Raise Up The Man Flag

Few things stir up the hearts of men like mountains and wilderness. Combine them with smokes, beer, and motorcycles and you got yourself a damned fine time.

Royal Blue is a Wildlife Managment Area just south of Jellico Tennessee. Its got trails for offroad vehicles literally all through it... its like a circulatory system... except instead of moving blood around... it moves atvs... and dirtbikes... some faster than others.

There were literally hundreds of atvs there... but very few bikes. I think we saw 1 other adult on a dirtbike there... and maybe a handful of kids. LIke always... JAC and I are the rockstars whereever we go.

We were continually running into folks at the campground who'd say things like, "You on them dirtbikes? I seen y'all today... " Invariably these statements were followed by glowing praise of our riding abilities... which of course spoke more to the ignorance of the complimentor than to our actual gifts. Fact is I am liable to drop my bike 2 or 3 times on a given downhill... and JAC would to if he didn't ride slower than the average tricycle.

Oh... don't get me wrong... its like anything else... after you ride a little you start to relax... then you start riding a lot better. It goes that way until you get tired... or stop longer than just a few minutes. When we were relaxed though... I confess there was some ridin' done. Ol' Nate caught some air... and it wasn't all on accident either!

The fun thing about the KLX is the way it just doesn't give a damn. Rocky hill climb steeper than you could walk up? No problem. Just twist your wrist and hold on. Rocky trails with ruts and grooves and humps big enough to high center the average SUV? BAH... The KLX literally skips right over it all. There were trails that atvs would be crawling across... that I took at 30+ mph.

Then again... there was also a perfectly simple downhill that any girl on an ATV would ride down without a second thought... and I dropped my bike 3 times on it... and ended up walking most of the way.

The good Lord keeps a man humble I suppose...

Anyway.... a fine time was had by all... I would post pictures... but I left the camera at home... it would've been destroyed anyway. Hopefully JAC has some ride reports up... if not I'll tell some individual stories about the ride later.

Now... about that Man Flag...

I owe y'all an apology. Over the last week I've been thinking about the incidents that inspired the man flag post.

Fact is... If I were to discuss the matter at all... it could not be rationally called anything but gossip. I'll not lower the bloggerblaster to gossip. Sorry ladies. If you have to have a scapegoat for the lowering of the Man Flag last week... blame me. I'm the dumbass that almost turned this blog into The Inquirer.

Again.. I apologize.

Never fear though.. the Man Flag flies high again... and while it flew at half-mast for a time.. it's never fallen. So... to any of you of felt a tinge of worry that the man flag incident involved you... rest easy... though I'd advise you to consider your actions carefully in the future.

You should keep it in the fore or your minds men... before you do.. or don't do anything... ask yourself... "Am I bringing shame to the Man Flag?"

Or... as a long time commentor once said... "WWND"