Stories and Press
Westward Ho! By Mike Worley (FTRA) Another hot, grueling summer was approaching. I couldn’t handle the thought of riding in the flooded, humid conditions of South Florida. That’s when I saw the advertisement for Nevada Motorcycle Adventures (NMA) in the Florida Trail Riders magazine. I called Matt Ernst, the owner of NMA, to get information and a schedule of rides. He asked what kind of riding I was looking for, and what my riding skills were. I explained the type of riding I was looking for and Matt said he knew just the group of riders to put me with. I called all my riding buddies and only one of them was interested in going with me to Nevada. (The other guys will regret their decision not to go along). We booked a trip for the first week in August. Upon arrival, we met Matt Ernst and his support guy - Lance. Both of these guys are honest, down-to-earth, good people. After the other riders had arrived, we headed out of town for six days of off-road Nirvana. The other riders are members of NETRA. (New England Trail Riders Assn.) They are mostly from the Northeast. They’re good riders and love to joke around and have a good time. This guaranteed a fun time both on and off the trail. I don’t consider Nevada a different State; it is a different country! I think Nevada more closely resembles what this country was originally designed to be, a country with limited laws where the people are responsible for they’re own actions and don’t need the government to be they’re “Nanny”. In the Nevada “out-back” people still have that “Pioneer” mentality. Matt knows every body in this part of the state, he’s a likable guy and everybody we came in contact with wanted to talk to Matt and get to know us and find out where we’re from. The first thing I noticed was the striking beauty of the land. We would ride across a desert and make our way up into the mountains. We would stop at an overlook and gaze back over the dessert we had just crossed. It was a beautiful sight. This was the best of the West. We road the dessert, crossed mountain streams, climbed long mountain slopes. Had lunch on top of a mountain, road across dessert valleys, visited Gold Mines, and watched from a mountaintop as a Navy fighter jet practiced dropping bombs on a target down in the valley below us. We would sit in a natural hot tub in the middle of the desert, watching the sunset on one side, the moon rising on the other, drinking a cold beverage and smoking a cigar, just like the advertisement says. Each morning we would eat a huge home made breakfast and at night we would eat huge specially prepared dinners with great deserts! At the end of each day’s ride there would be a cooler of beverages waiting for us. At night the bikes were refueled and prepped by Lance for the next day’s ride. We rode Suzuki DR 400’s with that wonderful “happy button”. The bikes started the week with brand new Pirelli tires and all the parts in perfect condition. If a bike was to break and couldn’t be fixed, there was no problem because Matt had a spare bike ready to go! These bikes are well suited for this type of riding. We really enjoyed these bikes especially when we were climbing steep hills like mountain goats. In six days of trail riding we rode well over 500 miles, crossed at least fourteen mountain ranges and had the greatest times of our lives! We stayed a couple days extra to site-see and enjoy Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Virginia City. You have probably read similar accounts of the Nevada Motorcycle Adventures rides in Florida Trail Rider magazine. Well I can validate that they’re all true. If you’ve never ridden the West before, this is the best way to see it. For the best “bang for the buck” opportunity NMA is the way to go! I came home refreshed and satisfied. I was able to ride hundreds of miles and never on the same trail twice and I did it in comfortable temperatures with little or no humidity! What a contrast to the summer conditions here in South Florida! Mike Worley (Cooper City, Florida) is a member of the Florida Trail Riders Association This story was published in the FTRA magazine in 2001

Stories and Press

Westward Ho!

By Mike Worley (FTRA)

Another hot, grueling summer was approaching. I couldn’t handle the thought of riding in the flooded, humid conditions of South Florida. That’s when I saw the advertisement for Nevada Motorcycle Adventures (NMA) in the Florida Trail Riders magazine. I called Matt Ernst, the owner of NMA, to get information and a schedule of rides. He asked what kind of riding I was looking for, and what my riding skills were. I explained the type of riding I was looking for and Matt said he knew just the group of riders to put me with. I called all my riding buddies and only one of them was interested in going with me to Nevada. (The other guys will regret their decision not to go along). We booked a trip for the first week in August.

Upon arrival, we met Matt Ernst and his support guy - Lance. Both of these guys are honest, down-to-earth, good people. After the other riders had arrived, we headed out of town for six days of off-road Nirvana. The other riders are members of NETRA. (New England Trail Riders Assn.) They are mostly from the Northeast. They’re good riders and love to joke around and have a good time. This guaranteed a fun time both on and off the trail.

I don’t consider Nevada a different State; it is a different country! I think Nevada more closely resembles what this country was originally designed to be, a country with limited laws where the people are responsible for they’re own actions and don’t need the government to be they’re “Nanny”. In the Nevada “out-back” people still have that “Pioneer” mentality.

Matt knows every body in this part of the state, he’s a likable guy and everybody we came in contact with wanted to talk to Matt and get to know us and find out where we’re from. The first thing I noticed was the striking beauty of the land. We would ride across a desert and make our way up into the mountains. We would stop at an overlook and gaze back over the dessert we had just crossed. It was a beautiful sight.

This was the best of the West. We road the dessert, crossed mountain streams, climbed long mountain slopes. Had lunch on top of a mountain, road across dessert valleys, visited Gold Mines, and watched from a mountaintop as a Navy fighter jet practiced dropping bombs on a target down in the valley below us.

We would sit in a natural hot tub in the middle of the desert, watching the sunset on one side, the moon rising on the other, drinking a cold beverage and smoking a cigar, just like the advertisement says. Each morning we would eat a huge home made breakfast and at night we would eat huge specially prepared dinners with great deserts! At the end of each day’s ride there would be a cooler of beverages waiting for us.

At night the bikes were refueled and prepped by Lance for the next day’s ride. We rode Suzuki DR 400’s with that wonderful “happy button”. The bikes started the week with brand new Pirelli tires and all the parts in perfect condition. If a bike was to break and couldn’t be fixed, there was no problem because Matt had a spare bike ready to go! These bikes are well suited for this type of riding. We really enjoyed these bikes especially when we were climbing steep hills like mountain goats.

In six days of trail riding we rode well over 500 miles, crossed at least fourteen mountain ranges and had the greatest times of our lives! We stayed a couple days extra to site-see and enjoy Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Virginia City.

You have probably read similar accounts of the Nevada Motorcycle Adventures rides in Florida Trail Rider magazine. Well I can validate that they’re all true. If you’ve never ridden the West before, this is the best way to see it. For the best “bang for the buck” opportunity NMA is the way to go! I came home refreshed and satisfied. I was able to ride hundreds of miles and never on the same trail twice and I did it in comfortable temperatures with little or no humidity! What a contrast to the summer conditions here in South Florida!

Mike Worley (Cooper City, Florida) is a member of the Florida Trail Riders Association

This story was published in the FTRA magazine in 2001