12-28-02    The vacation is over, it's time to start thinking about 2003. Today I put the Online Registration up on the website. This will mark the first year the FPMX ever raced in March. Not that that is a big deal but it does make me get things ready a few weeks earlier than I was planning. Not that that is a big deal either but it's time to start or I'll never get it all done. It's going to be a busy month with the Supercross season getting underway and setting up the 2003 FPMX season. What could be better than racing Perris and Glen Helen? I was really happy with both tracks this year. I think it will make for a better series since the two tracks are so different. This year will test all of your skills, jumping, cornering and just plain old speed. You'll race on the greatest dirt in the world and then some of the most challenging rutted out corners known to mankind. Awww Motocross isn't life great? There will be no major changes this year for the Nationals, seems everything is flowing pretty smooth these days. However we will have some minor changes for the Night Series, for one we will be calling it the FPMX Summer Series. Why? Well it wouldn't be much of a night series if it wasn't at night would it? We will be using the same 3 moto format but will start racing earlier in the afternoon so we can end up before the sun goes down. Last years fiasco at Comp when the lights blew just about did me in. It will also get us all to our homes earlier so we can get to work in the morning. I know some of you drive several hours to compete and could use the extra time. I'll work it out so any races held in hotter areas will be early in the series. I am giving 25 T-Shirts out to the first 25 FPMXers who pre-enter online to help pay for some of the Supercross needs and to help me get the 2003 series off to a good start. Please register early if you can. It helps tremendously. Also new products will be going into the FPMX Store, please check often. Right now I have a sale on the FirePoliceMX sheds. The sale won't last long, if you want some sheds buy them now.................e

12-26-02    I remember the Christmas of 1995, all I asked Sue for was a new 1996 CR250. I knew that when I came down the stairs in the morning it would be there right next to the tree. I never woke up that night when Sue got up to put the bike under the tree but when I did wake up I was sure that she took care of me. I'd been sober (off of a bike) for three years. I promised her that I would stay off a bike for one full year to heal up and try to get over my addiction. Three years was an accomplishment, I knew she would understand and somehow, someway afford the bike and sneak it in the house on that Christmas eve................I hope you all had a great Christmas. I love the holiday season, I love this time of year. This is the only time of year that I check the weather channel. I hope for rain then can't wait until it stops so I can go riding. I only dread the day I have to risk my life again taking the Christmas lights down . ........Oh, by the way Sue got me that bike, only problem was that it was a toy CR250, it was under the tree all a long................e 

12-21-02    Christmas shopping, it never fails, I wait until the last day that I can possibly shop and then I shop. Can you say "Stupid"? What a fiasco. Next year I'm shopping early.....yeah right. Here's the deal, when everyone else is shopping, I'm riding. Pretty cool plan huh? Yeah it's cool but then I pay for it. Here's what sucks, all those people who were shopping when I was riding were still shopping today. They never quit! We need to have an FPMX only day at the mall. Last night I was playing basketball with a bunch of firemen, I think I over did it. This morning I could barely walk. Playing basketball all the time keeps you in basketball shape just like riding all the time keeps you in riding shape. I'm not saying that I'm in shape, not even close but when I come home from riding I usually feel pretty good, my muscles know what they are up against and they handle it. But my muscles had no idea what was going on last night, they forgot. Plus I rolled an ankle. Put a basketball player on a motocross track and he'll find sore muscles he never even knew he had. Well that's what happened to me. I'm serious, I can barley walk after 2 hours of BBall last night. AND the freakin' Christmas shoppers park as close as they can to the mall, leaving me several hundred yards to limp in the rain. Both of my Achilles tendons are killing me plus the ankle and I think I pulled an abdominal muscle last night. While in Circuit City today, soaking wet after the journey across the parking lot in the rain, I had a female employee ask me "Are you OK Sir"? I said "No, I'm in pain, I hurt myself playing basketball last night" "You're not 20 years old anymore SIR"......thanks, that helped. I'm use to the guys at work attacking me but I don't need some Circuit City chick doing it. After hobbling to the doors of TARGET through the rain the dude out front ringing the bell, collecting money says "You don't look too good Sir"..........ENOUGH & what's with the SIR stuff all of the sudden? I'm already in pain, I don't need to start feeling old too. I remember when I took a few years off of racing and was playing basketball in city leagues, my body was feeling pretty good, no everyday aches and pains but since I quit BBall and started racing again I can feel it. I actually liked the feeling of a little pain, it let me know that I was still alive and doing what I loved again. I'm going to take a few days off then start playing BBall again. I need to get in some type of shape. BBall mixed with a huge dose of moto will get me there............Sir e

12-19-02    Today was a good day in the FPMX world. We donated the toys from the Christmas GP to the Highland community at the Highland Fire Station. A bunch of FPMXers showed up in uniform and others in pit shirts. It was pretty cool, the community leaders were very happy with the donation and were really happy that we brought a bunch of "Boys Toys". They said that they were loaded up on girls toys but the boys toys were greatly needed. Good job, FPMXers!!!!!! After the toy donation Danny Lowers, Ed Niemela and myself went to Glen Helen for a few laps. I feel like I was used today. Both of these two stroke guys were there for one reason, they wanted a test ride on Big Red. It was kind of funny, both left the pit area wondering how the 4 stroke would perform. Both came back with huge smiles on their faces. Oops, I think Kawi just lost a lifer. Could you imagine Ed Niemela on anything but a Green Bike? And what about Danny, a two stroke lifer jumping ship? On the way home from GH  I decided to stop at TEMECULA MOTORSPORTS and talk with Mike Findlay about supporting Team FirePoliceMX.com Racing with a couple of HONDA CR125's. It was that easy, we will have our boys, Chris Tocco and Ross Garcia mounted on TMS HONDA's. Please support TMS with all you bike and parts purchases in the future. Please visit the STORE soon to check out the Team FirePoliceMX.com Racing gear. All purchases form the store will go to support the team effort. Thanks for all of your support............eDub

12-18-02    It's like pulling teeth these days, I can't get "Mother" motivated to write in "the Corner", I can't get Davenport dialed to write in "the Diary" and I think Dr.Fast Eddie Niemela took some of his own advise and croaked. No big deal, I feel the same way. When we're not racing or getting ready to race, there's just nothing to write about. I already know that I have a one track mind, most of us do. All we think about is motoFREAKINcross. And don't call Dr. F.E.N. for a cure, he's a MOTOidiot too. No, we're all messed up, that's why we all hang out together. That's why you are reading this now, YOU'RE ADDICTED! FACE IT! I quit MX cold turkey twice but fell off the wagon each time and the last time I fell, I fell hard! Yeah I went to those meetings, all you hear is a bunch of X Racers saying things like "My name is CR Bert, I've been off my bike for 7 months and 4 days now"  or "Hello my name is KX Kevin, I have a problem". Anyway, no more Motocross Anonymous for me, I'm Racin'! I figure that if I haven't quit yet, and I'm 43 years old, I'm not quiting. Take a look at Senior Smiley (Ron Ryer), he never misses a race and he's been in the 50+ class for several years. That's awesome, I want to be doing what Ron is doing in 15 years. I remember when I turned 30, I thought that I would be racing slower guys and that I would start to kick some FPMX butt.....NOT. I remember when I turned 40, I thought I would be racing slower guys and that I would kick some FPMX butt.......NOT again. But in 7 years I will turn 50. Watch out FPMXers here I come! You know what, by the time I turn fifty I'll be racing guys like Mark Davenport, Danny Lowers, Eric McKenna, Doug Wilson, Dennis Moon, YZ Ernie, Rob Townley and a bunch of other old men. If I can't beat a fifty year old I must be slow. Wait a minute...........in ten more years I'll be sixty then I'll be racing slower guys and I'll kick some Major FPMX butt for sure...............e   

12-17-02    What an idiot I am, but I can't help myself, I love this stuff! We are going to have a Supercross team again for 2003, after the "BIG TEAM" idea failed life was kind of easy but not satisfying. Anyway the team is coming together but it is going to be an uphill battle. We are way behind the 8 Ball as far as time goes. We have Chris Tocco riding for us in the West Coast 125 Series and I am talking with another rider to round out the team. MAXXIS came onboard today with tires for the entire series. We will be running  the team from Mike Farmer's MAXXIS rig. Race Tech will handle the suspension for us. We will be HONDA mounted again. We are not teamed up with a bike shop yet but we are still looking. It's been a long day on the phone but I feel right at home doing it. On Thursday December 19th we will be donating the toys from the Christmas GP/Toy Drive to the Highland Fire Station in Highland, Ca. at 11am. The address is 26974 Baseline St. in Highland. All FPMNers are welcome to attend, please be in Department Uniform. I want to thank Gary Aguilar for helping me set up the toy donation. If the weather holds I will be at the Glen Thursday afternoon to do a few laps on the HONDA CRF 450. Bring your bikes and let's do some riding............e

12-12-02    The FPMN Christmas GP/Toy Drive is in the history books now and for me, I think this was the most fun I ever had on a motorcycle. The whole day was awesome. But today topped it off. I got home from work and had to unload the trailer to put it away. I took 6 large plastic bags with me to fill up with donated toys. I ended up 12 bags full of some awesome toys. Funny thing, there was more motorcycle toys than you would find on the shelves at KB Toys. There was also a ton of Fire Department and Police toys. Not to mention all the other great toys. I wasn't expecting all this, you guys and gals ROCK!  OK back to the event........It will become an FPMN tradition. Every December! Count on it. It was great to see Family and friends racing along side the FPMN regulars, it was great to see the Pee Wees dicing it out on the Pee Wee Track. Every kid got a medal! The skills event was a kick in the pants too (I got that saying from George Tucker) and the Team GP was the best ever, 1 hour long. Each lap was a sprint race, wide open until you passed the arm band and got a chance to rest, just when you were starting to recover he comes your partner.........Excellent! The Glen Helen track was prepped perfectly by Ron the GH Track guy. It's been a while since we raced GH and it sure felt good to do it again. We are so blessed to have Glen Helen and Perris Raceway here in Southern California. We have something special, don't we? We're living the dream.............eDub

12-7-02    Life is good! I came home from work this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see that "Mother" and Davenport both sent in articles. I read both of them as I always do before I post them, Just in case I need to edit something, I never have had to edit anything these two guys have written. Some times there are misspellings but I leave them alone. I know words are misspelled because a red line comes up under those words before I post them. I never knew about the deer that took out Watmore. The only thing I ever saw in those bushes in the back off camber area of the GP was Steve Marquez after overshooting the corner. And the numbering thing, It's a huge pain but I like it. I'm grateful for Rick Harris who has taken that responsibility from me. I for one will run my earned number in 2003. I'm number 18! I also reserve number 943 for the rest of my life. This week I'll probably run 943 because it's already on the bike and I don't have a lot of time to mess with numbers and stuff like that right now. But I also reserve  "..................e" for the rest of my life, just like Jeff Welsh reserves the name "Mother" for the rest of his life. Why "Mother"? Well that's not my story, ask Jeff. But the ".....................e" comes from a friend of mine. Several years ago I was talking to the Motor city madman, Ted Nugent online and he would always end his emails with .................T, so I started the "...................e". In other FPMN news, I am working with Mike Farmer and the MAXXIS people back in Georgia to put together a Supercross team. This team will have one or two riders, we will compete in the West Coast Series. We will run out of the MAXXIS rig. I'll let you all know more as we get things squared away. This thing just came up a few days ago, it's going to take a lot to put it together. You are all using MAXXIS Tires aren't you? Don't get cross with me when you see my non MAXXIS rubber but they came on the bike and when they need replacing it will be MAXXIS. I hope to see you all out at the FPMN Christmas GP/Toy Drive on Tuesday at the Glen........................e

12-4-02   Well the order came down, "PUT THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS UP TOMORROW!!!!!!!! "Sorry honey, I got sidetracked". I meant well but with the shorter days it's hard to fit it all in. "I'll do it when I get back from Glen Helen tomorrow dear". "You went riding today, you don't need to go to Glen Helen tomorrow" "But I need to see how my suspension works at Glen Helen"................I got the look, you know the look when she knows that you are trying to pull a fast one. I tried to explain how Glen Helen is way different than Elsinore and Elsinore is way different that Perris as it fell on deft ears. But you FPMNers understand don't you? I mean Glen Helen is Glen Helen, it's got sand, ruts, grooves, pot holes and speed, lots of speed. Glen Helen is not a second gear race track. Glen Helen gets ruff and you better be in Glen Helen shape, which I'm not. But tomorrow is my only chance to get on the track before Tuesday's GP. I have a new ride with stock suspension and a race at the Glen in 5 days. What the heck am I thinking? Maybe no one will show up and I can win. It's a 220 mile round trip to GH, I'm dreading the drive. I know you Vegas boys drive that far or more one way. So. Today at Elsinore I felt pretty good on the bike, I was jumping things that I wasn't jumping a few weeks ago but my suspension felt bad. I finally figured out that I was starting to use the suspension and riding the bike a bit faster. I found myself over jumping some of the table tops and landing on the flat ground. My suspension needs help. I thought I had the suspension dialed in but I guess not. I think I'll get a pipe also, the CRF has a hesitation off the bottom and I hear that that can be remedied with a aftermarket pipe. I'll go with Pro Circuit or FMF. I'll try to have the bike all dialed in by late February or early March so I can be ready for the 2003 FPMN Season. Don't forget to bring a toy to the Christmas GP, we will be donating the toys to the local community. It's weird having an off season now, I miss hanging out at the tracks with all the FPMNers and banging bars at the races. I think this Christmas GP will be a fix until we start to hit the tracks in the early part of 2003 for the Perris Nationals. I told Sue that Christmas was my favorite holiday. "Yeah, Christmas day but you hate all the decorating and shopping and all that goes with the Christmas season" she says. So. I use to think that those people who left their Christmas lights up all year were losers. I now understand, they are brilliant! Well I might sleep in in the morning, shine GH and risk my life hanging lights on some make shift scaffolding..............eD

