Temperature (and Pressure) Rising

Well, I just survived the most difficult week of my professional career. I still have a job (for now) and hopefully next week will be better. Times sure are tough with the economy and when I look back, it really puts it into perspective how lucky I’ve been to have such a great job. Hopefully things will keep moving forward, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that no matter how good things are, or how bad things are, they always come to an end eventually.

(Photos to come...)

It’s been an exhausting week so I’m not even going to get into it. I’m just going to ride motorcycles, keep my head down and keep writing stories as long as I keep getting a paycheck. We’ll deal with the next step if and when it comes.

Anyhow, the last blog I did was around X Games time and I had just returned from Michigan with an injured wrist. Since then um... let me think... what have I been doing? Well I got to join my mom and her friends for dinner when Heather was in town. It’s always a treat to see her and it’s interesting to see the parallels our lives have started to draw. We’re both enthusiasts in male-dominated sports, and although there’s not much in common between dirt bikes and horses, we still have a lot in common when it comes to things like traveling the world, constantly needing to prove ourselves, dealing with injuries and disappointments and still finding the motivation to keep moving forward. I’m in media and she’s a competitor, but sometimes she writes for magazines and occasionally I race, so we share really unique perspectives and both take a lot of interest in what the other is up to in life. She stays at my mom’s whenever she’s in town, and we often get to stay up late swapping stories. We have really great conversations so it’s always a treat to see her.

Another recent treat was getting to go down to Matt and Erin’s for Brian’s 10th birthday party. We had chicken divan and chocolate cake and got to spend the evening playing with the 1.6 million kids that always seem to congregate around their house. Every time I show up, it takes me a while to sort out which ones are Matt’s and which ones are the neighbors’. Occasionally one will disappear to the neighbor’s house, or a few will magically appear in Matt and Erin’s back yard. It’s hard to keep up but it seems like they have a good thing going on. Little Travie keeps up pretty well with all the bigger kids, and he’s got a set of pipes that will let you know if anything is wrong if you’re within a mile radius. Sean showed us his brand new Fender Strat and amplifier that he got for his birthday a few days earlier, and we got to watch Brian open up his brand new laptop computer that he got for his birthday! Can’t believe those little monsters are 10 and 12 years old now!

It was good to see the whole crew especially since I didn’t get a chance to make it up to Refugio this year. I had planned on going up for the last weekend of the trip, but ended up having to go to Oklahoma to cover an EnduroCross race. Of course, once again, we had record heat in the area. It was humid and miserable and made me realize why I pay the big bucks to live in the lovely and permanently air-conditioned Orange County.

The day I traveled to Oklahoma City was Mark’s birthday – a day that is obviously an emotional one. Mark and I were both really bad at remembering birthdays, but we ALWAYS knew each others and we always went big on birthday presents. Mark has given me things like a Play Station, an iPod, and I gave him stuff like Crossfire boots (they’re $400 top of the line motocross boots) and a DVD player. It was like we’d try to outdo each other. I always think of what cool thing I would have given him and wonder what he would want me to have on my birthday.

Still, August 13 was a good day for me this year. Even though it was Friday the 13th and I had to get on an airplane. Given my track record for traveling this year, I expected nothing less than disaster, but much to my surprise, it all went extremely well! No delays or truant co-pilots or screaming children. I sat next to a really cool guy on the plane who used to be a pastry chef and we were chatting about being foodies and our conversation turned into discussing the path toward achieving goals. Are we guided by fate or is it through our own drive that we reach our goals? We came to agree on the idea that “once you visualize your goal, the path becomes clear.” It was an interesting conversation. I love how you can sit down with someone and have such a deep conversation about life for a few hours without ever knowing the others’ name, or ever seeing them again. It’s one of life’s random treats (and one of the only good things that ever come from being on an airplane).

Another treat on this trip was that my best friend Laurette was also on it. We went out to dinner at “Earl’s” – a place that we randomly picked from the list of BBQ joints that my GPS gave us. It was this little rib shack in Edmond, Oklahoma that had the BEST ribs I’ve ever had. It was utterly amazing, and the fun part was that since we were in the middle of nowhere, Laurette and I shamelessly dug in, gnawing meat off the bone with BBQ sauce all over our faces and sticky handprints on our beer bottles. “Another round!” Laurette shouted to the waiter with a mouthful of rib meat. We just cracked ourselves up as we pigged out on fried okra, ribs, corn on the cobb and baked potatoes. And then we followed all that with a massive peach cobbler. YUM!!

