Hunter Tales

A sick day

2009-12-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

I had to go home sick today, but then sitting around got me so freakin bored, so I went up to the little jumps by my house and had some fun...this is how a 35 year old spends his afternoon;) I may be sick again tomorrow!! And Lil H, I know, they are small, but I am old!

Lil H at the Endurocross!

2009-11-26T17:23:00.001-08:00

Another year, and another Endurocross season is in the books. There is probably no better racing than the Endurocross races, anything can happen and the guy in last place on the first lap can easily be the guy who wins, you never know...

This year I sat in the bleachers all day, drinking beer, and making satirical comments about everyone down there struggling through the course. This year, Lil H took my place down there, and he did a great job, here are a few shots...and I know you are used to me being behind the camera, but I handed it over to Henry's sister and she shot all of these.

My New Graphics

2009-07-18T19:06:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a set of new graphics for, well months. I just never could get it quite right. I had this one set with some killer tattoo inspired work, kind of Ed Hardy like, but it just didn't fit on a bike. I tried some other stuff as well but was never all that psyched on what was coming out.

Then a few nights ago Netflix sent me Le Mans. Its a Steve McQueen movie about the 24 hour road race at, well at Le Mans. I gotta hand it to McQueen, he really was a bad ass, I want to be just like him when I grow up. But any ways, McQueens character drove for Martini racing, and I have always been a fan of the Martini racing looks on their cars and street bikes. So I thought, I should make my KTM into a Martini machine. So here are the new graphics.

Hunter Battle Returns

2009-07-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a really long time since I have posted anything on the blog, but lets face it, Facebook has kind of killed this site. But I want to bring it back, and when I say I am bringing it back, I am bringing it back old school style. Remember those F'd up stories I used to write, well there will be a few of those, along with some kick ass photos from motocross, mountainbiking and just around. So look for it.

For Kevin 1 "My top 5 Picks"

2008-05-18T19:50:00.001-07:00

For Kevin 2

2008-05-18T19:47:00.001-07:00

For Kevin 3

2008-05-18T19:44:00.001-07:00

For Kevin 4

2008-05-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

SYMX: Proof that it Exists

2007-12-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

It was really cold today; I mean it was really cold. I guess that is why I chickened out, what a shame. I did get a new ride, stay tuned for that, but in the mean time, here are a few shots of some die hards; Wagon, Cartelli, Davis and Matt Y. A lot of work has gone into the SYMX Track, and today, a lucky few got to test out the take off angles, flow of the turns, distances, and soil conditions. I was pissed I didn't have my bike, oh well...

Enjoy the shots, I am stealing from my good friends over at Vurbmoto.com and adding in some graphics work to liven things up a bit.

NEW TRACK IS COMING!!!!

2007-12-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

There has been some underground talk that the J5, soon to be known as San Ysidro MX, track was going to reopen. Well the rumors can now be confirmed, Matt Davis has obtained the lease and has spent countless hours in the tractor and dozer working the dirt into an insane track!! I actually got a chance to take a few quick laps a week or two back, and while it wasn't complete, I can tell you that this track has a National feel to it. It is WIIIIDDDDEEEE! There are probably no parts that are less than 25 feet across and in my 8 laps I hardly used the same line twice. This will make for some really good racing. In addition, the track can be a little bit technical as well, one turn kind of cork screws you down the hill and sets you up for a really large table top, and then there is an absolute off camber, you go into it and get that roller coaster feeling as you crest a hill and then drop down and into the turn, then it is up a super steep hill. Check out these shots Matt took last weekend. I am planning on heading out to get a few more and just be ready to ride come January!!

GP Track Again

2007-12-10T18:14:00.001-08:00

I have really got to start coming up with some better titles for these posts, I just keep adding again to the end, and that makes it sound like it was just another day, maybe things are getting a little monotonous (I just used a big word that I don't know how to spell but I am going with it). Anyway, it was hardly just another day. It has been raining lately and the dirt was choice, berms were just forming anywhere you wanted them to. Wagon and I got out there first and got a few laps in. Keith brought a new guy out with him, we call him "Guato", because he is from Guatemala. He is a good rider, and I got say his fitness is pretty high. He started riding, rode for like an hour, took a ten minute break and then went out for some more.

We decided to head out for a quick trail ride, so once we pulled Guato off the track and put another tank of gas in his bike we headed out. It was a good ride, but man, some of the old single track out at southern has been found and it was all whooped out. Time to make some new trails out there.

All right, I have been told that I need to add some captions to the pics so you, the reader (all 2 of you) some info on who is who and what not.

That's Keith, he can actually whip, not like those pitiful attempts I was trying several posts below. It is cool riding with someone that fast, well not really riding with him just out there at the same time, and watching the lines and techniques. Dude was riding a 450 but it was all tapped out like a 250F!!

Wagon. He was killing it out there. It is weird hearing the two stroke out there. You know how people always say that a smell can trigger your memory, well every time he passes me, which is often, that two stroke smell gives me flash backs to way back in the day out at the old Flyin High Track. I got passed a lot back then as well.

Guato, he is looking for a chic. So if any of you know someone, hook him up!! But don't forget, I am still out there trying myself; Yo Angie, you still working on that?

Wagon airin out the KTM. They were all complaining that the lip on the jump sucked, so I went over and kicked some dirt around, built it up and proceeded to send Wagon into a nice panic rev the next go round. We all laughed at him. I don't get to make the jumps anymore.

Who the F is 223? Oh yeah, I am running a new number. I figured that 58 was just way too hard to live up to. I mean you got to really be on the gas to hold a number like that. 223 is a lot more low key, the expectations are a lot less. But it is weird, my bikes have had 58 on since like '87, when I was on a clapped out KTM 125.

Couple of more shots below. Here is some cool news, you can now post video on this site!! Watch for it. And don't forget, check out Vurbmoto.com for all kinds of cool stuff, and some really killer videos. Our bro Campo made it out to Last Man Standing, so his report and photos should be today or tomorrow.

GP Track Again, Rest of the Pics

2007-12-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

This is Keith, he likes doing ramps, he jumps really cool! But seriously, ramping is cool!!

Me, again, but check out that style!

Cartelli on the long jump

2007-11-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

Here's a shot of Myles going pretty big a few weeks back. Here its just a low res jpeg, but it does look pretty good saved at a higher res and with the vector graphics.

Wagon the photographer

2007-10-27T20:58:00.001-07:00

We need RAIN!!! Or maybe some snow, something though. We headed out to Fisher's today, we got there and Painter and few others were out there, and you could see the dust boiling up from way down the road. It was slick, its funny how the two opposites, mud and dryness, are so much alike in riding styles. But enough of that, it seems every time that I take the camera out, Wagon grabs it and takes some badass photos of me, meanwhile I am out there dorkin with the aperture, shutter speed, and flash settings, getting a good one here and there, Wagon manages to get shot after shot. Wagon took the shots of me, and for those that don't know me, I am 58, Wagon is 728, and Davis is 458. What's up with all those 8s???? Maybe I am just the most photogenic of all...yeah right.

Tomorrow, Buckmans...

See one more post lower for even more photos from today.

Damn, Wagon takes some good photos

2007-10-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

The Socorro Desert Race

2007-10-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

So our little band of desert racers did quite well this past weekend down at the little Socorro OHV park. It was definitely a true desert race that threw a little bit of everything at you, from deep ass sand whoops, rocks, sharp rocks, gravelly washes, high speeds and some really steep climbs and descents. My hats off to Alan who hauled ass for 4 17 mile laps, and to Sean who rode the last 9 miles on a flat front tire, and tore up the amateur class in his first NMDRC race ever. Look for him in the expert class next year or prepare to heckle him pretty hard for sandbagging. Alan defninitely was kicking ass out there as well, his speed was consistent all day, and he has been working his butt off getting ready for Baja, so buy a t-shirt and help the team out!!! Our other rider was Angie, and her fourth place finish doesn't do her justice, just check out her style in these shots, she definitely had the speed to run up front, but a little bit of rider error at the start dorked up her chances...I am not going to tell you what she did, but just ask her, maybe she will tell you:)

A Few More Socorro Pics

2007-10-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pics of the crew.

One Last Socorro Pic

2007-10-22T20:20:00.001-07:00

The Winner of Socorro, Lowery. An artistic perspective.

Wagon's New Ride

2007-10-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

I have been told I am slacking on getting posts up, I will try and do better. But not much has been going on lately, but that is changing. I will get some shots and a report up on Alan and his team as they prepare for Baja 1000 +400!! Alan has been really impressive this year, with a first at Vegas to Reno. He and Angie are doing the Socorro race this weekend, so check back on Monday for some photos and a report. Also, looks like our boy Sean is going to do that race as well and Jay should be out there too. So even more reasons to check back.

But here is the big news, KTM is making big bucks here in this little town of Albuquerque. Myles got a 450, Sean got 2 200s and a 144, and Wagon got a 250 two smoker!! Here are a few shots of Wagon breaking in the 250. His initial report, it KICKS ASS!!

Heard another rumor today, I won't say too much about it, but New Mexico may be getting a new MX track!! Knowing what I know, it will be good.

Denver Enduro Cross

2007-10-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

OK, this is a cheesy ass way to promote another web site, one in which my good buddy Brent is trying to take amateur motocross to a whole new level. But as part of that, Brent is covering all kinds of off road and motocross racing. So check out http://www.vurbmoto.com for my report on the first of the series racing, here's a hint at who won, it wasn't John Dowd!! The vurbmoto site is going to post a few more articles written by yours truly and a photo gallery will be posted soon. I am going to be at Guthrie Oklahoma next weekend, so check back on Sunday for the results!!

Whips, but look below for freestyle ramps!!!

2007-09-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

My whips, if you can call them that, are getting a bit better. This was last weekend while helping Wes out at the Sandia Classic Vintage MX.

Freestyle Ramps

2007-09-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

I got a call from Wagon this morning, "Dude, we are going to hit some freestyle ramps, wanna go?"

Well I haven't been home that much recently, I really needed to get some laundry done, make hotel reservations for next week in Houson and Denver, mow the yard, clean the garage, weed the side yard, and so on and so on.

I thought about it for just a minute or two and figured I would go out and get some shots but not take the bike. Wagon also told me that I better sack up and put the bike in the truck...so I did, and I am glad I did.

I was just a bit scared to hit the first ramp, they are really imtimidating just looking at them, and besides it was a long way up them, and over the top of the sand dunes. I hit the little gap first, second gear kinda easy and soared!! It was a crazy ass floating feeling, I was jazzed and had to hit it again. I moved up to the other two ramps, it was awesome!! Here are just a few shots of Wagon and Cartelli. I will get some more up soon.

Oh yeah, I put one of me hitting the big ramp just to prove I did it.

Near the Shack Track

2007-09-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a good, there wasn't a Jacker in sight...not even a berry flashing those high beams...
or something like that.