12-3-02    Every once in a while I get in a position where I can't get to a computer to keep up on the message board or write in the journal. This was one of those weeks. I've had to park the CRF for a while to work in the "Off My Back" suite of the FPMN Offices (my garage). I had to print t-shirts all week for the Fire Department, I needed to be done prior to leaving for the USC / ND Football game at the coliseum in Los Angeles. I finished late Friday night. Off to the game on Saturday AM, I knew USC would win and win big. It was an easy call, all I had to do was wait for Rob Harper to pick a team and then bet heavy on the other team. It's a system that has been working for me for two years now. I actually felt sorry for ND by the end of the third quarter, it was a thrashing. After the game it was off to my secret hiding place. Since I had to work in the morning I just stayed at the station. Home was 120 miles away from South Central. We have 8 guys and 8 beds. No I wasn't going to double up with anyone. I went to the attic! The attic is a nice place, no firemen snoring, no firemen ventilating themselves, just a nice quiet place, almost as nice as the HCJ w/ PBWS on Wed @ LEMP. After working really, really hard at the fire station on Sunday I was off to the LA County Training Facility in East LA on Monday morning. We had a Vendor Day, that's where us Vendors, I'm a Vendor, sell the Fire Dept. t-shirts, hats, sweats and all kinds of Fire Dept. things. After the long day of selling and home a mere 100 miles away, it was off to dinner at the food court at the local mall then back up to the secret hiding place for the night. Tuesday was just like Monday except after the long day of peddling F.D. stuff I got to sit in traffic and head to the FPMN Offices in beautiful Carlsbad, Ca. Well Sue was waiting patiently for me to get home. The fact that I'm exhausted after four long days or Irish whoopin', Rosemeadian rescuin', t-shirt sellin', t-shirt sellin' and freeway drivin' didn't stop Sue, the wife, from Christmas decorating. Up to the attic again I go, this time not the cool, almost as good as the HCJ w/ PBWS on Wed @ LEMP attic but the attic at the FPMN Offices. This attic is no fun, this attic is basically the third part of my 3 car garage that I don't have anymore. When I left the Moreno Valley Estate with the 3 car garage I brought all the crap that goes in the 3rd port but had nowhere else o put it since the C-Bad Estate only came equipped with a two car garage. Anyway the light at the end of the tunnel is that I have to drop off  T-shirts tomorrow in Temecula (try saying that three times fast), which is near Elsinore. It's Wednesday tomorrow. The HCJ will be fresh, I just might do a few laps before I have to go home and risk my life putting up Christmas lights. Good thing OSHA doesn't oversee the Christmas light hanging operations that we all perform at our homes every holiday season. I'm lucky to be alive after last Christmas but that doesn't matter cuz we need to Clark Griswold our house again...............cousin eddie

11-26-02    I just read "Davenport's Diary", yes congratulations to Steve Coster......AGAIN! I wish I knew of a way to get Steve to run the #1 plate but I think it has something to do with, well like the Sports Illustrated Cover curse or something. The last guy to run the #1 plate was Steve Williams and before that was Iron Ed Niemela. We've only been awarding the #1 plate for 5 years now but I think it's time someone steps up and takes it away from Steve, nothing personal, Steve is a great guy. We went to the same High School together ten years apart. I can't think of one bad thing to say about Steve. I guess if I had to come up with something I would say that he rides a YAMAHA but that only adds to his greatness, he can still win on a sub par bike. (Don't get mad blue boys, I'm just stirring the pot) Also Steve is a plain Jane, he wears a white helmet with no stickers and a black long sleeve t-shirt for a jersey. That's all I can find to say bad about Steve Coater! No, I have to say Steve is a great guy. Steve is not a flashy rider, unlike um, let's say Rob Harper, no Steve just goes fast and looks slow doing it kind of like Eric McKenna. Eric is one of those guys who hauls butt but doesn't look that fast doing it as he pulls away from all the youngsters in the expert class. I also can't think of a bad thing to say about Eric except he needs a new hat. The red Elmer Fudd cap needs to be retired until it comes back in style in a few years. If you can't think of something bad to say about someone, don't say anything at all or was it If you can't think of something good to say?, I don't know, anyway have a good Thanksgiving. See ya soon........e 

11-22-02    I made it back to Elsinore today, I wasn't planning on it but I talked to Lyle Raymond on the internet last night and it didn't take too much for me to change plans and get back on track (pun intended). This was my 4th ride on the CRF and every time I ride it I like it more and more. I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable on the red machine and I'm starting to think that I made the right decision. Anyway red is my favorite color and real Fire Engines are red. Today also doubled as a hunting trip, I was able to capture a mullet at the Rick Johnson school. I asked Rick if I could take some photos of his class during some chalkboard time. After a few shots of RJ teaching my lens wandered over to the student mullet. I'll post it in a few days when I have the time. We are getting close to that special time of year, the holiday season and along with it this year comes the FPMN Christmas GP/Toy Drive. I'm looking forward to FPMN's return to Glen Helen. On another front we have the FPMN Year end Banquet. This will also be a first. I tried to schedule it at Dave & Busters on Monday, December 9th but D&S's is booked, in fact they are booked everyday in December with Christmas parties so we are going to a new plan. I'll keep you posted............e Dub

11-20-02    Wednesday is a special day at Lake Elsinore Motocross Park (LEMP), the main track is reopened after a day of grooming, the vet track has only one day on it and all the 80cc experts are in school. All that is good but what really makes Wednesday special is that some time between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning the outhouse fairies clean the port-a-johns, they also put full rolls of paper in them. The TP still has the protective outer wrapping on it. But there is one special outhouse, the handicap john (HCJ). The HCJ is roomy and on Wednesdays has a Pleasant Blue Water Smell (PBWS). I know what you are thinking, "Don't be a jerk Ed", the HCJ is for handicapped people not you. Hey it's not like I'm parked in a handicap space at the AM PM, I'm at a motocross track, aren't we all a bit handicapped? I mean my lower back is killing me, my knees are sore, my right wrist is tweaked, I'm still nursing a groin pull from the Starwest Night Series and my left Achilles is strained. Yeah, I don't feel bad about logging time in the HCJ with the PBWS. OK enough of that, I need to thank Chad Jones for pointing out to me that the new Dirt Rider Mag has setups for the new 450's and 250's. Well last night at work I did all the setup tips that were recommended for my weight. I dialed all the clickers, set the sag and added 3cc's of oil to each fork leg. WOW, huge difference, I had a lot of fun today. The suspension is pretty good, in fact it's way good. Almost $700's good and it only cost me the price of one bottle of MAXIMA suspension fluid. I have no idea how this setup will work at Glen Helen (GH) but at LEMP it was great. GH is a different place, GH test's your suspension. Let's face it, GH is GH and in no way is it LEMP, GH has no HCJ's w/PBWS but it does have square edged bumps and plenty of ruts. Do you think it would be wrong to take my 13" TV/VCR into the HCJ w/PBWS, powered by my Honda V2000 generator? Would that be wrong? It would be like a home away from home, an office at the track. Like George Costanza's desk. I love my Wednesdays....................Uncle e 

11-15-02    I went to Elsinore today with my new friend (CRF 450), I'm in the learning process big time. I think I like the bike but I'm not in love. I got an idea, it's kind of like "The bachelor", what we do is get all the new bikes and let you ride them. After the first day you get rid of half of them. On day two you ditch a few more. Then we get down to the nitty gritty, Let's say we have a CRF 450, a YZF 450, a KX 250 and a YZ 250 left. All the Suzuki's and KTM's were dumped a while ago. Anyway you work your way down to the bike you like the best, give it a rose and live happily ever after, at least for one year until you get to try out the 2004's.........humm....Alright lunger, let's do it!!!!!!!!! Well I think I like the bike, in time I could really like it but it needs some tweaking like suspension, bars, pegs, pipe and ASV levers. I miss the smell of my two stroke, I was thinking about pouring a tiny bit of MAXIMA inside the face guard of my helmet. Hey another idea! what do you think about EsteeLauder coming out with a two stroke perfume for women. Moto men would go crazy for it, Rosie O'Donnell would even be attractive with a splash of 2 stroke perfume. Hey if you are into the four stroke smell just splash your woman with some 91 octane, not too much though. "WARNING" Don't do this if you or she smokes. That warning was for the Cops out there, us firemen know better. Well I better go before I say something really stupid...........................e

11-13-02    Well I took the CRF Four Fiddy out today for the first ride. I was invited to Los Angeles County Raceway (LACR) with the LAPD boys and girl. First off, the track was in great shape, it was everything I had heard that it was. This was my first time to ride LACR. There were lot's of table tops and a few doubles. One double looked like a third gear gap but I really couldn't tell you for sure. Ok now for the bike. The HONDA turns! At times I felt like I was riding on a rail, the rear end followed the front of the bike unlike my YZ 250 two stroke where the rear is always breaking loose. Maybe that's a Four stroke thing, I don't know but I liked it. The front end is awesome, you just point and go, the bike loves the inside line, I mean way inside. The motor is fast and the bike feels way light and thin compared to my 2000 YZ 426. I really need to get the suspension done before I can start to ride at speed. When I raced Rob Harpers CRF the suspension felt way better, I don't know what Rob did to it or if he did anything but I really need to get mine done. Suspension in my opinion is the most important thing you can do to a bike to make it right. Tires are important, heck there's a ton of things that matter but suspension makes ALL the difference. Too bad I don't have a clue how to dial in suspension. I do know what good suspension feels like and once you feel it you'll never be satisfied with anything less. My YZ was good but I never hit utopia. Utopia will cut your lap times!..............eDub

11-6-02    Anticipation! I'm sitting here like a new father in the maternity ward waiting room. My new baby is coming home tomorrow and I'm so proud. How long is it? How much does it weigh? Is it a four stroke or a two stroke? As a new father I have to tell you that these things really don't matter. I just hope it has all it's parts and that it runs like a champ. I hope the weather holds up so I can go riding with Ricky "Bad Boy" Johnson on Friday. I'm not one to have a lot of idols, I don't put too many people on pedestals but I do admire Rick Johnson and have never had reason to feel any different. I have never met Rick but he was to motocross in the mid to late eighties as Jeremy was in the nineties. It's hard to compare anyone to Jeremy but as far as showmanship and personality Rick was the guy. Anyway I'm a sponge ready to absorb information on how to go faster than I do now. Every class that I have ever attended has been beneficial for me. I've been to the Donnie Hansen class, the Tony D class and the Jim Gibson class. I have also spent a few hours getting some private training from Jim Gibson. Jim's tutoring in the corners was eye opening for me. I had no idea that I was that screwed up! He really helped me out a lot. Each guy taught the class differently than the other and yet all were similar in some ways. I'm sure RJ has some stuff in store that will cut a tiny bit of time off each lap and isn't that what it's all about, just a half a second here and a half a second there and your BUMPED up a class. Maybe I should stay home. NOT!...............e

11-3-02    As I'm returning home Friday morning after a long Halloween night in beautiful Rosemead, Ca. I notice something wrong with my little red racer, something is wrong with the rear end of the HONDA Civic SI. The closer I get, the worse it looks. Seems some punks on Halloween night decided that they needed the rear wheels more than I did. They jacked it up under the running boards, popped them loose, then removed the rear wheels and dropped the Civic directly on the concrete driveway. If that's not enough, try dealing with insurance companies on Friday. You guessed it, RENTAL car, I have a Chevy in my driveway! I've never owned a Chevy in my life, nothing personal but I'm a Ford man. I guess I could try Chevy, I mean I'm going to the dark side this week. I'm getting a Four Stroke. But I've been to the dark side before. I just hope this time is different. "Luke, I am your father". It's official, I sold the YZ250, I have the money already, and the bike! I'll deliver it next week to it's new owner. I'm sure he has a big field by his house where the YZ can go run with other YZ's. I know it's not a dog but I feel like a creep getting rid of it. She has served me well over the last two years. Hey as I'm writing this I'm wondering, do people name their bikes? I never have but it seems like a good idea. I think in order to keep your manhood intact you need to name it a girls name. I mean it would sound weird to go ride Fred. But maybe you could name it a generic name like "Silver", you know like the Lone Ranger's horse. Who knows? At least I won't be bikeless like Hannig was, you never know what a guy could do in that case, maybe even go out and buy a KX250 or something. No, come on let's don't kid ourselves, nobody would do that........or would they? Well like a lot of you, I'm waiting on my new number for 2003 so I can slap it on the CRF450, I hope to break the top twenty again..................Flip (aka)..............e

