Thursday March 30th 2000:

Show up at TNT to prepare for the weekend and greet the early birds.

I have a conference call to attend at 8pm for the South Carolina Off-Road Enthusiasts.  I am on the call in the middle of TNT and Gomer gets bored.  He decides to chase me all around the track.  The conference call attendees are screaming for me to get off the phone because I am making too much noise as I trip over the doubles on the track as I run from “deliverance!”

Gomer and I are the only ones.  We are waiting on Lisa and Jeff Horn.  We realize they were driving a camper so in the middle of the night (11pm) with no moon we crank up the MX bikes to go see if they got stuck on the entry road.

Gomer kicks and slaps at me as we streak (or slowly poke) to the gate and back.

We give up and go to bed.

Lisa and Jeff show up just after we are soundly asleep.  We BS and get ready for the next day.

Friday March 31st 2000 – SF Day 1:

Exhausted I get up and unload the bike and get ready to ride.  Many of the other Spodes show up for the fun.

Freddie shows up with a shirt that has pictures of his broken leg with pins and metal in it.  On the pictures it says “I got my trophy at TNT!”

The owner of the place thought that was hilarious.

We meet and greet.  We ride.  My bike is running like crap.  We just can’t get it jetted.  We do all sorts of combinations and it doesn’t work.

Tuner shows up and gives riding lessons.  Freddie provides comic relief and Gomer chases Curtis Millers little dog around the doubles instead of me.

I try explaining why I am not riding much by saying how tired I am from being up so late the previous night.  I make the mistake of simply saying “Gomer wore me out…”  Although there was more to those words nobody listened to the rest and just busted a gut laughing.  Freddie gets a big smile on his face and winks at me.  I get extremely nervous <g>.

Tuner and him say, “if you come without a fight we won’t brag about you afterwards,” wink, wink!!

I suddenly get a phone call that there is a package from MX South full of gifts at my house.  Thank God for that… it probably saved my ass (literally <lol> ).

Saturday April 1st 2000 – SF Day 2:

One time in bandcamp… Oh, wrong story… this is the spodefest… oooops.

Steven Eric Romer is supposed to show.  We are planning a wheelie contest and we wait for him.  He never shows.  Wimp <g>  A#1 No Show.

Tuner plays with Gomer’s spark plug but unfortunately someone leaks it to Gomer so he doesn’t spend hours kicking like we were hoping.  Damn it! No April Fools joke.

The rest of the spodes show up.  

I go for a short ride and my bike still is sputtering rich.  All of a sudden it quits.  It won’t start.

Pull apart the carb and the reeds and my new Delta V-force reeds are missing 2 reeds.  Now I know what the problem is.  Thankfully I have my stock reeds.  Slap them in, re-jet and go.  It still doesn’t run perfect.  Tuner makes a twist here, a ride there, a twist here and it comes alive.

3rd gear is no problem through all the trails and provides great wheelies.  Little did I know that would cause one of the highlights later that night.

On the track, Gomer and Ghost Rider race around trying to keep up with an MX East test rider on a Husky 125.  The test rider flew.

On the trail I try to follow Tuner, Freddie, Jimmy (the owner of the park) and a few others.  It doesn’t take long for the rest of us to be left behind.  Tuner, Freddie and Jimmy fly through the woods.

It was amazing to see Freddie go through the woods.  He has nerve damage in his right leg, can’t feel the rear brake and this was the first weekend of real riding for him in over 14 months.  He was easily one of the fastest out there.

Gomer and Tal try to use a helmet cam to get some good footage of the track and trail.  Gomer got a good look at a Spodekill daylight moon as he flew over one double with the camera gear.

Jim Cook lends me his Gas Gas 250.  What a sweeeeeeet ride.  I was faster on that than any other bike.  I was also more out of control.  Luckily I gave it back to him in one piece.

Too bad earlier he hit the bars with his stomach and had to cut his riding short.  I hope it ends up not being anything serious but his belly had a few pretty colors before the end of the night.

Tim Neggee (sp?) lends me his ’00 KLX 300.  The suspension on that was plush and the ride was effortless.  I loved it.

I went from that to Cam Wilson’s super jumping KLX 300 with a pumper carb.  That was sweet too.  Off-topic… Cam can leap that KLX like Seth.  He jumped close to 70 feet and his handlebars went down to the tank.  He puts them back in position and goes out and over-jumps the table top again.

I went to Spodekills KLX 365 and fell in love (well almost).  I had the most fun on that bike and felt in complete control.

Then I rode a REAL bike.  Tuners WR450.  That thing rips.  It is like dating a girl too good for you.  You love it but realize you can’t handle it for long… a fleeting love affair.

Spodekills KLX was more of a love you could trust… The WR was the perfect girlfriend and the KLX 365 was the perfect life partner (this is metaphorical Freddie, don’t get any ideas <lol> ).

Now, I am a 4 stroke fan and putting pennies away to get a DRZ.  I think that is the perfect compromise for me.  I am looking for the lifelong partner <g>

We all do some more trips around the trails or track.  Then we decide it is time for the wheelie contest.

I decide to provide some comic relief and go first.  I go towards the start and short shift into 3rd.  Thanks to the perfect porting from Eric Gorr and Tuners jetting the bike just comes up and stays up.  It pulls from the low RPM up through the mid-range and my front end is still riding high!  I go so far on my first run that as I lay it down perfectly I feel NOBODY will beat my distance so I pull off and forfeit my other 2 attempts.

Nobody comes close until Gomer tries his last attempt.  As a matter of fact… most other wheelies just pale in comparison to my perfectly ridden Doug Domoko impersonating wheelie <g>

Only one was close to being as sweet and that was Gomer’s long wheelie.  While it lacked the perfect technique it was long.  I called him by his given name as he passed my mark “ASSSSSHOLEEEEEEEE!”  He won but later that night after close inspection I found a fender wheel that allowed him to go so far.  Considering the tough luck Gomer has in life by being such an introvert I decided not to tell anyone and let him have his glory.  I guess he just had to have something in his life to cling to <g>

Sunday April 2nd 2000 – Day 3 The End:

I wake early in the morning coughing hard.  The rain is starting to move in.  I just load up my bike.  My riding is done.  

Manchester is out because with the rain coming in those who traveled wanted to get a warm shower more than a ride through the rain.

I go and say goodbye to Lisa and Jeff Horn.  Talk some more with Tim, Curtis, Shannon Lince (he has a fine son) and all the others who I could find.  I am fortunate enough to spend a few final moments with the Wilson’s and realize that being a part of this group of people is one of the most special thing to happen in my life.  I am truly fortunate to have met these fine individuals.

All the kids that showed up were mature, well mannered and fun.  From the Gomer clan to Jeremy Lince to the Wilson boys… I was genuinely impressed with all of these future leaders!  It is great to see such quality in such young faces.

Thanks to all for giving me one of the greatest times in my life.  I am sure it wasn’t the best of all the Spodefests and I am sure there will be others as good or better.  However, it was classic and it was special.  I wish all of you get the opportunity to share as many fun days with as many fine people.

PS… Thanks Jim Cook for helping me straighten my frame.