Headed out to the West Mesa and met up with Wagon 728. There was a new TT track just put in by a rather famous local desert guy, and it is really a kick track. Its definitely fast and has a good flow with some elevation changes. Even though there was a lot of rain yesterday, it seems it missed those 25 acres or so, but none the less, there was a bit of moisture coming up here and there. Here are some shots of Wagon blowing up some of the berms, and oh yeah, I had to throw in one shot of number 58, that dude ROCKS!!!!

Ouray 2007, Part 1 of ?? I may only get one up...

2007-08-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

The Ouray trip, maybe one of my year's highlights...definitely the year's highlight.
's
This year, I brought up the new 950 Adventure, I love riding that bike. I actually show up to work with a smile on my face, even though it is only a 7 mile, 15mph average, with a bunch of lights and what not.

We took off at about 8 on Thursday and made it to Durango for lunch. In Durango, Sean and I unloaded the Adventures and Johnny O got out his Kawasaki something, its a bad ass road bike of some sort. Anyway, the trucks headed out and we followed on the bikes for the 60 miles or so of awesome scenery and roads. Sean had surgery on his back a few weeks earlier and was not too sure how well he was going to be able handle the ride but he was doing all right. We actually were sitting up on the road just above Silverton and Sean was asking me if I knew how to ride the dirt roads from Silverton to Ouray. I do know several ways to get there, but I figured that if we did do this, Kellie would kill me...I mean really kill me. So we finished off on the highway.

Later that afternoon we did a short ride just up and around the east and souteast of Ouray. We went up towards Engineer Pass, we weren't supposed to go up to the top for the view, but I did anyway, it is just too good. We then headed over towards Animas Forks and up California gulch and then back to the highway to Ouray. I won't bore everyone with all the GPS coordinates and road numbers, so I will tell the only adventurous story of the day.

That would be Alan. He borrowed Sean's 950 and unlike me, I was riding mine but very gingerly because I didn't want to dump it, and actually ripped it up all over the place. He was flying through all the rocks and just throwing it into some really dry and slick turns. I was actually getting a bit scared riding behind him for a ways. We were going down this pretty steep hill, really slick with lots of rolling rocks and stuff. I was following Alan and this turn was coming up and I felt like we would never stop sliding, Alan just let go of the brakes, laid the bike over and gassed it. I had no choice but to do the same or end up in the ditch, but after that I just really gave up with the going fast thing on that bike, scared me too bad.

The second day was another just great day, the sun was out, you could see forever. Unlike the year before where we started in the rain, rode in the rain, ate in the rain, and ended in the rain. There was definitely a few stories on the day, that's what you get when you have 12 people and 100 some odd miles of riding. Only one flat, and it was only a slow leak and Ed fixed that at the second lunch break. I got to see a pretty simple crash play out in front of me, but it turned out to be a pretty significant in the long run. Russ wasn't wearing any knee guards and he hit the inside of it really hard. We caught up with the rest of the crew just a hundred yards down the trail at a gnarly creek crossing where Angie had played submarine with her YZ125. Good thing it was a two stroke, because it had sucked in a hell a lot of water. It took about thirty minutes of draining float bowls, turning it upside down, drying filters and changing spark plugs. About the time all that got done, Russ's knee was really looking bad and I took him back to where Gordy was waiting with gas and more importantly a truck to get the injured dude back to Ouray, where beer and advil would hopefully decrease the swelling. Russ unfortunately had to head home the next day, he was pretty banged up, but I will say he was pretty damned tough as we rode those twenty miles or so back to the truck.

Then it was Johnny O's turn to have some adventure. I wasn't there for any of this so it is all word of mouth. The story goes that he got stuck once and everyone just zipped right on by, I guess it was Alan who finally stopped and helped muscle the bike out of the muck. Then, John was riding in the back of the pack, just off to the side of the trail and got swallowed in an old mine hole. He was pinned upside down and I think backwards. It took all his might to get the bike off of him and pulled out of the hole. It shook him up a bit needless to say.

The third day I was back on the Adventure. It sure is weird to go from the YZ to the Adventure, they take two distinct types of riding styles. Well there is not a whole lot of grand stories to tell about the third day. We head up Red Mountain and take the Black Bear pass road over to Telluride. From Telluride it is up over Imogene pass and back into Ouray. I thought that this was going to be pretty easy and wasn't too worried about having any hard parts on the Adventure. I was wrong. I chickened out on the steep rocky, and slick steps that end with a drop of 80 feet or so if you screw up on the road below. Alan came hiking back up the trail to take pictures of me going down it, or rather going down, I think he was expecting a crash or two. But rather than ride it, I recruited Alan to help me muscle it down. It was only maybe 100meters or so, but it wrecked me, I was soaking wet with sweat, but that is what its all about. The second hard part came on the backside of Imogene. Johnny'O was actually a little worried for me on the loose shale on the way up, but that wasn't the hard part, it was on the back side where it was really steep and really slick. I worked awfully hard to keep that beast under control, but what's cool is that on the YZ it would have been a cake walk and not even a challenge, but the Adventure brings on a whole new world of challenges.

So I am looking forward to next year. Here's a few pics to entice any of you all out there that haven't come to join us next year!!

Laters all.

Back to the Motorcycle Stuff

2007-08-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

So I strayed a bit with that whole fashion photography story I last posted, sorry about that Johnny O.

I am now the proud, very proud but very broke, owner of a 950 Adventure. The thing is awesome. I have done a few rides up to the Sandia Ski area and what have you, as well as commuting to work just about everyday. But this weekend I got to test out the whole ride it and camp aspect.

I took off from my house and went down into the Rio Grande Valley and headed north. I got up to Bernalillo and headed in the opposite direction from my real destination as I went to Placitas and then up the dirt road that comes out just about at the Sandia Ski Area. From there I went up towards Madrid where I took a road that went back west toward I-25 and the Santo Domingo gas station. From there I went up to Cochiti, cruised right on by my Mom's house (she wasn't home or I would have stopped) and up the Dome road. I was chasing the rain, so the traction was just awesome the whole day. From the Dome road I made it to graduation flats and headed over towards the North Pass trail, didn't ride that of course but went down the road to the highway in the Valle Caldera. From there I went west, and just miles from my final destination, I turned back south on the Forest Road 10 and went down to Poderosa. Once there, I went up toward Jemez on got on Forest Road 376 through the Gilman tunnels and finally made it to the camp site at the top of 376.

I met up with a bunch of my friends from work. We got a really nice place to camp. We drank a lot of beer, told a lot of stories and laughed a hell of a lot. It was a good time. There were a few catch phrases that the trip will be remembered by; "SPARTANS!!!", "Mona, No, No.", and "Come here ladies". The "come here ladies" was the call for all the dogs, there were six of them running around, it was pure chaos!! But had they been ill behaved dogs it would have been another story completely, but they were all really good.

I got up early and left around 7:30. I was kinda in a hurry to get home so it was just down the highway to the Dome road, a stop off at Mom's house for some breakfast and then down to Santo Domingo, the back way to San Felipe and then down to Algodones, Bernalillo and finally home. Not too much of an adventure, hardly even off the beaten path but its a start. Who konws, maybe I will just head out one day and you all can read about a true adventure on Advrider.com!!!

Peace.

Fashion Shoot

2007-07-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

So I have been working with Andrew Campo, the owner of Subject Media. You should really check out his site at www.subjectmedia.net. I definitely am in to shooting photos of motocross and the motocross lifestyle, but the other day Campo gave me the opportunity to check out some work with models and stuff. The original idea was to do some light painting as I like to call it. This is where you turn out the lights, take a flashlight and just paint the subject. We started off with some shots with normal lighting and what have you. There were about 4 strobe lights and some light bars. I had no idea what to do with any of them, but I wanted to look like I knew what I was doing, so I set up the lights, fiddled with the knobs on the back and took some photos. Here is how it all turned out.

A Day on an Adventure 950

2007-06-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

My day started at 4 am, freakin alarm going off way to early is all I have to say. Why so early? Well I had the 6 am flight to LA, and from there it was a 3 hour drive north to Santa Maria where I met up with Sean for a ride on the big KTM 950 Adventure. I had been looking forward to this ride for some time.

The ride started out as a typical Mitch and Sean fiasco. We roll into the gas station and I put the debit card into the machine, but then the stupid buttons for picking the fuel grade are backwards from back home, so we cancel the sale, which in turn renders my debit card useless at the pump for some reason. So Sean went to pull his out, but pull it out from where? It wasn't in the little compartment on the bike, nor his jacket pocket, nor the other jacket pocket, and ultimately it wasn't in the back pack either. Well no big deal, we just cruised a few miles back to his apartment, picked up the wallet and went back to the petrol store, or gas station if you talk like a normal person.

I was a bit sketched out on the first part of the ride, well actually the whole ride but felt better near the end. The wind was blowing pretty hard as we worked our way out to the mountains east of Santa Maria. We must have rode through this one vineyard for nearly 8 miles and that is when I just blew my own mine. How? Well I started thinking about how many vines full of grapes did it take to make just one bottle of wine, then I started to think of all the different wines out there, and then I thought about all the liquor stores that stock wine, and well you get the idea. Before long it was like thinking about time travel and how confusing that whole thing gets. The conclusion of all this deep thought was simple, it takes a $&(*^& load of grapes to make all that wine, especially when you start thinking of all that Carlo Rossi the bums drink and those big boxes my sophisticated brother likes.

Sean tells me at the start of this twisty asphault section that I should ride the bike like a motocrosser on the pavement, and not to worry if the back wheel starts to step out or if the front feels like it is drifting a bit. Also, just stick your foot out like you are railing a berm. I thought to myself yeah right, but as I watched Sean go into the first few turns, well that is exactly what he was doing. Me, well I was quite a bit more mellow and soon found myself quite away behind Sean.

I was glad to see the dirt, and we rode a majority of the ride on some fast two track with banked turns that were slick and just about perfect for a drift here and there, something the 950 did with ease. Now we all know Sean can ride a bike, no doubt a solid A rider off road, but man he really kills on the dual sport. I couldn't even stay in his dust for long!!!

All in all it was a great day. I know I keep talking about getting one of these bikes, but now I want one even more. Here are a few shots of Sean, and then down below are a few of me.

Later you all.

Part two of A Day on a 950 Adventure

2007-06-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots Sean took of me today!!

ISDE Trinidad Qualifier

2007-05-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

I will try and get a race review posted tomorrow night, but for now here are a few pics of some dudes that were flat out hauling. The course was really tough, not necessarily the most technical, but it got pretty rough. The tree shot, well that was the only tree on the course and it was a pain in the ass to get through. More later.

Cartellis Graphics

2007-05-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

OK, I talked with the man himself and he wanted a few changes. So here is the next one, kinda rough sketched. Still working on a Daisy Duke.

