journal2004

12-28-04    I was just reading Davenport's Diary and remember the day he was injured. It was the last practice day before the Nationals at Perris raceway. I was running late and drove into the pits and was paying the lady only to see the EMT's loading Mark in the back of the AMR Ambulance. The last thing I saw was Mark talking to some FPMXers and I figured all would be OK. Maybe a fractured clavicle or tib/fib but that Mark would be back in a short time. The Ambulance doors closed before I could talk to Mark and he was on his way to the E.R. It's hard to believe that Mark has been off the bike for three years now. My first impressions of Mark was that of a typical MXer, not an FPMXer because we really weren't FPMXers back in the day, just cops and firemen who raced. It was a few years before we become a family. It took me a few years to get to know Mark, he is one of the last remaining original FPMXers from 1989. I got to know Mark after the races were over while the sun was down and the pits were emptying. He would always hang around and help me load my stuff. I don't know if he knows how much I appreciated that but I did. After the races everyone wants their medals and get on the road. I'm sure Mark had better things to do too but he was always there on those cold October nights. I look forward to the day Mr. Davenport returns to the track riding his Blue Stallion..............Man the season is upon us, time to shed those holiday lbs., Boys (and Pixie)  we race in three weeks!!!!!!!eDub 

12-24-04 Merry Christmas Eve! I fell today, I fell hard. I fell off the wagon. I stuffed a large coffee cup full of Fudge Tracks on the bottom and Cookies N Cream on the top. I was doing some experimenting and it went OK but in the end straight Cookies N Cream would have been the better choice. I have never found a close second to that sweet nectar. To my surprise one of the firemen I was working with tonight put peanuts on the top of his nectar. I let him know that he was way out of line when he brought up this point: "Hey Ed do you like your new bike?" "Yeah, I love it!" "Have you ever had a better bike?" "No" "Is it perfect?" "It's close" "So are you going to do anything to it?" "Yeah, I'll do some bolt on's and have her ported sometime soon" "Um huh, peanuts. You will make your bike better by adding to it and tweaking it to your liking.........Peanuts!" OK, I get it. Ed Niemela can't eat nectar straight, he adds milk and stirs it into a malt before his taste buds get pleasurized. I'm really not going anywhere with this take on Ice Cream, just thoughts bouncing around in my dome..........It's kind of weird being away from the family and at the Fire Station on Christmas Eve but this is like a second family. There are nine of us at Station 4. Last Christmas Mike Leckliter brought us all a little gift. I felt like crap for not bringing a gift for the guys. So this year I decided to get something for the boys. Apparently 5 of the 9 felt like crap last year and brought a gift. This gave us 5 the opportunity to make the non gifters feel like crap all day........It was well worth the money spent. Well I want to take this little bit of time you are spending here in the FPMX Journal to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May you all be blessed with a two stroke under the tree, a Yellow if you were really nice and a Four Stroke for all the naughty...............e15

12-23-04    Christmas shopping......DONE! Gift wrapping.........DONE! Yesterday I met some friends at Elsinore MX Park. I haven't been there in for well over a year. The Pro track has some BIG jumps so I rode the Vet track all day. No need to prove anything. I already know that I'm 45 and slow, why show everyone? I had a great time on the Vet track. The jumps are all too easy but fun. The dirt is good and the ruts were just about perfect. I spent the day re-learning how to ride in the ruts. I actually improved during the day. I didn't want to leave but it was dinner with the in-laws day. I can't wait to get back on the track. I'm there Monday!  The Pre-Entries are starting to come in.....Are we all 40-49 now? What's the deal? Just a reminder.......PRE-ENTER! It will save you a ton of money. If you can't make it for some reason I will refund you. Make sure you get it in on time because I am leaving for Phoenix on Tuesday the 11th and won't be able to process your entry. If I don't get to write again before Christmas I would like to say MERRY CHRISTMAS!...........e

12-21-04    Last night I had the opportunity to deliver all the Christmas gifts that were donated at the FPMX Christmas GP/Toy Drive. First off I want to thank everyone who donated. The toys were delivered to the Marines based at Camp Pendleton. The toys will be distributed to designated families who are in need to some help and delivered on Christmas eve. This is a good thing that we do, thanks for coming through again........Let's see, what's new? Oh yeah.....The Motocross season is just about to get started both the AMA Supercross and the FPMX Nationals. I think I like it this way, just seems like there is more excitement in the air. I'm really pumped about racing in Arizona. We're only a few weeks away and there is so much to do, like get fast. The new year is just about here and it's time to start thinking about New Years resolutions, I want to win the 40+ Intermediate class in '05.  That's my resolution. It won't be easy with all the competition in that class now. I remember a few years ago there were 5 to 8 riders in that class, maybe 3 that could win. Now there's a bunch of guys, several who can run up front and win. Man it's going to be fun!

12-20-04    Sue wanted a Motocrossless vacation. I forgot they had those.............We went to the Palm Desert and hung out at Marriot's place, the one with the boats inside. It was cool and relaxing. On the way home I was trying to figure out a good time to drive to Phoenix to ride at Arizona Cycle Park before the Nationals. It wasn't long until I realized that the next day (Saturday) would be my only chance. So I packed the Ala Mode Abode and was on the road at 4:30am, Saturday. It took me 4 hours and 45 minutes to drive from Carlsbad, Ca to the track. Once I got there I was able to put in several laps on the new course. I was having a good time. The Dirt is much like "Speed World", also near Phoenix but without the boulders. ACP has nice dirt and a rider friendly setup. There is nothing too hard but there is a few blind spots (holes) so take your first lap a little easy. The track sits in a pit so the spectators will have a view of the entire race. The AZ weather was beautiful, mid 70's and clear. The dirt is good when moist and hardens as it drys. The track has two wells and should keep it damp all day. There are several elevation changes with fun up hill jumps (safe), one is a triple but I didn't realize it until Joe Benson passed me on it. For some of you who have been around a while, you'll remember Joe. He is still incredibly fast on his KX 250. The park closed at 2pm (1pm Pacific) so I was on the road again (had to work Sunday). It was 10 hours of driving for 3 hours of riding......was it worth it? We'll find out in 4 weeks from today.......................eDub out

12-13-04    The Christmas lights are up, if you were wondering..........Last week we had the Christmas GP/Toy Drive, most everyone seemed to have a good time. I had one of those once in a lifetime experiences last Monday along with Mike Frieling. We were able to ride a perfectly groomed Glen Helen without another single soul on the track. The soil was damp, no mud, no dust and SMOOTH! I felt like RC on my RM. It was wide open everywhere, I have never gone so fast at Glen Helen. I was sure I would win the GP on Tuesday...........Then Tuesday. Glen Helen has a tendency to get rough, it was still way better than a typical Thursday but it did get a bit roughed up..........To make a long moto short, I got 4th place. By the time the team race came around the track, especially the sand going into the back canyon was brutal. You guys and gals did it again. We had a great toy drive. The toys will be distributed this week to families who can use them and will appreciate them.....Thank you!  We are FIVE weeks away from Rounds 1 & 2 of the Nationals. It's coming fast, be prepared for a great track and a lot of fun. Erv Braun and myself are putting this thing together, and even though we have a new relationship we seem to think alike. Several of the ideas that I have had over the years but had no idea how to implement them will be coming to light over the next season. Future plans include Factory contingency. Look for that in '06. another thing that we will be doing this season will be having SUPPORT classes. This will allow your friends and family to race during our events in their own classes but not in the FPMX classes. I have had that request since day one in 1989...................e out

12-1-4    Tis the season, wife wants the lights up on the house and I procrastinate hoping to make it until January without hanging them. She wins in about a week. Seems so stupid to me to hang lights on my house then take them down again in a month. Some folks in Rosemead understand this and just leave the lights up all year long.......I like that! Yesterday I was invited to go to Cahuilla Creek with #2 Rob Cosner & #12 Dan Hadfield both LAPDers and FPMXers and CRFers. We had a good time, that was my first time to ride the Creek. Fun track, very natural terrain, safe and fast...............Today I worked on the "Ala Mode Abode" all day, my lil' mobile garage on wheels. It's coming along nicely...............After my ride at Cahuilla yesterday I don't know if I can last an hour. My hands were going numb and my forearms were pumping after 3 or 4 laps. The Shape-O-Meter is in an upward swing, I wish it was the stock market but it's not, it's my gut! Dang Holidays!......................eBlub

