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I've Been Here Before...Memories of another crash...

It's been more then 15 years since I road an ATV (all terrain vehicle, a four wheeled off road motorcycle) off a cliff when I was in High School. On that afternoon, I was racing a buddy up some back mountain roads in Idaho and didn't make a turn flying right off the roadside off a 30 ft. drop into gravel and trees. I managed to stand up and fly the bike in a flat landing on the gravel but the bounce threw me right into the trees. Ignoring that there was blood gushing down my side, I managed to get the bike started again and ride it up back on to the road and up to my friend's house. I got off the bike staggered to the family who had all come out to see what had happened to me and their bike and said, "don't worry, this bike is fine, its just dirty, I checked. Nothing broken. But, I think you'd better call the hospital. I'm going to pass out now." -- thud, and the lights went out.

The Guy Just Can't Stay On An ATV!
Bali, Indonesia - August, 2000

This was my fourth trip to Bali, so I'd gotten through the orientation stuff like how to get out of the airport, and started to get the routine down like renting the jeep from the airport and making sure to fully stock up at Dunkin Donuts at the airport! (Hey, don't underestimate the importance here - one can't find good donuts anywhere in Asia other then Bali and the Philippines!)

This trip was just a 3-day weekend runaway which fortunately as Asia is relatively small is easy to do. Even so, Bali is a good four hour flight from Taiwan. So with time short, this trip was right to the hotel and then out looking for fun.

Bali has loads of activities beyond just laying on the idyllic beaches or diving which had been the focus of the previous trips. This time I was looking for something different. Over dinner I found brochures for Harley Davidson rentals, Bungee jumping and ATV adventures. Tough choice hum? As it was managed to do two out of three on this trip so not bad. The ATV adventure was through a company called Paddyventure which promised rides on all-terrain cycles (ATV's) through the rice paddy's and mountains around South Bali.

Picking us up in the mourning, we had a great hour long morning ride through the mountains. Traffic around the tourist areas of Bali like anyplace is a bit of a bear, but get outside into the mountains and it is still an idyllic paradise.