Fisher's 2 Days in a Row

2007-05-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

Dave got out on the tractor early and added a high speed rolling double. The take off is only a couple of feet high and you float a good 70 plus feet over the landing, a long low roller. Both Wagon and Ronnie were hitting the downslope pretty easily, the rest of us were catching the top. That was a fast section, so Dave built up the berm after that stretch and it was kick ass. I got there a bit early and help get it watered, it turned out sweet. You could hit it so fast and just rail it. Ronnie was absolutely destroying that berm. After a while we talked Dave into digging us a rut with the tractor. It was deep. Us New Mexico boys need all the help we can get when it comes to ruts, as the weekend before out at Moriarty demonstrated, but both Ronnie and Wagon were hitting it well. Davis hit hard a few times as well, he also crashed once or twice in it, unfortunately I missed the shots. Next weekend, gotta go to Sandia and race at least one day to qualify for Ponca. The weekend after that is the ISDE qualifier up in Colorado. That should be killer.

Laters.

Enriquez Special

2007-05-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

So I was super slow getting these photos up, and well Enriquez has been bothering Wagon about why they weren't up, and Wagon has been pestering me, so here are a few bonus photos for number 888.

At Fisher's House Again

2007-05-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

You can never get enough riding at Fisher's house!!!!

I went from a miserable day of riding the day before to one of the most fun days ever. Actually the day before was fun, actually it was great, but a freak storm killed the day. We were up riding the trails in the south Jemez, they were super tacky and almost qualified as loamy. We were about thirty miles in, just about time for lunch when a black cloud started moving in, and before we could even blink we were in a serious down pour. I have to hand it to the weather guys, they are freakin geniuses, well maybe not. The call was for a sunny, warm day with not a chance of rain. Therefore I didn't take a jacket or any kind of warm clothing at all.

We decided to take the fastest way back, unfortunately that meant up over the pass, probably close to 10,000 feet. That is when it really got cold and the rain turned to sleet and hail. It was about a 1/4 inch deep in places!! We were all so cold, but once we got to within about a mile of the truck, there was the sun and 78 degree weather. I was so cold, I was shaking uncontrollably, yet about an hour later driving home we had the air conditioner on.

Today was another story. There was some wind off and on, other wise it was bright blue skies, probably low 80s. The only bad thing is that there hadn't been any rain for a while out at Fisher's so it was just a bit dusty if you tried to battle with anyone, but with 4 of us out there, we just spread out and it was no problem.

I started playing around a bit on the big double with moving the bike around in the air. All of a sudden I started to get a little bit of a whip going on. Now I know it isn't much of one (as you can see from the picture) but it still felt like I was really getting it out there. Tomorrow we are all heading back, so I will see if I can take it a bit further.

Peace, I am outta here.

Daisy Duke

2007-05-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

So Cartelli's graphics are going to have a pinup type girl on the rear fender. I have done a few sketches, and so far both Cartelli and I think this is the best head shot. So I did a quick photoshop sketch. She looks a bit mad now, but when I am done, she will be the hot, sweet southern girl next door!!!! Now for the hard part, the body. Check back tomorrow.

The General Lee Rides Again

2007-05-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

All right, I got a bit ambituos tonight and did a quick sketch of Cartelli's graphics. The bike was pretty lo res, so all the graphics are the same. But it is just a sketch. Also, there will be a pin up girl on the rear fender. It will be of a daisy duke type and influenced by the work of Rion Vernon. So more to come.

News Flash!! Elson Kicks ass at Vintage Race

2007-05-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

Well while one Elson, me, was getting his ass kicked all weekend long, another, Pops, was out doing some ass kicking of his own. So the reports have been coming in from all over. My first thought that it was a gate of one in the 60+ novice class at the Colorado Springs Vintage MX. But then I heard from around the way that Wes was telling everyone that there was a gate of 10...but he wasn't disclosing how many classes were on the gate. I will just say that my Pops got a first place trohpy with 10 on the line!!

So now there is a challenge to lay down, and it goes out to the 60+ crowd I ride with; Johnny 'O, Big H, Ed, and the rest, to show up at the Sandia Classic, with a rust bucket 1970 to 1960 something bike and challenge the 60+ novice champ.

Dad, the training starts today, get that book of Air Force exercises out and gimme 20 jumping jacks!!!

Cartelli Illustration

2007-05-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

So here is an illustration I did of Myles. Tonight I begin work on his graphics, he has a kick ass idea, so give me a day or two and we will see what happens.

An Illustration

2007-05-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

I took this photo of Trey Canard this weekend and then just messed around for a while with it.

Moriarty MX - Lorretta Lynn and Ponca Qualifier - April 6-7 Part 1

2007-05-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

Spring is over, you know how you can tell? The World Mini GP is over, and tonight is the Vegas supercross. So that means it is time for the Outdoors as well as the string of summer amateur nationals. That means qualifiers, and this weekend a southwest regional was held at a little motocross track in Moriarty New Mexico for both Lorretta Lynn’s and Ponca.

The weather has been great for the last month, cool mornings, warm afternoons and an occasional rain that kept the dust down at the private tracks. But not this weekend. A storm rolled in on Friday bringing with it some cold, strong winds And in typical NM style, there was a lot of blowing dust that came with it. That dust wasn’t from the track though, it was actually muddy, I think my bike picked up 15 pounds of clay after the first practice session on Friday thanks to some broken water pipes and wind hampered sprinklers. And while it was slick and nasty for a while, it opened up a ton of lines through the turns, mostly deep ruts, the kind you can just slam into and rail around.

Some really fast riders were pulling into the pits on Friday morning for practice. First to roll in was the Wharton caravan from Pilot Point Texas. Jeff Ward showed up a little later in a van with his son Barton and next to me, Dean Wilson. Of course the next great New Mexico rider, who is following in the footsteps of Buckelew, Tedesco, Clark, the Johnsons and most recently Bradley Graham, no other than Jason Anderson who has added a few titles to his resume this spring. Eli Tomac also made the short drive down from Colorado, so the weekend was shaping up to be a showcase of some of the fastest amateur talent in the nation right now. But there was one surprise on Saturday morning, when the 241 Sobe /Samsung Honda of Trey Canard started ripping laps during the first practice of the morning.

Today the stock classes were running. First moto off the gate, and it was a rather large gate of three, was the MX Lite A’s. Canard split up the two Kawasakis in the first turn and never looked back. In the Motocross class a few motos later Canard was challenged by a hard charging Tyler Wharton, but he started pulling away on lap three and put a bit of distance between himself and Wharton.

The MX Lite B class was absolutely dominated by the other Wharton brother. If Blake wasn’t pulling the holeshot, he was pretty close, and after a few turns was out in front. The Lites were double gated with the A’s, and while I didn’t have a stop watch on them, Blake seemed to be keeping pace with Tray. Another intermediate rider that was looking super fast in practice on Friday was Dean Wilson. In his first MX Lite moto he got tangled up in the first turn and it took him forever to get untangled. And when you have someone out front as fast and consistent as Blake Wharton, the chances of running him down are slim and none, even if you are as fast as Wilson. The second moto saw Blake with the holeshot and Wilson a close second, but it just wasn’t meant to be for Wilson today as Wharton slowly pulled away and had about 7 seconds on him after the checkers flew. Wilson may have something for him tomorrow, it should be interesting.

The Schoolboy class was stacked and looked to be a good race with Eli Tomac, Jason Anderson and Blake Wharton all on the line. The big surprise was Anderson on an RM125! The gate dropped and Anderson wheelied into the holeshot down the inside. Going into the second turn it was Anderson, Tomac then Wharton. Going into the 3rd turn it was Anderson, Wharton then Tomac. The fourth turn it was Wharton, Anderson and then Tomac. Then down the hill and into the fifth turn it was Wharton, Tomac and then Anderson, which was the way it would stay to the finish. While the rest of that race was kind of boring, the first half lap was action packed.

Well that is all for today. The weather forecast is looking like more of the same tomorrow, so if you are coming out, bring a hoody and some goggles. Should be another good day of racing.

Moriarty MX - Lorretta Lynn and Ponca Qualifier - April 6-7 Part 2

2007-05-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

Fisher's Playground

2007-04-18T04:44:00.000-07:00

I love going out to Fisher's house! It is so sick out there. On Saturday there was three inches of snow still melting away out there, so we hit the shack track and found some really moist west mesa sand. Davis and Wagon have been out there working on a great GP track and after just a few laps the berms and ruts got built up and we were dragging bars through the turns. Well they were dragging the bars, I was just trying to stay in the berms. There were some jumps built up over the road, and since we didn't have a shovel, we did a lot of kicking dirt with a boot or digging with a rotting 2x4 with rusty nails to get the take offs groomed enough to hit them. But once that was done, Cartelli and Shaffer began throwing some big whips up and over the vehicles. Check out the pictures in the blog below this one. I had a few of the whips, but forgot to downsize them for the web so they were taking forever to load and I got impatient and started doing something else.

Speaking of being impatient, the next morning we get to Fishers Magical Playland and I am just can't wait to start riding. You could tell it was going to be a bit muddy for a while, but after a few laps it turned to a piece of sweet Georgia pie, or something like that. I was probably ready a good 15 minutes before everyone else and headed out into the mud. I almost went down a few times, but got a few lines going. I only jumped a few of the obstacles and then pulled off to catch my breath. About that time Wagon heads out and was on the gas from the start. He was flying through the slick spots like they were offering up full traction. He has a killer style over the jumps as well, he gets just about halfway across and jams the back brake, pitches it to the angle of the landing and flies like that the rest of the way, it looks cool.

Speaking of looking cool, Shaffer started whipping it over the last really big double and each lap he seemed to get it just a little bit flatter. Then, while we were all hanging out at the trucks, Shaffer was still out there getting in a few last laps and he laid one over that was totally flat and kicked way, it looked like a pro whip for sure.

That dude in the red and black Fly gear on my bike, well that is Gabe. Gabe hasn't been riding a lot lately, in fact he doesn't even have a bike. But it didn't take him long to get it back, he was flying out there. He gets married in about two weeks, we better make sure he gets a bike before then!!

More shots from a kick ass weekend

2007-04-18T04:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of shots from this past Saturday. This is out past the shack track, there are a couple of jumps over the road, and our bro Davis has been working on a GP track that kicks ass.

Lake Whitney

2007-04-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

So it had been a long time since I have raced Motocross, and what better way to do it than to head off to Texas and race the opening Amateur National of the series, and it also happens to be one of the biggest events of the year. So things got off to a great start when my pops, who still likes to take his 30+ year old kid to the races, bought a kick ass toy hauler. I have to say that it was James "Wagon" Wagner that put this whole thing together, and to that I say "That was a Giddy Up!"

We stopped off in Lubbock to grab a bite to eat with my boy Thomas Hoover. Thomas is a bad ass enduro rider who is now haning out with all the fine ass hotties at Texas Tech, but a bit of bad luck snow boarding cost him a Team Green ride, but hopefully the little pep talk will help keep his motivation up and he will be ready to ride come the fall TSCEC races. I have to say that the Hooters in Texas are a far "sight" better than the ones here. Here, I actually go for the wings, there, F*$% the wings the girls are sooooo hot!!!

