Garden Isle Grand Prix
We all know the Hawaiian Islands are an amazing destination. A glorious place boasting beautiful beaches, picturesque valleys, and more than its fair share of unreal natural beauty. Filled with resorts of all kinds, golf courses a plenty and rife with all manner of opportunities for leisure. An archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets and seamounts loosely gathered together and plonked smack bang in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean.
What you didn’t know, that you really want to know, is how we got the invite to go race our 40+ year old dirt bikes at the 68th Annual Garden Isle Grand Prix on the island of Kauai… It all came about from an out of the blue call, one of those calls where we had no other choice than to say yes, leaving us to figure out the logistics!
To really cement the deal, our pal Greg Tomlinson (lovingly known as “GTeee” shot some photos across an ocean front motocross track. We couldn’t help but reminisce of the Deus Temple of Enthusiasm in Bali and the golden years we’d had on our very own ocean front motocross Shangri-La. This was what our dreams are made of and so yes of course we were in!
GTeee organized a shipping container to arrive in Huntington Beach, California. He got together twenty something of his pals and their vintage iron and rubber, loaded them in the container and shipped them off across the Pacific Ocean. Three weeks later found our motorcycles and us on the island of Kauai. Mai Tai’s and Margaritas in one hand and a throttle or a can of petrol in the other, we’d arrived.
Upon checking into our hotel some departing friendly neighbors insisted that we take their beloved blender that they had purchased on their trip. Now a blender may seem an unusual item to purchase on vacation, but we, like our neighbors before us, knew how to put it to good use. We had twenty something vintage racer friends with a penchant for adult beverages. The stars aligned, as there happened to be a generator on hand at the track, there was also this massive cooler full of ice and we’d brung the right supplies. Wasn’t long before our post race blendies became the talk of the track. No better way to cool down in the tropical heat after fanging around that majestic sea side track than with an ice cold Margarita or Pina Colada. Ahhh, the simple things in life…
We raced, we laughed, we made new friends, and we drank more than a few cold ones. Aloha and stoke was shared by all and we all walked away with one hell of a good time in the bank.
Finally, it came time to say our goodbyes, the bikes were loaded back into the container and off to the mainland they went. Actually, they haven’t arrived yet, but hopefully they will be here soon. No worries! (I suppose, we should have read the fine print, especially the bit about washing off all dirt before shipping back… (oops)
We have to say a huge thank you to GTeee for bringing us Haole’s together and introducing us to Rick Hurst, his family and all of the crew at the Club Moto Kauai, to whom we offer a massive thank you all for having us. Just so you know, we are already making plans for the 69th Annual Garden Isle Grand Prix!
...are you coming too?
Rider: @forrestminchinton
Photography: @mounce
