What a treat!

Took me a little while to re coop after the Lakewood nationals last Saturday night! Not so much from drinking or partying but from the kick ass time I had. This was the first year I have got to go with Scotty which made it fun, and the wife had an awesome time! I tried not to run off without her too much this year but it still happened a couple times! Sorry babe, just a lot going on and people I know.

Ashley and I did have an awakening Saturday on how big of a douche Chad Reed could be. It is kinda sad that his "body guard" got more respect from us than he did. If it wasn't for fans like my wife and I he wouldn't be making the money he is. I would consider myself a Reed fan all the way from the Yammer Hammer years, his ups and downs and have supported him the whole time. Last years supercross for example I was rooting for Reed all the way till the very end, and so was Ashley. Having a 2 almost 3 year old little girl that I would love to get started racing sometime in her future, it makes it hard for me to have even her look up to him.

To me someone to look up to would be someone that holds their head up high when things are bad, never gives up, and has a passion for what they do. This brings me to my next evaluation from Saturday night. Mike Alessi is ONE BAD ASS MOTHER F*@KER! Not only did he suit up and race only 2 weeks after breaking his knee cap, but he took the time for his fans that day... Something Reed has always failed to do. He did end up hitting the deck pretty hard in moto 1 but leave it up to IRON Mike to not only get up but start his bike and ride for another 3 laps!

Alessi you are the man and I must admit you have been on my "list" before but after this season especially after Lakewood you have all my respect not only as a rider/racer, but as a person! So thanks for putting on a show even though you are not even close to 100%, and taking time for the fans.

Broooom Brooom Brrraaa

It is going on a couple weeks now that I am bike less AND DAMNIT I CAN'T EVEN SLEEP! I still have my bike, but she has been down on the operating table now for a while. Something has been going on in the transmission to where it will pop out of gear or down shift while I am riding.

I am not too picky on how "perfect" the bike is before or while I ride. It doesn't make any difference to me as long as I will not screw anything up worse or it is dangerous to ride. Riding is dangerous but there are also things that will make it even more if it is not working properly.

For example you are heading towards a decent sized table or double whatever suits you, but right when you get ready to take off the lip your bike pops into neutral or downshifts. This my friends is usually 95% effective on taking your ass out, throwing you into the air nose down and panic revved to hell. This is not like your typical wash out in a corner, this is bad new right from the start with little to nothing you can do to pull it out.

Luckily I had 2 close calls with the bike popping into neutral where I managed to stay as calm as I could and pop it back into gear allowing some "gyro" to try and pull the front up as much as I could. Some may not know but a panic rev is something that almost comes natural for any rider or any ability. It is almost like a self preservation mode... Whenever something isn't going the way it should you almost always hear a panic rev.

If you fly nose high tapping the rear brake will help bring your front back down and if your nose is low getting the rear wheel to spin more helps bring it up! (Just thought I'd throw in a little tip for ya)

Anyway I am excited to get out to the Berthoud Harescramble Awards tomorrow and get some riding in. And if you want some great race footage check out smith-offroad.com for a regular RMEC enduro race report and video! Hey dude watch out for them trees!

3rd!

Just checked VDR's website and they posted the overall year end standings. Got to give my riding buddies some credit here with Mike "Mikey Mouse" Umphres #837 who races the Sportsman class won the year end Championship, Bobby "Flower Power" Dazey #227 who races the Novice class also won the year end Championship for his class.

I on the other hand did not win the Championship but I did meet my goal of a top 3 overall for the year. It feels good to reach my goal, but I know next year is going to be even tougher. But good job to everyone who raced any of the races and see you next year!

Only 3 days left until the LAS VEGAS SUPERCROSS! Can't wait to see how it turns out, racing is just like modern day TV Series.... You watch every episode waiting for the Season Finale and how everything will all play out. Not to take anything away from Bubba, but I hope Chad Reed comes through, with possibly a little help from Mike Alessi. Bubba is a great rider but we need to have someone beat him to keep him motivated and wanting to race. Without any competition it will only be a year or two until he is retired from racing!

Anyway I will update with the race times (hopefully the right ones) for the Vegas Supercross!

If you would like to check out some good enduro racing footage and write ups check out www.smith-offroad.com he has awesome helmet cam video!

RACE REPORT

Last Sunday was the final race of the VDR Harescramble Series. Going into the season my goal was to improve my final standings from the year before. Last year I finished 5th in the Pro class so this year my goal was top 3. Heading into Sunday's race I sat 4th in points hoping to move up into 3rd.

The track, and weather were great on Sunday the only thing that sucked was the rider turnout. With 2 other races going on I knew it wouldn't be great but I didn't think it would be that bad either.

I got a descent start running 2nd the whole first lap. Around lap 2 my arms started pumping up and I had to pee pretty bad, and held off both until I was able to pit around an hour into the race. After my gas fill up and my urination let out the race was on. I thought I was running 3rd overall but didn't know the guy in 1st had problems causing him to drop out of the race. I set my sights on catching what I thought was 2nd, but was actually 1st. Came from around a minute down to only finishing 13 seconds behind him at the checkered!

Other that coming up just short I felt good and strong at the end of the race which is usually hard to do. Still waiting on the final year end standings and will update as soon as I know! Already can't wait for next year!

Wabulance

If you havn't noticed already, I am into dirt bike riding and racing. Yes this can be a very dangerous sport with or without proper safety equipment, but it is highly addictive too!

If you do not have insurance it can be even more risky everytime you throw a leg over the bike, and racing you can pretty much double the odds of it not being the greatest idea. Now I don't race a whole lot and I do not have insurance, which on top of the nerves of racing makes it an even "better" experience.

The first thing I don't understand is how they expect a single working parent to be able to afford health insurance on top of all the other bills and neccesities? I will admit some people are better at budgiting their money than others, but the cost of insurance can be a little ridiculous. Next if the US is the greatest country in the world, then why can't they figure out a way to include health insurance for its citizens?

This may be truth and it may not, but I have heard that in Canada if you sign up for their national racing organization you automatically have health insurance that is included. Now what the hell?

I guess my only option is to "tough" it out through injuries until I can either afford insurance for my family, or our country finally does something for US! Yes in some cases "toughing" it out cannot be done because some injuries (especially dirt bike related) can only be fixed through doctors, surgeries, etc.

For example I already had a $30,000 accident without insurance! YEA tell me about it.... I WAS SCREEEEWWWED!

So here is my brake down

Cost to ride: $15.00
Accident Including Surgery: $30,000.00
Memories of accident: PRICELESS