We showed up the next day to Lake Whitney, this would be Sunday and practice was scheduled to start on Monday and continue on through Tuesday. James had us hooked up big time and we got to hang out on the lake with the Drys, Andersons, Florentinos, and Rick Johnson!!! I am not messin with you, Rick Johnson was just across the way. He actually started up a team and one of his riders was none other than NM's own Jason Anderson (312). So we were all haning out and he just popped in. It was cool, he obviously is really into this new team that he started up with Sebastian Tortelli and some others, but you could tell he was really psyched to talk about driving the trophy trucks. That would be insane, but I will only dream because that is some big bucks right there. So I posted two pictures, one of me and one of Travis Baker. You will notice that our bikes look a hell of a lot alike. This was really cool for me because as I would ride through the pits, everyone was giving me the thumbs up or a high five because they though I was him (by the way he has a hot mom!!) But it must have sucked for him as I cruised around in, oh...LAST PLACE!! and everyone was thinking "What the hell is up with Baker? He is riding like a dork!!"

So I am only going to talk about myself for like two seconds, and I will only say that I rode like I had never been on a bike before in my life!! Well it was mostly a physical thing, my arms would pump up so bad that I couldn't hold on to save my life, so I would ride a lap or two and just cruise around. That really sucked, but I tell you what, it was so cool to watch the future of motocross there for a week. Especially the NM crowd. Right now Jason Anderson is right there in the hunt for many mini titles. I don't know the statistics, and if anyone knows them please post a comment, but he seems to be on track to winning as many or more mini titles as Justin Buckelew (I am pretty sure he still has the most of anyone from NM, let me know). The other NM star had to be Corey Dry. He had some really bad luck, a flat tire and a dead bike on the line, but he was riding really well, and was solid every moto in the intermediates, most likely the most competive bunch of classes out there.

There was some really exciting moments; almost any time Jason Anderson was on the track, when Dry holeshotted one of his motos and lead for like 3 laps, the Barcia scrubs, anytime Ashley Fiolek was out there, and of course when the little dudes and girls were out there and parents were running around like crazies.

So what was the deal with Wagon. Well he was looking good in practice, but his bike was making a noise and at first he thought nothing of it. But disaster struck in the 25+ moto when the bike took a sh*& and Wagon's week was done. We pulled the cover and there was bits of broken metal everywhere!! Too bad that Yamaha wasn't there supporting amateur motocross, but at least they were cool later on when it was determined that it was a breakdown that he couldn't have permitted and hooked him up with all parts. You will recognize his pictures as number 728, but you can also recognize them because he always looks like a pro out there, but we gotta hook him up with some white boots, those black ones clash with that white gear!!

All right, there was just way too much cool shit going on at Whitney to get it all here, but hey, there are a few more amateur nationals this year, maybe I will make Ponca?? Until then...enjoy the potos.

Lake Whitney Pictures 1

2007-04-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

Lake Whitney Pictures Part 2

2007-04-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

Christmas In Salt Lake

2006-12-26T19:33:00.000-08:00

We got some climbing in up in Salt Lake over Christmas. Check out Hailey, she kicked some butt, and Lil Cole just couldn't be left out of the action!!

DOWD WINS, DOWD WINS!!!!

2006-11-19T00:03:00.000-08:00

John Dowd wins Endurocross 2006! Guess you can quit reading now, because I just gave the ending of the movie away. As was last years, this was an amazing race. The three fastest hot lap times, were also the three fastest qualifier winners and they finished in the same order, it was Dowd, Nathan Woods and David Knight in the top three spots, after that who knows, I think those three had lapped most of the field in the ten lap race.

So like ESPN, I am going to give you some highlights.

Everyone is always talking about Ryan Hughes, mostly because he came in the first year of this thing, just off of a motocross career and kicked ass on a bunch world class off road riders. Last year, he set the fastest hot lap time, I think, and had nothing but trouble in the main. Well this year, he had nothing but trouble in his first qualifier, then he got hung up on the start of his semi, crashed, got stuck, fell over, got stuck, crashed and finished in the back. But the one thing Ryno never did was give up, he charge and I am pretty sure he stuffed someone in the last curve so he wouldn't get last. Hopefully he will be back next year!

One guy all of us TSCEC and other New Mexico and Texas riders were rooting for was Nick Brozavich out of Lubbock Texas, he was riding a Factory Yamaha out of the Zip Ty racing rig and had some backing from our good friend Steve Fox of HoyFox.com Toyota. He had a so-so qualifier but came back strong in the semi, where he put a very aggressive pass on Destry Abbot, another HoyFox.com backed rider, and Abbot tipped over. Well that little incident caused a bunch of boos for the young Brozavich, but FU! all you booers, because last year when Dowd put the same pass on Dietrich, and I would have to say much more aggresively, no one booed. That is what you have to do out there and Nick showed that he is going to be an off road star and isn't afraid to mix it up with the household names. Keep on kicking ass Nick, we got your back!

The main was sick, a first turn pile up set the running order that stood for most of the race, it was Dowd, Woods, and Geoff Aaron, but where was David Knight? He was damned near last coming out of the first turn, but by the next lap he was starting to close in and on lap three, or maybe just before, he moved into third where he stayed the rest of the race. He definitely was on the same pace as Woods and Dowd, it was just that he was quite a few seconds back.

So the drama came when Dowd ended up going over the bars in a pretty simple turn. He was on his back, in front of the bike with the clutch pulled in. He actually managed to never let the bike stall, and got up just barely off the rear wheel of Woods. That lasted for about a lap, and as they came back into the first turn, Woods slowed down considerably to clean his goggles and Dowd slid right in underneath him.

The two stayed about a second or two apart until the last lap, and as soon as that white flag started waving, they dropped the hammer. Woods was all over Dowd, and Dowd was gassing that Suzuki fully wide open. They slammed into the first turn side by side, and Woods aired over the big log on the exit! But Dowd never once shut down, it was a drag race through rocks and logs, and Wood lost. He nailed this really big rock, sending sparks flying from the frame, and you could actually see glowing pieces of metal chips on the rock for a few seconds after the hit. Nathan couldn't keep it upright and tipped over. Dowd cruised around the corner and took the checkers, but the crowd was still on their feet, becasue Woods still could get second, but he had to fire the big KXF450 up before Dave Knight got around him. Well Woods had some Vegas luck on his side and the big beast fired up after two kicks.

And now, much like a Terentino movie, if you go back to the first part of the story, you now know the ending.

Peace out, as my friend Christa says!!

Endurocross 2006!!

2006-11-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

Endurocross 2006

It was brutal!!

But Albuquerque has a rider they can be proud of, Thomas kicked ass! He started the day as the first semi on the track in the Junior class, where he had a mid pack start, but just rode fast and consistent and ended up getting second place and securing a spot in the main later in the evening. Thomas also qualified for the evening show in the expert class. He had to ride a whole lot of races, we counted it up and he rode 58 times around that track. Wes and David took care of him though, he had 2 hot dogs and a hamburger for lunch and then for dinner we went to one of those infamous buffets in Vegas and he put down about four plates, what can you say, he is a growing boy! In the evening show, the rock pile seemed to be taking its toll on Thomas and he went over the bars once pretty hard but got right back up and kept going. All in all, he kicked ass, knows what to expect for next year, and should be a contender.

Me, well I had fun. I got two fourths in my semis, then a third in my first LCQ and then got taken out in the staging area on my next LCQ. This jackass, from Team JackASS Racing, came flying off the track, hit the really slick concrete and crashed into the barriers, where I had my hand that slammed up and under my handlebars. It didn’t do any major damage, but it sure pinched my pinky and bruised my wrist. I rode about three laps and could barely hold onto my bike the pinky was pretty damned sore, so I pulled off and called it a day. I felt I was doing a lot better as the day progressed, and I felt really smooth. I only got hung up once in the river bottom area, and then once Thomas got stuck in the rocky mountain, I nailed him from behind and lost my balance, fell to the outside, saved it, but had to ride in some deep dirt along the barriers along the side of the track. I ended up doing that two more times in about the same place, so I knew that line pretty well. I was mad at myself for not jumping the log ride, and I know my boy James would have kicked my ass for not doing it, especially after all his work with me on jumps! It wouldn’t have made me place any higher, it would have been kick ass to do though.

I ran into a friend of mine from Jr High and High School. It was Adam Booth, you all may have seen him gracing the pages of Dirt Bike or Motocross Action testing bikes and getting to go to cool events. What was nuts is that we haven’t seen each other in like 10 years and we were in the same semi together. He was working for the magazine testing the Christini two wheel drive bike, and that thing was very impressive. He got some real good holeshots, and what was hanging some people up, he just pulled right through the section. That’s a picture of him on the white bike.

OK, I am outta here. Me, LH and Elizabeth are of to ride roller coasters this morning before we come back for the pro race.

Endurocross, Finally!!

2006-11-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

What's up everyone. Well we are here in Las Vegas for the Endurocross, and the track is seariously sick. I think it way more technical than last year, and the big rock section is going to be gnarly, very gnarly. Here are a few shots of the track. The pond actually has two waterfalls, the first one you drop in anywhere from 2 to 4 feet, and then up the other side. Stay tuned, Thomas and I are both amped to get out there tomorrow. Thomas has the first practice session, and we actually have the same qualifying heat in the expert class. All right, check back tomorrow night to see how we did.

Last Ride in the Jemez, well maybe

2006-11-10T08:23:00.000-08:00

Last weekend a groupd of riders came down from Colorado to ride. They have been hit pretty hard up there with snow, Wolfcreek had enough snow to open around Halloween, so they were looking for some riding.

John was our trail guide for the first day, and it seems only fitting since he is the king, and the master, of the South Jemez trails, especially the loops out of Ponderosa!

So we rode a bunch of trails, I can't tell you the names or the numbers, but I do know we didn't do Bear Butt, and only a few of us did Over 40. John gets to tell us all that did that "I told you so!!!" because he told us there would be trees down and sure enough, there was 1 or 10 down. Alan decided that we were going to race that section, so it was a mad scramble each time we came across a downed tree to find a way arounc and not give up any ground. We were right together until about half way down, when on an off camber tree crossing I fell off my bike to the down hill side. Man, that sucks!!! I tried to put my foot down while I was straddling the tree with my front and back tires, but it was a good three feet from touching. So off I went. I got up pretty quick and just flat out lifted Ol Blue over the log, but by then I was so winded that I parked it and figured I would help the rest across. Well that was going good until Susie shows up and asks me to ride her bike across. I figured here is a good chance to show off a bit and get another shot at doing it right. No way, I crashed exactly, exactly the same way as I did the first time, plus I had to live with Susie telling me how I was nothing special and she didn't know why she had me ride her bike cuz she could have done that exact same thing!! Yeah right, she would probably of cleared it!!