We were so stuffed that we weren’t hungry until the next afternoon at the races. We both like to make sure we’re coiffed and poised when we’re at industry events, and all the guys treat us like such ladies. We were laughing thinking about what they’d say if they saw us elbow-deep in BBQ sauce stuffing our faces and chugging beer the night before.

The race went awesome. Laurette killed it on the mic (as always) and the story turned out great, although it was hotter than a sauna in the Lazy E Arena.

Not much else has gone on in the last few weeks. My wrist is steadily getting better, and though it’s not back to normal, I’ve discovered I can do a few hours of riding here and there without aggravating it. The following weekend (last weekend) I didn’t have to work, so a group of friends and I went out to Glen Helen for a local race. It’s been a long time since I’ve raced and it felt really good to get back out on the track for some bar-banging. It went really well and I won my race (yay me)! The guys were complaining about how “hot” it was there, but I was like, “Pssh! This is nothing! It’s not Budds Creek, so I have no complaints!”

Like I said earlier, work has been quite a roller coaster ride in the last week or so. So things have been quite stressful, but whatever. It is what it is and I’m just going to ride bikes and write stories. And eat brownies. And hope that next week is better.

Man Down!

Yep, I pretty much roached my wrist in Michigan. It wasn't one particular incident or a crash or anything; it's just really sore from overuse. It doesn't take a crash to get injured in this sport. Riding dirt bikes is really tough on your body and things like repetitive movements and hard impacts on the motocross track, or rocks and sticks flying at you on the trails is enough to sufficiently bang you up. So that's where I'm at right now. Michigan was the final blow. Not only do I have the wrist problem but also scrapes and bruises all over.

Above right: Me and my friend Steve Cox (a fellow journalist) taking a self-portrait in the X Games press box.

I wonder what that must look like to people in public. One time I got clothes-lined by a big branch and it scraped up my chin and left a big scrape across my neck. A few days later I was sitting at the car wash and noticed the people around me looking at me funny with sort of a worried look of pity. Then it occurred to me that I probably looked like I was choked and punched in the jaw. I could almost hear people thinking, "Leave him, honey. He's not going to change."

Even though I'll be dialing back the riding for a bit, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm slowing down (unfortunately). After the Michigan trip I took Tuesday off (even though I was supposed to go to the KX450F intro which would have been another rough day of riding in 100+ degree weather) and got some much needed rest. But then Wednesday it was off and running again.

Right: On Wednesday we got an up close and personal look at the 2011 Alpinestars product line.

Wednesday we were invited up to the Alpinestars headquarters in Long Beach for their presentation of their 2011 line of protective wear. These sorts of presentations always remind me of college classes because they go through a slide show of their new products, pointing out every last detail right down to the contour of the zipper tab. We scribble down notes and ask questions, then break for coffee. Then more product presentations then we break for lunch, then we get to shoot pictures, do interviews and tinker with the new products.

After that I headed straight up to the STAPLES Center in Downtown L.A. to pick up my media credential for the Summer X Games. I'm a total moron and actually thought we had another week before X Games started, but it sneaked up on me and on Tuesday I was saying, "Aaah! It's in two days!"

Right: The press box at the L.A. Coliseum: Not such a bad office!

ESPN is really getting in to motocross events, and every year they add more competitions to the Summer X Games. It's great for the riders ESPN is really good to its athletes. While the riders have to pay money to compete in the AMA championships, ESPN actually pays the riders just to show up. They have rich purses that pay all the way down to last place so no one leaves empty handed. They give them gift baskets and treat them like royalty so it's really great to see my friends getting treated like the athletes they are. And it's a huge amount of publicity which is a really great thing for the sport so we try to support it as much as we can.

I spent all day Thursday at the L.A. Coliseum where the Moto X Racing events were being held. All day my "office" was in the press box on a beautiful day overlooking downtown. The racing was great and the girls in particular put on a great show. I love watching the Women's Moto X because it's the first and only form of Supercross racing for girls in the world, making it the single most prestigious race for WMX riders. I also love watching the expressions on people's faces when they see how fast the girls are.

