2nd Annual DC Moto TF Ride Day and Invitational Poker Tournament

Supercross 2011 is right around the corner! So much is going on, both publicly, but also behind the scenes. One public and noteworthy item - DC Shoes has a new three year contract with Monster Energy Supercross!

Adam Cianciarulo

I was invited to the 2nd Annual DC Moto TF Ride Day and Invitational Poker Tournament at Pala Raceway. It was a full day's 'work' for the DC Athletes; group photos, action shots, interviews, and lots of MX riding at Pala. And there was good game of Poker to raise money for Road 2 Recovery. The list of Athletes sponsored by the DC Shoes brand is a very impressive group making this Supercross assignment unique fun for me!

Source: http://www.supercross.com/rss-features/2nd-annual-dc-moto-tf-ride-day-and-invitational-poker-tournament

Rex Staten James Stewart Jr Brian Stonebridge David Strijbos Kevin Strijbos

Guess who these guys are? Add your comment

We'll give you a hint - Glen Helen AMA Motocross 2006. Look at the three photos below, ... you can take your guesses below, and please feel free to comment as well!

tim-ferry-glen-helen-2006

vuillemin-glen-helen-2006

ryan-dungey-glen-helen-2006

Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/guess-who-these-guys-are-add-your-comment

Mike Alessi Thomas Allier Håkan Andersson Victor Arbekov Les Archer

RJ Says: Phoenix Supercross 2012 thoughts, Los Angeles Supercross preview

 

First off, I want to congratulate KTM, Roger De Coster, and Ryan Dungey for KTM's first Supercross Class main event win. It's huge. I know of all the work they have done in the past few years in developing winning machines, teams, and more. Look at what they did with Stefan Everts and Pit Beirer in developing the 350 SX model - two world championships so far with Antonio Cairoli.

KTM in America has been working on the new 450 that Ryan races. It's a new effort, on a new bike. For Ryan Dungey, his win last Saturday in Phoenix goes a long way in many areas, but I feel the most important is that it adds confidence to the team and Ryan.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/rj-says/rj-says-phoenix-supercross-2012-thoughts-los-angeles-supercross-preview

Ricky Carmichael Danny Chandler Eric Cheney Alessio Chiodi Jaromir Cizek

RJ Says - Off Road Truck Racing video of TORC

I thought you might want to know a little bit more about what many of of current and former supercross / motocross are into these days - off-road truck racing. This video below is a highlight package of the 2011 TORC series, which features a little bit of a rivalry between me and Johnny Greaves. Hope the video gives you a little insight into off-road truck racing, and that you enjoy it. It's a very well produced video.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/rj-says/rj-says-off-road-truck-racing-video-of-torc

Tommy Searle Gary Semics Andrew Short Shaun Simpson Joël Smets

Holy crap, it’s been HOT!

Well June was pretty much a bust for riding – the weather has really been an issue. As I finish up this post it’s July 8 and the record-setting heatwave finally broke last night. For the past few weeks we’ve had unseasonably high temperatures in the mid- to upper 90′s and humidity pushing it over 100 nearly every day. This is quite unusual for June – usually that’s the month where the riding season hits its stride here in Iowa. This year, it was mostly a month to stay indoors and try to keep cool.

We did have one really nice Saturday on the bikes mid-month (obviously I am a little behind in posting about it!).

I had wanted to take a day-ride that day, but we didn’t plan far enough in advance so we decided to hit the Big Barn Open House instead. We met up with Garry and Shirley, and turns out they had come up with Garry’s son Mike and his girlfriend Tina, and their friends Charlie and Rita.

We poked around Big Barn for awhile and enjoyed the free lunch, then decided to take an extended “up around the lake” ride including the Madrid loop.

This is an easy ride with a very nice route. It takes us up the backside of Saylorville Lake with its lovely homes, across the Mile Bridge (boy the lake is LOW this year!), and up to the small town of Madrid, where we made a potty-and-beverage stop. Everyone noted the killer shrub that we had encountered in the middle of the road a few miles back (what IS IT with stuff in the road this year??) – fortunately we all got around it without being attacked.

We left Madrid going east on Highway 210, then south through the tiny town of Sheldahl and back into Polk City north of Saylorville. Stopped at the Saylorville spillway where the dammed-up lake is control-fed out into the Des Moines river. From there we took a round-about route through Johnston and down into Des Moines where we stopped at Sambetti’s for a beverage before heading home.

Although it wasn’t the epic day-ride I’d been hoping to take, it turned out to be a great afternoon anyway because of the new riding friends and of course the Iowa scenery. The next couple of weekends would turn out to be occupied with an out-of-state funeral and then the Good Guys Heartland Nationals hot rod show, all in the middle of a record-setting heat-wave.