11-28-04    I just had a conversation online with yzernie (Ernie Kopasz), the contents of this conversation are "CONFIDENTIAL" but I was forced to informed Mr. yz that he is banned from racing the Fire & Police MX Nationals forever! That is unless he honors our bet and brings a half a gallon of Dreyers Cookies N Cream packed in dry ice to the riders meeting before he races. At that point he will be reinstated tot he FPMX. The more I think about it...humm.....No wonder I run out of energy half way through the moto, I don't have my regular breakfast cup of that sweet nectar on race mornings. Yes the day yz returns to the FPMX is the day I smoke the 40+ Intermediates............It's all in the cream!  Sue calls me "Ebenezer Scrooge" because I'm not into making our house look like the North Pole. Christmas is my favorite holiday I just don't want to be running around in a Santa suit. The Christmas GP is just a week away and I have already begun to pack on the holiday poundage (or my pants are shrinking). The GP/Toy Drive is my favorite race of the year. Last year I was so bummed that I couldn't race (Fractured scapula). I love the whole event and with all the rain we have had lately the Glen Helen turf should be perfect. One of the things I like the best about this event is seeing the generosity of all of you guys (and gals). The unwrapped gifts you all bring are outstanding and they are very appreciated by all those kids on Christmas day. It makes a difference for those kids and that makes this race special. Just thinking about it proves to me that I am not a Scrooge. I just wish my wife would realize it........e

11-26-04    One of the few bad things about being a Fireman is that too often you have to work on holidays. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and as a family gathering was going on about 10 miles down the 60 freeway at my parents house I was spending the day with my fire buddies. Over my 23 years in the fire service I have experienced this many times. Yesterday though was my cooking day.......bummer. Over the years I have reduced my firehouse meals to a NUMBER ONE and a NUMBER TWO. There is no number three, four or five let alone a Thanksgiving feast. I got a little help from a lady named Marie Callender and a kid named Bobby Hill from that T.V. show "King of the Hill" anyway all turned out OK............I had to laugh at a few of the suggested names for the new trailer. Mike Dunn came in with some strong ones including: "The Dreyer's Flyer",  "The Spode Abode" and "The Lazy-Boy Lair" but I also got a kick out of Mike Frieling's "The Ala Mode Abode"..................It's down to the "Ala Mode Abode" and "The Dreyer's Flyer" either way it's sounds pretty sweet! Ok now onto another hot topic on the message board.........The Nationals! I appreciate everyone's passion and concern. I understand that some might have a hard time getting days off work. I also understand that some people don't like to travel.........but some do. I do. I'm planning on driving to Quebec City (3,200 miles) this summer for two motos and a Hare Scrambles...... Anyway Phoenix and Mesquite aren't that far from Southern California. I know this........ If you want to be there you will find a way and if you don't want to be there then you won't go and that's Ok. I have been thinking about this for a long time, I usually don't do anything without considering the consequences. I know many will not travel I also know that we will pick up new riders from the new areas. Another thing I've been thinking about for a while is having local So. Cal. races, much like the Summer Series but open to everyone, Friends, family, our kids.....and at the conclusion of these events having a team race. I also would like to keep the prices down and give out trophies instead of medals, no points just trophies. The medals would be just for the Nationals. I have been talking to Starwest and Shawn @ Santa Maria about running events there. Those are the thoughts bouncing around in my head.........Any thoughts? I'll be watching the Message Board............ The Nationals are set in stone but anything else is possible..........e

11-23-04    RACE TECH took care of me this week, I dropped off my suspension Wednesday evening and was able to bolt it back on the "05er on Monday evening. Thank You RT!!!! I went to Starwest today and did a few laps. The track was very muddy and vary hard to ride but I figured that it was good training for future mud races. You never know when it might come in handy. After a few laps I began to jump some of the table tops on the dryer part of the course. My suspension felt really soft, I kept bottoming........... Oh yeah, now I remember (as I was trying to put the bike on the stand)..........Ohio mud & Starwest mud stick to the bike. I could barely pick her up. I bet I had 60 lbs. of mud stuck under the fenders and to the frame.......Today I bought the edi (event digital imaging) trailer. It's 6 X 12 enclosed rig that I feel a need to name since everybody else has a name for their trailers. It's not the "White House" (Frieling's) or the "Dog House" (Davenport's) or even yzernie's trailer (I can't remember it's title but I'll call it the "House of Blues" since Ernie won't give up on those blue bikes......pitty). I was thinking "The Cat house" but my wife said "NO!" I'll take suggestions.............e

11-16-04    Today I took the '05er out for a break in session at STARWEST. Last time I was on a two willer was the Best in the Desert "Las Vegas 200" on a '04 YZ250 geared way to high for us motocrossers and with suspension way to soft. At first I felt uncomfortable on the zook but after a few laps I felt at home. My '04 Screamin' Yellow Zonker's power plant was built by Varner for Supercross, the gearing was also set up for the stadiums and that's the way I like it. Even at Glen Helen I feel way better with a bike geared for Supercross. I know that's strange but even back in the day ('92) I had MC's Supercross CR250 and loved it. Anyway the gearing on the new bike is too tall for me. The suspension was also too soft for my "Built by Dreyers" body..........Both the gearing and the suspension are easy fixes. The bike turns under the '04 and the motor feels really good. After a trip to Varner's, Race Tech and Renthal the '05 Suzuki RM250 will be ready for the battles that lie ahead..........Let's talk fashion again. I feel like such a goon riding in '03 &'04 gear.....why? I don't have a clue.......Who cares? I shouldn't but I do. I don't care what I wear off the track, I never go shopping. I tell Sue to get whatever she likes and it will be fine with me. So far she's done OK. Levi's and T-Shirts.........Actually just Levi shorts pretty much. T-Shirts are another story.......I only wear logo shirts from my sponsors, all free except for a couple of N-Style T's I bought. I have a corner of my closet that are "Off Limit T-Shirts", these are shirts from companies that don't sponsor me anymore or are in conflict with another company that does sponsor me. It's a complex fashion life I lead. But on the track I want to be color coordinated, wearing the right stuff...........Oh another thing about fashion.........Don't drive to the track in your gear! Some guy parked next to me today and climbed out of his pickup ready to go less his helmet.........Kind of geeky! Oh well we all can't be fashion statements.............Calvin e. Klein

11-11-04    Jeff Carlson (Santa Ana PD) was kind enough to send me this training session photo. I would like to thank my new sponsors, Dreyers and Hershey's. Dreyers did a fantastic paint job on my new helmet. N-Style did the graphics on the fender, swing arm and chest protector. I can't ever seem to gain on the 1/2 gallon but I'll keep trying......................e

11-10-04    I know that is an unfair advantage and for that I an very sorry. I truly feel for the 40+ Intermediates, especially the guys on those four stroke things but I had to do it. I really had no choice but to buy a new '05 SUZUKI RM250 today from Temecula Motorsports. And with my new found training tool (cookies and cream hanging from a rope in front of me ) it will be a race for 2nd place and I know that isn't fun. Poor Viking and Steve-O........With the Christmas GP coming up soon I felt it was time to secure a partner for the Team GP. Again I need to apologize to all the Intermediates as Rob Townley and I have chose to partner up. Rob rides pretty good for a four stroke guy. Ok all kidding aside, we are going to have a great season...........Next week will be busy for me as I will be getting the new ride race ready. I made the call to Race Tech and will be dropping off the suspension at the first of the week. I'll be bolting on all the Works Connection stuff this week and putting a HINSON clutch on my baby. Also some Renthal bars and ASV levers. Besides that I'm rigging up a bar to the front end of the RM that will support a hanging 1/2 gallon of Dreyers Cookies n Cream for me to chase.........This year I think I will name my bike, I feel it should be a girls name or maybe something imposing or big or scary............I'll be thinking on it...............eDub (proud owner)

11-9-04    I'm torn between to bikes, feeling like a fool. Buying them both is breaking all the rules (and my wife would kill me). Yes it will be a two stroke..............Yellow or Blue? Blue or Yellow? I'm leaning yellow, I loved my '04 RM. Really loved it. In two thousand one I had this same dilemma and broke the rules. I bought a YZ426 (hated it) and a YZ250 (loved it). Sue was cool about it, my cover story was that I bought the 250 for my son.....He rode it once and I inherited it........As you can see from the pictures above, the training has begun for the 2005 40+ Intermediate National Championship. I intend to win it and win it on a two stroke. Yes there are a few goons in my way, namely: "The Viking", D-Rom, L-Dub, Rob-T, DM, Steve-O, CHP-D and a few others. This season it will be a sixteen moto series. I really can hardly, barely, hardly wait....barely! I've been doing one-a-days this week but next week "Hell Week" starts.............(2-a-days). The goal is to lose 40lbs, I'm down 5 so far. The Shape-O-Meter was just calibrated last Friday and sits at a 15.1, I am so excited to see it in the 14's again. I know with the holidays approaching that it will be a tough road to hoe but I have the memories of Dennis Romero's smirk implanted deep in my brain to keep the ice cream spoon far away. I never ever want to see that thing again. Man I love this! What could be better than trash talking and racing with your buddies?............Um....Trash talking and backing it up would be better! Either way it will be fun.................e