10-30-02    Read the Zach Bradshaw interview, Lowers is finally asking some good questions and Zach gave some pretty cool answers. I remember hearing that southern yell during practice, I saw it was Bradshaw. I was glad that he made it out west for the event. I decided to see if I could hang with him so I twisted the throttle a little bit more and got up to race speed. It wasn't more that a couple of turns until I was by him. Only because he decided to take another soil sample from our California dirt, looked like he grabbed too much front break entering a left hand corner. I saw him get up and get going again. It wasn't too long before he was passing me for the second time. Now that I passed Zach, I'm going after Damon. I better hurry up before he's healthy again. You know I really dig motocross, just being involved in this sport over the years, you really see that we live in a small world. The Difference between Jeremy McGrath, Damon Bradshaw, Jason Wood, Rick Johnson and the rest of us is that they are fast on a motorcycle. But like Zach said, they are just normal people, they put their pants on one leg at a time. Before Jeremy was, well "Jeremy",  Sue, myself and my son, Danny use to hang out in his pits, even when he was on team HONDA. I remember talking to him right before the start of the night program at the Pasadena Supercross in 1992. If Jeremy won that night he would win his first 250 Supercross Championship. I remember looking over at Jeff Stanton, he was sitting in a chair with hands on his head, rocking back and forth. Jeff looked nervous. On the other hand, Jeremy and I were talking about Lake Havasu and our favorite cookies. He was just a kid having fun, totally calm. He won that night. I've never really met Rick Johnson but I see him at Elsinore every once in a while, The first time I saw him he had a "Rick Johnson Bell moto 5 helmet" on, riding a CRF450 with a # 5 on it. I thought "who does that guy think he is, Rick Johnson"? Oh, wow, it was Rick. He was teaching a guy how to corner a motorcycle. Rick was a hero of mine back in the day, I guess he still is. I know I'm rambling on but sometimes I reminisce. Oh well I have nothing else to do until I pick up my CRF450. By the way my favorite cookies are "Rose Hannig's snickerdoodles".............................e 

10-28-02    The diet is back on, kinda. The new HONDA, which I will pick up next week has me MOTOvated to train and get back into some type of shape. I was all irritable today being back on a healthy diet. No ice cream for breakfast & no licorice for lunch. My saving grace was that it is our anniversary, 21 years, well we went to Ruth's Chris for dinner, mmmmmmmmmmmm, steak. Let me tell you, those are some good steaks and HOT too! A very expensive place, Ruth's Chris. Luck for me the in laws gave us a gift certificate to Ruth's place. Did I say 21 years? Oh man I must be getting old, what happened? What is old anyway? Is it a state of mind or is it a state of pain? To get the answers to that and many more questions write to Dr. Fast Eddie Niemela. Ed will have a new column on FirePoliceMX.com some topics will be aches, pains and dealing with injuries. If you know Ed, hold on, this could be some funny stuff. Oh well I'll talk to ya'll tomorrow..................e-dub

10-27-02    Oops.............I really feel for you cow bell ringin', chicken chokin' Northern Cali's. The Rally Monkey Rules! I have been getting a ton of feed back about getting a CRF450, it seems that the HONDA boys are telling me how great it is and the YZ and two strokers are telling me that it's a mistake. The tall guys are telling me go go BLUE. But the gut feeling says...........RIDE RED. It' only been a few years since RED and I parted ways, we never had a falling out, I just got a killer deal on a YZ250. I love my YZ, I really do but it's time to go home, it's time to go HONDA. It's not like a marriage, I can sell the beast if I don't like it. The thing is I raced a moto on a stock CRF and saw a ton of potential in the bike and felt potential in my riding. I remember racing my 2000 YZ426, the bike was fast and I felt good up until the point the track had a corner in it. I loved the speed, it would blow by two strokes but I couldn't corner on it. The HONDA is different, that bike craves the inside line, my line. It turned way inside my YZ250. I was amazed how good it turned. I'm so excited about this new bike that I'm thinking of giving up Cookies N Cream cold turkey, training and going after my buddy Rob Townley. Just thinking about racing the new bike is giving me goose bumps. I love banging bars with Rob, Doug Wilson and all the other 40+ Intermediates. Heck if all goes well maybe it will be Davenport, Niemela and Lowers or maybe I'll be on a two stroke again......who knows?......................... e-ticket

10-23-02    Stinkin' Giants! Oh well I guess we'll just have to (Sacramento) King them like my beloved Lakers did a few months ago. I just had two days off of work and all I did was work on this Grand Prix thing. I still have my YZ sitting in the garage, I'm going to deliver it to it's new owner next week. I wonder how long it takes for the bike to forget about the only owner it ever had. Will it be OK in a new garage? What if the new owner doesn't give it Maxima or puts Dunlops on it? What if it doesn't adapt and wants to come home? Then what about me? Will I long for my 2 stroke or will the Red machine steal my heart? What if I can't quit shifting? Will the pipe melt my new AXO's like my 426 melted my O'NEALS? What will I do with all this pre-mix in the garage? What if the new owner of my YZ puts a spark arrestor on it and trail rides it, will it be happy? Will my Ford F250 reject a CRF450? Do I need to buy my first Chevy ever? Hannig tried to get rid of his CRF450 and get a KX250, that didn't work out, two weeks later he had his CRF450's brother in the Logandale Estate garage sitting right where the old CRF sat. The poor little KX never had a chance. Maybe that was best, the KX was only two weeks old and probably doesn't remember any of it. I hope it has a nice garage somewhere. What about Mike Dunn's CR125? What do you do with a 25 year old bike? How old is that in human years, like 522? He couldn't never sell that bike it just wouldn't be right. That would be like bike neglect or something, you can go to jail for that I think. I guess I'm just nervous like a new father. Do HONDA's have umbilical cords? Does Brent Bush's CRF accept Hannig's new CRF or does it long for it's old next door neighbor CRF? Life is full of questions....................I want answers................cousin eddie

10-22-02    It's been a great week. My USC Trojans spanked the Huskies, my Angeles are up 2-1 in the World Series, I just sold my 2001 YZ250 and I have a CRF 450 on order, back on a HONDA baby! Yes a FOUR STROKE. Why the change you ask? Just cuz, I rode the squirrel's CRF and it felt good, it felt like home, it felt like a HONDA. The Squirrel said to ride it like my 2 stroke, I was racing the bike without ever practicing on it, I was petrified, it was like old home week. Not the four stroke part, in fact I don't know what it was but I was sold. The bike could corner like no other and after I learn to quit shifting so much I think I'll be able to turn some faster lap times than I did on my YZ 250 and that's what it's all about. Because when YZ Ernie comes out of retirement we have some racing to do. I'll be putting the Christmas GP together over the next week. The FPMN Board of directors voted today to open the GP to family members, friends and FPMN Sponsors. This is a make up for not having the 9-11 Memorial Motocross. Check the STORE out aand see the FPMNsheds. Late~ ...................e 

10-18-02    I just got home from the Arizona Police & Fire games. Five and a half hours from Speedworld to the Carlsbad FPMN office, non stop, and on one tank of gas. I had a blast. Here's a recap, I left home at 4:40am on Thursday, I decided to take the 8 fwy because it looked like a shorter route. I stopped at Yumacs for breakfast, that's Yuma McDonadls for short. I got that from "Mother", he calls the McDonalds in Newhall, Newmacs. The difference between Yumacs and Newmacs is that in Yumacs everyone knows each other, everyone was smoking and they all looked homeless. I stepped into the twilight zone. I decided to eat in my truck on the road. When I got to Gila Bend, AZ, the highway was shut down and I was rerouted on some side road with less than a quarter tank of gas. I had race gas with me, I was OK. I arrived at Speedworld at 11am. Davenport and the Lowers brothers were there. I watched Danny ride for a while, he looked smooth and fast for just coming off injury. The track was fast and fun, The only complaint would be the rocks on the track. They were baked potato size, unlike the pumpkin sized boulders we had to dodge at Scenic Highlands Raceway in Newcomers Town, Ohio. Speedworld is a good name for the track. There are some fast sections, there is this one section were you do a third gear step up double, land the back side and pin it, up shift to fourth and pin it up the face of another, yet larger step up. Adrenalin City! I finally did it on my second practice session. After you land the second step up there is a 102 foot tabletop, I tried it once, that was enough. I came up about 10 feet short and didn't enjoy the landing. Brad Hannig was the only FPMN regular that I saw doing it. After practice Brad and I got a hotel then went to dinner at the Cracker Barrel with Frank and Danny Lowers. By 8:30pm Brad and I were in our separate beds fast asleep. Up at 5:30am, then to Surprise King for breakfast, that's the Burger King in Surprise, AZ. When we arrived at the Speedworld it looked like a whole new track. Speedworld prepped is an awesome sight. Speedworld prepped is more awesome to ride, especially after you have learned the track and can just go out and ride at speed. The track stayed nice for a while but by the second motos it was back to the way it was for yesterdays practice. It is still a fun track but it loses it's awesomeness as the day wears on. I'm tired from the days racing and the drive, got work in the morning so I'll tell you more another day...............e  

10-16-02    I'm looking for a new mechanic, send resumes to the FPMN office in C-Bad. Today I prepared the YZ 250 for the Arizona Police and Fire Games. I repacked the shorty, replaced the air filter with a raffle filter from the Ca. P&F Games and washed her. She still had the Perris mud on her from last week. I didn't do the full prep, I kept looking down the street every time a heard a vehicle approaching to see if it was Marquez. It never was. I have to tell you, I have got spoiled over the last few years. Steve has handled most of the work on my bike and what he can't do I have done at better than FPMN prices. Last Sunday evening at Perris while unloading my bike for Monday mornings Nationals, I noticed a stream of oil coming out of my left fork seal, it seems to happen every six months, right before the Nationals. This time everything was looking good up until the eve of the race. I made a phone call to Dave Schmidt of Schmidt Performance in Perris, Ca. Dave is an FPMN sponsor who has been racing with us this past year in the sponsor class. Before the riders meeting was finished Dave had replaced the fork seal and the YZ was ready to race. We have a great bunch of sponsors and I hope we all support them like they support us. www.scmidtperformance.com Thank you Dave. Today I spent all day getting ready for the AZ Games. I hope I remembered everything but if not I know a bunch of FPMNers who will be there. Davenport will have the Dog House and Frieling will have the White House and I'll have an EZ-UP and my Pit Tootsie, Danny Lowers there to help me. I'm really excited about this race. I think it has something to do with the fact that I have no responsibility except to race. I dig that feeling, I love to drive to races too. I know that might seem weird but the farther away the race, the more important it feels. I love checking into hotels and rolling my bike into the room and trying not to get caught. I love the look on the faces of my neighbors in the hotel when they see the bike in the room. I love being on the road with my bike in the bed of my truck. I love going to tracks where I have never been before, the anticipation, the nerves and learning a new track. I love motocross.......................e

10-13-02    October is FPMN time but when the Nationals are over it's river time. I'm writing this from the 17th floor of Harrah's in Laughlin, Nevada. Sue and I drove across the Mojave Desert today with the 1200cc YAMAHA WaveRunners in tow. This is a road trip week. We'll ride on the river tomorrow then do Lake Mojave on Tuesday, home on Wednesday then I'm heading to Phoenix on Thursday to practice for the Arizona Police & Fire Games then race Friday. I dig the road. I think I got hooked last year on the road trip to Ohio. I saw a movie this week, I don't remember what it was called but it took place in a big city. I didn't know what city it was at first but I knew that I was there recently. I recognized this skyscraper that stood tall above all the other buildings. I thought that it was maybe in Chicago or Salt Lake, could be San Diego or Denver. Then they mentioned the name of the city in the movie. It was Columbus, Ohio. I was there three times last year, so was Danny Lowers, Brent Bush, Brad Hannig and Kris Waters. Let me tell you about it.Kris flew into Indianapolis and raced the World Games with us. He then rode in the truck to Ohio for the Ohio FPMN, that was our first time passing through Columbus. After two days of racing in Ohio we showered at a truck stop and got back on the road. Being experienced travelers now, we knew that it was way faster to take the bypass around the big cities during rush hour than to go directly through the center of the city. This tactic saved us countless hours while heading East so why should it be any different heading West? Traffic was moving pretty good when we were approaching Columbus, I recognized the skyscraper that we passed on the way to Ohio. We were doing some bench racing while listening to STAIND when all of the sudden we saw the bypass, Kris was driving the F250 with the Tucker trailer filled with 11 bikes. Kris cut across the construction zone and made it onto the bypass just in time. This should save us some time. We were trying to get Kris back to the airport in Indianapolis that evening to catch a flight to L.A.. We hit some traffic on the bypass but it wasn't too bad. An hour and a half later I looked out the window and saw another skyscraper just like the one in Columbus. "Hey there's those same construction workers that Kris almost killed while trying to get over for the bypass, how did they get way over here?" Seems that we took the bypass after we already made it through Columbus, looped all the way around the city and passed through Columbus again. We dropped Waters off at the airport and continued to Utah, we drove 32 straight hours, rotating the driving duties every time we filled the tank. Today didn't seem like a road trip at all, just a Sunday drive with the wife................e