A lot of them are girly girls, too, which I love. One of the most important messages I like to give little girls is that you don't have to act like a boy to ride with the boys. You be as girly as you want to be! Not that there's anything wrong with being a tomboy... but being "in touch with your masculine side" doesn't mean abandoning your feminine side. I always see girls in the sport who feel that showing any type of femininity equates to showing weakness (I used to be one of them). But I finally realized, "You know what? I like to curl my hair and paint my nails. And yes, I may squeal at spiders and cry at weddings but that doesn't make me any less of a rider!"

Right: Reigning WMX Champion Ashley Fiolek getting ready to put the smack down at X Games!

Anyhow, enough of that tangent. So X Games was fun, as always. While I was there I got to see Doc Bodnar. He's the AMA Supercross doctor who travels with the series and they have a big rig built into a medical center that they bring to all the races. Doc Bodnar is a super cool guy and always tells me that I can come see him or call him any time if I need anything so I asked him if he could take a look at my wrist. We X-rayed it and nothing's broken or fractured; he says it just looks like tendinitis. As common sense would dictate, I just need to rest it and ice it until it heals.

So that's a drag because we have a lot of testing to do at this time of year, but oh well... a few weeks off the bike is a relief sometimes. My feminine side certainly appreciates the occasional break! :)

There Are Trees in Michigan... Apparently

I've been trying to keep up with writing at least once a week, but obviously I'm a little behind. Usually Tuesday - my slowest day of the week - is my day to "blog it out" but last Tuesday I was in a coma (read: sleeping like a narcoleptic baby) for the majority of the day, still trying to recover from my Michigan trip last weekend. We went to Traverse City, Michigan for the 2011 Husaberg intro, which was held at the Jack Pine Enduro, one of the AMA National rounds, where we got to ride and race the new 'Bergs.

Photo right: A lovely self portrait while taking a break along the trail during Saturday's test session.

I'm sure most of you saw all my FaceBook posts about the travel debacle leaving LAX and going through Detroit to Traverse City, Michigan. As always, it was one ridiculous incident after another: bags lost, gates switched, delays, severe weather, etc, etc. I don't even feel like I should waste time writing about it. These silly travel adventures are sheer entertainment at this point, and fortunately I've A) come to expect it, and B) no longer sweat it. The only thing that ever gets me worried is when I have a deadline and I can't get home to work on my story.

The only thing worth mentioning, however, was the short flight from Detroit to Traverse City. We were on a small plane and a thunderstorm was still clearing up, but we were cleared for takeoff. It was quite unnerving and I was worried I would see my dinner in reverse because they expected a really bumpy flight. But our pilot seemed to find a nice little altitude pocket - there were storms above us and clouds below us, but we had calm air. From the storms above us, we could see lightning bolts striking all over, and in between the cloud layers the sun was setting. It was a pretty amazing sight - somewhat apocalyptic! I took a picture with my phone (above right), but it doesn't do the view any justice. The layers and colors of the sunset were really amazing. I'm glad I had a window seat for that flight!

Since my flight and another guy in our group were late getting in, we had the KTM sales manager from Tennessee picking us up at the airport instead of my friend Christy (who works for Husaberg). So I get a message on my cell phone from a guy named Jeremy, speaking in the thickest Southern accent you could imagine. He and his brother were to pick up me and Nathan Woods (one of the Husaberg racers) and take us to the hotel about an hour and a half away.

I was supposed to get into Michigan in time to join the Husaberg crew for dinner, but my flight didn't reach Traverse City until 10 P.M. Our bags weren't there yet and they said they'd be on the next flight about an hour later. So we went out to dinner and then came back to the airport about 11:30 P.M. We were on the road by midnight and to the hotel at 1:30 A.M. It was a very long and exhausting day, but that guy Jeremy is one of the funniest guys I've ever met and it was a fun adventure. Driving to the hotel we were on nothing but back country roads, one after another with thick woods on each side of the two-lane highway. We had to drive cautiously because there were deer everywhere and plus it was kinda foggy. It was an interesting drive.

Photo right: There are lots and lots of trees in Michigan. This was only Saturday's test loop. Sunday's race course was easily twice as dense!

