Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1324381
SUMMER ESCAPE ON KTM 390 ADVENTURES P92 Feature And that, my friends, is a strip of pavement you should aim for on any bike you can find. Burn, Baby Burn Throughout our ride, we con- stantly discussed how ripe for fire our surroundings were. These observations were not unlike the impending doom 2020 present- ed as it surrounded and smoth- ered so many. The hits of the last year just kept coming. And as we stared at giant sequoia trees outside tourist traps and walked through knee-deep pine needles working around fallen timber on trails, it became increasingly ominous to us that it wouldn't take much to have this whole forest raging in a blaze. The forest is parched in August. Conditions are perfect in the American West for catas- trophe. While cool nights are a relief from summer heat, the elevation doesn't bring moisture in the summer and we could feel our surroundings almost want- ing to burn. When you're there, on a small bike, as a relatively small human compared to the immense scale of the landscape and world around you, it can be sort of scary to imagine it all go- ing up in flames. Did that stop us from explor- ing, laughing and doing border- line irresponsible things on tiny adventure bikes? No. We were careful not to start fires, but we could see them wanting to burn all around. Back at home, our own local air swollen with smoke, the real- ity of the world came back in a hurry. People and places we just visited were displaced from their homes at the very least. Certainly, some lost it all. Lives were lost in fire-related accidents across the state and never have more acres of land burned to the ground in a season. That's catastrophic to me because I saw, from the seat of my little 390, how awesome the back- country was before it burned. At the same time, we saw the im- pending doom of high fuel loads everywhere. But the forests aren't done burning just because it's 2021. In fact, most experts continue to predict wildfires will continue to get even worse in the coming years. Unnaturally worse. Do you think pandemic-fueled social issues will just start getting better with the introduction of a vaccine and new months? There is a lot of damage done. And it's going to take time to heal. And healing is where we need to go. There are two sides to this. On one, it's hard to thrive or survive in fear. And we've all been scared to some extent lately. It's hard to stay home and imagine the world burning around you. It's hard to be isolated from family, friends and co-workers while you watch normalcy turn to ash. On the other side, we all need and deserve to laugh, be inspired and enjoy our surround- ings. It's healing and essential for real health. For me, motorcycles and friends with good/bad ideas provide this by the bucket load. Maybe it's hiking for your friends or riding in a boat, whatever it is, now is the time to make planning the next excursion a priority. It's easy to sit and wait, but before you go letting the fear of current events paralyze you from getting out there in the future, go see the trees be- fore they burn. It's worth it. CN