Get out there and have fun

Ain't what you ride, but how!

The Race To The Clouds. -And shitting in pants.

Well, I'll start with the numbers.
Year 6.
11:08. 
two seconds slower than last year.
1st year not on the podium since rookie year.
3 out of first 5 bikes to leave the start line crash. hard.
2 motorcycle riders take helicopter rides off the mountain. Many more broken with out their smashed machine.

The meat of the 7 day race, I did not expect to win this year.  I also did not expect Honda to send a factory team.  I raced on the same used take off tires I had given to me last year.  Therefor I am not disappointed or surprised in my 4th place finish. 1st place (factory HRC) beating my record by over 30 seconds. This sport is not for the empty bill fold. Though I feel what I have inside more than makes up for my stock dirt bike front brake and lack there of a slipper clutch. I was off pace all week in practice. I crashed on day 3 in a tight switch back corner. In qualifying I lost the front again and some how brought it back and kept it on the road. the day before the race I learned that my front brake was dragging, getting hot and locking up. Not confidence inspiring. Not when minutes before I leave the line I here of flight for life rides and crashed bikes starting forest fires. This is not a race for the concerned with safety. This is real. Hospitals and and coping mechanisms. I count myself extremely lucky and blessed by the moto gods to have the yearning desire to return next year and take back my 450cc world record on the bike I built from junk yard parts. This is why I was put on this wonderful and hard to understand planet.

celly telly pic dump

A Manx picture

Good company at the TT.

The race track god built

Who says? god says. What god? my god. The god of speed

coincidence?

You know I am searching for material to post when I post screen shots of posts. Probably be a lot more cool if i took pictures of fence posts to post. Hang on though, next week pikes peak practice starts so as they (who the fuck are they) say; "watch this space!"

Greg Tracy's under 10:00 race run at Pikes Peak!

This is the first time a really fast guy has put a video of their run out. Greg will be in a cager this year. Talking to him at the top after this run last year Greg told me he was done. He was clearly distraught about the risk and danger he had just partaken. With all pavement for the first time last year run times were over a minute faster.  (I was 11:06.) The exhibition class is now allowing full on sport bikes. Last year my little 450 was faster than the Yamaha R1 and Triumph speed triple and the other sport bike that entered exhibition class. Be interesting to see what happens this year. Next week. I want to race a faster bike than my 450 in the future. Seeing Greg's speedo in this video makes me drool.

IOM TT Video

http://vimeo.com/68343188

Truck drivin sonofa bitch!

More great Dirtquake photos

Many more great photos by Kristina Fender here.

More from Kings Lynn

 

 I nabbed these pics off http://sideburnmag.blogspot.com/
They were taken by http://gotzgoppert.com/

The samsquatch is real

Thanks Charlie Shearn for the pic.

Sideburn Magazine - Dirt Quake II - An Unofficial Film

The last 9 days

I love my Cookie!

So you want to go see the Isle of Man TT? all you need are friends like these. nearly 4 hour trip from Wales to the IOM and worth every bloody fucking second.

Fast! Sofa King Fast!

Pete Wilky so generously let me race his fast as fuck and oh so much fun to ride TR6 in the DTRA event. 

Scooter Farm Dave recruited me to race his proper death trap (complete with fire damaged paint on the leaky fuel tank) in the Dirtquake 2 event. Do I even need to try and tell you how fun it was?!

fast and sideways

Holiday Time

http://vimeo.com/66679450

Truckin

My sister and her dog, my truck and my favorite motorcycle.

A few weeks ago I decided I was tired of waiting to find a trailer ride to get my ol truck out to Denver after relocating from the western slope some 300 miles and a few major passes away. I had my Dear Cookie drop me off. She left me with my tools, some duct tape, bailing wire, and a fire extinguisher and my trusty Honda for parts store runs. I felt like I was about to do something really stupid as the truck had not been a road worthy vehicle for some 20 years and before that it was only used to collect firewood once a year. My Mom bought the truck for my Dad before I was born. They thought it was a bit ugly being yellow so they used paint brushes to make it black. Now it is proper ugly. I spent day number one doing the basic tune and service stuff. one leaky valve stem and a leaky brake cylinder did not seem enough to keep me from making the first 70 mile stint to my sister's house. I spent one more full day there making futile preparations. The unsought of naysayers was abundant. That shit only motivates me. Day 3 saw me on the road at six am. and like Tom Waits, I was feeling so holy. 50-55mph on the interstate and the first 200 miles rolled by like the playing of a favorite record. Then came the continental divide.  Would the old and porcupine chewed cooling system hold? Summit of the first pass, 11,000 ft above see level I pull over and pop the hood for visual inspection. Some popping noise. Some ass hole needs to learn to proper torque spark plugs so the don't get loose.  I never claimed to be a master mechanic, only a learning jet eye in training. Second big pass was a breeze and down, down, down we cruised all the way home. Happily ever after. The end.

Summit of Vail pass

Almost to the top Eisenhower

At the top. Tunnel of love.

Super-re-tard

 Went to a supermoto race last sunday, On the way I lost ALL brakes in my truck. Luckily I didnt kill anyone and a tap off of the master cylinder returned some sponge like hydrolics to the system. The Idea was to shake down the Pikes Peak bike a bit in the asphalt only class. I am cheap like the discount rack at goodwill so I had an old shinko on the back that made the bike feel a bit like stepping in fresh goose shit while doing a jumping jack. I figured I would bring my dirt bike out so I could have a go at the supermoto complete course. I put on some old dirt track tires (after unloading it with knobbies and getting some stink eye from the sumo nerds). These DT tires are old.  Like really old. Like Keith Richards old. Enduro set up complete with front fender score card holder did good until I lost brakes yet again for the day and turned another stock sized brake rotor into a salad bowl shaped piece of scrap iron. I think I finished last, almost last and right in front of almost last. A good time was had.

Shit in the shop, part:435

Variety is the spice of life.
My poop burns my bung hole.