SARGE AND ME
Our aFirst Date
Part 2
© MONAYA MAGAURN 2021
Better late than never.
The trip started with me dropping my daily driver at Minneapolis and taking the Defender. Eva, Sarge, and I left the Richfield shop at 9 pm. Since this was also my first trip with Sarge, I didn’t want to drive in the dark, the taillights were acting up. So I decided to make a stop at The Bertram Singletrack Trail in Monticello, Minnesota.
I love you Sarge in that place between coffee and sleep.
familiar places
I had been to Monticello before, particularly to the bike park. I had done a triathlon there and wanted to bike the course again. It was also on the way home, about 1/3rd of the total distance. An easy and familiar place to stop. Leave it to traffic and road construction to make an hour and a half drive three. We arrived in Monticello at about 1 am. Between driving and making a stop to check if Sarge’s lights were good, I was exhausted. I popped the tent, set some Netflix, and passed out. It was 6 in the morning when I woke up, the sun was peeking through the tent skylight, birds chirping, the air was pure and Eva was restless.
A slower pace with Sarge the Defender.
I got up, put my sunglasses on, and walked Eva to her morning routine. Going out I noticed a pile of full suspension downhill mountain bikes with three black Subaru foresters parked next to Sarge. It felt like Tahoe, where I started my first experience in a Defender…home. I smiled at them and went on with my day. Washed my face, brushed my teeth, and got ready for the bike ride. It wasn’t my first time biking this park, but it was the first time waking up there. The excitement is always new. Before we realized it, Eva and I did 14 miles in 3 hours of single-track, a total of three laps, and needed to check out of the loop.
Sarge will feed your soul.
I don’t really get hungry. Ever. But that morning was different, I was so hungry I got kinda lost on the bike. I loaded the bike, put the bear in the truck, and drove to a grocery store because Eva gets raw salmon. I found a local coffee house and enjoyed my waffles, eggs, bacon, mimosas (yes plural), and gigantic latte. Sitting outside staring at Sarge the entire time. I was incredibly content and ready to go home. I drove back, cheesy grin from ear to ear passing toothy beams back at me from the other side of the two-lane. Sarge was home. Now it was time to test him out.
Stay Tuned for Part 3
Sarge and Me
Sarge and Me is a project years in the making with Monaya’s first Defender experience in 2010. Later teaming up with Bishop and Rook in 2018. A celebration of legacy, independence, and eccentricity, Sarge and Me is going on the road. Follow along @mynameismonaya