Wilsons Sandbox

I have been riding street bikes for about 30 years, but hadn't been off road (intentionally) since the 60's. I had been looking at dualsports and had decided on the KLR650 when I took a job in the Arabian Gulf country of Bahrain. I have been here for about two years and I had the opportunity to buy an A18 from one of the US Navy Sailors over here. The bike wasn't even finished being broken in (879 miles). I have been spending most of my weekends learning how to survive off road riding. In the month that I have been riding the bike I have put about 600 miles on it, mostly on back roads and across the desert. My employer does not want me riding in Saudi Arabia, so I am limited to riding in an island country that is 15k by 45k. This is a stark difference from the 1000+ mile weekends I am used to on my BMW K1100LT. I am learning that there is much more to the moto sports than the LD riding that I love. I am now falling deeply and (I believe) irreversibly in love with the different kind of freedom that is dualsport. I put a couple of picture up in the photos area. BTW the Tree of Life is called that because they have not found the water source that keeps this old tree alive. Don Globalmedic '04 KLR650 '93 K1100LT

Greetings All - My sweetie and I are going to hit Mid-Ohio for Vintage Days, then back for the Superbikes, with a week of riding in between. Street only, this time around. Looking for places to find recommendations of good riding in SE Ohio, West Virginia, SW Pennsylvania, etc. Any ideas? Web sites? Personal experiences? Any favorite "secret" roads you'd care to share? Thanks very much, Tom 00 KLR 01 Concours 02 KDX (Just can't get away from Kawasaki's "mature" designs!)