10-10-02    Ok, I'm finally wound down from the Nationals and I have to say that this was one of the easier races I have promoted. We had very few injuries and I had to deal with less personnel problems than usual. A few weeks ago I wouldn't have imagined that it would have gone so good. Perris Raceway stepped up to the plate and hit a homer for us. I am in the process of scheduling next years races and will have Perris on the schedule at least once. I want to thank everyone for the help. I should name names but I don't want to forget anyone. You know who you are. Thank You. I'm usually busy on Monday night doing paper work but this time the work was delegated and I had some free time. I enjoyed a nice evening with a bunch of moto geeks. We all stood on the track and watched Ron Turner build a whoop section and change some of the jumps. We were grown men watching a guy push dirt and it was fascinating. Everyone was figuring out the best lines and how they were going to attack the new sections. It was a fun night, I stayed up late talking to Jeff Pronk from Calgary, Canada and Lyle Raymond then went to my trailer and hung out with Danny Lowers for awhile. It was midnight before Ed Niemela made his way to the trailer, we talked a bit more then went to bed (separate beds). I'm in the process of putting together a Christmas GP / Toy Drive / Team GP. I'll have the date and location soon. "I'll see ya soon, I'll see ya soon".................e

10-9-02    I can't understand why people are still riding 2 strokes. I've been telling you for months about the positives of riding 4 strokes. OK, OK, just kidding but I did get the chance to race a 2003 CR450 this week. I have to tell you I wasn't planning on racing one, but I did want to try one out. Rob Harper offered his Honda to me and after I did the math and realized that Doug Wilson had the series won I took the stock suspended CR out for my final moto. I was nervous like a First Time Beginner, I had no idea what to expect and was worried about getting a holeshot and being forced into doing everything on the track with a unfamiliar bike. When the gate dropped the holeshot idea was out of the question. I almost stalled the red machine but was able to keep it running. Never having been on the bike, let alone race it, I was making a ton of mistakes. I had no idea what gear I was in. Everyone kept saying that I should just keep it in second the whole track and up shift to third before the big table top. But I was riding it like my YAMAHA and shifting all over the place. With all that I was still able to hang with the boys for a few laps. I did every obstacle on the first lap and felt at home on the RED bike. The Honda turned like a champ, I was hitting inside lines with ease and sometimes popping out of the line to the inside. The stock tires need to be replaced soon for the Perris dirt, I feel that if I had the MAXXIS IT front tire I could have really cornered well on the bike. The CR felt heavier than my YZ250, I hit the conditioning wall pretty early and had to cruise to the checkered flag behind my buddies. I had a chance to ride a 2003 Kawasaki KX250 on Friday at Perris and have to say I had a hard time with it. It felt sluggish and the stock suspension was horrible. But I do weigh a bit more than the bike is set up for. Sitting on the green machine it felt like a 125. Every time I've ridden a KX however, I've hated it at first but the more time I spend on one I usually like it a lot. I didn't spend too much time on this KX. If I was buying today I would buy a CR450 because I felt at home from the drop of the gate. Everything I said about the CR before, well disregard it. I still feel the same about the YAMAHA 450, yuck! OK maybe I should ride one first but if it's anything like my 2000 426 I'll pass.............more about the Nationals tomorrow................e

10-5-02    I showed up at the Perris gate at 7:30 this morning, I was second in line. In front of me was a father and his 10 year old son. They were both dressed and ready to ride, pants, jersey and boots. I could tell that they drove to the track dressed like that. They walked over and asked if they could look at my bike. The father said that it was a four stroke but the son corrected him. The father asked if I raced, I said yes. He said that he had never raced. His bike was a newer Suzuki RM 250, his son was on a Honda XR 100. We talked a little bit then they got back in the cab of their Ford F250. I had another 25 minutes to kill. I listened to the first Cheap Trick CD with the volume pretty low, my windows were down and I could feel the cool crisp Perris morning air. My mind started to wonder back to the days when my dad and I would do the same thing, leave the house dressed ready to ride. Our first trip together was to a place called Escape Country in Orange County. I was on a YAMAHA 100, it had a purple gas tank. I had taken the lights off of it. I had a purple helmet, gloves with foam strips sewed across the top of the fingers, Levis and hiking boots. There was this big flat lot that I was riding on. Just above it was another big flat lot and above that one was another. It was kind of like somebody terraced it for housing. I finally built up the nerve to jump up to the higher lot and back down. I did this for awhile. As I started to get confidence I would go from the bottom lot all the way up to the third lot hitting both of the jumps. As I got to the third lot I found a fourth lot just like the three below it. My dad was working on riding up and down some hills, we were both new to dirt bikes. I was going from the bottom lot to the upper lots, flying off the jumps. When all of the sudden I jumped to the next higher lot only to find out that it was not like the others below. It was a bit of a drop off into a good sized pond. I was about to land a few feet beyond the shore and decided to gas it and try to make it to the other side about 30 feet away. I was hoping that the pond was only a foot deep or so but found out that it was well over my head. Luckily I was close enough to the edge to keep my head above water. I never let go of the handle bars. I had one hand on the grip and my head tilted to keep my mouth above water, I was on my tip toes. The ground was sloped and I was afraid to move thinking that I would slip further down the slope and not be able to breath. I didn't want to lose my bike. So I just waited until a couple of guys rode by and saw my purple helmet above the water. One of the guys had a rope tied around his crossbar. He threw me one end of the rope and I dove down and tied it to the handle bars. These guys helped me get the water out of the motor and stayed around until we could get the bike started............As I sat in my truck waiting for the Perris gate to open I had a couple of tears in my eyes. Those days riding with my dad were some of the greatest days of my life.............e

10-4-02    Thanks for all the emails, but maybe I wasn't clear. The Racing team as we envisioned it will not happen in 2003. I wish I could say that we were going to plan "B" but that would be a lie. It's more like plan "Q" and we have until "Z" before I throw in the towel...............e  

Part two: I needed to get away from the motorcycle world for awhile so I pulled out the WAVERUNNERS and did some maintanance. I washed them, Charged the batteries and started them. I let them run long enough to bug the neighbors then I shut them down and put them away wet. Enough, it was time to get back to business. I loaded the 250 in the back of the 250 and headed to Perris. On the way there I had to get the FPMN signed up for this new insurance plan. You can read about it on the Message Board. Then to the T-Shirt place to pick up the FPMN Race shirts. Finally Perris, it was late, the sun was going down. I parked next to Cosner, he had staples in this head. The track has changed a little bit, some for the good and some just a little bit different. There are two things to be careful trying. one is a step up with a small double after it. It's not too hard, I did it on the second lap but it could jump up and bite you. The other thing to worry about is a double out of a right hand corner, it's not too far but the hole is big. I didn't do it tonight. The trac was crowded with some pretty fast guys and some squids. I decided to wait until another day to try it. Since the race is on Monday, another day is tomorrow. I'll be at Perris when they open at 8am and try to get out of there by 10am but I already know that I won't be out of there until noon or 1pm because I'll be hanging out and talking. I'm taking a few days off of working on the SX/MX Team but will be back at it on Wednesday. I decided (with the advise of Mr. Lowers) not to write about all the happenings of the team until it's a done deal. We'll let you know what happens later. Thank you all for the support........e

10-3-02    I'm numb from my head to my toes, I have never felt like this before and hope to never feel this way again as long as I live. Catch 22 I think they call it. A week ago we lost Nick Wey to Mach 1 Yamaha, yesterday we lost Damon Huffman to Blackfoot Honda. Both of these riders held out as long as they could for us because they believed in our program but the sponsors would not commit any money. Oh they all did verbally but when it came down to signing a check they wouldn't put the ink on the paper. Kawasaki wouldn't commit with out a title sponsor, Damon and Nick wouldn't commit without Kawasaki. O'NEAL was scheduled to be the title sponsor but wouldn't commit without Nick and Damon signing first. Nick, Damon and Kawasaki all liked our deal best but nobody would budge without the other doing so first. I spent several days on the phone, all day and night trying to get this thing finished. In the end O'NEAL said that they would go where Nick went. Here's the kicker, they said that they had already done enough for the Fire & Police and that we should be grateful for that. We had a friend at O'NEAL but he quit his job over the affair. Yes O'NEAL gave us a great deal on their line of clothing but let's understand something here, we were doing them a favor. We were buying the clothes at wholesale prices, same as they would sell it to the shops before the mark up. But they were still profiting from this and the FPMN became a walking billboard for that company. How many sets of gear do you think MACH 1 will sell for O'NEAL, very few if any. But with our team, Firemen and Police Officers across the country and around the world would have bought from them, some at fantastic prices but most at retail prices at their local shops. It wouldn't matter to O'NEAL because they would profit the same. During this last six months I have let you guys down, I haven't been doing my job as it should be done. I'm sorry for that. I promise you that 2003 will be like no other. I want to let you know that Kawasaki kept their word and I admire them for that. Josh Woods gave us a letter of intent, I admire him for believing in us. Nobody worked harder on this thing that Scott Burns. My main focus right now is the FPMN this Monday and Tuesday and the 2003 season. I'll see some of you tomorrow at Perris and the rest of you on Monday & Tuesday. I'll be the guy in the O'NEAL gear, but for the last time...........e  

9-26-02    If running a Pro Supercross team was easy everyone would do it. This is the hardest thing I have ever tried to do. Yesterday our little team took a bad blow. Someday I'll tell you about it but as for now I have a National to run. As most of you know Perris is closed now for a track makeover. What the track will be like is anyone's guess. Whoops, no whoops, flat landings, whatever, let's go have some fun. A man has got to know his limitations. Know yours! I just spent the last 28 hours on the Williams Fire in So. Cal. I was in base camp for most of the day then spent the night protecting homes up in the canyons. Base camp can get boring, in fact it was. We got a Pizza for lunch about 2pm the Pick Up Sticks (Chinese food) brought us a ton of eats. Yes I had a second late lunch and way too much too. Then we got called to staging, guess what? In-N-Out Burger was there cooking fresh burgers out of a fifth wheel..........Yes, I did. Could you pass up a Double Double? I hope I can get my bike off the ground next week.........e

9-24-02    Why am I awake? I have no idea, It's 10:30 and I got a call this evening telling me that I shall be at work at 5am to relieve the boys up on the Azusa Fire or whatever they are calling it. I need to wake up at 3:30am to accomplish this feat. I'm tired but I can't sleep, too much to do plus I just read "Mothers Corner" and have a whole new thing to worry about, toilet paper. Not really, I'm up on the toilet paper thing. I know Mr. Whipple personally. I'm still waiting to sell the YZ 250 and pick up the Mighty KX 250, I'm excited about that, in fact it seems excitement is in the air. I saw yzernie changed his name to kxernie. I'm proud of you Ernie. Now heal up and get that green bike ASAP. I can't wait to see you on the track again. I'ts like some type of Niemela fever is in the air or something. I've been swamped and have not had a chance to put the online registration on the website. I will. If you want to pre register online just check back in a couple of days, you can still get the good guy deal. Post cards are on the way to inform everyone of the track change from Comp to Perris. Oh well I better get some sleep. Oh by the way, I had to cancel the 911 Memorial Motocross. I know that there was interest and we can reschedule it for another date. Everything was just too unstable for me to put all my money into it and not know if it would happen with the Comp closures and Soboba happenings. We'll just stick to what I am comfortable with right now. I want you guys to have the best race as possable. We'll work on the other stuff later but right now FPMN is in the air. Start your two strokes and keep kicking those four strokes it's time to race..............e

9-22-02    Everyone reacts different to stress, some people's hair falls out, some people go gray, others freak out, some hide and hope it all goes away. Me, I eat (maybe turn gray too). Every May and September I find myself eating more junk, I figured out yesterday that it must be the stress of preparing for the FPMN. I have the best intensions in mind when preparing for the actual motos. I start training early, drop a few pounds, focus on the win and then all goes to heck. A month before the event I start eating huge amounts of junk. With the extra stress that has been in the air as of late, you know everything with Comp and the MXDN and with us racing that track a week later, well I've hit new levels, prior to yesterday unknown to mankind. After crawling out of bed I headed to the kitchen, the boys left some top sirloins in the fridge, well I cut one in half and downed it. Checked the freezer and saw a half gallon of Butter pecan, I stuffed a coffee cup to the brim and moments later it was empty. I knew I better get out of the kitchen so I headed for the door, to my dismay I caught sight of a tub of Red Vines. $#(*&^%$&, I couldn't pass it up. By this time I was thirsty, I went to my locker and got some change, I poured a Diet Coke down my throat. Now it was 8am, I was just getting started. My name is Ed Wilson and I have an eating disorder. I also have a riding disorder. I can't corner. I have a meeting tomorrow morning at the Elsinore office with Leckliter, Breckshot and Niemela. I'm still on my 2001 YZ250. I'll work on the cornering issue there. I also started a diet today, I'm going to keep with it 22 hours a day and only take two hours off to eat pure junk, the other 22 hours I'll only eat semi junk foods. I'll keep you posted on how that diet works.

