in the early 60’s and that has been the family gathering spot ever since. There are a couple of tracks for the kids to ride. My Great Aunt Betty would be yelling at us all day for breaking all the rules. But we didn’t care, we were riding! Little did I know I would be yelling at the kids saying the exact same things she once said to us?

I wonder if they knew they were starting a family tradition so strong in our family that it would carry on from generation to generation. It would even impact who we would marry, because if you didn’t ride, you weren’t even on my radar when I was dating.

I want to give a little background about Uncle Donnie and Aunt Betty. My grand mothers little brother was born and raised in Kansas City, MO and later lived in Dodge City, KS. He married Aunt Betty when they were very young. That is where he discovered bikes. They moved to California in the 50’s. He has been riding and racing dirt bikes since the inception pretty much. His first bike was a Triumph.

He can mesmerize you for hours with his stories. From selling bootleg when he was a kid with his dad back in Missouri to riding with Steve McQueen. Even though he has lived out here a long time he still has the greatest accent. The best time of the day was always sitting around the fire and listening to his stories. Now days we get the stories in the morning, he doesn’t like to stay up late anymore.

Aunt Betty died a few years ago and my grandma followed not to long after. I know they are watching him from heaven and Aunt Betty would have been proud of me for giving him a hard time when he put on his baseball cap and sun glasses to "cruise" the desert to visit the neighbors.

Bailey likes to say “My Uncle Donnie is a real cowboy”. I have to agree with her, only his horse is a dirt bike. He is just a rough rider that continues to teach us riding is a very real part of our family. It is what we all get together and do all year long and keeps this family together.

So, this one is for you Uncle Donnie & Aunt Betty!! Thank you both for bringing the desert into our lives. I don’t now where we’d be without it.