I crawled into bed at about 2:00 A.M. and of course, we were due in the lobby six hours later for breakfast! That's the thing with these intros - they keep you busy, busy, busy! I think they don't want you to get bored or something, so they very rarely give you any down time.

The next day we drove out to the race site and had our little 2011 Husaberg model presentation. There were only three editors at this one - myself, Tom Webb and Jimmy Lewis (He's the editor of Dirt Rider that I used to fight with night and day when I worked there. But the funny thing is that Jimmy and I are pretty cool with each other these days. We actually hung out all weekend and had a great time!)

It was a brief presentation, and with such a small group, it was a pretty fun casual day of riding and shooting. They set up a two mile loop for us to ride, which I thought was going to be too short, but it was a very slow and technical two miles so it did the trick for us.

I spent most of the day on setup; I was having a hard time getting comfortable out there because it's wet sandy ground and really technical trail between trees, over logs, rocks, stumps, between trees so close together you had to slow down and physically push the bars between the trunks to get by. I've said before, when I'm on, I'm really on, and when I'm off, I'm really off. Well, I was off and having a frustrating day because I couldn't find where to make adjustments. Fine tuning is a hard thing to do when you're on a strange bike in a strange place in conditions you don't usually ride. If I had the bike at home and went on my regular loop in Mojave, I could figure it out pretty easily, but Michigan is a little trickier.

I really wore myself out riding the loop over and over again, trying to make improvements. But it was important to get it right since I'd be racing this bike tomorrow. I got a satisfactory setup going finally, but not before a few tip-overs, and a few trees jumping out in front of me (those suckers will get ya!).

This was to be my first National Enduro, and since I had done well at a local enduro I did last year, I thought maybe this could go pretty good. Well I was wrong! It was friggin' crazy!!! Okay, these special tests weren't dangerous or anything - no drop-offs, hill climbs, boulders, etc, but just tight, tight, tight trees snaking our way in between for miles on end. Imagine trying to ride a motorcycle through a crowded restaurant. Seriously. That's what it's like, only for nine miles!

The part that really stole my thunder was that I was on row 32 (in an enduro you start in rows of six riders separated by one minute) and all the Pro and A riders are in the 30s. So yes, that meant that there were super fast and aggressive guys who are racing for a championship behind me, and on these tight trails there is no where to get out of the way! I felt like ALL I WAS DOING was getting out of the way of other riders. Every 30 seconds I was trying to pull over, and at some points, all I could do was lay the bike down and let them ride over it because there was no where to go! It kinda sucked the fun out of it, and after the third test, I decided to call it a day. My wrist was in a lot of pain - even more every time I had to pick up the bike - the bike was billowing smoke because it was overheated, I thought I was going to throw up and I was waaaaay behind, meaning there was no way I could stay on my minute. After the third test, I reluctantly bowed out of the rest of the race and headed back to camp on the paved roads.

It was really a bummer especially because everyone was going on and on about how the fourth test was the best one of the day, fast and fun, "perfect berm after perfect berm" and only six miles. Had I just completed that I would have recorded a finish. Oh well. Like I said, I'm paid to write stories, not win races. I had spent ample time on the bike to get an impression, we had our photos, and I can't afford to hurt my wrist any more than I already had because we have a lot of testing to do this summer. Anyway, that's what I reasoned to myself. But honestly, a DNF still always feels like a big fat failure. :(

That put a damper on my afternoon, but the evening was by no means a wash. We all went out for a big dinner and then headed back to the hotel to grab a cooler of beer and head to the jacuzzi for some much needed chill time. I was even more sleep deprived by that point, but it's hard to toddle off to bed when there's fun to be had! I usually don't get much sleep on trips simply because there are too many better things to be doing. I can sleep when I get home!

The trip home was filled with more delays and screaming kids, turbulence, over-booked flights, etc, etc. On the way there I didn't care so much, but when I'm trying to rush back to the office on a Monday and have stories to complete, things all of a sudden become far more irritating! But like always, I made it home, cranked out the stories and we got the issue out the door. From there, I promptly went home, crawled into bed and stayed there for 20 hours. Yes, I slept most of my Tuesday away which is why I didn't get my blog done until now, but boy did it feel great!