Sizzlin'!

Man, it seems like hot weather is following me wherever I go. Or perhaps I'm following it! As usual, it's been busy, busy and go-go-go lately, and it all seems to be in record heat!

Last week we finally picked up our shiny new 2011 Kawasaki KX250F and in order to get the jump on the story, of course we want to get out and do our testing as soon as possible. Thursday we threw together a ride day at Glen Helen - a place we typically do a lot of riding, testing and photoshoots. Well, it was a good day, only it was 104 degrees out there. Oh well, like I was talking about in my Maryland story, this is the part of the job that makes it feel like work. You still gotta get out there and put time on the bikes. No whining!

We got a good few hours of riding in before we had to surrender to the heat. No matter how much you try to drink fluids and pace yourself, it still comes to a point... But it was hard to complain after remembering how brutal that East Coast heat was a few weeks ago. No matter how bad the dry desert heat gets, I can always say, "At least it's not Budds Creek!"

With Thursday's testing out of the way it was now time to relax and be a girl! :) Every now and then I get to clean up a little and reward myself with a pedicure, or better yet, a trip to the hair salon. Last week I got to enjoy both, and what better time than right before a weekend in Vegas?!

Speaking of brutally hot, Las Vegas certainly tops the charts. But you can always look forward to the air conditioning blasting wherever you go. Since you rarely go outside in Las Vegas, I was looking forward to "chillin' out" in the 115-degree temperatures!

I was headed to Sin City for the opening round of EnduroCross, which is my FAVORITE series in the world! Not only is it the most entertaining type of racing ever invented, but every single one of those guys out there racing is a friend of mine. They're the coolest people and it's the toughest form of off-road racing out there, so the EnduroCross Series is what I look forward to most every year. Oh, and Laurette is the announcer for the series, so going to those races also always means a weekend of QT with my bestie!

The series is only six rounds and goes from July to November, so the season opener is always like a reunion. It's lots of hugs and catching up with guys from around the world who I only see a handful of times a year.

Friday evening was the kickoff party at Pole Position Raceway, a go kart track co-owned by a lot of guys in the motorcycle industry. It's a good place for socializing, interviews, pictures and of course, some cut-throat kart racing!

It's tempting to want to jump out there on the track and do some kart racing with everyone, but since I was enjoying some girliness for a change (and still feeling kinda sick from Thursday's hot weather workout), I wasn't about to join in. Those karts are much gnarlier than they look. They're really a workout! You're sure to have sore arms and shoulders the next day. And you get slammed around in the driver seat from the high-speed cornering and you'll end up with bruises on your sides and hips. And then there are always the take-out moves that will really leave you banged up! It's all in the name of fun, and those things really are a blast, but sometimes it's nice to just chill out and stay clean. I was fresh from the salon and determined to keep my head out of a sweaty helmet for at least three days.

The racing was great and true to Vegas form, the after-party was also a blast! (Photo right) Here's a self-portrait of Herm and I enjoying a 3:30 A.M. breakfast in the Orleans Casino!

Sunday was pretty brutal, though. The traffic on the way back to LA was a nightmare. Oh, and did I mention it was 118 degrees in Baker? I left Vegas at 2 P.M. and the temperature never got below 110 until 6:30 P.M. As always, it was so nice to get home to my beach town where it's 70 degrees and overcast!

Then it was your typical Monday: exhausted and working like mad to get the issue out the door. Now I get a few nights in my own bed until I'm off again on Friday. This weekend I'm headed to Michigan... or Minnesota or something... for the Jack Pine Enduro. 'Tis the season for new bike intros and for the 2011 Husaberg model launch they're flying us out for the "Cowbell Classic" to ride and race the new FE 450s. Can't wait!!!

Until then, I got some more "work" to do (aka riding dirt bikes) this week. But fortunately temperatures are only supposed to be in the 90s. Hmm... I might need to put on a jacket.

Return to the Meadows!