11-2-04    Today while signing in at the polling place to vote the lady who was signing me in noticed my Fire Department shirt. She was all excited and was trying to read the logo on the front left chest. As she was squinting to read the logo I told her that it was an Akron Fire Department shirt that I got from a friend in Ohio (Ray Martin). Her excitement went out the door when she figured that I wasn't a fireman but just a guy wearing an F.D. shirt. I said nothing and walked away.........I admire Firefighters and Police Officers. The other day while doing a photo shoot with Jessicsa Snyder a couple of Marines walked up and were asking a few questions. I admired those guys too......Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg?...... I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it. I prefer you said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand to post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to......Sorry, Got off on a tangent again........Ok let's talk moto fashion. Last Saturday I drove to Glamis to ride the dunes with some friends. All I was told to bring was my riding gear, so I packed everything I needed. My '04 AXO Vented gear was still dirty from the Desert race a few weeks ago (which we won) so I was planning on wearing my'03 Black AXO gear. With the '05 stuff available I knew that I would be looking like a goon in two year old gear............Until I got there! Dude I could have worn an AXO boot on one foot and a sandal on the other, a JT jersey from 1978 and Dynamite Denim's and still been the fashion talk of the place. It was gloves and helmets with iFX glasses....That was it! Levis, pajamas, whatever. It was like a scene from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. I was way over dressed in my AXO jersey with levis shorts and AXO boots, Scott Goggles, AXO gloves and my M2R helmet.......I was able to ride Mike Leckliters Suzuki 400 Quad through the dunes, following the leader. I was told that Marco Gonzalez was  really good at reading the dunes and thus was the leader of the pack. Yeah whatever, I've been riding my whole life, common.......I followed and followed and was having a good time. I had to hit my brakes at the top of a hill to avoid a crash and had to back down the dune. By the time I got back to the top and saw the pack I was two dunes away. I kid you not, Marco CAN read the dunes and I had no clue how to find the lines to catch up to the group. I cross country'd it, I finally caught up and somehow was still alive but let me tell you, there is an art to negotiating the dunes at the speed we were going. Glamis is a wild place, there are sooo many people there and so much money has been invested in the toys (not the riding gear). Amazing! Hundreds of thousands of quads, motorcyles and dune buggies but once you get a few dunes away from the pavement you pretty much have the place to yourself....weird......The last two trip I've been on all I needed was my gear, I feel like a Factory rider. And although I will never be known as FEW (Fast Eddie Wilson), I kind of feel like FEW (Factory Eddie Wilson).................few
 

10-29-04    It's been busy here at the FirePoliceMX World Headquarters over the past week or so. There will be several changes for the '05 season, as most of you know we will no longer have the Summer Series. Instead we will Have an 8 round National Series at 4 different tracks. Rounds 1 & 2 will be January 17th & 18th near Phoenix at the Arizona Cycle Park the Mon/Tues following the Phoenix Supercross. Rounds 3 & 4 will be at Glen Helen Raceway the first Monday and Tuesday of May. Rounds 5 & 6 are still up in the air but we are working on Castillo's Ranch, North of Santa Barbara, CA. for July where the temperature is usually in the mid seventies. Other options for July would be a new facility in Santa Maria, CA. or the I5 track near Gorman, CA. We will end the Series at the beautiful Mesquite MX Park in Mesquite, NV. (the Mon/Tues after the US OPEN of SUPERCOSS in Las Vegas). We are working with the Casablanca Hotel to be the host hotel. When I say we I am talking about myself and Erv Braun of Braun Entertainment (Supercross Announcer). Braun Entertainment will be handling much of the advertising for the FPMX at all Supercross races and several other motocross events. Braun Entertainment will also be bringing in more sponsors and National exposure. Magazine and television coverage are in the planning stages. We are reaching out to many of our brothers and sisters across the country to make the FPMX a true National series with more notoriety and prestige. Winning the number 1 plate in your class will mean a lot more in the near future. Along with the expansion to other States and across the country will will be raising the entry fees. Pre-entry will change to $45 for the first class and 25 for each additional class per day. Race day entry will be $60 for the first class and $40 for each additional class per day. Pre-entry will save you a lot of money. The cost of racing the Fire & Police MX Nationals is still a bargain compared to similar National events like the World Mini Grand Prix where each class is $125 with no break for additional classes. The '06 schedule will include an event in New York. We will provide bike transportation for a minimal fee. The '07 plans include an East and West Coast Series with a Championship event somewhere in the middle........................On another note, I am going to Glamis tomorrow for the first time to ride quads in the dunes. I hope I don't like it to much, could get expensive. I will be riding Fast Eddie Niemela's (FEN's) spare quad. How does a guy own a spare quad and a spare motorcycle? I don't even own a bike right now.............'05 RM 250 soon, real soon.............e 

10-18-04    Rainy day. I love the rain, we don't get too much here in Southern California. Summer is gone and the time is right for riding in the desert. Before I ever thought of racing I spent many winters in the desert. Most of my time was spent down by the Salton Sea in the Anza Borrego Desert. I never really got into trail riding, I was always setting up courses around the camp. One of my favorite things to do is a 15 mile, wide open sprint to the Rose Cafe at Ocotillo Wells for a Double Cheese Burger, Fries and a couple of cans of Diet Coke over ice. Then after about an hour rest Sprint back to camp. When I first started racing this was where I went to train. Miles of whoops, bumps and jumps. I rarely go to the desert anymore and maybe that's why I can only do 3 laps on a motocross track before I start to fade. Maybe that's why Dennis Romero still has a smile on his face. %#&^*! All I know is that I miss my friend, the desert. There is nothing like waking up in the morning and smelling that wet desert smell. It's about as enticing as VP Ultimate 4. I'm telling you, Revlon is missing the boat. There would be no single women if they bottled "Wet Desert" and "Ultimate 4"......None! If there are any lonely women out there in cyber land reading this, do yourself a favor and get some sage brush, wet it and rub it all over your body. Then go to a bike shop and browse...........e

ps. Just a reminder: When casting your vote in California, Bill Jones is an Off Roader for Off Roading.

10-17-04    My whole body is sore. I haven't felt like this in years, probably the day after the first day of weight training for High School football. I'm not just sore, I'm exhausted. I can barley stay awake. The desert took it's toll on me. But I had a great time. All I want to do now is go desert riding but with a front brake...........2 tired to think of stuff to say..........sleeeep-e