9-20-02    What a day, wow. First off we had a meeting with a potential sponsor of the race team so I had to take the first half  of the day off of work. The meeting went fine but was basically a stepping stone to another level. I feel like Luigi on Mario Brothers. We avoided all the pitfalls and get to continue on our journey. The meeting was over about 12:30 so what's a guy to do? I stopped at El Pollo Loco and downed some bird then went to John Burr Cycles to hang with the boys. I didn't need to be to work until 8pm and home was out of the question, I was already 100 miles away from Carlsbad. While at JBC I got the news, Competition Park was closed. "No duh!" I said," it's been closed since the 16th for track prep for the MXDN" Then I heard that the cops made everyone leave the park then chained the gates. I knew the firemen wouldn't do that but they said "cops" so maybe it was true. I'm not much of a rumor guy, I don't pay too much attention to that stuff. Then the cell phone rang, I got this from a pretty reliable source. "LaRocco cancelled his helmet paint job for the MXDN because the event was cancelled. Hummmmm, well time to get to work. I called Malcolm, no answer. I called Marty Moates, no answer. I called No Fear, no answer. I called Competition Park, no answer, I called Starwest, answer, no info. Who do you call when you need to know something right now? You're right....I called our score girl, Pam. She answered the phone, wow a real human, there was no "Please leave a message after the tone" it was more like "hello", wow, human contact. Pam knew what was going on, in fact she said that she just left a message on the FPMN Hot Line. She said that it was true, Comp was all locked up. What about the FPMN race in October? Let alone the MXDN. I usually handle this type of stuff pretty well. This is like one of those puzzles for little kids, you know with like 12 pieces and each piece the size of your hand. It's not like putting together a Pro SX/MX team.  No big deal. This is the FPMN promoter in me talking, in the real MX world this is huge, but all I have to do is fix the FPMN. I called Glen Helen to check on track availability, Not available on October 7th & 8th but we can have it a week later. Now I know about travel plans and vacation time and if I scheduled those days I would be a dead man walking so I called Perris and talked to Donna. Yes, Perris is available to us on October 7th & 8th. I reserved the track. Donna liked us there last April and would like us to do it again in a couple of weeks. I told her that I would let her know in a couple of days. So now I have two tracks scheduled for the same time. If I don't get an extra firm YES on Comp by the end of weekend we will be racing Perris on October 7th & 8th. I know I talk about loyalty a lot but I'm not going to sacrifice the FPMN. It's 10:30pm, I'm at work, just waiting for a call. I expect two of them actually. One from Scott Burns(who's on the phone with someone more important than me) and one from Malcolm McCassy. What about the opening ceremonies of the MXDN? If the Des Nations are cancelled should we do it anyway? Maybe we could have a Motocross Des FPMN, we could have 3 guys from each department race for all the glory. Still waiting for the call. 10:47pm. Am I rambling? Tired. I called Scott (10:57pm), he's still on another call. Did I tell you that Scott is long winded? Don't tell him I said that. Sleepy, it's been a long day. 11:21,, the phone rang, Scott........No news I can tell you about right now but I will soon.............e   

9-19-02    You will never know how hard it is to put together Factory racing team. My phone bill is going to put me in the poor house, I mean all day long I'm on the phone and most of the time on the cellular and landline at the same time with the laptop on my lap. It's crazy. Our little team had a transporter all lined up only to have MotoXXX buy it. No big deal because we had a better one in Ohio waiting for us that was until Blackfoot bought it the day before. I heard the news about Plano Honda having a transporter available so I called Scott Sheak and have an appointment to look at it tomorrow afternoon. Before I go to see Mr. Sheak, Scott Burns , Jose and myself have a meeting with a potential title sponsor. "Who's Jose" you ask? He has been working with Scott and I for the last several months setting up sponsorship deals. That is a tough job, you get a lot of promises but it's rare for anyone to come through. We have some great sponsors lined up and hope to have a new BIG one tomorrow. Everyday is a challenge, things change like crazy, it's like a huge jigsaw puzzle and you're barely starting to get the edges together when someone pours another jigsaw puzzle right in the middle of the one you're working on. I'm enjoying it. Today I figured out my entire year for 2003. All the Supercrosses, all the Nationals, the Fire & Police Nationals and the FPMN Night Series. It looks like we will have Nationals in April and October with a Night Series every month in between. Same as this year. I wish I had more time on the books to take off but I don't. No big deal, just another little jigsaw thrown on the pile. I'll figure it out. Life is too short to ride a four stroke........................e    

9-17-02    Seems like all I do anymore is work on Team FirePoliceMX.com Racing. It's all I think about anymore, I wake up at night and my mind is pinned wide open and I can't get back to sleep. I think about bikes, graphics, clothing, goggles, semi's, flying all over the country and everything else that goes along with Supercross/Motocross at the highest level. Then I remind myself that we have a National coming up and I need to plan that. My wife, Sue thinks that I'm crazy but is supporting me. I had to explain to her that I'm not willing to be mediocre, I know that I will probably never be able to beat Eric McKenna but I have my eye on Ricky Carmichael. Don't get me wrong, I don't plan to be on the bike that beats him but Team FirePoliceMX.com Racing is gunning for him. Now you think I'm crazy too. Aint no thing. I told you before that I'm competitive but you haven't seen anything yet. Wait until you meet Scott Burns, your team manager, he puts me to shame. I'll have Danny Lowers do an interview with Scott so you all can get to know him. Ok let's discuss Rounds 3 & 4. Yes Competition Park is still open and just had a CMC race there last Sunday. Competition Park is closed as of right now but this is a planned closure to prepare for the Motocross Des Nations and will reopen on the first of October. Our Nationals are still on and planned for Competition Park on October 7th & 8th. Don't forget about the 911 Memorial Motocross on October 5th. We are putting on the race for the general public. This means that your kids can race in that one. If by some strange happening Competition Park closes and we can't do our event there, I will know of the closure early enough to find a new facility near by that will let us race on the days that are already planned. Please don't panic, the race will go on................e 

9-16-02    It' been awhile since I wrote in my journal, I wasn't selling a house so I can't use that excuse like "Mother" did. Plain and simple, I've been busy. I'm working in a new station and we've been really busy with structure fires and brush fires, I kind of forgot what being a fireman was like over the last few years. It's a nice change and I'm enjoying it for the most part. Plus everyday we get to go jogging on this wooden floor chasing a leather ball around and trying to shoot it into this metal ring thing that hangs 10' in the air. I'm enjoying jogging much more these days. Today I stopped on my way home from work and did some laps with Fast Eddie Niemela at Elsinore. I like riding with faster guys, Eddie is an animal, when Eddie leaves the track I'm thinkin' it's time for a break but he's heading for the other track to do another moto. Like an idiot I follow. Thus I'm sore and dead tired but better for it. Karl Davis used to do the same thing to me and all of the sudden I started to get some of my youthful speed back. Niemela loves the inside line, I was getting so bugged, every time I tried to out brake him and get to the inside he would go under me and make the pass. Maybe it was the green bike, I'll find out next week. Oops did I say that? Oh by the Wey things are coming together really well for the team. We should have some contracts signed by the end of the month...............Ue

9-11-02    I, like Davenport don't like to watch shows on the 9-11 incident, I don't need to relive that day. It's not that I don't care or don't want to remember, I'll remember this forever as will you. For me it's kind of like chasing ambulances or fire engines, I don't want to know where they are going unless I'm in one. I'm not saying that I have no interest in this, I do, I hurt every time I see film of the planes going into the towers or the towers falling. I'm just not looking to see anymore tragedy. I've seen enough in my life and I don't care what Bruce Springsteen or Peter Jennings have to say on the subject. I don't watch the news anymore either, I just try to catch the sports and the weather around race time. With that off my chest I need to tell you that today has been a very stressful day, I handle stress pretty well but I'm standing on the edge right now. First of all I get a call from Ed Niemela this morning telling me that the Riverside Press Enterprise has an article in it this morning about Competition Park closing, I don't need this right now but glad Ed called. I found the article on RacerXill.com and made some calls, I still don't know anything but have a meeting tomorrow AM with the MXDN crew.  I'll let you know what happens when I get home in the afternoon. Whatever happens we will still have our race somewhere on October 7th & 8th. I don't need suggestions on where, thanks. As if that's not enough I did some follow up on a rumor I got from Brad Hannig last night of Nick Wey signing a contract with another team. It's a pretty valid rumor but no contracts have been signed yet and we are still in the hunt. I personally think we will have Nick on an FPMN bike next year either Green or Blue but FPMN through and though. My neck is killing me today, I don't know what came over me but I tried that double on the right side of the track (north) without trying it in practice the other night. I was in hot pursuit of Rob Townley and knew that he wasn't doing it, I landed the first double tried to keep my momentum through the corner and pinned it. I came up 6 feet short, my head hit the cross bar pad violently. Last time I did that I had plastic surgery on my chin, I should know better. God bless those who lost loved ones a year ago today......................e

9-10-02    The 2002 FPMN Night Series is history, I for one had a great time racing with my buddies and hanging out. Improvise, adapt and overcome was the motto for round five. Just as we were finishing up the riders meeting I was informed by track personnel that the electricians put 480 into a 220 system or something like that. I guess that's a bad thing because it blew all the ballasts on the lights and we were going to be left in the dark. I made the command decision to cut the race to two motos and see if we could get it done before the sun went down. During practice I was informed that they would hook up a generator to the lights on the other track and we would have that track to race on. It took a while to prep the track and get the starting gate in working order but at 6pm the first gat dropped and we were off to the races. I realized that I don't like to jump in the dark but had to if I wanted a chance at winning. I was thinking that next year I'll call it the Summer Series and get started earlier so we can finish before dark. I had a great time banging bars last night. It was weird, I usually ride around the track and never make contact with other riders but last night I had some very close racing (like touching) with Rob Townley, we had some fun, Rob went 1-2-1 and I went 2-1-2. I also came in contact with David Randall on the start, we slammed each other coming out of the gate as we hit the muddy start straight, we both stayed up. Then after the double on the back straight I squared off in the loose sand and saw Doug Wilson coming hard, he took the inside line and next thing I knew my boot was sucked up in his rear wheel, I was able to get it out before going down but Doug wasn't so lucky and laid it over. It was some fun racing, I like the smaller tight, loose tracks better that the wide open tracks. I better get my act in gear before next month becase the MXDN track looks fast.......................Uncle Eddie  

9-8-02    Well I'm just  finishing up 72 hours in the fire station. Tomorrow is Round 5 @ Comp and I can't wait. I brought all my stuff with me and will finish up the maintenance on the YZ250 in the morning without my mechanic, Marquez. I hope this is the last race on my Yamaha. I'm looking at the Green bikes and also the Blue bikes and just waiting to see witch one is going to be the bike of Team FirePoliceMX.com Racing. We're running short on time for the 2003 season and need to find out who is in and who is out very soon. This is a stressful thing setting up a team, I hope my hair doesn't start to go gray.  I saw that "Mother" is back to writing in his "Corner", that's a good thing. I'll see ya tomorrow.........e 

9-5-02    I just got off the phone with Malcolm McCassy, owner of of Comp Park. Here is the best info I could get on Eric Post. Eric was riding at Comp yesterday evening and had an accident, he was concious and complaining of back pain. He had stable vitals and was X4. He was transported via Ambulance to a local hospital. Three hours later his blood pressure dropped due to a torn aorta, he died in the hospital.
Eric was a Riverside Deputy and a member of the Soboba tribe.
As far as I know Eric never raced with the FPMN and was a beginner rider.
I'm sorry to hear of this tragic event.
God bless his family and friends.
Ed Wilson

