Being a Swede, I love weather. Any kind of weather is fine with me (unless I’m on vacation in Sweden and it rains all the time).

Living here in the high desert doesn’t offer much variation. It seems like it’s always sunny and hot. But it’s finally cooling down and the fall is working its way into the area. I love when it rains here. Or snows. Or whatever as long as it’s a little different from what it was yesterday and the day before yesterday.

We took advantage of the rain that we got today and went out for a 3 hour dirt bike ride with some friends. There was no dust. I like no dust! Especially since I prefer to ride last — I don’t like if someone is watching my silly-looking attempts at dirt biking 😉

John, who was leading was as usual set on finding every single-track trail with bottomless wet sand there is. And I got wiped out before we even made it 3 miles out. I hate sand. Being the 5th bike in line in wet sand is even worse. The sand is churned up like mashed potatoes and my front wheel just wants to go sideways.

The sand got the better of me a couple of times and I went down. That is the reason why I keep telling myself to go slow in the sand. And by doing that, I’m probably making sure I WILL plow and fall. No momentum. Sand scares me. Totally makes sense to live in the desert, right?

This past weekend, John and I thought it would be fun to take the dual-sport bikes out for an adventure. It’s been a month since I rode the KTM 990 last (during the Carson Tahoe Adventure Ride) so I felt a bit “rusty.”

We decided we wanted to explore a 4×4 road up to Crater Lake, just South of Lake Tahoe. We’ve taken the Jeep up there and our snowmobiles in the winter. It’s steep and twisty, but we figured that if the Jeep could make it we would probably do fine on the motorcycles.

Maybe not the best of assumptions as four wheels are a lot simpler to manage over ruts and rocks than two.

The first mile was OK with mainly rough gravel. Then it got worse. And worse. John was riding first (I made him lead as I get too self-conscious when I think someone is watching me). I was thinking “just don’t stop, John, I’m good as long as I have momentum.”

That’s when John’s 450 lbs BMW 1200 GS bounced off sideways and he dropped the bike. And it of course landed square on a rock cracking the engine case so the oil ran out.

I felt so bad. And at the same time I knew that if I had been first, I would have been the one dropping the bike instead — the road was way too rough to ride.

I think we were so determined to just go that we wouldn’t stop and assess the situation when things got bad. Next time we’ll be a little more realistic and remember that just because we think we can, it doesn’t mean that the circumstances will let us make it.

“Did you check your oil?”

John asked me this the other day when we were just about to go for a ride on the Harleys.

My response? “Did you eat home-cooked dinner last night?”

So what if I want to be independent and “go lady power” and all that — I still don’t want to be responsible for anything that goes on in the garage.

I think it’s a fair trade if my man takes care of the bikes, sleds, cars and other “man” stuff as long as I keep the fridge stocked and dinner on the table.

What do you think?

If I didn’t have him, I’d probably bring my bike to the shop for simple stuff like that. And if he didn’t have me, he’d be eating tomato-soup from a can.

Everyone wins!

It’s too hot to ride. You have to sweat your way through the valley to get to the mountains where it gets a little cooler with altitude.

At least we have the mountains. How do you guys ride your bikes in Texas or Arizona? Is it even possible? I have a wet-vest that I would use if I were to be out riding. It’s like a personal A/C system for about an hour. Then you’re all dry again and have to stop and soak the vest.

But that is one pleasant hour though!

Dirt-biking isn’t even on the radar right now. Dusty and hot and no way to escape the heat in the valley where most trails are. 4-wheeling isn’t that much fun either. You have to have the top on (the jeep), all windows closed and the A/C blasting.

So today I’m staying inside with the A/C on. Thinking about that winter is on its way and how great this one will be compared to the three crappy winters we just suffered through.

Today is a good day to plan for the winter. What sled should we get my son, if his other one sells? What modifications, if any, should I do to my sled? What mountain should I conquer this winter that I haven’t conquered yet?

Stuff like this keeps me cool today.

I’ve always liked being the odd woman out. Like when I was the only female roadracer among hundreds of men. I liked that a lot.

It’s not about getting all the attention just because I’m a woman. It’s about being good at whatever I do thanks to being a woman! And then get attention for being good at it.

My strength on the racetrack was that I was smooth. While the guys wrestled their bikes around, I didn’t have the strength to do that and had to be smarter than them about my line and technique. Then again, sometimes I just had to out-brake them — they really didn’t like when I passed them bouncing on my front wheel from braking just a smither later than they did… Those were the days.

That’s probably why I’m so into snowmobiling these days. It’s mostly me and a bunch of guys. And I’m pretty good at it. And it’s the same here, I don’t have a man’s strength and weight, instead I have to manipulate the snowmobile by transferring my weight and work the throttle to get it to do what I want. Which doesn’t always work, but it’s usually pretty close 😉

If you need proof, just look at my 13-year old son. He weighs 100 lbs and his 415 lbs snowmobile doesn’t even know he’s on it. Until he starts using the throttle and body position — he can get that sled to go where and how he wants it.

To me, it’s cool to be a woman being good at what’s traditionally called “a man’s sport.” And at this day in time, most guys are OK with it and some even ask for tips when they understand I have a lot of experience.

What I DON’T have, that guys often have, is the ability to “switch off” my brains. That’s when you go crazy and are going to be first, fastest, baddest or whatever, no matter what.

That’s why there’s always guys doing these incredibly stupid “don’t try this at home” kind of stunts that you see in videos on FB. Us ladies would never even consider doing that stupid sh**.

However, I have NO PROBLEM playing the “help me, I’m a woman” card whenever I get a flat or need help turning my dirt bike right-side-up. We don’t want to break our nails, do we?