Click 5th gear, hold the the throttle to the stop, trees and bushes flying by at 90+ mph, this is how the Best in the Desert do it. It was a 300 mile course consisting of fast gravel road, windy two track and sand washes through the high desert of Nevada, approximately 100 miles to the north of Las Vegas.
It all started three weeks before, myself and Brandon “Tippy” Tipton got the idea to race the Silverstate 300 when a friend had told us the fun and beautiful landscapes that is the Central Nevada Desert. Tippy had found a matching pair of old 2006 Honda CRF450X race bikes that had been abandoned by an old racing buddy. He picked them up for a steal of deal as they been sitting in the back of his shed for the about a decade. They needed some work, but there is always something about breathing fire into a 13 year old motorcycle that gets us going.
With the bike sorted, and the race decided, we called our good buddy and pikes peak, Baja and just about anything on two wheels champion, Carlin Dunne. Of course it didn’t take any convincing to get him on board. Zach “Muffin” Spano was next on the list, current 3rd place overall in the Socal Desert, we knew he would be up to the task.
With our rag tag crew of good time having, motorcycle racing friends we set off to race our first Best in the Desert event. The race started at 545am and went for 5 1/2 hours across the 300 mile race course. We traded a few positions throughout the day and crossed the finish line in 6th place overall.
The nights spent in the garage prepping the old race bike and looking over the race map, the chasing from pit to pit on race day, the beers shared after a race well done, that’s why we all do it. The feeling of really being alive going 90 mph down a lonely dirt road, only you and your motorcycle. Thats what keeps up coming back. Maybe we will do better next time, maybe not, but one thing for sure, it will be one hell of a ride. 