This was a post I put on the message board tonight. It's a sad day. I went riding today with Hannig, Lowers and Aguas, it's good therapy for me to get on the bike and ride when my heart is heavy. I remember September 11th 2001, I was at work finishing my shift when the news of a plane hitting the first of the twin towers was on TV. After watching the events transpire I decided to continue with my plans and drove to Glen Helen. News of the towers collapsing came over the radio as I was on the freeway. I felt like crap and feel that way now as I write this. I'm feeling the same heavy feelings right now that I felt on Sept. 11, I didn't plan on writing about this tonight but I am. Anyway GH that day was weird, I remember very little about being there, I do remember Jeff "Mother" Welsh was there along with a few other FPMNers. The park was just about empty, all I could think about was my brothers in NY, I knew we lost several Firemen and Police Officers due to the nature of their jobs. I knew the firemen would be going up the towers to save lives. I just rode, tears in my eyes, there was nothing I could do about it. I'm a problem solver, that's what I'm good at and I was helpless. I remember feeling like crap because I wasn't home with my wife, what a jerk! Today was good therapy to be with friends and ride our bikes at Lake Elsinore MX Park. Sorry to bring you down, you guys are great, I'll see ya Monday for the 5th and final round of the night series. Ed 

9-4-02    I was supposed to be riding today with Mike Leckliter but I got the word that I needed to spend more time with the wife. She's right, sometimes I get sidetracked. Well today I made it home from work and pulled the YAMAHA 1200's out of the garage, I took the wife out on a date, we went to Oceanside Harbor and did some WaveRunnering (not a word?), well you know what I mean. This was my first time to abuse the YAMI's in salt water, let me tell you, the Pacific isn't Lake Havasu. The Pacific, I noticed is a bit bigger. I couldn't even see the other side. The real difference was that it was a lot rougher, lot's of big swells, the wife would disappear than reappear. We had a good time but I think next time I'll try to go out in the morning while it's still calm. Luckily I have tomorrow off work and will be heading to Competition Park with Hannig and Lowers. I'm on the edge of getting a new bike, I've made the decision to stick with the 250 two stroke for a few reasons, one is that I love to beat four stroke riders and the other is because I like the smell of two strokes in the morning. There is no better joy than to run down and pass a Big Valley Honda CR 450 (sorry Sutter, looking forward to next month). The only decision left is whether to get a green one or a blue one. I hope that decision is made for me next week. We're still waiting on news about the team, I should have some info to pass on by Monday. We need more Firefighters and Police Officers to help at the MXDN, please email Howard Ballard (email on front page) if you are interested. We also need you for the opening ceremonies, you will carry American Flags into the MXDN prior to the race. WE NEED YOU. You will get a free pass to the races for your efforts. Stay safe, see ya Monday..............e

9-2-02    Holiday's are great unless you are waiting on big news and everybody is at the beach or the lake. Sorry I haven't updated you but I've been at work for three days and mother nature decided to burn Southern California. The rumor mill is alive and well but just come to the FPMN Journal for the straight scoop. I have moles on the inside working for us. I hope to update you tomorrow with a major sponsor for Team FirePoliceMX.com Racing. Things are still upbeat and we are very excited about recent news. Here's something I learned from Damon Huffman's father "Loose lips sink ships", I actually printed t-shirts  with that saying on it for his company, CEF Racing (Cycle Engineering Factory) eleven years ago. So my lips are sealed for now. I'm looking forward to the 5th and final round of the FPMN Night Series. I think I need to beat Rob Townley in one moto and finish no more than one place behind him in the other two to win the series. I'm going to miss Ernie Kopasz on his thumper, I was looking forward to a showdown. I heard Davenport and Niemela are tied in points, that should provide for some good racing action come this Monday night at Comp. I'm not sure about the other points chases but I'm sure there are a few close ones...................Fight On! ...........e

8-28-02    No news is good news. Still waiting to hear about a title sponsor. I've been sitting on this thing long enough and feel like spilling the beans. I still can't tell you everything because there is info that can't get out but here goes. Like I said on 8-21-02, we started this thing back in February. Scott asked me who I would like to have on the team of all the available riders for 2003. I said Nick Wey and Damon Huffman on 250's maybe Turbo Reif or Chris Tocco on 125's. Scott was thinking Nick Wey also but had Travis Preston in mind as the 125 guy. Scott was Preston's mechanic when he was on 80's. Travis won the West Coast 125 SX Championship and was automatically resigned with LaRocco's team. Then Danny Smith came into the picture, Scott was also the mechanic for Billy Felts who is now Danny's mechanic, Danny started doing really well and was resigned by Suzuki. Word throughout the MX world was that Damon resigned with Motoworld, Turbo was never contacted. Scott and Nick met each other over the phone and began to discuss the 2003 season having Nick ride for Team FirePoliceMX.com. They have been talking for months and see things the same way. We have a good chance of signing Nick Wey. We had a deal set up with VIEJAS Casino to fund the entire team but they broke off contact and will not even answer our calls. I don't know why. I even drove to their offices in San Diego and the marketing director that we were working with would not see me. Weird. We have been talking to KAWASAKI and YAMAHA about the team and things are looking good at KAWI. O"NEAL has showed support of our effort along with several smaller after market companies. So far we have everything in place except all the funding. We have a Semi lined up, a team trainer, truck driver/mechanic & race shop. I introduced Scott and Chris Tocco at Glen Helen last month, Scott was impressed and saw the potential I saw. I've watched Chris race since he was 6 years old when he use to race my son on pee wee's and 60's. Chris is 19 and just finished his amateur career. I've also been watching Michael Young and am impressed by his speed and ability. We are working with several potential sponsors and as I write this I'm waiting for a phone call from one of them to see if they want to be involved with our program. As I see it we have a great program here and with the TV and magazine coverage we would get,  we would be a huge benefit to our sponsors. We have been looking at Josh Woods lately and would love to sign him to run in the 125 SX and outdoors. Two days ago I got a call from Damon Huffman, he's still available and interested in our team. I put him in touch with Scott. Scott is the team manager and will deal directly with the riders and mechanics, I am the team owner and oversee the whole program, work with Scott, Sponsors and handle all the dirty work, like personality issues and such and make the decisions. I am not a control freak and will use Scott and Brad Hannig (travel arrangements and sponsor rep) along with Danny Lowers (pit boss and image consultant) to help in the decision making. Both of these guys will have a ton to do besides what it sounds like by their job descriptions. Both Danny and Brad were a huge help during the 2002 season and I trust then and can count on them. We will also be hiring mechanics to work with the riders. As it looks right now, if we had the funds to sign the riders, we would have Nick Wey, Damon Huffman, Josh Woods and Chris Tocco on Team FirePoliceMX.com Racing. OK here's where you come in. Everyone offers their help to me and I usually have most everything covered and don't need the help. Here goes: HELP. We need sponsors for this effort. We have about half the money committed to us and need the other half. We have a great thing here to offer our sponsors. They would be working with the Fire & Police professions, have major advertising on the Semi, in all the magazines, internet sites and have main event riders at every Supercross and National for 2003 witch means Television coverage on ESPN and ABC 28 weeks a year plus the US OPEN. If you know anyone who would benefit from advertising as a sponsor of our team please send them my way........e 

8-26-02    I went to Comp today with Leckliter and Niemela, I also saw Brandon Coatney and Dennis Moon there getting ready for the 5th and final round of the night series. I think I'll pay double points for us five on the 9th.(joke) I made a command decision today, we will race the same track as we did on June 10th. After riding the three available tracks I figured that that one would be the safest. We need safe after last week at STARWEST. Today I talked to _ _ _ _ _    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ on the phone, he would be an excellent addition to Team FirePoliceMX.com Racing. I am so excited & nervous about this team, we are so close and yet so far away. Tomorrow could be a BIG day in the FPMN world or maybe not. I'll keep you posted. Back to Comp, I read the article in RacerX, I dig that magazine but I beg to differ with their opinion on Comp and Malcolm McCassy. First off, Malcolm has all of my respect. He is the easiest track owner to work with by far. A simple phone message and I can have a track that day to run a race. I don't even need a reply, I know it's taken care of. If Malcolm says the facility will be ready for the Des Nations, bet on it. WORD! The place is coming along, the sandy track that we raced on in June is now in good shape and holding it's shape. It takes time for these tracks to break in, the dirt needs to compact and it is now. I have to go, I have butterflies in my stomach, anticipation..............e 

8-25-02    This morning I was making my 90 mile drive to work up the 5 freeway. It might seem like a long drive but with my creative work schedule I only do it about eight times a month. I feel this is a small price to pay to live in Carlsbad, California. I really can't think of anywhere else that I would want to live. Sure it would be nice to have a track at home but then I think that would be heaven. After passing the 55 freeway the 5 rises up and as you turn your head to the right you get a good look at Anaheim Stadium, AKA Edison Field or "the Big Ed". I see this beautiful sight several times a year. In my youth I spent a few good days at the stadium. I saw The Who, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, Ted Nugent, Boston, KISS, Black Sabbath, The Tubes, Sammy Hagar, Bob Seager, Foreigner and more. I saw the Angels and the Rams there too. In 1987 I attended my first ever Supercross there, Rick Johnson, Jeff Ward, Guy Cooper, Mickey Dymond, Ron Lechien, Broc Glover & Jim Holley to name a fwe of the stars. That day changed my life! I had been riding for 17 years at that time but had never raced. I remember a big double jump, my seats were right in front of it. I knew I could do it. A week later I bought a 1986 CR250. Anyway this morning as I looked over at Anaheim Stadium I got goose bumps, it started with just a few but soon my skin was tingling and every hair was standing at attention. I thought about our little Supercross team we had this year, that was the beginning of the goose bumps. Then I imagined a big rig pulling into the pits, ahead of all the privateers, the bikes, the crowd, autographs being signed by _ _ _ _   _ _ _,  _ _ _ _    _ _ _ _ _  & _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _  (try to figure that out), the Heat races, waiting for the other teams riders to try to qualify and then the 125 and 250 mains. That was the big goose bumps. Time will tell and we're starting to run short on time. I brought the YZ250 to work today in the bed of my F250. Tomorrow is day one, the start of the training for rounds 3 & 4 of the Nationals. I'm heading to Comp with Leckliter and Niemela. The sand is my friend, the sand is my friend, the sand is my friend.....................e       

8-23-02    FPMNers are taking over the world, yesterday I worked with three of them, Ed Niemela, Mike Leckliter and Mike Wright. That's four in one station, pretty good if you ask me. Well I'm kind of bummed, I wanted a shot at YZ Ernie in the sand and won't get the opportunity. Ernie did some damage to his ankle or had some done at the STARWEST round of the Night Series and won't be mounting his YZ for a while. I don't know, I might be bummed more than he is about the injury. I was having truck loads of sand brought in for the race on September 9th @ Comp since that's the only place I was able to beat Ernie all year (and I beat him bad in the sand). Oh sorry Ernie, get well soon brother and send more mullets from your light duty desk job.  The decision was made before the second moto of round 4 of the Night Series to cut the race to two motos so we could get out of there before 10 pm. I added 2 laps to each moto so everyone would get their moneys worth. I wanted to stick to the 3 moto format because this is a series and every moto scores points but ran out of time. So what I did was make the second moto a double points moto. Now some might be upset but that's the way it is. I made this decision before the second moto gates dropped. I didn't want those who didn't show up to the race to benefit by not losing as many points due to only points being scored in two motos. Please don't say that you would have tried harder if you knew it was a double points moto. I don't want to hear that one. If you have a gripe put it on the message board. I'll read it than say too bad, you still have 3 motos to prove how fast you are. The Pro Supercross/Motocross game goes on, so many things have happened in the last two days that it has left my head spinning. I can't even tell you about it. I hope to be able to start talking in a week or so. It could be HUGE news or maybe not, like I said it's a roller coaster ride and I've been on it since February. I think I should buy stock in Magic Mountain.  Late~ ...............e