Lotta Riding Going On

2006-10-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

Man, this past week has seen everyone out riding their bikes trying to get in some riding in nice weather. I think there was a ride or two any given day of the week; there was some motocrossin, some buckman, a little bit of cedro, and a hell of a lot of riding in the Jemez. I think John and crew are getting the last bit of clearing done this week in preparation for the rides in November with the Colorado crew. I know John also took our newest members out to Cedro for a ride over the weekend, and I also heard that LH passed his old man, pulled away and may never look back!!!! Way to go LH, your haulin ass!

As for me, I got to ride 7 of 9 days!! Had a few killer days in there as well. Joseph and I hit Buckman on one of the best days I have ever had there, it was like velcro out there (got that from Henry). There was never a doubt that the bike was going to hook up. I was on my new ride, a YZ450, and I pretty much rode around scared all day. But I also had to push it really hard just to stay in front of Joseph, he has that area wired. I did Buckman again two days later again with John and Henry, and while it was a bit drier, it was still awesome, and Henry and i had a lot of fun dicing it with one another and trying to pass in unpassable places. Then two days later I was back. This time with my bro James, and we rode a super fast pace, and didn't stop but once or twice. We were railing on the Randy Travis trail. I laid it down and James roosted me as he went by, then he stalled his 450 going into an arroyo, so I gave him a quick bump and took off. It was a kick ass day. Then I headed down to Socorro to do some training for EnduroX at Wes's house. The plan was to ride the desert race loop for the BLM on Saturday to make sure it was marked right and on the right trails. Well I had a mechanical DNF 100 yards in to that ride, but headed back o Wes's, fixed the bike and worked on the track. Then rode for several hours before heading into Socorro for some dinner and beer at the brewery. The next morning we were back at the desert race to pre-run the course. What a whooped out piece of shit that course was, it was like 9 miles of stadium type whoops, and then after we got back, Rick asked if I would ride sweep after completed the first lap and like a dumb ass I said yes! Anyway, a huge storm dropped buckets of rain soon after I got done with that lap, so we headed back to Wes's and another moto of EnduroX training. The rain was getting close, so we decided 1 moto, high intensity for 30 minutes. Well about minute 10 it started raining, then it started to pour, and then it hailed. Wes stayed out there throwing logs, tires and other debris out on the course the whole time the rain was coming down, so I couldn't quit, even though my hands were frozen and I couldn't see a damned thing. Well I finished, I even did one extra lap and about the time I pulled into the garage the rain stopped and the sun came out, go figure.

Here's a few shots of me at Wes's. I was so psyched out how these came out, I think Wes could put Simon Cudby out of business, he was out there laying on the ground trying to get the best shot. And i think these are awesome!!! And not just becasue they are of me...

Later all, and get out there and ride....

Texas Enduros

2006-10-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

I got in trouble the other day because I wasn't doing a good job of keeping this up to date with some new race results...and our guys and gal have really been tearing things up in the Texas Enduros, here's what has been going on.

Below is a photo that was right at the end of the LTR A loop, looks like the Texas boys are trying to actually make some tough enduros. You know, tough sections are few and far between at some of these races, the last tough section I recall was Rambo. Not all that difficult in bits and pieces, but a test through all 11 miles real made you hurt. So this hill at LTR is a welcome addition. Alan was the second A rider on the day through it and had no problems, but he said he got to the top and looked back down and there were 100 plus people sitting around waiting and watching for their favorite riders to come through. As you can see in the picture, the man right now in TSCEC Cole Kirkpatrick is demonstrating that he can really ride that bike. Our local hero and fast guy Thomas also made it up clean.

Other news is that the first race held in Santa Rosa, which is taking over for the now defunct Kachina Enduro, went really well for our guys as well. Sounds like it was first places for Alan, Angie, and Lil H. So congrats on that. I understand that there was a test section that was used several times. It sounds pretty cool, there were three loops, and each time you came through it, each class would ride a different loop. So it kept the traffic down and the dust.

Next race is Boondockers, a two day affair North east of of Lubbock. The trails out there rock, nothing really tough, but fast with berms in just about every corner. There are a few sand whoops out there, so do some squats, run several miles a day, and you will be ready!!!!

Kellie got some Pink Gear

2006-09-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

Kellie got some pink gear and then went riding through the flowers, aahhh, how special;)

Seans Farewell Ride

2006-09-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

Well Sean is about to head out to Vandenberg, and we got together and did a ride at his place, where we finished up with Rudy's bar-b-q and beer at his house. The ride went well, Allan got real personal with Chloe, he got her name and number!!, out on the trail, and that was about the only excitement on the day. I should explain that so Angie doesn't get too jealous. We were going down roller coaster and Allan, who only has one speed which is fast, slammed some chic on a KTM 125SX, he then spent some time lying on the ground with her, lucky bastard, why couldn't that have been me. Oh well. Sean, we will see you later, but I know you will be back soon, and I have a TDY to Vandenberg soon, so I will be using another one of my factory rides with you out there!!!! Here's a couple of shots from the ride.

South Jemez

2006-09-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

Dudes, South Jemez was smokin' the other day. It was a great ride, loamy like I am guessing it is in northern California. We got off to a rough start, two flats, the first before the bike was unloaded, and the second on the same bike just a few miles up the road. I won't name the culprit, but his name starts with an S and ends in EAN!!! Here are some pics he took in between fixing flats.

Another Day of Endurocross Training

2006-09-08T13:01:00.001-07:00

Spent another day down at Wes's working on the skills for Endurox. The conditions were great, it had rained all night, and the sand looked like it was straight off the Southwick track. I put in a few laps on the mini, but then got on the KX and started to put in some intense laps. The thing about Wes's track is that it is pretty tight for a big bike, and I was quickly out of breath.

I added mounds of dirt going into and out of the turns, and that made me really have to work and be quick with the shifting, clutching and all that technical tyope stuff. Anyway, here are a few pictures. We actually got around to building a section with some logs and railroad ties, it was a bit hard at first, but I wired it after a few times through, so we are thinking up new obstacles now, the master even took it a few times to show me how it should be done.

Wes is up in Denver this weekend racing his vintage Huskies, so good luck Wes, and don't worry, I won't throw any parties down at your place this weekend!!!

PS Party at Wes's house this weekend!!!!

Las Vegas to Reno Race by Allan

2006-09-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

Well Allan and Angie headed out to Nevada to do some dersert racing, and here is his story. I will add the pictures he had later, I wasn't smart enough to figure out how to get them posted...

LV toR went good. I rode off the start at 6:30 am for the first 214 miles
which took me about 3.5 hrs.. One crash in the rocks but no worries. Lot's
of high speed, and silt, dustier than hell but fun. 105 mph on the 650R
alot. I am kind of getting addicted to the speed, image thrills on a dirt bike,
how about that. My teamates rode the rest of the race doing 100 mile sections
then changing. No injuries and the bike ran perfect. We did one wheel set change
front and rear, at mile 300 and three air filter changes. Rear tire was close to
bald. The front wheel that I rode on had 5 broken spokes and alot of loose
spokes due to alot of high speed rock hits that put your feet above your
hands. The great thing about the 650R is it saves you on those kind of hits, it always stays straight. The second front wheel at the end had a bend in it that was so
severe you could see the entire tire bead. We finished the 589 miles in
12 hours 21 minutes in day light and ahead of the trophy trucks which is a
success in itself. We finished at around 6:50 pm, the last rider finished at 8:30 am
the next day. 290 starters, 151 finishers. I think I will do it again next year.
The race is a great first class production. No where but Nevada can
you race off road vehicles at highway speeds all the way across the state.

A funny side story, at one of the pits Angie gave me a packet of Power Gel which I got all over my gloves. Periodically I would wipe my goggle lens to clean off the dust, well one wipe and the lens is covered in sticky gel while ripping across the desert. I had to take my goggles off to see while I figured out what to do. No goggles in this race, not a good idea. I didn’t want to stop and risk being passed. I decided to take a drink of water and spit it on the lens and then dry it on my jersey. Riding one handed at 80 in the rough to accomplish this little task was plenty exciting. That worked OK but I also noticed that I had so much goo on my right hand that my fingers would stick together and would also stick to the brake lever. Same program, drink, spit, wipe. Our next man on the bike had a sticky brake lever to deal with, oh yea did I mention that to him when I handed him the bike, I think not. Gorilla Glue has nothing on Power Bar gel.
Angie will post the pit adventures.

On our way to the race we took a couple of weeks and went up through Idaho and Oregon
And rode. Below are pictures up in the Tilamook forsest in Oregon. This trail was 9/10ths of a mile long and it took us 1 hour 15 min. to conquer, it seems we were going up and the trail is designed to be ridden down, silly NM riders.

Enduro Cross Training 3

2006-09-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

Headed down to socorro again today. It was a very long day. It started at 4AM east coast time. I switched to an early flight in an effort to get out of there ahead of Ernesto, this years big Hurricane, but not all that bad compared to last year. I am now writing this at 10PM mountain time.

I got down here and did a moto on the track, and then we worked the track for a while, set up a cool little rythm section and put in some some smaller logs for the mini. Did another moto and then headed out to the garage to work on the bikes. A couple of hours into that and I had had enough. So now I am watching some TV and and checking out e-bay for a KX250F rear wheel. I really just need a hub, I want to build up an 18 inch wheel and put on the trials tire.

Later all.

And if you know of a hub for a KX, let me know.

More Ouray Pictures

2006-09-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

I got a message the other day that someone was upset because there wasn’t enough pictures of himself, so for you Cal, here you go.

Enduro Cross Training 2

2006-08-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

I cruised on down south to Socorro to get a work out with one of my main sponsors, Wes. The guy was always my hero when I was growing up, I remember when he would show up at the Cloudcroft Enduro or just for a ride and I always thought “Cool, Wes is here, gotta ride good and impress him.” Well, if you scroll down a ways and read last years Endurocross report you will know that I didn’t do that last November in the Orleans arena. But this year, yeah this year I plan to do a bit better.

I roll up at Wes’s house and we BS a bit about this and that. A lot of the discussion is about the logistics of the race in Vegas, and then we move on to the Sandia Classic. Red Bull is sponsoring and there are supposed to be a couple of hotties hanging out. Little H, you are still my in with the girls, so stick close by and when I tell you to go in, get in there buddy!!! But Wes also gave me my job assignment for the weekend. Last year I was the starter, a very glamorous job in which I get to raise the gate, and when Big H dropped the 30 second board, I stomped on a peg, and the gate dropped. I am not going to give away my job just yet, but it involves my favorite thing, a hot girl. So more to come on all of that.

Well this is supposed to be a ride report, and as such I will commence with how all the miles added up. Mile 1; OK. Mile 2; OK. Mile 3; a flat and the day was over.

Actually though, Wes has put in some really good trails, and it sucks that I got a flat so early on in the ride. Wes actually took me a few miles more, even though I could see the road back to the truck just down below, but in the end I had to quit really early. Wes did get in an additional 7 miles or so. We headed back to his place and started building up the Endurocross obstacles on the track at his place. We also found some additional logs and what not, and we will be setting up additional obstacles this next weekend.

