The Ultimate Recreational SportMichael LackieFor as long as I can remember, my family has always enjoyed recreational sports. In the summerwe would go jet skiing, river rafting, off road motorcycle riding, and water skiing. Once winter came along, we switched to snowmobiling, snowboarding, and hunting. My father and his brother owned allthe expensive toys, while my brothers, cousins and I owned the cheaper toys. While it was fun usingour parents expensive toys, we had to be careful not to damage them. So for years we saved our money in the hopes of buying our own expensive toys, but we could only save enough for one; therefore, we needed to find one that would fit all of our needs.
I explained the problem to a friend, who then proceeded to tell me about this ultimate recreational sport that should solve my problem. I was to meet my friend in the morning to help him pack up for the ultimate recreational sportthat would solve my dilemma. I arrived at his house early the next morning and helped load up the all terrain vehicles that we would be riding. They were motorcycles with four wheels instead of two and looked like an oversized tricycle with big paddle tires on the front and rear. These particular models were called Yamaha Banshees.
We loaded up three of them on a trailer attachedto the back of his truck, then drove for a couple of hours before finally reaching our destination. I woke up to see miles and miles of sand dunes, and noticed we were on the border of Mexico and California in a place called Glamis. I thought this was going to be an interesting experience even if I did not like it. After unloading the Banshees, we suited up with protective gear and helmets. My friend led the pack and therewere about ten riders in all.
I stayed back as this was my first time riding on the sand dunes. Everybody took off at full speed and there was sand flying everywhere, so I had to stay out of the way or else eat lots of sand. Once I learned how to ride without getting sand in my face, then I started to catch up with the group. From that moment on, I knew this was going to be fun. We rode up and down sand dunes jumping off them and riding on top of them for hours before we finally stopped for a rest break at the top of a real high dune. Sitting there, we could see nothing but sand dunes for miles and I wasn’t sure which way was back to camp.
Then my friendpulled out a global tracking system and it showed exactly where we were located, so this set my mind at ease. Although it was just sand dunes, there was something calming and beautiful about them, and I fell in love with them from that point on. Once we caught our breath, we continued the journey deeper into the dunes. We rode on dunes that were over one hundred feet high and could reach speeds of up to eighty miles an hour around the edges. Then we came across dunes that were so high and steep that we almost couldn’t make it to the top without considerable effort. Once nightfall came, and the moon came out, it was even more fun riding because the moon reflected off the sand and lit up the night.
We eventually arrived back at camp and settled down for the night, exhausted but satisfied. I was convinced that I had found the one vehicle that we could purchase and fit all of our needs. Riding the Banshees in the sand dunes was like snowboarding, water skiing, motorcycling, and river rafting all combined into one sport. I went back home happy in my quest that I had found the ultimate recreational sport. BibliographyPersonal ExperienceSports and Games Essays