10-16-04    My First Desert Race: Woke up at 4:30am, met up with Larry Waterhouse in the hallway in front of his room at Buffalo Bills Hotel & Casino at 4:55am. We met up with John Karrel at 5am in the casino. An hour later, like a California idiot, I was freezing in the pits wearing shorts and a t-shirt. That's all I brought to wear besides my AXO gear, Scott goggles and M2R helmet. The race started at 7am. There were these two inflatable arches at the starting line, one for the trucks and buggies and the other for the motorcycles and quads. Bikes would start in 30 second intervals under the arch on the right, John was going to be our first rider. He was off at 7:35am. There were two pits, the main pit and a remote pit. We had to change pits every time we changed riders. I'm thinking of implementing this between motos at the next National. Everyone will pack up and leave the park then re-enter and set up your pit again................Ok maybe not. Back to the race......There were two loops, the first one was about 40 miles through rock, silt, whoops and hills. The second loop was much easier, 30 miles with more high speed sections. We alternated laps, each doing both sections once. John returned from the first loop after an hour and 15 in 3rd place. We fueled the YZ250 and it was my turn to do the easier section (2nd loop). Ok let me say that I thought that I made a huge mistake. I could not see for 10 miles. It was one of the most miserable riding sessions ever. I compare it to Woods riding in Indiana or Mud riding in Ohio. I was in first and second gear the whole time. Finally the dust cleared and I was able to turn the throttle and do that 1 down 4 up thing. This YZ was set up for desert. Super soft suspension and the gearing was crazy. One tooth bigger on the front and 4 teeth smaller on the back. First felt like 2.5 gear. After about mile 15 I started to flow a bit but the front end was pushing big time on me and there is this stuff called SILT that is WILD to ride in. You pull CRAZY IVAN'S for no reason, swapping from left to right without warning, Marco Ramius would have been proud. As I was returning to the pits to make the rider change with Larry I was looking for Larry's TLD EZ UP. It was no where to be found as I was approaching the two arches. I must have passed our pit, I turned around and rode back to try again.......Once again there was no pit...Did they pack up and go home? Was this like when I came home from college and my parents had moved without telling me? Should I try to make the next loop on half a tank of pre-mix? Hey maybe they moved the pits farther down, I'll cruise the pits a bit and keep my eyes open........THERE THEY ARE!..........The people who run "The Best in the Desert" Series moved the arches a mile East!.............Karrel said that people always get lost in the desert but nobody gets lost in the pits! I felt really bad, I knew that I had let my team down. I figured that we were maybe 15 minutes behind....I felt ashamed!....What, we are only 3 minutes behind? AWESOME! I know that I can make that up on my next ride if I can see. Larry finished loop one only 30 seconds behind the leaders, he had the lead but took a header......I'm telling you, SILT KILLS. John was next, this was the easier loop and he finished 40 seconds behind the leader. I was pumped and ready to go. No dust!!!!!!!!!!!!Yeah baby. At mile 3 I started to eat the dust of the CRF 450 in first place. I creped my way up by riding off the main trail in the bushes, avoiding the heavy dust. At mile 5 I made my move and took the lead knowing that my dust would slow the CRF rider. It was like riding at Ocotillo Wells, I was having a great time and was on the gas. Every chance I had to look back I saw no dust trail in tow. At mile 13 the break lever started to rotate down on the bar, I hit it back to the proper placement with the palm of my hand. Soon the lever was swiveling at will on the bar. I would slow down and finger tighten the 8mm bolts but they just kept coming loose. Finally I lost one of the 8mm's......I stopped and took the master cylinder w/ lever off the bar and stuffed the extra parts down the waist of my Vented AXO pants. For the next TWENTY FIVE MILES I held the ball end of the the lever under my right index finger. Every time I hit the bigger whoops it would jerk out of my hand. I was afraid to let it dangle around, didn't want it getting in the front spokes you know. No front brake, cramps in both thighs and one calf and a full Camel Back (forgot to use it), I came into the pits with a 10 minute lead. My hands were bruised, my legs wasted, my throat dry and a big smile on my face, I had a great time. We fixed the front brake and Larry rode the final loop and maintained the lead, we won by ten minutes. This was a great experience. I think I might do it again some time. Thanks John and Larry for this opportunity....and everything...............e   

10-15-04    I live a busy life, I don't know how it happened but I am always doing something. Yesterday morning I got off work and drove to Danny Lowers house to help him learn the screenprinting business. It was a long day, I have trained many in this line of work but Danny is up there with the best. He will make a fine T-Shirt man. Besides working with Danny all day I was on the cell doing FPMX business throughout the day. I got home at 1am. Today I am prepping all my moto stuff, goggles, washing gear, cleaning boot and chest protector to get ready for my first ever desert race. It will be a team race with John Karrel (Orange City FD), Larry Waterhouse (Anaheim FD) and myself. It's kind of like a Factory ride because all I have to do is show up with my gear. We will be riding John's '04 YZ 250. John has been trying to get me to do this since I first met him in 1989..........Fifty pounds later....Alright Lunger, let's do it! Sue and I are leaving for State Line (Nevada/California) today. We race in the morning. I feel like a fish out of water, speaking of water, John asked me something about a Camelback......Do I have one? What? Huh? And I guess we don't get a practice lap since a lap is 35 miles..........Each one of us will be dining 2 laps. There are two loops so we will never ride familiar ground. Sounds fun. The only thing I know about desert racing is from the movie "On Any Sunday" and I haven't seen that in twenty five years. Maybe I should go buy it and watch it on the road to Wild Bill's..........Whitey Martino

10-12-04    Today is my 19th year anniversary on the LA County Fire Dept, 23rd year in the fire service.........10  more to go............. Lots of changes in the wind for the '05 season. First off no more Summer Series. We will go to an 8 round National Series with 4 two day events. Rounds 1 & 2 will be held on January 17th & 18th near Phoenix, AZ right after the Phoenix Supercross. I am looking into running rounds 3 & 4 at Glen Helen in April. Rounds 5&6?......Maybe in Santa Maria in July at a new track or maybe at Castillo Ranch. The Series finals may be in Mesquite, Nevada in October, the same week as the US OPEN of Supercross just down the road in Las Vegas. These are the plans.......Braun Entertainment (Erv Braun) will be a co-promoter of the events and will bring bigger sponsors and more prestige to the Series. Along with more national exposure. We are planning to have a couple of Eastern Rounds in '06. I will figure out how to transport the bikes of those who want to fly out to this event. I would like to run the two day event at one of the National tracks back east.......How about Unadilla? Red Bud?......Start planning..........Anyway things are in the works, we're growing..............e

10-11-04    Forgive me for not writing. I have been busy and I lose my motivation after the Nationals. Let's see what's happened over the last few weeks?................Oh yeah, we raced! That was a lot of fun. I forgot how tough Glen Helen is. Yeah it looks easy, I mean no real big jumps and they cut a bunch of the track out but I for one got my but kicked by that track again. At times on Tuesday I actually felt pretty good but by lap 4 My arms were toast. It was pretty cool to watch others hit the wall too. I saw Rob Townley and Duane Prickett fall apart right in front of my eyes on day 2/moto 2. It was a beautiful thing, I was right there to pounce on them, they had nothing left..........Two corners later....I hit the wall and had nothing for them........The Glen is brutal! My biggest disappointment of the Nationals was getting beat by Dennis Romero for the first time in my life.........It was a hard pill to swallow and I had to do it for 3 of 4 motos. I got so sick of looking at that stupid grin on his face over those two days that I finally took a picture of it for my wall. MOTIVATION! I never want to see that smirk again. Dennis surprised a lot of people, good job Dennis...........Never again though! NEVER! The event went well, The Chads didn't leave us hanging and did a fantastic job behind the microphone. I know they were chomping at the bit to twist a throttle but.........all in good time boys. Thank you for all of your hard work. Marco did a great job again at the starting line. All in all the event went well..............I just got back from the US OPEN of Supercross in Las Vegas. This is a pretty cool event. Chad Reed looked good, so did Ricky but the best racing of the weekend was an LCQ battle between Kyle Lewis and Ryan Clark. I remember reading about this Lewis and Clark thing in grade school.........e

9-25-04    It never fails, when you are in a hurry to get somewhere, I mean in a real hurry, maybe running a little late.............Well here's my story........Sue and I had just got home from Lake Havasu about 1pm on Thursday. It was our annual October trip. We bumped it up a few weeks because October was booked. A few years ago I took my son, Danny to see Cheap Trick. He loved them. He's into punk rock pretty much but he became a fan of these 50 year old rockers. Anyway Danny asked me if I wanted to go see Cheap Trick on Thursday at the Sycuan Indian Casino in El Cajon (that's were Rick Johnson, Ron Lechien and Brock Glover grew up) I of course said yes since they were my favorite band and still completely intact. Cheap trick was to come on stage at 8pm, we left plenty early to make it but you know how these California drivers are.......One accident and the freeway was backed up forever......We finally got through that and into El Cajon with a half hour to spare.....Perfect! "Hey dad are you hungry?" In other words, "Dad want to buy me some dinner?"....."Sure". We pulled into Wendy's and were second in line behind a mother and her 12 y/o son.....This is fast food so all should be ok, we still have a few minutes to kill.......This woman in front of us was teaching her almost teenager how to order food by himself. This was a special moment for mother and son. They discussed the ENTIRE menu, fat grams, calories........This became a nutrition lesson for all in the building to enjoy as she was so proud of herself for taking the time to educate her son (and everyone else who didn't care or was in a HURRY TO GET TO A CONCERT)........after several minutes her son, Chester had his mind made up for him and was ready to order.........(Then the cute part) he was paying for the meal with nickels and pennies....The 16y/o behind the counter was no help as he stood there with a Shaq at the free throw line look on his face.......Finally, FINALLY it was over......Wait.....Now mommy has to order separate and pays with a ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL! Needless to say, the cash register at the counter didn't have enough change in it and our 16 y/o free thrower left the scene for a few minutes........I would have left and gone to EVEN McDonalds but Wendy's was the last stop before leaving the city and heading through the country to Sycuan........We finally ordered and got our food. My "no pickles please" double cheeser had pickles on it but that's almost a given fact these days We arrived at Sycuan at 8:05pm, parked 1/2 a mile away, jogged half way there and caught a shuttle buss to the casino. Ran to Will Call, picked up the tickets, went inside, got seated in a small theater with stadium seating and padded chairs in the 12th row ( I had no idea where our seats were, I bought the tickets on ebay, they were the only seats available and didn't show the location), Good seats. Two minutes later (8:15pm) the lights went out and we enjoyed a good show.......I was able to spend several hours with my 21 y/o son doing something that we both enjoy..........life is good...........And at 45 years old I can still hit 70% of my free thorws........e     

ps. Don't get me wrong, I would have kept Superman and sent Boy wonder packin'