8-21-02    It was like the Glen Helen Night Series round last year, the track was a more technical track, a more challenging track than we are use to. We had a couple of riders go away in ambulances, both will recover in a few weeks. One was a clavicle fracture and will take 6-8 weeks to be ready to go. At least that's my experience. For some clavicles don't heal that well, Chad Jones has had a broken collar bone for a few years now, it never healed but he is up to speed and doing well in the Novice class. As for my experience last night, well I decided to take it easy and live to race another day. I raced hard when I was comfortable but backed off when things didn't feel right. It worked for me as I saw my competition cart wheeling around the track. I think I got second place, maybe third, I never checked. I saw Rob Townley once early on in the second moto and never again. Rob has been flying as of late. The highlight of the night for me was a rare pass I made on Doug Wilson. Doug and I usually find ourselves near each other in the motos. Doug usually on the winning end of the battle. Doug went wide and squared off the right hand corner after the table top in the center of the track and I went underneath, our lines came together and we banged bars for a moment. I was able to keep the momentum and come out of the next corner ahead of Doug. It felt like Chicken and Bradshaw in the early nineties. It was fun, there was nothing either one of us could do to avoid the contact, it wasn't dirty racing, it was just racing, it was good old friendly competition. I got a call from Zack Bradshaw today, Damon's brother, he is flying out from North Carolina to race the October Nationals. He's a Fireman and will be riding one of Doug Dubach's bikes. This week has been an emotional roller coaster for the '03 SX / MX team. I really haven't been able to say much about the team as we were trying to keep thing somewhat secret. But I get so many questions from you guys that I'll fill you in a bit. This whole thing started to take shape in January of this year at Round 3 of the Supercross series. I had a guy come up to the FPMN pit area and say "hey Ed". I looked at him and said "how's it going?" I didn't recognize him at first, I thought it was an FPMNer who I didn't really know. That happens a lot to me. I was busy and my mind was elsewhere. "Ed it's Scott" he said. It's been ten years since I last saw Scott, he is in his mid thirties now. Scott was my son's mechanic back in the Pee Wee days. We talked for a few minutes then he was gone. I didn't know if I would ever see him again. I thought about Scott that day, we had good times, he was hard working and what I consider brilliant when it comes to suspension and motors. For a time my son had the fastest PW 50 in the world! FACT! Two weeks later Scott and a Factory Suzuki mechanic showed up at the FPMN pits at round 5 (Anaheim 3), Scott started to ask me a lot of questions about the team. Questions that would make me uncomfortable to answer if it wasn't Scott asking. I answered his questions and kept thinking "why is he asking me this". Like I said, Scott is a smart guy and he is also very calculating. Unlike me who takes on a project then figures out how to do it, Scott has it all planned out well in advance then tackles it. "I have the opportunity to take a job as a factory mechanic but I would rather work for you" huh, what? "Scott we don't have any money, in fact our little team here is about $10,000 in the hole" I said. "Think about it and call me" he said. I thought about it, I learned a lot about professional racing this year, I started to see the big picture. We were getting more and more support at every race. Honda gave us a part deal, they approached us!  MOTOREX, ASV, & Arnette  and others all came knocking. We had a pretty good thing going on here. We even had some money donations to help defer the cost of the team. I called Scott. "What's on your mind?" I asked. We sat down and put together what we felt was the perfect package. We talked about the riders we wanted, the bikes we wanted and the sponsors we wanted. Last year was a great start but we were ready to move on up. If we were going to do this thing we were going to do it big. The riders are committed, podium riders, Bikes, parts, clothing, all are ready to go. But we still need outside the industry sponsors. We need  money to do this thing right. A lot of money. This is where the roller coaster comes in. I think we have a great package to sell. Top name riders, factory backing, semi, mechanics and the best team manager in the business(Scott). We will be working with "RISK WATCH" across the nation, a program that teaches child safety. We have about half the money we need committed to us now but still need one of the few outside the industry sponsors that we are talking with to come though. We had a title sponsor back out on us when we felt everything was a go. We have meetings this week with new sponsors. I'll tell you what I can when I can.  Team FirePoliceMX.com Racing .................e    

8-18-02    Finally! It only took two weeks but the collective minds at Best Buy figured out what was wrong with my laptop. I'm really looking forward to the night round at STARWEST. It's a technical track and I hope to have the ability to hang with the fast forty y/o's and beat YZ Ernie. Erine has me by 4 points in the 40 Intermediate class and holds the series point lead. Flyers went out for rounds 4&5 of the night series and also the October Nationals. Don't forget to signup for the MXDN to help out and get a pass for the event. I'll have signup sheets at SW on Tuesday. I spent a week up in the Sierra's hiking and fly fishing. It was a fun trip, I went with a high school buddy. It was like a leave of absence from motocross, it was pretty cool to have a break. We rode horses on the first day, 11 miles up to 11,000 feet. On the way up the trail we ran into a guy who said that his buddy hurt his knee and was stuck on the trail. He told us to tell his hurt friend that he would let the Forest Service know and for us to tell his friend that he would see him in Topeka.  We would be walking on that trail the next day. The next afternoon we ran into the injured hiker, we were on our way north and he was coming south. He was walking with a staff, he was walking slow but was making progress. I figured it would take him 2-3 days to get out of the wilderness. I offered water, food and asked if he needed anything. He said that he was OK and had plenty of food and water. It felt weird leaving him alone on the trail but he looked like he was doing pretty good. What bothered me was the fact that his friend just abandoned him and was flying home to Kansas without him. What a jerk. The injured guy could have used his friend to carry some of the weight in his pack or just be there to lend a hand on some tricky parts of the trail. It makes me happy to know that you guys GOT MY BACK. When someone goes down at one of our races, or at practice they know that they are in good hands. They are part of the FPMN family (even if they ride four strokes). They will get their KX back, their truck delivered to their house or maybe kept at the Tucker compound until they can make arrangements to pick it up. Life is good, I got the laptop back on my lap and I get a shot at YZ Ernie, Doug, Rob, Steve, Dave, Ron, Cliff, Dennis and Dwayne Tuesday...............e

8-04-02    I was reading Davenport's Diary today, It brought back a bunch of old memories. I remember in early 1989 when I was deciding on whether to put on the first FPMN or just play it safe and wait for the next Fireman's Olympics and hope it was as good as my first Olympics in 1987 at Glen Helen. Like most of you I am afraid of failure. I remember handing out my first flyers for that event in the summer of '89 at De Anza at the Fireman's Olympics. Once that first flyer went out I was committed, there was no way out. This was a huge undertaking for an introverted little creep from the streets of Downey, Ca. I was scared to death. You will never know the joy I felt the night before the first race when I turned the corner on Burton Road and saw the Campers, motor homes, tents and trailers that filled the Perris Raceway pits. My first thought was that I wasn't going to lose my house, I had put every dollar I had into this event and needed to recoup several thousand dollars. The next morning the line at the gate extended down that dirt road all the way to Ellis Av. Now the thoughts of how am I going to pull this one off, we have way too many people here and I don't know what I'm doing, I'm not a race promoter, I'm just a goon who loves to ride. How did I get myself into this mess? I couldn't even do the riders meeting, I was too afraid. I had my brother-in-law handle it. Don't get me wrong,  I have a ton of ambition and confidence I think I can do anything. I guess I'm just a freak, but aren't we all?..................e    

Well maybe not anything, last week I realized that I probably won't make a Supercross main..............................unless I start training real hard and lay off the cookies n cream totally. 

8-01-02    I tried to go riding today. I had a meeting scheduled for 10 am but it was cancelled this morning so the plan was to go home do what I needed to do, load the bike and head to LACR to ride with my LAPD buddies. Twenty or so LAPDers rented LACR and wanted me to ride it to see what it is like so we could schedule a night round there next season. Everything was looking good to go, I was just past San Clemente on the South bound 5 fwy when I rolled up on a parking lot. The freeway came to a complete stop, I popped out my CREED CD and found an AM news station and waited for some traffic news. As I sat in the fast lane I heard the news that the Freeway would be closed until midnight. It was 9:30am. Just my luck I was sitting on a stretch of the 5 fwy with no cell reception. It took me about an hour to get to the right shoulder, I traveled about 200 yards. I had reception on the shoulder, lucky me. I sat there and made calls to several of our sponsors trying to get things set up for the SX Team and the FPMN Nationals. I gave it another hour then decided to go against traffic on the shoulder to try to get back to the Basoline on ramp. I was getting some dirty looks but I wanted to go riding. I drove about 2 miles against traffic when I saw the on ramp (off ramp to me). I was with in 100 yards of freedom when one of our CHP officers caught up to me. I rolled down the window and smiled. He said "Is there any reason that you are driving the wrong way on the freeway?" I said "just trying to get home" "yeah so is everyone else" he said. "Officer the on ramp is only 100 yards away, how about a fireman's deal today?" "If I let you do it then I have to let everyone do it. Turn around and get in line" (he was cool, should have wrote me up). About 4 hours later they opened up some lanes. I got home just in time to get to the DMV before they closed. I spent the rest of the day in line there. I closed the place. That's another story. The DMV nightmare. I'll tell you some other time but it's been going on for four months.........................e

7-29-02    The phone rang at 3:30am this morning, wrong number. All of the sudden I was laying there thinking about the message board, especially the post by Ernie Kopasz about the three firemen losing their lives, when their fire engine went over the side on a mountain road. What a tragedy, I hate hearing these things. It makes me think about life, family and friends. I love life, it's so great, I love my family and I love my friends. You guys are my friends. I would hate to go through life an regret not living it to it's fullest. Ok I'll stop before I tear up.........I went riding today, I went to Elsinore. I think I was the only FPMNer there, I worked on my cornering for a couple of hours. I really can't do it too well. It's frustrating. I want to go faster, I just don't know how to do it. I guess I'll have to take some more lessons from Jim Gibson. Anyway I'll let you go, I have writers block, spent myself in the "Bench Racing" section tonight................e

7-27-02    I'm at work today paying off a dead horse. That's the terminology we use for a trade that I already took the day off and now I'm just paying it back. I took this day off  for the Supercross season, I still owe this guy 4 more shifts. I'm fortunate to have people who will work for me when I need the time off work but pay back is a B!*#$&. All I want to do is go ride, I need to get my supercross skills down so I can compete with Doug and Ernie at STARWEST. I added Ernie Kopasz to my list of people I don't like to lose to. Nothing personal, Ernie is a good guy and a heck of a mullet hunter but he has my number right now and I don't like it. I have to say that I am enjoying this night series more than the National series, maybe because it's way more low key for me with way less head aches, maybe it's because we break up the laps into 3 motos and I don't get so tired or it might be the different tracks we get to race. I don't know but I do know that I am looking forward to August 20th at STARWEST. Brrrrrrrrrraaaaaaappppp! Brrraaaaapppppp! (I did that for "Mother"). I know you are all thinking "what's wrong with Ed, he doesn't mind losing to the other guys in his class?" I'll tell you what, I don't like to lose to anyone but I was proud of Ron Nipper for beating me last week, as far as I know that was the first time Ron beat me in a moto, I bumped him up to Intermediate last year and he is starting to get the speed to run upfront in our class now. That's awesome, I love to see guys improving and competing for the lead. Several years ago I bumped Scott Nelson to Expert, Scott was too fast for the Intermediate class but all of the sudden was with the big boys, Scott struggled for several years but he has been flying this year and has been winning races. I'm proud of Scotty for continuing to believe in himself and work hard. I'm more proud of him for doing it on a 2 stroke. (I love to jab you tractor drivers). I know, I know it's the waive of the future, but they don't smell as good as the two strokes. ADMIT IT!..........e

7-24-02    I woke up early this morning, I couldn't sleep. My mind was in 5th gear wide open. I'm starting to put together the 911 Memorial Motocross to be held in conjunction with rounds 3 & 4 of the Fire & Police Motocross Nationals. This will be the first non Police/Fire event of my 14 year promoting journey. Saturday October 5th will be a huge day for the FPMN. Your kids, wives, friends and everybody else will have the opportunity to race the same track as the Motocross Des Nations and if that isn't enough we are having a Pro Suppercross that evening. I'm working on sponsorship for the event so we can afford to pay the top pro riders. I would like to have them all there. I made a call to Charlie Flippen at O'NEAL yesterday and he was very interested, I also ordered some new gear so Lowers wouldn't show me up so much. At least I can look fast. This morning I called Thad at MAXXIS, I introduced myself and to my amazement he knew who I was, he was very aware of the FPMN. He was aware of all of you guys who have been switching over to the MAXXIS IT tires. What a small world, what a great time to be alive. I love this stuff. OK I have to get back to work, it's 8am and the west coasters are in their offices waiting for their phones to ring..............more later..........e

7-23-02    Sore, frustrated & happy. My legs are killing me, I can't believe I'm that slow and I'm really happy that I'm walking today. My legs are sore because I don't practice enough & I'm slow because I don't practice enough. The walking part is awesome. I'm so grateful to be able to do this motocross thing, I'm so grateful to hang out with you guys and do what I love to do. Today I visited Donny Rivas at his Oceanside estate. Donny is laid up with a knee injury and is going under the knife next week. We spent a couple of hours in his garage talking about racing, marriage, work, the Chads and just life in general. He's thinking about getting a four stroke and as any good friend would do I tried to talk him out of it. Common sense would tell you that two strokes are the way to go. Ask Ricky or Bubba. Some of you guys go real well on those things but think how fast you would be on a real bike. OK did I stir the pot enough? Hey I'm just kidding. I had a great time last night, I dig racing with Doug Wilson, I don't know why but when I see Doug at the races I want to beat him. It's nothing personal, I like Doug but I just want to beat him. It seems like he usually finishes one place in front of me. He's a goal so is Rob Townley and Ernie Kopasz. Those are the guys who beat me last night. I don't want you to take this wrong but I like getting beat, it gives me goals. When I win I feel guilty for not moving up a class. Weird. Finishing just outside the medals really motivates me to do better, to practice harder, to try to win so I can feel guilty again. I hope I can feel guilty on August 20th about 9pm.................e 