Another weekend, another adventure! This time we took a trip up to the Sierra Nevadas to Kennedy Meadows. During the summer it’s too hot to ride in the local desert areas we typically frequent, so about once a year we make the trek up into the mountains north of Lake Isabella for a cool summer retreat up in the mountains and some great trail riding at 8500 feet.
As I was heading up the mountain, I was talking to Katie (Turner) and heard that Vicki was in labor and headed to the hospital! I was in the middle of telling Katie that I was mountain bound and might not get reception up........
Fortunately Vicki and I have always had a really strong connection and I could feel that night at the campfire that it was done. The baby was here and all was well. Thomas Steven Chase is a spitting image of his daddy and Vicki is a stud and toughed it out without an epidural. Go’on wicha bad self, baybe!

Kennedy Meadows was pretty sweet. I got set up despite a tent pole malfunction... aka I left four poles at home. Fortunately I got some mad skills and with some ingenuity we were able to improvise. It’s a good thing we got it all sorted out because at three separate times during the first night it POURED on us. It was coming down so hard at one point I was sure I’d wake up rafting down a raging current on my air mattress, but I stayed dry to my surprise.
We rode all day Saturday – and I do mean ALL DAY. We had a three-hour outing in the morning which included the whole group – Me, Dennis, Leo, Gray, his kid Race, and Keith. We hit some pretty rough trails which 50% of us were enjoying, but it had been a while since a few of the guys had ridden, and being at nearly 9000 feet only makes things harder. We headed back for a lunch break and a while later we were headed back out for round two.
The first ride was 20 miles (and mountain miles are a lot more challenging than desert miles!) and this time we were bound and determined to make it all the way up to Osa Meadow. And when I say “we” I mean me... kinda dragging everyone else with me. We got a little over an hour into our ride and Leo and I stopped at an incredible little creek crossing. It was beautiful with lush grass, flowers and flowing water. It was a good place for a break so we stopped and waited for the others. And waited. And waited. When no one came we finally turned around and back tracked, about a half mile back we found Dennis, Keith and Gray parked at a road crossing. They were off the bikes, helmets off, sprawled on the ground in the shade – done.
“We’re tired, Gray is cramping up and my back hurts,” Dennis said. They were going to head back the way we came, but Leo and I decided to forge on to the meadow. I remember vividly the last time I was there. It was about five years ago and Mark was with us. The ride was awesome and the meadow was absolutely breath taking! It looked like a movie set! There’s a picture of all of us sitting on a log overlooking the meadow and it’s still hanging on the wall in the shop at Mom’s. I was really looking forward to seeing it again and ridng the trails again.
About a half hour later Leo and I reached the meadow. It was as beautiful as I remember, but the trails are really whooped out after years of use. Oh well... it was still a fantastic ride.
Leo and I could have gone back the way we came, but we decided to make a loop instead of back-tracking our way back. Dennis had told us that it was a really looooong loop to go all the way around, but it didn’t look all that much further on the map... That’s officially the last time I’ll ever doubt Dennis. That stupid map isn’t to scale! We took Granite Trail all the way up to Jackass Peak (it’s actually called that) and headed back to camp on Jackass Trail. What “didn’t look that much further” ended up being an extra 17 miles! It was fun, but a much longer ride than we were anticipating. Needless to say, we were wiped out at the end of our ride, but very satisfied that we got so much out of our day.
The next morning we headed back down the mountain. It’s a pretty amazing drive because one minute you’re up in the mountains and it’s 70 degrees, but 20 miles later you get back down to the desert and it’s 104 degrees!
The trails weren’t as good as they were five years ago, but it was great to be up there again and it meant a lot to me to make the trip again. Monday morning and it was back to the grind. True to form, it was a grueling Monday – bruises, scratches, sunburn, bug bites, sore muscles and exhausted. Good times!!!

This coming weekend it’s the opening round of EnduroCross in Las Vegas. This is my favorite series and the Vegas rounds are always a blast! I’ll be rooting for my boy Kyle (Redmond) to win, and also trying to stay out of trouble. Hopefully at least one of those will happen!