9-20-04    For some unknown reason, I really can't explain why, I kept this business card from from Jeff  "Mother" Welsh on the visor of my truck for two years now. Maybe in the back of my mind I thought I might need some help while passing through the Palm Springs area on the 10 fwy. Maybe while being pulled over by a CHiPs guy passing through Cathedral City I could drop the "Do you know Captain Jeff Welsh line". To tell you the truth I was probably just lazy and left it there.....Jeff gave me the card two years ago when he loaned me his enclosed trailer when Brad Hannig, Brent Bush, Scott Nelson and I were driving across the country to race with our brothers in Ohio. Jeff told me that if I get into any trouble and need to prove that the trailer was on loan from him and not stolen to just show the officer his card.........The thing I love about the FPMX the most is the relationships we have all have made over the years. The racing is good but the camaraderie is better. These friendships will last way beyond our racing years. At Glen Helen last Thursday Dan Hadfield and I were discussing racing into our sixties. When you were a kid did you ever in your wildest dreams think that sixty year old men would be racing motocross? Heck when I was a teenager, sixty was dead. Hey when I started the FPMX I thought forty was old! In fact that class was called the "Old Timers"......Until I turned 39 and realized that I was going to be an "Old Timer". Uh...NO! Anyway I'm actually starting to look at fifty as just another opportunity to be the kid again in a class of guys older than I am. I have five years to go......Getting back to the business card.........I finally removed Jeff's card from my visor, I saw something written on the back........."Officer, these guys stole my trailer, take them to jail and have your way with them! Mother".....Now that's pretty funny..........eD

9-16-04    Went to the Glen today, that place is like no other. In days past I felt at home there.........Today, a fish out of water. Rough & rutted, fast and so slow, too slow. I'm talking about me......uncomfortably timid, unbelievably slow. My only saving grace was that Dan Hadfield wasn't that much faster than I was. You know that new book I've been writing, "Sit Down & Win"? It went on the back burner today. You can't sit down at Glen Helen! Maybe if I duct tape a pillow on the seat of my pants I can use my sitting technique and have a good showing.............My AC worked beautifully well on the way to the Glen today.............Blew hot air on the way home right up until 10 minutes before I got to my AC mechanic.......I think they think that I am full of hot air. I'm telling you, it only goes bad in the evil empire...oops, Inland Empire.......Mark Davenport is about to write on the subject of Two Stroke vs. Four Stroke.....Hey Mark before you say something stupid and look like a fool I want you to know that my Suzuki RM250 pulled a CRF450 on the GH long uphill in racing conditions today. I have a witness, Number 34, he was right next to me..............The Glen was full of FPMX stickers and little fire helmets in truck windows today.......The Nationals are near.......eDub

9-15-04    "Hey Ed are you retired too?" "Not me, I'm in my prime" "Yeah you look it"..................I'm having the hardest time thinking about the Nationals and seeing the 40+ Intermediates on the line without me. I think I had too much fun in Santa Maria..........Something weird is happening to me. I jogged on the beach a couple of days ago, dropping me to 15.2 on the S-O-M.  I stepped it up on the BBall court yesterday (Moving the S-O-M to 15.1) and tonight I'm on the edge of riding the stationary bike while watching some tapes of the greatest TV show ever........GET SMART! If this continues I'll be in the high 14's by next week. I barley remember the 14's............Tomorrow morning I am going to the Glen, last time I rode there I ended up with a fractured right scapula. I'm a bit nervous to ride the Glen, I have had some bad luck there over the years fracturing both my clavicles, my scapula, a rib and tearing an ACL. Let alone all the bumps and bruises I've sustained over the years. The thing with the Glen is that it's a fast track, it gets rough and rutted. Yeah Glen Helen is a unique piece of real estate, suspensions enemy. Glen Helen is my friend. We have a love/hate relationship......I love to win and hate to lose there. Am I retired for the season?......I'm fighting it. I don't know right now..............e 

9-13-04    We take certain things for granted, for instance that our AC in our trucks will work while driving through the Inland Empire in August and September. Mine broke last month, I've had it in the shop a few times but they were unable to figure it out. It would blow cold air on cool days but when you need the air, like in the 909 you'd get hot musty air. Thus windows down while dehydration sets in before the gate drops for the first moto. I just got the truck back again this evening......we'll see.............This past Saturday while driving to Glen Helen for practice and qualifying for the AMA National I had the windows down, doing 90 mph on the North bound 15, fighting heat stroke, trying to talk on the cell phone but couldn't hear......blah, blah, blah. Anyway I realized that it was September 11th......I quit feeling sorry for myself. I got a sick, pissed off, empty feeling inside. It took me back to that day three years ago. A day I woke up at work to see one tower on fire, soon the second tower was struck by a second airplane. On the way to Glen Helen for practice I heard that the towers collapsed. Being a Firefighter I knew what that meant to hundreds of our brothers and thousands of civilians. It was the most somber day at the Glen ever. I was in such a daze that I only remember hanging out with Jeff welsh. I know that many Cops and Firemen were there riding that day but I just remember Jeff. I don't think I did too many laps..........Many of us take our freedom for granted. I just want to say that I am proud to be an American & I support our soldiers. I am proud of all of our FPMXers, those here in the USA and those from other countries......While at Glen Helen this weekend I was able to learn of a man, Bill Jones (R) who is running for the US senate in California. Bill is for OFF ROADERS. He is running against Barbara Boxer. Don't take your DIRT or SAND for granted. I love racing and I love riding in the California desert.................Ed     

9-10-04    Things are not good in the ".....e" camp these days. I lost the weigh off by 6 lbs. I lost nine pounds but they weren't missing for long. I gained every single pound back for "D" day........disgusting! If that wasn't enough Chuck Dollison informed me that two strokes weren't making a comeback............frustrating! I read Davenport's Diary the other day, I know I sit down too much but there's a good reason for that,... I get tired. Today while eating lunch with my wife at Pick up Stix I received a call from non other than Officer Dan Hadfield. We chatted for a couple of minutes, I thought all was forgiven. My day was starting to look brighter. Maybe my insincere apology worked, maybe Dan was over the "accidental" block pass. Maybe, maybe not! Today I got a Subpoena  (you know it's true because I could never ever spell that word right without it being written on a piece of paper in front of me). I have a notice to appear on October 2, 2004. This is ludicrous. What the heck is a 245p.c.? What is a ADW on a Police OFCR? I do not know. All I know is that people who know what these terms mean stood in the wrong line while applying for their job. We can't all be firemen thus a less skilled public service job was created. (If you happen to be pulling me over on the 5, 15, 605, 60, 10, 91, 15 or 215 for speeding I want you to know that I am just foolin' around). Actually, Officers of the Law, I want you on that wall, I need you on that wall. I use words like: Subpoena and ADW as a punch line..........Sorry, got off on a tangent again. Anyway Dan sent me this fake subpoena and I think it's pretty funny. Dang, I'm going to miss Dan in the 40+ Intermediate class..........Right after I lost the weigh off to Mike Leckliter I was issued a challenge for another weight loss competition from one Leyth Dauod, an over weight Irish/Palestinian Paramedic in the station. I accepted. No sooner did we do the initial weigh in and set the ground rules for the competition, Leyth decided to skip dinner and workout in the weight room. I can't catch a break. These guys take these contests seriously and try to beat me. I know this is the 40+ EXPERT OUT OF SHAPE class but please don't make me put down my spoon. Just to let you know who I'm messing with........Leyth bought Dreyers Cookies N Cream and Butter Pecan last night and stuck them in the freezer and had the audacity to not take a bite...........My name is Ed Wilson, I have an eating disorder.............eBlub 

