Hill Climb - Riders of the Purple Sage II

Set up a couple hundred feet from bottom
Rev it, pop clutch and run through gears

The Thumper roars

Devil's Hole, Idaho 1976
L-R: Tom Campbell, Jack Ohl,
Charlie Brown III, Jerry "Leadbelly" Salsberry

The vibrations course through your entire body
Take it to the highest speed you feel fairly safe with
Hit the bottom and start climbing that hill

Incline causes loss of momentum
Lose traction
Front end gets lighter
Downshifting to increase torque
Run out of gears short of top

Front wheel bounces high
Bail out, bail out!
Get away from falling metal
Bike lays on hillside

Lift it, heavy
Dead weight
Hand holding brake
Position it pointed downhill

Release brake
Run alongside
Hop on
Pop the clutch
Thumper comes to life

Ride and slide to the bottom
To try again


(For Jack, CB III and Leadbelly - see Riders of the Purple Sage I)

Squirrel Nuts

The following is the absolute truth I swear

I was at the golf course this afternoon

Polishing my single digit handicap a little

(Alright I have lied already

But this is the last time honest!)

I was sitting at a picnic table

Outside the clubhouse

Enjoying a healthy sandwich

(Okay it was a hot dog with everything.)

And I couldn’t help but notice

There were at least a dozen squirrels

Within fifty feet of me

They were all playing Squirrel Nuts

Some were looking

Some were burying

Some were digging up

Some were eating

I don’t know

I was thinking they were all a little confused

"Acting squirrelly" you might say

It made me think of our 535+1

Maybe they are all playing Squirrel Nuts too

Don’t forget though

It’s all our fault

We put those particular squirrels there