I did get some laps in on the mini, actually I got in two thirty minute motos and I have to say that little bike really does give you a workout. So that’s it for now. Go and check out the Endurocross website: href=”http://www.endurocrossusa.com”>Endurocross.

Thomas, let us know what’s going on out there in Texas!!!

Allan did the Vegas to Reno race and has promised that he will send me the race report and some pictures, so check back soon.

Also, I will get a few more Ouray pics up, I have had a few requests.

Later all.

Enduro Cross Training - Kickin it off

2006-08-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been going back and forth as to whether or not I would do the Endurocross again, but I am now committed (or maybe I should be committed)!! Whatever, let the punishment begin. I signed up for two classes, the Open 4 Stroke and Expert. Also, we got the wonder kid himself entered as well, Thomas will be riding the Junior and the Expert class. Thomas is going to be out in Texas training with Cole Kirkpatrick, and Cole is one devoted rider and his training is kick ass so Thomas should be fit by Nov 19. Me on the other hand, I just hope not to run out of juice during practice this year. I kicked off the "Official Training" yesterday out at Sandia. I am heading down to Socorro so Wes can take me out on his secret trails and run me through some gnarly rock sections. Pops says he is going to try and get some big logs from our buddy Bill up in Espanola and we will set those up at either his house or maybe Wes will let us set them up down at his place.

Anyway, stay tuned, i will keep you all updated on the progress that both Thomas and I are making. The big question for me is do I ride the KX250F, or do I go down and get one of those new kick ass KTM250XCFs???? Let me know what you think. Sean, I already know what you're vote.

Here's a few pics of me out at the Sandia track, Sean was behind the lense on these.

Later all.

Ouray 2006

2006-08-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

Ouray 2006 – Day one

Well, we all made it back to Ouray again, and the Friday ride was looking good the whole drive from Albuquerque to Ouray. The sun was out, and there were only a few high clouds floating around. Last year, it rained pretty much once we Colorado. Everyone started arriving around 1 or so at the Victorian Inn and started milling around in the parking lot telling stories, but soon the boss was on the scene and he had organized and ready for the first ride of the weekend by 3.

The plan was to do about 30 miles and be back for a great lasagna dinner prepared by Karen, Kellie, Nancy, Tina and Allison. I almost got my ass kicked later that night when I went in and asked them all if it was almost ready, Nancy really gave me the evil eye.

But getting back to the ride. We headed up the highway maybe five miles or so and took the jeep trail up towards Engineer pass. That is a really rocky section to start the day on and a few of us were getting a little frisky playing the second is first game, at times we had three abreast playing around. It didn’t take long for the first incident to go down. Thomas nailed some dude on a DR-Z coming back down. I say to that guy that’s what he gets for riding a DR-Z; you guys remember when Dean bought that one a while back, what a POS. Well anyway, Thomas didn’t get hurt, and he didn’t break anything on his bike. The DR-Z dude took a pretty good shot to the arm, and after whining about it for a few minutes in an attempt to make Thomas feel guilty for riding fast, he gave up and headed on his merry way.

For the most part the ride was uneventful, but it was great that it was so clear and when we were up on top of Engineer pass you could see for miles in all directions. After taking in all that majestic beauty (damn, I am starting to write like some poet, hope all this talk of beauty and what not doesn’t bring a tear to your eye) we headed back down towards Animas Forks. I was cruising down with Sean right behind me, and I knew he was going to shut the engine down and coast, but he still scared me when he passed me without a sound, I almost swerved off the side of the road and down several hundred feet to the valley before; thanks for that Sean.

We were just chillin’ at an intersection waiting for everyone to gather and this seriously bad ass Toyota Tacoma rolls up, just totally decked out for hauling ass off road. He took off and you should have heard this thing, it was tuned well and sounded awesome, he drifted around the first turn, with the front inside wheel up, splashing through a huge mud puddle and then roosting up and over a little hill. I want one of those things…

So Phil and Thomas decided to take a little different ride up than the rest of us, and when we finally caught up with them, they were pulled over by two Ranger Ricks on four wheelers getting a ticket for going too fast!! That is really a bit ridiculous, they said that the posted speed limit is 15, but I don’t think there is anybody that can ride their motorcycle at 15mph, that takes all the fun out of it. But what is even more ridiculous is that Phil and Thomas were caught by two dudes on Honda four wheelers!!! First off, Thomas is one of the fastest off road rider in New Mexico, and is probably on the verge of making it as a AA enduro rider, and Phil is super quick himself, I think it is a shame to us NM riders that these two fast guys got caught, maybe they aren’t as fast as we thought they were!!

Well that’s day one, a great ride, a great dinner, and a bunch of good beer and I am sure there were a few Black Russians that went down as well.

Ouray 2006 – Day 2

The day started off more overcast than clear, and I had watched the weather and kept telling everyone that the storm was swirling in from Arizona and clear skies were coming as it moved out to the southeast. I am glad I didn’t put much faith into that report and took the enduro jacket, because like every other weather forecast I have ever seen, it was wrong. What’s up with these meteorological jackasses? I have just as good a chance of predicting the weather by flipping a coin, in fact, any time these guys forecast at less than 50%, I know that my chances of flipping a coin and predicting the weather has better odds.

Day 2 was a long day, it was right around 100 miles. We went up backwards from how we ended the first day and started working our way back towards Animas Forks. Down in California Gulch, just past where Phil and Thomas were run down by the Fourwheeler Cops, we took off up another valley and ended up circling Animas Forks. We actually came out on the road to Silverton just below Animas Forks.

This loop took us up really high and as we were going across the ridge well above timberline, Thomas and Sean were hitting a natural table top. I took some pictures, but they don’t really show how impressive the jump is. Thomas was the first to hit it, and as he came around the turn tapped out, two wheel drifting I thought this is going to be a total train wreck, but he hit the face and floated over the whole thing, which is really a long ways. The last time he hit it, he decided to do a whip, and I really didn’t think he was going to pull out of it in time to land, but he did.

Gas was waiting for us down in Howardsville, just several miles up from Silverton. After filling up, we headed up Stony pass and to the headwaters of the Rio Grande. The road down towards the Rio Grande Reservoir was a total blast. Especially once it got down below timberline, the road just rolled and twisted, with lots of berms and little jumps everywhere. A couple of the fast guys were really cookin’ it down that section, but I will leave them nameless in case one of those Ranger Ricks reads this because they were definitely in excess of 15 mph.

As we gathered at the Lost Creek Trail, we heard we had a fallen soldier. Well nothing quite that bad, just a flat tire. So Cal and I head back out with a tube and some tire irons. We got the tire changed in 15 minutes, but we could have done a lot better had it not been for the two, not just one, rim locks that we could only turn like a sixteenth of a turn at a time. I think we still have some beer coming our way for that.

We split up at the West Lost Creek Trail, several kept on the Lost Creek trail and headed back over into the Mill Creek area and then over Cinnamon Pass and back to Ouray via Engineers Pass. I hear that our leader got stuck quite deep in a mud hole on his big KTM, I even have a picture of it, but I am not about to post that picture here, John would kick my ass. But look for it posted on KTM talk soon!!!

Well the other group had a bit of an adventure just before we hit the Lodge Pole Trail or whatever coming back up from the Rio Grande Reservoir canyon. Brenda dumped her CRFX in a river and I guess water filled the engine. When I got there the engine was locked up and Ed and Allan were trying to unlock it. It finally got to a point it would kick over, and we took turns kicking it with not even a chance of it igniting. Then all of a sudden it started to sputter a little bit and then it started running. Well running is a bit of a relative term, it was not doing to good. We just kept after it, Brenda took the air filter off and drained the air box of water. We kept revving the hell out of it and all of a sudden it was running again. I have no idea what we did, but it worked. Moral of the story; if a four stroke is running foul, rev the piss out of it and it will eventually start working.

It started to rain and got pretty cold on the way back over Stony pass. We stopped in Howardsville again for some gas and then headed back to Ouray over Engineers pass. It was a great ride, and when we got back we all piled into the hot tubs to soak the cold out and enjoy a few stories from the ride.

Greg and Susie Show - Moab 2006

2006-07-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

Twenty five people decided that Greg and Susie leading us all around Moab would be a cool idea. IT WAS AN AWESOME IDEA!!!

Driving up things were looking a little bleak. I was riding shotgun with Steve, reading Racer X Illustrated and watching DVDs. We were in and out of snow, sleet and rain and once we hit the Utah border, the conditions got worse. It was crazy, we started the day in Albuquerque with great weather, I was wearing shorts and flip flops, but then again I am always wearing shorts and flip flops. We get to Cortez, and we stop for gas and food, I am standing there at a Wendy’s, it must have been about 32 degrees, and my toes were turning blue.

Rather than get into all the details about what trails we rode and all that technical detail, I am just going to tell you some of the highlights. First though, much props to Greg and Susie for putting this together and taking us on some killer trails. I am going to have to give Angie the “Hero” award for the weekend. The biggest thing that got her this much coveted (well maybe it should be said the soon to be coveted now that I am handing those out) award was her toughing out the very cold ride down about 10 miles of highway in temperatures around 32. To really understand why this is heroic, I think she must weigh about 100lbs completely wet, so she doesn’t have that nice little roll of beer belly fat keeping her warm. She also gets the award because she hasn’t been riding all that long and she tackled a few killer sections on her YZ125 and kicked ass in them all. So congratulations Angie, I will drink a beer here in the airport for you as I write up the rest of this.

The trickest bike on the ride had to be Alan’s XR400. It has suspension and motor mods, and is absolutely bomb proof. Now while the bike is trick and totally capable of going fast, Alan adds his talent to it and really makes that thing haul ass!!

Most “Eager” rider will have to go to (I am sure you all can guess this one, and he will probably win this title every ride) goes to Sean. Every time we stopped, he was always off riding around and playing with new lines through the technical sections. I think we stopped about 50 miles short from his point of view everyday!!

“Dumb Ass” award probably goes to me for listening to Doreen, Ed and Henry to keep putting down the White Russians (or Caucasians for you Big Lebowsky fans) while chilling in the hot tub for about an hour. Damned if those things aren’t sweet like candy and damned if that hot water doesn’t double the effects of the alcohol. I tried to play some pool that night after dinner, and even after several hours the table never seemed to level out.

The hot set up is definitely the trials tire on the back. We had all seen this last year up in Ouray on a few bikes, and then there was a lot of the top riders at Endurocross last year riding them as well. About 7 or so of the group were using this set up, and Dunlop seemed to be the top choice.

Well, that only begins to touch on some of the goings on and crazy ass stuff that went on; man these old folks can sure party!!! Just kidding, don’t kick my ass you old folks! If any of you that are reading this were on the ride and didn’t get a CD with the pictures on it and want one, let me know. If you don’t know who I am, leave me the hell alone.