7-22-02    Race Day.    I'm sitting in a booth at Carl's Jr, just got off work, I have time to kill - too much time. I have the trusty laptop with me. Today is round three of the Night Series, I go into a different mode on race day, everything seems a little more serious, more in focus. I had two choices, I could have left all my moto stuff at home and rushed there to get it and try to get to the track by 1pm or I could have brought it to work. I brought it to works so now I have hours to kill. Time to kill means time to think. So what's on my mind right now? Lowers, Lowerre, Davenport, Howell, Niemela, Duval, McKenna and a host of other 40+ Experts. How in the heck am I going to pull this one off. As it stands right now I know I'm coming in last against these guys. It bugs me. I want to win, I want to battle for the lead, I want to make the pass. Frustrated. There are a few of us who are capable of winning the 40+ Intermediate class, it depends on the track or how much time we put in on that track before the race or how good of a start you get or even how long the moto is. I'm usually good for two to three laps but then I hit a block wall. Doug Wilson on the other hand just keeps coming so does Cliff Houser. In order to beat them I need a great start. I haven't figured out Dennis Moon or Ernie Kopasz yet but either one is always there to take a moto win too. David Randall is also always somewhere in the mix. What will it take to separate from these guys? Can I? I don't know for sure but I think I can. I know I need to train harder, lose weight and spend more time on the bike. I think I will also have to get a 2003  KAWASAKI 250 with a factory motor and suspension. I hate idol time, my stupid mind starts roaming and I come up with weird thoughts. Well maybe not so weird..................e

7-21-02    Tiger Woods had his picture on the front page of the LA Times Sports section today. The big news was that he didn't win, he shot an 81. Who cares? Why do we have to hear about him when he loses? He got spanked actually. Thanks more tomorrow..........e, 

7-19-02    Thanks for the mullets men, I dig 'em. We have a few good shots coming in daily now, soon we will be leaders in the website mullet review world. I'm back to the real job today, it seems weird to be here. I've been on the road a lot this year and am starting to get into it. I was thinking about becoming an undercover fireman. I could do fire inspections at the local tracks, bike shops and Supercrosses. I could have a mullet and wear "Life's a beach" pants. I have to tell you back in 1989 when I put on the first FPMN in November. I was freaking out when I saw all these long haired guys showing up to race, I figured that they were poachers and I was going to have to kick them all out. Turns out that they were undercover fuzz. Can I say fuzz? I think Charlie Beck was one of them. I went to Glen Helen yesterday, it was my first time there since the last FPMN in October of '01. I was a bit intimidated by all the factory riders passing me. The ruts were deep and I seemed to be in the way. I never really got comfortable on the track, I only did 5 laps. I was there with Scott Burns(worth), we were looking at a rider for the 2003 SX/MX Team. We have two riders in mind, one is established and one will be a rookie. Both have the personality, drive and talent we are looking for. I think both the heat and hose draggers will be proud. Can I say Heat? We've been working on this team since February, I hope to tell you more in a week or so but loose lips sink ships, I got that loose lips thing from Damon Huffman's dad, Dave, about 12 years ago. Anyway let's go do some laps at Perris on Monday night.............e  

7-16-02    Horseshoes was a bust, I couldn't get my head into it. I was playing like a first time beginner who wasn't sandbagging. The best part of the day was when a retired fireman told a stupid joke. "Have you ever heard of Australian rules horseshoes?" I said "no". Punch line: "They throw the shoe with the horse on it" Ha Ha......Ha Ha Ha............courtesy laugh. I'm looking forward to getting home, I miss my wife, I miss my garage. I need someone to talk to, the YZ won't talk back but she's been a wonderful roommate, much better than Danny Lowers. I need to get back on the diet. The road is no place to lose weight. You guys should have bought IN N OUT stock last week. One of the Horseshoe players raced on Sunday and said he wants to start racing with us as a 40+ Beginner. We found several lost souls who will make the trip to Comp in October and become part of the FPMN family. Successful trip. There was 4 LA County Firemen playing horseshoes in the Olympics and only one LA County Fireman showed up for motocross. Why? Are we spoiled now with too much racing in So Cal? Ten years ago we would have several Southern Californians making the trip up north, this year only 4 guys raced from down south. I don't get it. I know that several cops would have rode for a no score if they could have. We have guys coming down from Utah and Nevada just to practice at Perris then drive home that same day. This is one reason why I don't promote races away from So Cal. Why would I do a race in Mammoth? I would love to have an FPMN race there but who would go? Nobody from So Cal. I know the AZ boys and NV boys would be there but I can't put on a race with 50 people. Oh well........Hey let's all go to Arizona on October 18th....................e    

7-15-02    I'm still walking! The FPMNers who showed up to the Ca. Fireman's Olympics Did well. I did you guys a favor, so did Mike Frieling. We both got on "Mother" and told him to start writing. You don't ask for a spot on the website, have it given to you then forget how to type. "Mom" said he would take care of business when he got home. He will be home tonight. Southern California is motocross heaven without a doubt. We are so lucky, we can ride year around and we have several tracks within an hour of us. If you happen to live in the 909 you are blessed with several tracks w/i a half hour. AWESOME! Not only that, we have to watch the factory boys practice. I love traveling to different places and meeting the motocrossers and riding their tracks. Who has ever heard of the RED NECK ROOSTERS before? Now I know them! The Roosters Rock! I think I'll have to make the trip to Arizona in late October to race with the AZ boys. I just might have to continue east and visit Tombstone. I want to be my own Huckleberry, I want to look Johnny Ringo in the eye and say "Play for blood remember". I know I'm rambling but I'm pumped, like I said, I'm still walking after MX and I have Horseshoes tomorrow. Remember your first race, remember when you were on the starting line scared to death, remember all the restroom stops before you got to the line. That's how I feel right now. Motocross is old hat now, I don't get nervous anymore, I don't worry about anything, I don't increase my restroom stops prior to the race. But when I walk up to the horseshoe pits, when I see that steal post sitting 18" above the clay pit, morning dew dripping off the post. I'm sweating, shaking, oh man there's nothing like it. I want to take a minute to thank my sponsors, Nuevo Hay & Feed, 4H Clubs of America & Bobby Hubbard Trucking.  I'll keep you posted on my results. FPHN?????????????hummmmmm............e  

7-12-02    712 Jeff "Mother" Welsh. OK got the number thing out of my system for a while. Yesterday was a prep day for the California Fireman's Olympics. Now that my mechanic (Marquez) is retired from wrenching I had to do it all myself. Air filter, trany oil, grips, bolt on the front suspension and replace the #310 with my FPMN #16. Also I replaced the goggle lenses in my OAKLEY's . I had to buy a spark arrestor (required for this race), tie wire the grips, clean 4 air filters, pack for the worst case (bring everything I own) and clean my gear. Darn that Marquez! Did I tell you guys that I'm a medallist in the Fireman's Olympics in Horseshoes? I spent 2 years playing for pride at the fire station back in 1986 &87. I got pretty good. I break out the shoes every two or three years and go for the gold. The competition starts off stiff but in an hour or so all my opponents are drunk and I start to shine. Anyway I'm a better shoe tosser than a motocrosser...........that sucks! Life is unkind. I'll let you know how it goes.................e 

7-10-02    Everything went as planned today, I made it to John Burr Cycles, picked up all the supplies I will need for the Fireman's Olympics. Kurt said "Hey Ed what's happening?", I said hello to Linda and Bill. I talked with Vic at the parts counter and checked out cycle news. I saw a picture of Ed Niemela and myself in the first corner at the June 10th Comp Park Night Series race. I made it to Perris Raceway, I was the first person there. Just behind me in line was the Cobra. I hope you all know what this means........I BEAT DAVID VUILLEMIN!!!!!!! Not only did I smoke the Cobra I also beat Roncada, Antunuez, Tedesco, Thain, Sorby, Short and a ton of other top pro's. Too bad I can't keep them in sight on the track. But I beat them to the track. So when somebody asks how riding was on Wednesday I'll say "I went to Perris, I beat Vuillemin all the factory boys". Then I'll fake a cell phone call so they can't ask any questions. You know it's hot when the Vegas boys are over heating. I don't know how hot it was but it was well over 100*, believe me I know, I'm an Ex-Inland Empire dweller. Two to three laps and it was time to take a break and down some H2O. I suggest that you go to Perris and ride the track before the Night Series race on the 22nd. There have been several track changes since the NATIONALS last April. Some for the better and some a bit more technical. But it should make for great racing later this month. The Night series has been a lot of fun for me. The different tracks are testing the skills of the FPMNers. Some go fast on one track and not so fast on the others. It's making for a great 5 race series. Anyway it's time for bed, I need to get up early and head for RACE TECH, I blew a fork seal today and need to get it fixed before heading north in a couple of days.....................e   

7-9-02    I've been stuck at work for 3 straight days, that's what happens to us hose draggers when the world decides to burn. Lucky for me I brought the mighty YZ250 with me and I will do a few laps at Perris before I make it all the way home. You know, stress relief from the 72 hours I just spent saving lives and property. Since Perris doesn't open until 11 am I will stop at my favorite motorcycle shop, John Burr Cycles and pick up everything I need for next weeks Ca. Fireman's Olympics. You know, the basics......Oakley lenses, tear offs, race gas & numbers (I had to run # 310 at the CPFG instead of my FPMN # 16). I love the the bike shop, I could spend hours in there doing nothing, I never ever get bored. I look at stuff and things and more stuff, I talk to Bill and Hank, hang out at the parts counter and talk with Vic then back to the sales area and chit chat with Kurt and Jose. I say hi to Linda, check out the new Waverunners, visit the boys room next to the parts counter, check out the sunglasses, back to sales look at the VOR and wonder why anyone would buy one. Look at the KX's and remember when. I never seem to make it to the street  bikes. No interest. Back to parts, read cycle news, look at the pictures on the wall. If you look close you will see a picture of Jason Wood on the starting line at Anaheim and also you can find an FPMN medal from years gone by hanging on the wall. The bike shop is home away from home, a safe spot in a cruel world. A haven for moto idiots like myself. I really don't need to buy anything. It's like window shopping for females. How stupid does that seem, just waste your time looking at stuff that you aren't going to buy. But this is different, this is moto stuff, good stuff. Not shoes, dresses or bonnets. We're talking Boots, riding pants and helmets. We're talking spark plugs, foot pegs, levers, tie downs, handlebars and oil. I love to hang out at the parts counter and listen to the stupid questions. "I have a 1972 YAMAHA two stroke and was wondering if I could buy another couple of strokes, I heard 4 strokes were the wave of the future" or "Do you have any Bell Star helmets left?" or "Did Ricky Carmichael win last week?"............duh. I love the bike shop and not just any bike shop. I live 100 miles from John Burr Cycles but I make the trip. I tried the local shops in north San Diego county when I first moved to Carlsbad but it was like a bad dream. No Kurt to say "Hey Ed what's happening?" when I walked in the side door, no Vic to say "want me to but this on your tab?", no boys room next to the parts counter, just a bunch of strange faces and parts in strange places. No good guy deals. I felt like a regular Joe, I hated it....................cousin Eddie..............out. 

7-5-02    Well I finally got back on the bike today, it was my first ride since the CPFG. I went to Lake Elsinore Motocross Park, it was crowded. On the way there I went through the Border Patrol check point just south of Temecula. I go through that check point several times a month. Today was a bit weird, the officer who was waiving us through had those "Cool hand Luke" mirrored sunglasses on, he was turned to his side with his left shoulder towards me. He had his right hand on his gun. "I'm not your huckleberry". This guy was taking his job way too seriously, the other officer was looking like I am used to seeing them. Relaxed, waving his hand, thinking about a jelly filled. Anyway riding was fun, I fell once, no fractures. I didn't see one other FPMNer there, this makes for a short day for me, I usually end up talking way more than I ride. I put in a couple of motos, it was hot but I think it was good training for what is to come. The Fireman's Olympics are next week and then the rest of the Summer Night Series is coming up quickly. I was schooled by a kid on a 60, I have a ways to go before moving up to expert but I'm working on it. I hope he was a 60 expert.........................e

7-3-02    I fell off the wagon last night, while everyone was busy doing stuff at the station I snuck in and hade a coffee cup full of Dreyers Cookies N Cream. It's a little known fact that you can get more cream stuffed in a coffee cup than you can put in a bowl. Yet it looks like you are just having a little sample of the sweet nectar. All is not lost, I got up this morning and sat my self back on the stationary moto trainer and did 30 minutes of peddling watching U571 on HBO before heading for home. I look at it as a bo