9-06-04    Tomorrow is "D" day, Mike Leckliter is coming back to work for the first time since fracturing his clavicle at Starwest. "D" day? Yeah tomorrow is the big weigh off. I am going to file a protest with our union. I don't think it's fair for me to have to live in an environment filled with free ice cream bought by guys working overtime while Leckliter is home and far away from that sweet nectar known as Dreyers. Three weeks ago we were tied at 9lbs. lost but I kind of fell off the wagon over the past two weeks thus finding that my pants shrunk and I'm pretty sure that someone switched my belt for a smaller one.........I was talking to Sue the other day and said that I wish I wore the same size riding gear that Jessica Snyder wears because I have a couple sets of her gear in my garage. Sue said "You have never been that size" "Yeah I was, back in 10th grade" "Yeah you were a 2-T once too" .....ok, ok point taken. Well after two full days and about ten movies I finally finished stuffing, sealing and stamping 800 envelopes. I used to pay the neighbor kids .10 cents and envelope ($80) but they just laugh at me now when I ask. It takes forE V E R. The entry forms will go out tomorrow morning...............e

9-05-04    Today, all day I folded and stuffed envelopes while watching movies on satellite TV. I'm about half way done. Tuesday morning the entry forms for the Christmas GP/Toy Drive and Rounds 3 & 4 of the Nationals will be placed in the hands of the United States Postal workers. Soon they will arrive at your homes. When you get the envelope containing the FPMX information you should open it, check it out, photo copy it, take the copies to work and tell your cohorts about all the fun you have at the Nationals and Christmas GP. Then you should fill out the form and return it to the FPMX Headquarters in Carlsbad, Ca. You can signup on race day but you will not be entered in the pre-registration raffle in which 10% of all pre-entered riders will receive a box of goodies.......Just a thought. I recently bought a new cell phone, this one has a camera and 15 seconds of video. Last night at the fire station I was able to catch some of the Notre Dame vs BYU football game. I took a picture of my legs and feet as they were extended out towards the TV while sitting in a recliner. I sent the picture to Brad Hannig's phone............Just a bout a minute later I received a pic of Brad's pant legs and boots in the same position while watching the same football game 300 miles away at his fire station in Las Vegas. The Fighting Irish should schedule UCLA for the first game of the season that way one of them would win the opener......Just another thought. The Shape-O-Meter is hovering in the mid 15's, maybe because I'm eating frozen TWIX for breakfast. But since they are frozen doesn't the fat stay frozen and not affect the Shape-O-Meter reading? I heard that somewhere. Maybe I'll have to ask Dr. Fast Eddie Niemela to clarify that for me.................eDub out.

9-01-04    The Summer Series has come and gone. I for one had a great time and now my season is over until the Christmas GP. I'm going to take the Nationals off again this time to run the event. I've been doing a lot of thinking on what we will be doing for the 2005 season and it's still up in the air but I'm starting to zero in on it. All I know is that I really had a great time in Santa Maria racing with my buddies. Sometimes it might seem like I'm just babbling on this thing going every which way but loose, well........I am. I never really plan what to write I just sit down and start picking away at the keys. Anyway back to the subject at hand........The summer Series.....You know that old adage, "I lost the battle but won the war"? Well just the opposite here. I had a good two days winning 4 of 6 motos but lot the War to Dan Hadfield. Dan was the most consistent rider in our class, winning several motos over the past four months and never really having a bad moto. Ernie Kopasz had some "Typical Chevy truck trouble and was unable to make it the first day and showed up for the second day w/o his ride. He didn't feel the karma and sometimes it's best  not to push the envelope. Ernie came and helped on the track, flagging and helping with the start. AND Yes Ernie I found the Yamaha of Cucamonga sticker on my bike AFTER I WAS DONE RACING. And DON'T think that we are even Mr.!!!! Quit babbling Ed.........Ok.........Back to the racing..... Wait a minute, Hey Ernie get a FORD!........Ok I'm back. The track was pretty tight and had some supercross corners. I used a move I learned from "Chicken" several years ago that he pulled on "The Beast from the East" on Dan Hadfield. I really tried to feel bad but it was so much fun. Dan thanks for not "T" boning me. Hey Dan congratulations on your Championship. You earned it brother. Dang all I want to do  right now is race. I'm almost considering exercise and diet to get in shape for 2005 but that type of thinking is way out there. I was able to enjoy watching some good motos in the 30+ Exp/Int classes. And after watching Berkeley Northrop and Wayne Ashby mixing it up with the Cosners and Niemelas of the FPMX world many may consider the '05 two strokes. Brothers the tide has begun to flow the other way. Remember the seductive smell of synthetic pre mix?.......Until later...............e out

8-26-04    Darn Shape-O-Meter, I think it's broken...........Well I'm off to Santa Maria tomorrow morning. I have two days to train. I usually like to train one day in a row so this two dayer will be pushing the envelope. Speaking of envelopes the October Nationals entries will be going out in the mail a few days after Santa Maria. I'm happy to hear that my main competition will not be able to make Friday/Saturday practice...........too bad. I know Ernie's weaknesses and I have an idea of Hadfield's handicaps so I'm going to have to do some whining to get the track set up just for me!  Alls fair in love and motocross right? I can see a couple of cops taking a sick day or two all of the sudden...............I won't be surprised if I see Officer Hadfield in his LAPD helicopter flying over the track either. Yeah that's what he does for a living. Sounds fun doesn't it? It's 10pm I better start packing. See ya on California's Central Coast..................e

8-20-04    With a little over a week to go before we meet for all the marbles in Santa Maria I went into 50% training mode. I would go into full mode but I would hate to peak too soon. Today I did some laps at Starwest. I actually felt pretty good and seemed to have some endurance. I spent the day doing a mental riding school. I've been to a few schools and have learned a lot but as time goes on I begin to get lazy and not do what I have learned. Today I just kept my head into it and relearned a lot. One thing I noticed was that I was too far back on the seat in the corners. Once I got up on the tank I was able to do much better. I tell you this because I know that Dan Hadfield and Ernie Kopasz read the journal and I need to plant a little doubt in their heads. There's only one thing worse than losing to a cop..........losing to two cops! I will start FULL training mode on Thursday. That should be plenty of time to peak...........Earlier this week Mike Leckliter stopped by the station, he's still off work with a fractured clavicle. We were supposed to do our weigh in a couple of weeks ago but I kind of fell off the wagon last week and wasn't ready. I was nervous that he might want to pull a surprise weigh in. I mean that's the way he is. Today on the way home from the Star Mike and I met for lunch at El Pollo Loco. He had me order first then he pulled a dirty move and got a salad. And I thought this was a gentlemen's weight loss competition.  Frankie Lowers is making a come back during the Santa Maria rounds, he will be riding 40+ Intermediate as my teammate on a Factory FirePoliceMX.com RM 250. This is his home track and he has specific instructions.............There is no "I" in TeAM................But there is an "e"...................e

8-18-04    Someone back East says "Why don't he write?" (Dances with Wolves). I just got busy ok. I was planning on going riding today but things just keep coming up so I'll have to put it off until another day. Looking at the calendar, there's not much time left before Santa Maria and a guy sitting in the 16.1st shape of his life can't expect to sweep all six motos and steal the championship from a guy like Dan Hadfield. WAIT A MINUTE..... being of the male species, nothing is impossible right? I mean as kids we all thought we were Superman until we made a cape and jumped off the roof......remember?   Hummm? "I just can't have NO in my heart" (Joe Dirt). Two days ago I did a Jumping Jack, yesterday I did a Burpie. Today I'm thinking about throwing a combo, maybe a sit up with a sprint to the freezer. I'm telling you...this exercise stuff isn't that bad. Get off the couch, throw a surprise Jumping jack and sit down. Those around you will be impressed by your intensity and motivation. In no time you'll be doing combo's too. I'm planning on coming out with an exercise video soon. "The Shape-O-Meter Beater". It's a HOW TO video with cameo a appearance by Ed Niemela (How to mix milk with your ice cream to make it a protein snack). Other features include: "How to rig your scale to show 10lbs lighter" and "Diet Coke the great equalizer"........ There are a lot of Shape-O-Meter secrets out there, to find out about them all.....You need to buy the book...............eDub 

