ON THE MARK

MARK BYERS

I’ve been a dirt biker for 47 years. I started on my brother’s ’74 Honda Trail 90 and abused it accordingly, hitting the concrete stoop of our house hard enough to tweak the forks. It was my rst experience with target xation and a memorable one, especially when my brother went to ride it the next day and noticed that the bars were turned 15 degrees to go straight. I thought I was gonna blow that by him….

I rode that bike in the yard of our house in West Virginia because we lived in a neighborhood, not an association. You could do what you wanted as long as you weren’t an ass. The Trail 90 had a stock pipe and made so little noise that we’d frequently ride up on deer, so the neighbors tolerated it. It didn’t hurt that I’d help them and I was brought up with manners.

When I got my license, I’d ride with a motley crew of guys on equally-motley bikes. My brother had an XL600 then and I was still putting around on the Trail 90. I was the cargo mule: we’d put a six-pack of sodas in the milk crate on the luggage rack, along with whatever else needed carrying, and I’d plod along until we stopped. The soda cans were made of steel then, so they took the beating, although the paint was frequently worn off by lunchtime. One guy rode a stubbornly hardstarting XL350 he called “Father Murphy” and other guys rode dual-sports of mixed parentages. We rode on “unof cial” trails throughout our county, some on old mine tailings where we had hill climbs. Over time, I acquired a ’79 XL250, but I didn’t ride it much because by then I was trying to be an engineer. Eventually I acquired other bikes, including an ’86 Honda Re ex trials bike and a modern Beta 250. I’ve done a few vintage trials on the Re ex, but the Beta is a scary badass machine that has a rider “deadman” shutoff lanyard for a reason. I like riding it - to take pictures of my more capable friends. My favorite dirt bike is an ’09 XR250R, along with a barely-legal CRF230 that I use for dualsport rides like the Shenandoah 500. I wish I could say I was a masterful dirt rider, but I’m not. I do it infrequently enough that, compared to some of the people with whom I ride, I kinda suck. I’m not saying that I’m afraid of dirt and gravel roads or even some relatively gnarly, rocky singletracks. I’m better on dirt and gravel with my BMW RT than some folks are on the road, but compared to some of my companions like Dangerous and James, who have ridden serious motocross and hare scrambles, I’m mediocre. That’s why I always like to have Dangerous and James along for my dirty forays, because I frequently end up on the ground, sometimes under the bike, and it’s always nice to know that one of them will notice my sudden absence and come back to check on me. One of Danger’s more famous questions was, “Mark, would you like me to pick that bike up off your leg?” I have a small scar on one leg from the expansion chamber of a friend’s Yamaha 350 where I didn’t get it picked up off my leg fast enough. I can’t tell you how many pair of nylon dirt riding pants I’ve ruined on - ok, under - hot exhaust pipes. Even though I wish I was more pro cient, I still love riding offroad. I’m not going to go ying hundreds of feet through the air on a motocross bike, although I’ve ridden a bunch of laps at Budd’s Creek at a sedate pace. I had fun dual-sporting in Vermont and I really like the Shenandoah 500 (kilometer) dual-sport in Virginia. It’s fun and Danger has a foolproof way of starting the camp re with an aerosol can of brake cleaner that is a wonder to behold. If you’re ever at a trail ride or dual-sport, I’ll be on Honda #63 (my birth year). If you give me a couple throttle blips, I’ll pull to the side and stick out my leg to signal you to pass. I won’t be with my posse because they’ll be miles ahead, but on a good day I’ll make it to the destination, although I might need you to pick the bike up off my leg. ,