Endurocross 2005

2006-07-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

Go find any article on the internet or in the magazines on Endurocross and you will read one thing; This Race Kicks ASS!!!!

So I actually thought I would give it a shot, I must be the biggest dumb ass in the world! We drove the truck out there without the trailer, so the plan was to just get a room and leave the bike in the back. Bad news was that we couldn’t get a room at the Orleans so we got a room at the Riviera. What a Shit Hole, maybe it was money back in the day, but now it is going to take a lot of money to make it worth a damn again. We started to worry about the bike and stuff in the back of the truck in the parking garage so my dad got the bright idea of renting an enclosed box trailer. Man, that was the smartest thing we ever did, it was about 60 bucks, and we had shade, a garage, and a safe place for the bike, gear and tools.

Thursday afternoon was nuts. I was trying to get my shit together; you know get the bike prepped, gear ready and all that. I had pretty much done all that, but to calm the nerves I was going back over all the bolts, oiling stuff, cleaning lenses on goggles, and whatever else I could find to keep me calm. The big boys as my dad calls them started to roll in, Team Green, KTM, Maxxis, and more. But the best was when the guys from Rekluse showed up. I had been running the Rekluse clutch for about a season and though that I had it set up just about right, and I thought it was the best thing ever. Little did I know. Those guys were so damned cool, they asked me if how I liked it and told me to bring it over to the trailer and they would make sure it was set up right and what have you. Turns out I really am a jackass and can’t read instructions all that well because I didn’t have it set up any where close to right. They took care of me, and man did it make a total difference. What is so cool about the Rekluse is that you can either ride like it is a total clutchless bike, or you can use the clutch like normal, which on the small 250F is needed to jump out of turns or get that power when needed.

I got a chance to walk around the track that evening, it was a bit intimidating, but I really didn’t think it was going to be all that difficult. Yeah right. The next morning I was so f’in nervous. And for those that know what that means for me before a race, they know that I was in the porta pot all morning long.

I was in the second group to practice, and I quickly learned how wrong my thought of the track being not too tough was. The start straight was easy, obviously, even for me, but the next section seemed rather harmless walking the track but was a bit tricky once on the bike. It was just a few rocks and poles laid randomly about and at the end there were nine tractor tires laid on their sides that lead you into an off camber 180 degree turn. The tires were actually kinda easy, you could float your front wheel all the way across and that way you didn’t have to worry about getting it stuck in one of the holes. After that was a long straight of nothing but telephone poles. At first it was two mounds of them that you hit square on, but they were some what smooth and it felt like a going into a turn with a ton of braking bumps. On the backside of the second little hill you entered into a section where the poles were running parallel, like slot car tracks. It was only a slight bit of a challenge to make sure you were lined up right, but once in the slots you could gas it pretty hard. After that straight, you turned 90 degrees and climbed up into the rock pile, or rather boulder pile. This was the only section of the track that I seemed to even half way attack, and later it would prove to be the downfall of me. After that was the log section. This area had multiple lines. First, you had to go over a log that had to be at least 3 and half feet tall, then you could either attack two logs at 90 degree angles or get up on top of others running parallel and ride them out which at the end dropped into three whoops. It was tricky, and I never did get the nerve to ride the top of the logs which was really the best line and probably easier and faster than the one I kept hitting. After that it was a 180 degree turn into the pond, followed by 40 yards of nasty ass rocks. Then you turned back 180 degrees again, over a couple of telephone poles and then up and over the big tractor tires. I had actually been the most worried about going over those, but it turns out that was the easiest obstacle on the track. After that, there was some sand with a couple of whoops that dumped you back onto the start straight. And that was one lap.

I watched the video of my practice and man did I look like a total punk out there. I only looked good going through the boulders. The rest of the time I was putzing around, not attacking and not being aggressive. I told the crew that I was just checking out the lines, but truth be told, it was pretty tough out there, I had some wicked forearm pump to boot. I actually had to stop and catch my breath a few laps in, but I covered that up by making it look like I was adjusting the idle speed. Once back to the pits, I thought I was going to puke, I think it was a combination of the nerves, the physical exertion, and the 4 or 5 Monster Energy drinks I downed that morning.

I mentioned the crew, so I should definitely shout out to them. The Crew was lead by Wes and David. I was shooting my mouth off at a race about Endurocross and they said if you want to do it, we will pay your entry. So my bluff was called and I was on the hook to race. But I have to give these guys much thanks for not only paying the entry, but they were awesome backers the whole weekend. They walked the track with me, pointing out good lines and bad lines. They helped me work on the bike, get my gear ready, and give me pep talks. I know after watching me ride around in practice like a big wuss they were probably thinking they should have invested in a different horse, but they were there telling me to jump this, get my front wheel up over that, and why the hell aren’t you on the gas there, there, here, and there. My dad was on the crew, he was driver, mechanic, fan club and coach as well: Thanks Dad. My fan club was Henry, Tina, Elizabeth and Lil’ H. They stayed fans even after watching my pitiful practice laps, so thanks for that, sorry I let you all down in the qualifiers, but thanks for riding all the Vegas roller coasters with me (maybe next year Elizabeth won’t chicken out!!! Just kidding with you little girl. I am actually thinking that Lil H is the future of the NM off road racing crew and will probably be riding this in 2008 and kick my ass doing it) And oh yeah, Lil H is a straight up pimp, check out the shot of him with the Monster Energy girls, they asked to take a picture with him!!! (That blurry dude in the background is Henry snaking Monsters)

My first qualifying round finally was on the line. I have to say I was a bit intimidated when I realized that Ryan Dudek and Ricky Dietrich (some top pro riders) were in my moto. I knew right away that a first and second, which was needed to advance automatically to the afternoon rounds was out. But I felt a bit better, the Monster high was wearing off and I was loosening up. The gate drop, I gave it a whole lot of gas and ended up dead last anyway at the end of the start straight. But I quickly made up a position or two using a line that I rode in practice and still only had my tracks on it. For the first lap the plan was to just chill, but I was jumping, and attacking a bit better than I was in practice, I still wasn’t riding like I normally do, but better. I had move into fourth after the first lap and as I came up to the boulder pile I was getting up on the back of the third place rider. He was about 10 yards in front of me, and as I entered the boulders I saw him bobbling and having problems. At that point I could have used an alternate line, but I guess I though I would just follow him and if there was a problem go around wherever I could. (but who knows what I was really thinking) Anyway, I am about to go over the log that was right in the middle of the rocks and I can see he is totally stuck, so I change direction to the right just a bit, and just as I think I am going to go around him, all of a sudden I am going over the bars and land really hard right in the middle of the rocks. There is a shooting pain in my hand, but the adrenaline is pumping and I start to pick up my bike, I am in an awkward position, but nonetheless finally get the bike up, having lost one position at that time. But here is the problem, as I am picking the bike up, I have a small handful of throttle, and all of a sudden the real wheel finds some traction and it rockets out of the rocks, with me hanging on. So I go shooting off the rock pile, the bike falls over on its side and I slam right down on top of it. Again I quickly jump up, but this time as I reach down to pick up my bike, I am overtaken by pain in my hand. I get the bike up, and move over to the side of the track. I take a few breaths and watch as Dudek and Dietrich lap me. Good news was that meant it was the final lap, so I cruised to the finish line and back to the pits.

I was really bummed and my thumb was killing me. I was also having a problem with the bike, it was bogging down low, so we decided to lean it out and move the needle clip. As we started working on the bike, my thumb really started to throb. It was already quite swollen, but I though it was just smashed. I think I reached for a T handle and saw the bottom part of my thumb for the first time, it was black and that scared me. So I tell Dave that I think I am out of the next race, I was worried I couldn’t hold on. I showed him my thumb and he instantly grabbed me and took me to a paramedic, who gave me an ice pack and directions to the hospital in case I wanted X-rays. I passed on the hospital, called it a day and watched the rest of the qualifying rounds from the cheap seats.

So this is going on a long time and I am sure you are getting tired of reading this so I will wrap it up. Dudek and Dietrich kept decimating the competition all afternoon and both qualified for Saturday’s big race. Dietrich actually made it to the final moto on Saturday, and not only that he ran in second place until John Dowd slammed him on the last turn and put him in third. But the Hero Award goes to our crews favorite rider, and almost everyone elses from Friday, Josh McLevy. He rode with more heart than anyone out there, and he must have absolutely thrashed his bike. As for the rest of the race, well you can read that in RacerX, Dirt Bike or Dirt Rider.

I wasn’t going to ride this again, but just remembering it all has got me all pumped to do it again, so Wes, lets get some obstacles built up down at your house and let the training begin. I hope the whole NM crew can make it this year, the pro race is so intense, and I know Jeremy McGrath is a for sure show, as is Dave Knight, Ricky Dietrich, and John Dowd. See you in Vegas November 19th, and don’t stay at the Riviera!!!

Sandia Classic Vintage Motorcycle Racing

2006-07-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

All right true believers of Hunter’s Blog, I have to tell you about the Sandia Classic Vintage Motocross and Road Racing. It’s the SHIT!!!

So it is a two day event, with Motocross, road racing, modern Supermoto, some modern road racing, vintage trials, and this year there is going to be some pit bike racing on the FIDDY track. If you know your history, you will recognize some of the legends that show up for this race on both the dirt and the street. Last year, Jay Springsteen was there tearing the pavement up and Jim Pomeroy was roosting the MX track with his classic style.

I was there to help, but I also had the chance to race, but in typical fashion, I didn’t finish a single moto. I started with a cross country race. They laid out a nice 5 mile loop or so that was real fast in a few places, and I was riding a big Husky that was either a 380 or a 430, I don’t know, but what I do know is that when I was on the gas I must have been doing like 70 or more down the long straights relying on some old drum brakes to slow me down. Well I didn’t even make it through the parade lap before the bike seized up on me, although I didn’t realize exactly what was going on at the time, it just felt like there was something wrong with the jetting. So seeing as how the bike was Wes’s I gave it to him and told him that to “Fix this piece of shit so I can win this race!!” Nah, I am just kidding about that. But I did go back and talk with Wes about what was going on and we did some jetting changes and figured it was good to go.

I got a terrible start because it was dead engine and I didn’t really know how to start the beast, so once I got going I think I was in, well I was in last place. But I quickly started working my way up and I was actually in third, about to reel Wes in and go for the pass when the bike just completely stopped. I couldn’t get it kicked over, so I pushed it back to the pits and watched the race progress. I was totally amazed at how fast these guys were going on these bikes and how tough they were. Those things beat the crap outta you!!

So the next day, after another re-jet on the bike, I head out for MX practice. I got two laps into it and the bike came to another complete stop, but this time when I tried to kick it over, I could hear and feel the steel on steel as the piston tried to go up and down. Wes had another bike and said I could use that in the race, so I did. But I broke it not even a quarter of the way through the first lap. I decided that my bill was racking up pretty quickly with Wes and decided to just work the start gate for the rest of the races, which was a lot of fun. Henry worked the 30 second board and then turned to flagging duties aftet the moto was on the track.