The heat, fortunately, has broken at least for the moment – but it has felt more like August than June, so my internal “calendar” is a little off. We took a neat ride today that I’ll post about soon!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BikerChickNews/~3/n3JzQC4dbVY/

Marty Smith Steve Stackable Jeff Stanton Rex Staten James Stewart Jr

Women's AMA Motocross National Championship numbers for 2011 season

Beginning last season, MX Sports Pro Racing implemented a new numbering system for the Women's AMA National Motocross championship. In years past, riders selected their numbers based on availability and order of selection was determined by where a rider finished in the standings the previous season. While the champion was designated to wear the number one plate, all other competitors were permitted to select any number that was available.

The 2010 campaign marked the debut of a new numbering system that determines a rider's number by where she finished the previous season. As a result, one's finishing position in the championship would serve as her number for the following season.

While Women's MX Champion Jessica Patterson will enter 2011 with the #1 plate on her bike, jersey and helmet, below is a list of the remaining numbers for next season's MotorcycleUSA Women's Motocross Championship in accordance to each woman's position in the final standings for 2010:

Source: http://www.supercross.com/mxgirls-news/womens-ama-motocross-national-championship-numbers-for-2011-season

Kevin Strijbos Bengt Åberg Greg Albertyn Jeff Alessi Mike Alessi

MX Adventures: Leaving the West Coast ... talking with Kevin Windham

{jvideo id=259 height=378 width=660 autoPlay=0}

Who dat?

This week I caught up with Kevin Windham. In the video below, Kevin Windham talks about the Superbowl Champions, the NFL's New Orleans Saints, his family, his future plans for racing and beyond.

The Superbowl XLIV champions, the New Orleans Saints, have many fans - among them is none other than the number 14 in Supercross, Kevin Windham. While the NFL season started when Supercross was in its off season, Kevin was able to take part in season tickets to his favorite NFL team - da' Saints. Eventually the 2010 Supercross season got underway in January, which meant Kevin was flying off after those Saturday night Main Events back East to watch the New Orleans Saints Playoff games.

On February 7, 2010 the New Orleans Saints headed to the Superbowl in Miami, Florida and Kevin Windham and his wife Dottie made arrangements to attend this momentous occasion. First, however Kevin had to finish up a Supercross race in San Diego the night before.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/rss-features/mx-adventures-leaving-the-west-coast-taking-with-kevin-windham

Ricky Carmichael Danny Chandler Eric Cheney Alessio Chiodi Jaromir Cizek

Effective Braking for Faster Cornering

Everyone can go fast by hold the throttle pinned on the straights, but it’s when it comes time to slow down that separates the pros from the amateurs.  Next time you are at your local track, watch the fast guys around the track; they are either on the gas or braking.  Slower riders tend to have a bad habit of letting off before the corner and then braking.  However, teaching yourself to hold it on longer isn’t enough.  Learning how and when to use both brakes effectively will help take your corner speed to the next level.

Telling yourself to hold the gas on a split second longer is easier said than done, but it can be a life saver on the start.  Unlike road racing, there are no markers to tell us how close the corner is.  However, we can use simple objects like rocks, fencing or foliage.  Finding a marker can help you visualize your spot on the track and help you hold the throttle down longer.

Many people have their own theory on how to brake properly.  Some prefer just the front while others like the back.  I believe that there is no definite answer.  Each brake has different purposes.  The front brake is great for diving into inside ruts and coming to a stop quickly, while the rear keeps the rear wheel planted to the ground and keeps your momentum up.  Another interesting thing that seems to help me is to “push” the bike in the ground.  Trying to weight front or rear down will put more force on the ground to get that extra friction for added stopping power.

One thing that aids in your momentum and drive is to avoid locking the brakes.  When you lock up the rear brake, there is no control over the traction and where the wheel goes.  All of your RPMs drop and it just creates braking bumps even faster.  Your best bet is to “chatter” the rear.  This is a method where the rear wheel is spinning, but at a much slower rate.  This is great for maintaining drive in deep soil and it squats the rear end down to avoid swapping out.

Each situation is different, but remembering how your brakes control deceleration, you can utilize each one to its maximum potential.  If you have an outside line in a corner that looks good, use more rear brake than front.  For insides, you would be better off grabbing the front and getting that front end down.  Becoming comfortable with both brakes can allow you to have faster entry speed in any corner.

 

 

Source: http://www.mxtrainingblog.com/riding-techniques/effective-braking-for-faster-cornering/

Marcus Hansson Doug Henry Broc Hepler Rob Herring George Holland