8-10-04    Another hot one at the Star yesterday, at 2pm the temp was up to 105*. Many FPMXers braved the scalding weather to earn a few points towards that lower National Number. The Santa Maria rounds of the Summer Series will be a welcomed break from the heat. We will go with the popular vote and give DOUBLE points at the last two rounds on the Central coast of Southern California. It will be a little gift for those who make the trip..........Yesterday was the first time on the bike since round 3. I really wanted to do well but it was not meant to be. I ended up going 4-3-3 for third but mostly because of the carnage around me on the track. I should have probably finished fifth. This time I escaped w/o any bodily gnarlation and I won't have to replace any parts on my RM............ I figure that I have three weeks to get tint the best shape of my forties. That's not really too much of a reach since I've been out of any type of shape for a while now.  So I have a decision to make, when I'm done writing this journal entry do I go jogging or go to the refrigerator? I swear that is a tougher battle for me to fight than watching Dan and Ernie pulling away after a lap or two. I guess that vision in my head of those two Donut eaters has to be the motivation. I wish I didn't like those guys, it would be way easier do keep the spoon out of the Dreyers. Speaking of spoons, we have three sizes to ponder while eating ice cream. We have the tea spoon, the table spoon and the mini shovel spoon which is a mouth full. The proper choice would be the mid sized table spoon. The sweet nectar should be hand packed in a mid sized coffee cup with a handle large enough for two or more fingers...And that's how easy is is to get out of shape. Over the coarse of several shifts at the Fire Station one can gain up to three points on a personal "Shape-O-Meter". I know for many that that's a hard fact to swallow but a fact indeed............Cream or exercise, cream or exercise?.............e

8-7-04    I'm a caged animal, a coiled spring waiting to get on my bike. I'm in the Fire Station right now just thinking moto. Today we watched the Washougal National, I was there and left before the racing really got going but I enjoyed the heck out of seeing it on TV. I know that deserves an "L" on my forehead and I'll accept that....I'm a loser for leaving that beautiful track so early. Did you see Tortelli riding my bike out there? The dude was flying. I wish I had some of that corner speed...........I am sitting here laughing, I get such a kick out of you guys. I get lots of emails form the FPMXers and one today has me chuckling. Sometimes I like to poke fun at the guys I race against, we are all friends and I mean nothing by it but I just enjoy stirring the pot. I threw that jab at Ernie Kopasz about having cruise control on his Yamaha on 8-5-04 and just sat back and waited..............Ernie is one to let me have it back and that's what makes picking on him so much fun. Anyway he throws a jab back and I can't stop giggling. I swear it's like fishing....I throw out a line and sit and wait. Only with Ernie it's like one of those fish farms where you can't help but catch a fish on every cast. You know the one where you take your kid the first time he ever fishes and then he's ruined for life because he expects a fish every time he happens to get the bait wet. Well here is Ernie's email to me:

Dear Dr. Fatkins:  What is worse...being a 16.3 on my shape-o-meter or not getting to ride cause I actually have to work?? No, wait...I know what is worse...getting my ass handed to me by some donut eating gunslinger who is older than me and rides blue. Nevermind...sorry I bothered you Dr. F.!!!
See you Monday.
hehehehehe, EK

Ho ho hee hee haw haw, Ok EK meet me at the big oak at sun down (Translation: Let's go have some fun at the Star on Monday). Oh guess who's coming back for round 4 in the 40+ Int class? Should be more fun than ever.....................e

8-5-04    I'm frustrated right now, I spent the entire day buying a new car for my wife, Sue. It was not that big of a deal because I knew I had tomorrow (Friday) to get my bike ready for Round 4 and sneak out to the Star for an evening ride to learn the new layout.........Ring Ring Ring........Hello, Ed do you want to work tomorrow? No.....If you don't we will have to recall somebody.....Alright I'll be there in the morning...DANG, I have to work Saturday for a buddy on vacation too. This is the first time in several years that I will be going to a race with ZERO practice. I'm not a fan of the no practice approach to racing motocross but I guess I'll have to do it this time. I just can't give the series to a cop ya know.........I told Sue "Let's get in and out, I hate buying cars" I have things to do after all. Sales managers, credit reports, the guy dresses like Mr. Rogers, signing your name a thousand times........I hate it. Now buying a motocrosser is easy, two stroke or four stroke? Blue, Red, Green or Yellow? 125 class or 250 class? THAT'S IT! There is no guy trying to sell you a service plan. There is no guy offering you five hundred upgrades. I mean bikes don't have power windows, sun roofs, roof racks, running boards, anti lock brakes, alloy wheels, 6 disc cd changers, power seats, cruise control (although you would think Ernie Kopasz's YZ's have that option), Air conditioning, etc. Bikes are just bikes, they all start the same then we do the upgrades as we want them and at the end no two bikes are the same. I always fall in love with my bikes, I hate to sell then but when the new models come out it just feels old. Time to start again. We usually buy from the same shop we bought our last bike from. And there aren't six guys with nylon slacks, long sleeve dress shirts with clip on ties chasing you down in the parking lot at your bike dealer either. I can't wait to get my new ride, don't really know why because I love my Yellow two stroke 250 class bike.........I hope everybody got plenty of practice for the race Monday..........Oh, Ernie, sorry about that crack about the cruise control thing, I'm just still bitter form you spanking me last race..............e

8-4-04    Today was the day that Mike Leckliter and I were to have the weigh off. Well Mike is home with a fractured clavicle so we postponed the official weigh off until the first day we are both at work together. The weigh off should go down in about a month. Unbeknownst to Mike I stepped on the "OFFICIAL" scale today and to my surprise I dropped 9 pounds. NINE! They must have some type of diet double cheese burgers in the Northwest. I don't get it but something is working. I've been trying to take a drink of my 44oz Diet Coke within the allotted 5 seconds after each bite of the double cheeser to counteract it's fattening effect on the kidney belt area. It must be working........I call it the "Fatkins Diet"............... MXDonations .com is going to help support Jessica Snyder with her racing effort. Check out their link on the front page of this website. They take in donations of Moto stuff and sell it on ebay, 100% of the proceeds go towards racers. They have a select few racers they support and they are going to start helping Jess. Please bring any unwanted moto stuff to the race at Starwest on Monday and I will box it all up and ship it to MXDonations.com. I have a bunch of stuff around the house that I will send..........Tomorrow I will try to get the RM 250 in race shape so I can attempt to open a can of whoop___ on my fellow 40+ Intermediate brothers on Monday night......until next time.........Dr. Fatkins

8-3-04    Twenty five hundred miles for two motos and I wasn't riding in them. It was a long drive from San Diego to Portland and back, lucky for me I had my buddies with me......The Flock of Seagulls, Wham and the Bay City Rollers..............OK,  not really, I listened toVan Halen (not Van Hagar), Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent etc. Jessica raced one moto on Saturday and moto 2 on Sunday. In moto 1 she rode like a girl and finished 10th but in moto 2 she rode hard and was aggressive but the bike over heated, losing lots of power. The bike lost a large amount of coolant. Jessica finished 11th in moto 2. After moto 2 Jessica was off to Nashville, Tn. for Loretta Lynn's practice the next morning, I washed the RMZ then took it over to Bikesellerz.com so it could be shipped back east for her remaining 3 Nationals. I packed the F250 and hit the long road for home. I saw the start of the first 125 moto, watched for a few minutes and was over it. I had very little interest in the outcome. I figured that Bubba and Ricky would sweep the motos......I found out that they did. Anyway it might sound sack religious to drive all the way to Washougal, be at the track with an all access pass and leave before the first 125 moto was over. I think I have just been on the road too much this year. I've seen a lot of races and frankly just want to be the rider not the watcher (or wrenching for # 12). I'm looking forward to the last three Summer Series events. I haven't even been on my bike since the last race at Starwest. My bike is still down and I don't even own a helmet anymore......What is going on? The more you get into this sport the less you get to ride. It's a bummer but it's a fact. I was talking to Jeff the AMA Official and he was complaining about the same thing. He hasn't ridden in a long time, he said he rides a couple of times a year now. Too many cheese burgers on the road bumped me up .4 on the Shape-O-Meter but I can remedy that in a day or two.............I'm starting to work on some things for next year, It will be way different from this year. I hope to make it a little more "Guy with a real job" friendly and fun. Oh well bed time here in the 760. Back to the grind tomorrow, my next day and only day on the bike since round 3 will be race day at the Star.............Looks like I'll be chasing Ernie and Dan again.............e