OK, one more story about me, and that is that I took the Jim Pomeroy MX school. It was great. He was basically teaching to dudes on the vintage bikes, but his style still worked on the modern bikes, which I was riding the 05 KX 250F. He was a particular fan of the Bubba Scrub and was working with me to try and get that down. Well I was far from dragging a foot peg on the face of the jump I was making up time. It started on a table top that I normally have no problem making, but that day we had at least a 20 mph head wind and I was doing everything I could to jump that damned thing, coming up short most the time by several feet. He got me to push the bike into the face at take off, stay low and get on the gas and I was taking it faster than when I would jump it. So the moral of this to all the young dudes out there, when your dad or some other old guy gives you some advice, listen up.

One thing about that Jim Pomeroy is that he likes to party. It was probably 12 or so and he had dragged Wes over to his trailer for some margaritas blended in this blender powered by a two stroke weed eater motor. Well it was getting pretty loud and Silvia asked if I would go over with her to break up the party. I said “sure thing” like I was some badass cop and off we went in the Mule. Well when I asked them to settle down and suggested they should take their old asses to bed, all hell broke loose!

Next thing I know we are flying through the pits in the Mule, fish tailing the turns and eventually ending up down at the go kart track yelling at the sleeping souls in the big motorhomes. They were probably thinking “God damned motocross guys”!!! We finally got everyone back to their trailers and the night settled down in preparation for the next day of races.

I got to tell you, the 50+ expert class is one hell of a race. It is like going out for the 250A motos. These guys were tearing it up and doing some serious bar banging. I don’t totally remember who placed how, but Pomeroy was up near the front, and I think our boy Alex got a third. Some of the most exciting racing I have seen in a long time, barring Endurocross which I hadn’t been to yet.

Lil H and I must have thrown down a hundred or more laps on the mini track. The dude was kickin’ my ass pretty hard out there, and we battled it out well past dark and well past the point of where common sense should of made us stop. But what can I say, it was a blast, and with the pit bike races this year, I may go buy a tricked out FIDDY. I got to tell you about the bike I was riding out there though, it was an XR70 that had a Husky paint job, a blue tank with the chrome center. It was damned trick, but Lil H was still spanking me on a 50!!!! (it was only by several tenths of a second to be fair)

Anyway, I am looking forward to this years event. Go check out the details here, Sandia Classic Wes is looking for some volunteers, so if you are interested get a hold of me or Wes. If you don’t know how to get a hold of either one of us, just post a comment with your contact info and I will get a hold of you. And don’t forget, they through a mean party at the awards banquet with kick ass bar-b-q and beer. And I plan to have a keg of Il Vicino’s at the trailer so stop on by for a beer and check out the latest hype that Studio 58 has going on. (ah, what is Studio 58? Come by and see!!!!)

Sandia Practice July 2

2006-07-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

I have been at the tracks three days in a row now…and the dogs just ain’t paying out. Wait a minute, not the dog tracks but the motocross tracks. I am all rehabilitated from that gambling addiction!!!

Track wasn’t too packed, a lot of people were down at the Socorro race, but there were still quite a few really fast guys out there tearing it up. Here is a shot of Henry Anaya on his KTM 65, this kid can really get on the gas. He’s got some really good style and he is a smooth rider as well. Good luck kid.

Socorro Practice July 1

2006-07-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

Two days, back to back riding!!! You would think I was hanging out with Greg and Susie, but no, I am down here in the desert sweating balls and they are up in the mountains riding some bad ass trails. One day I will be a retired dirt bike rider and be living the life as well.

The Socorro track really kicks ass. It is pretty technical, but you don’t have to worry about dire consequences when you dork a jump up or something. So today there was practice in preparation for tomorrows race. The pits were packed with the big motor homes and enclosed trailers. Seems everyone is working out of the back of some big rig, and I was right there in the middle of them with my little Toyota truck and an extra jersey stretch across an opened door and the roof as my shade. Damn, when will I hit that New Mexico lottery!!!

I was riding well, but it was awesome watching some of New Mexico’s newest, and existing talent. I don’t remember so many fast guys on one track back in my day (well I never really had a day, so maybe back when I was younger). Here are a couple of pictures of Jason Anderson and Corey Dry. These two are so smooth and so fast, there potential is awesome, so look for them. Jason has already made it in to many a magazines, but I am a Corey fan because I went to high school with his uncle. For the last moto of the day, both of them got out there pit bikes and were probably posting 5 second faster lap times than I can do.

Sandia Practice June 30th

2006-07-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it was my day off and I didn’t get anything done around the house I needed to: tile, pond, wall, stucco, paint, plaster, and a myriad of other things (Note to Cal: myriad means a bunch of other things that they can’t be counted --- just messing lil’ bro, use that next time you play Scrabble®) Didn’t do any of that, instead I went out to Sandia Motocross Track.

Not much to talk about, did some laps, took a break and did some more. Seems that my time doing laps is getting shorter and my time taking breaks is getting longer. Guess I am just getting old.

Here are a few pictures. The kid on the Kawasaki was really flying out there. He is a smooth rider, and that Simpson gear looks really sharp. Guess NASCAR wasn’t paying all the bills, but glad they are now in motocross.

Dual Sport Riding

2006-06-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

Ride Report From the Three New Guys to Dual Sport

As we all know, Ed got an LC4 a week or so back and this past weekend was his first big ride on the bike. Another new comer to the dual sport world is Sean. Sean is Mr. Fancy Pants and went all out and got the KTM 950 Adventure. This bike is damned sweet, and if you want to see a kick ass website devoted to KTM Adventure riders and the crazy ass stuff they put these bikes through, check out this web site; KTM Adventure Rider. As for me, I am giving some serious consideration into getting a dual sport bike. I really like the idea of being able to just get on one and go almost wherever you want, camp along the way or whatever. I would also like to head off on some of these tours in Africa, Europe, New Zealand and especially Alaska. So John and Sean have been helping me with learning the bikes and giving me a lot of good advice. John even let me borrow his LC4 for the ride.

THE RIDE

I met Sean promptly at 0800 at his house, he was still in PJs and hadn’t done the morning bathroom break, but it was only about 25 minutes later we left Sean’s and headed to meet Ed at the Shell where you turn off to go to the ski area up in Cedar Crest. We kicked around a few ideas on where we should go and how we should get there. It was known that the Jemez would be best, but how to get there was another question. I suggested we ride up towards Madrid and then do the 11 mile cut off that takes you over to I-25 and the Santo Domingo gas stations. Ed wanted more dirt, and twistier roads. He said that Jim mentioned a route that went from the high school right there before Paako that would come out at the Hollywood Casino. None of us really knew the way, but we figured we could figure it out.

Damn glad we figured that out. We hunted and pecked our way around several miles in through the neighborhood, but then we started making all the right turns and ended up on the right road. But that 5 or 6 miles of pavement was awesome. Now I am a bit timid on the pavement, it just feels weird so I quickly started losing ground to Ed and Sean. But man, for the little bit I saw Ed it was awesome, he was just so smooth and looked really cool setting up for the turns and just flowing out the other side. Sean too has some road skills, and it wasn’t long until he was adapting to the bike and leaving me behind. That road is just a blast though, the pavement is in great shape and there are just so many twisty sections with ups and downs and rollers, I could probably just ride that section a few times every day and be happy.

We finally got to our first bit of dirt, and once again Ed was absolutely flying. He hit 80 somewhere out there, that is just flat out nuts. I got up to 70 on a really long straight away, but as soon as I got there, I shut it off because I was scared.

From the Hollywood Casino, we were not really excited about riding up I-25 to the Cochiti exit, and we all thought that we could ride up along the river from San Felipe to Santo Domingo. We rolled into San Felipe and made a wrong turn or two, but then we got it right and headed north. I was out in the lead, and while on the highway I start feeling uncomfortable at 50 and above, but on the dirt it just doesn’t seem as bad. So this road is a wide gravel thing and I started getting on the gas, then I saw a little patch of mis-colored road. Turns out it is a real soft spot, kind of a silty sand, and hitting at above 60 really was squirrelly.

We made it to Cochiti and headed up the Dome road. We stopped a mile or so up and peed while overlooking the Dixon Orchards. From there, we hauled ass up to Graduation Flats where we took a quick break and I got these shots of Ed and Sean messing around. From there, we headed over to the Valle Grande on got on the highway and headed west to La Cueva. We took the Fenton Lake road to whatever that forest road is on the south side of it and road that down through the Gilman Tunnels. It almost rained on us there, but all we got were a couple of big drops and a nice breeze. Sean and Ed got to see some girls cute little ass cheeks at the tunnels, I don’t know how I missed that, usually I spot those things pretty easily.

The bummer part of the ride was the road from San Ysidro back to Bernalillo. It was hot and windy, and I was just really uncomfortable on that road. Sean probably had the best bike for a 20 mile straight shot of pavement, but I could see him squirming around, hanging legs off and trying to get comfortable as well.

From Bernalillo, we headed up the old highway back to San Felipe, where we road that mornings first leg backwards. We all made the comment that it seemed like a long way that morning, but it went really fast in the afternoon. I know I enjoyed the asphalt section even more that afternoon, probably because I was much more comfortable on the bike after nearly 230 miles.

Somewhere along the way, Sean gave Kelly a call and we all ended up at Burger Boy for shakes. There was a little hotty there, and Kelly said she went to their church. I promised Kelly that if she was over 20, I would go to church with them the next weekend. She was going to find out, but no word yet.

I think we all had a great ride and I think we all liked it more than we thought we would. Of course I think Sean is just happy anytime he is riding a bike, but Ed you know needs some fun factors introduced and I think he found a few. As for me, well I really did like riding the pavement and the dirt, and I am definitely going to get into this. But what bike, who knows. It is much harder than picking a dirt bike, when I go to buy a bike, I basically pick by color. But in dual sport, there are so many options, and each bike seems to have different attributes, like a better street bike, or a better dirt bike, or one capable of riding just about any trail but scary at 40 on the pavement, to everything in between. So if you got any words of wisdom or suggestions, post a reply or shoot me an email.

And as a by the way. I am going to restructure this site as a place for us NM riders to post ride logs, pictures, race results or what ever. Look for that soon.

Another Picture

2006-04-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

This is a picture I took recently while out in LA. I have seen a lot of pictures of David Hasselhoff's home away from home, but I really think this one is unique. I spent a lot of time in the dark room working on it, well actually, the photoshop darkroom. This picture looks very good at 18X12 and you can find it in my ebay store shortly. Stay posted for that link.

The Picture Everyone Has Taken

2006-04-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

So this picture has been taken by everyone whomever has had a camera and a tripod in Telluride. But, what the hell, all the lemmings were jumping and so did I.

There is some good stories that may or may not have happened in Telluride. So stay tuned true believers and I may post them.