Where did it all start for you

Christmas time and the end of the year, sitting here looking at the tree and rembering where it started for me.
I was 6 or 7 I’m not really sure but what I am sure about is that on Christmas morning next to the tree when I came down stairs was the most awesome, ferocious dirt bike I had seen and it was for me ! A Honda QA 50 ?
I don’t know if it was new or not but I couldn’t believe it. I can still see the amber color of that metal gas tank and those Honda wing emblems on the side. I imagined myself doing all kinds of things with it although I didn’t know how to start or ride it at the time!
My grandfather bought it for me and my mother said she was pissed when he did lol . He was a WW2 veteran who was in the Pacific theater and among the islands he was on included Iwo Gima where that famous picture of the men raising our flag was taken..I miss him..
He was a CB and a great mechanic and started racing cars as well as riding bikes on the street and trails

First time on it was in the spring in a parking area near our house. It was a big old factory with chain link fence all around it. My grandfather behind me and we both using the throttle and brake cruising around...I was saying something to him and he didn’t respond so I turned around and he was standing about 30 ft behind me ?? what..now it’s just me..oh no..I was doing ok and planning to stop before the fence but as I got closer panic set in andi froze up..forgot what he was telling me and crashed into the fence at about 80 mph..ha ha..probably 4 or 5 mph but it scared me, got a little scraped up and was mad lol..
I wanted to leave but he told me to get back on the bike..he said if I didn’t then I would be scared of it..that was a lesson that has served me well in many areas of my life over the years.
I did get back on and was able to tame that wild stallion just a bit..
That progressed into a Honda Elsinore 50 I think..and I would ride every day I got home for as long as I was allowed, making a “track “ basically a trail loop that I did over and over trying to go faster and faster..I just loved it.
I had friends that I would sometimes ride the tracks or trails with but back then that kind of bored me..I wanted to keep chasing my best lap on that track..guess I was weird..lol

Then some person in my town made an unbelievable practice track. It was big..very long..a lot of it sand..we were one of the first guys on it after the bulldozer finished..it was like heaven..I soon got an RM 80 and would lap until I ran out of gas,get more gas and lap some more..got in fantastic shape..
I also learned a valuable riding lesson. The guy who took me riding and was a motocross racer a Maico 490 owner..don’t get behind that thing! Well he was telling me what to do on this jump they made about 3/4 of the way down a long straight, he said keep the throttle on and your weight back..don’t let off..
You can see where this is going right..
The left turn was in the trees and then you just opened the throttle and clicked gears until the jump..it was really more of a high speed roller where you didn’t go too high but the faster you hit it the further you went..
I did a number of test runs where I went around it at speed and entered the sandy breaking bumps for the turn..
I knew I could do it..you can see where this is headed..
Full throttle..clicking gears..ass on the rear fender the way I imagined Hannah would do it..
Hit the face..then I lifted off the throttle..lol ? must have looked funny as I landed on my front wheel but didn’t immediately endo..I kind of rode it thinking I may survive this..until I hit those sandy breaking bumps..
Remember open faced helmets and chin guards?
My bent nose does too!! Lol..I hit it on the crossbars, broke it and cartwheel in the sand..lesson learned..
And once we straightend the bars and my nose stopped bleeding I got back on the bike and hit that jump with less speed but did it..
So that’s where it all started for me, I was the only kid reading motocross action and cycle news in school but those early years riding were some of my best memories.