7-27-04    I'm still hackin' and coughin' but I know someday, hopefully soon, I'll be done with this cold. The zook just sits in the garage wondering If I will ever get her fixed up. She's sitting there without a number plate and also a bent but not broken ASV cluch lever. I called Robert over at ASV and he is going to fix it up for me. ASV stands behind their stuff. My RENTHAL Twinwalls were rotated forward in the clamps about 6 inches but unbent. Quality.......My bike will sit for another week, lonely, neglected and wondering where I went off to. Well I'll be making the second annual drive to Washougal for the National. We have Jessica Snyder and Tommy Harrison both racing through the pine trees there just across the Oregon border in beautiful Washougal, Washington. I'm tempted to bring the yellow two stroke and race amateur day but duty calls, Jessica needs a mechanic and that will be me this weekend............So I was doing some thinkin' today when all of the sudden I realized that we are just over two months away from the October National. Man the year is flying by, we'll be at the Glen in no time. Which also means that I need to get the 2005 schedule set soon. It also means that the 2005 bikes will be hitting the showroom floors very soon. It's an exciting time of year for us moto geeks. Those magazine guys have it made, they get to ride them all then tell us what to get.   Well I'll talk to ya'll from the road.....Road trip!................e

7-20-04    I just spent the last two days with customers less sick than I am, all except for the guy we were doing CPR on last night. My truck (Quint) rotation was here and I was looking forward to some down time at the station. But with So Cal burning I ended up on the engine and moved out of Rosemead to the high desert communities of Palmdale and Lancaster. It's a different clientele up there and a way busy area. We went from call to call to call all day. Around 3pm we stopped at an AM PM mini market to get something to drink. While leaving the store with my 44oz Diet Dr. Pepper (hard to find these days in a fountain drink), I stepped around two transient looking guys only to hear "Hey Ed".....I was far from home, must be for another Ed. "Dude you're looking beat, were you on the fires?" No it wasn't one of the transients but a guy walking up in an FPMX T-Shirt, It was Dave Mason (40+ Intermediate) from the CDC. I explained to him that I was sick, we talked a little while then we were on the road running calls again. A few hours later we were looking for a place to eat dinner when we were passed by a Ford 4x4 with a Dirt Chik sticker in the rear window. Dirt Chik is a new company that has been supporting Jessica Snyder and is owned by a friend of mine. I pulled up to the girl driving the pickup and had her roll down her window. I asked where she got the Dirt Chik sticker....."My husband got it at the FirePolice race" she said. I think she thought that I was trying to pickup on her and rolled her window up and split. As my body aches continued while coughing and blowing my nose, I drove the fire engine thinking that this is a pretty small world we live in. 10:30 in the evening when we rolled down the hill, I was never so happy to see Rosemead as I was last night. I caught a few hours in the rack before being vomited on by the Rosemeadian we were doing CPR on.........I was happy, I was home again........e

7-17-04    I'm under the weather, I feel like crap but "You gotta keep on keepin' on" as Joe Dirt would say. Remember that gook I said I had in my throat after my first moto last Monday? Well it's still there and now I have a cough, sinus headache and some body aches to go with it. How come when people are feeling good they don't say "I'm feeling above the weather?"................I was thinking about this "Shape-O-Meter" and some guys, like Mark Davenport for instance have probably dropped below the 10th best shape of his life. I remember talking to Mark online a few years ago when he was training for the World Games..........training? I thought.....What?...Really?....Maybe I should put down the Cookies N Cream and go jog or something. I've only trained a few times in my life for motocross, actually twice where I took it seriously and both times I had tremendous results. It seems like the older I get the less I want to train but maybe, just maybe I should be training more. Oh I have spurts, train for a week then slip back to sneakin' Cream while Leckliter is up in the office at work, yes I've caught him doing the same thing a few times. I am still down 6 lbs. since I started the weight loss contest with Mike Leckliter, I'm hoping that being under the weather for a few days curbs my appetite. If all goes well Mike will sit in front of the TV drinking beer while waiting for the clavicle to heal and I will win the contest. I know that I won't get a medal for it but a win is a win. My "Shape-O-Meter" has dropped to 18 but mostly due to this cold/flu thing I have going on, I hope to be somewhere around 16 in a week...........eDub

7-15-04    Well we got through Round 3 of the Summer Series. We had one casualty, Mike Leckliter was injured in a practice crash early in the day. Mike ended up with a fractured right clavicle and a grade 3 concussion but will recover 100%. I don't know what a grade 3 concussion is but Mike was foggy for several hours. Mike's wife,  Joann was so tired of the repetitive questions that she wrote down all the answers on a dry erase board and propped it up in front of him..............I'm glad we have a month between rounds this time, I need the recovery time. My body is sore, mostly on the left side from my crash with John DuBrava.......My fault, sorry John. I felt it today while playing basketball, little things that I didn't even know were hurt like the top of my left foot, my left forearm and also some bruising on my arm above the elbow..... Would that be my fivearm? Also the left side of my jaw has a little pain but nothing that won't heal in a short time.........I remember my semi retirement from Moto a few years ago, my body felt great, no aches, no pains and guess what?...I had a frown too. Now that I can feel several aches and pains when I get up out of a chair or roll out of bed in the morning I am so much happier. Now there is a purpose and reason to try to keep, or should I say get into some type of shape. The "Shape-O-Meter" is there to remind me to get off my butt and do something. I dropped from the 16th best shape of my life to the 17.5th in just over a week. It's so hard to stay in shape now-a-days. Well if it was easy everybody would look like Dan Hadfield......................e

7-11-04    It's been a hard week here at FirePoliceMX World Headquarters, the FPMX Lap top was acting up and all of the sudden..................nothing. It locked up. After talking to Toshiba and getting some free info out of them (they were trying to charge me $35 an hour to talk to me). I was able to, with the help of my son, run the recovery disc and get a brand new four year old computer. In order to run this website I needed to load Microsoft Front Page again..................Well I couldn't find it. I looked  E V E R Y W H E R E. I finally broke down and went to BEST BUY to get an updated version. It's ridiculous how much a little disc of plastic can cost. Anyway I got home and tried to load it on my 4 year old machine only to find out that it didn't have enough memory to run the program................To make a long story short I have a new computer and a new program and I'm trying to figure this whole thing out. So if you are reading this then I finally figured it out.................Tomorrow is round 3 of the Summer Series and all I can think about is getting spanked by Dan Hadfield in Moto 3 a couple of weeks ago. With only one day to ride since the last race my confidence is low. Good thing I'm riding an RM 250...............Today we had a family party and I got into an eating frenzy, I feel like a patrolman with an all you can eat Winchell's pass. I'm afraid that I might drop to the 16th BSOML by tomorrow. I sure hope not. Well it's kind of late and I'm kind of tired so I better let you go. See ya at the Star tomorrow................e

7-07-04    I was ready to do the regular Monday at the Star thing but remembered that it was a holiday. I try not to go anywhere on holiday weekends. The last time I did was a trip to Lake Havasu on Memorial day several years ago.........Bad mistake. I waited until today to hit the track. It was my first ride since Round 2, the track was basically empty except for a few FPMXers getting some track time and a few poor souls who wish they were FPMXers. I normally don't fall, in fact the last time I went down before today I broke my scapula. Today I took two soil samples and I was happy to do it (only because I didn't get hurt). I was trying to shave a few seconds off my lap times for Round 3. Both spills were in the same corner, it's right after the small double where Pixie got hurt, a couple of corners before the finish line. Once I was pinned under the bike and needed help to get free. I did that section over and over and only did it right once. But that one time made my day. It felt so awesome, I wish I could do every corner like that, every lap. I guess that's what makes the difference between being a human and being Ricky Carmichael............I'm still working on the diet thing, it's been a couple of weeks now and I am happy to report,.....FINALLY!!!!!!!, that I dropped 6 lbs...........I'm still at 16 but am planning to be in the 15.5th best shape of my life by Monday even if I have to breakdown and workout........I sure hope I don't have to do something that drastic.........eDub 

7-01-04    I have to say that this new "Race Report" thing is pretty cool. Every time I check my emails I have a new report and I enjoy reading them. It's pretty cool to hear how much everyone loves racing with the FPMX. It's like you get a chance to get to know these guys and see where their heads are at. The best thing is that I'm finding out that everyone is just as screwed up (obsessed) as I am. What is it with motocrossing with your peers? I know that when I was racing at Perris in the early 90's with a bunch of strangers it just wasn't even close to being as fun as what we had last Monday. I have said it before and I'll say again, the FPMX races are like big family reunions.........Ok hold on a minute.......Ed Niemela is in a WIN - WIN situation here. First he stabs his Fire Station buddy in the back and coaches the competition, a cop no less. If Dan Hadfield does good then Ed is a great coach but if I do good then the reverse psychology worked on me and Ed is a great motivator.............Here's my new plan........Dan try to get a bad start and then just hang back, I'll stay with you and we'll make Fast Eddie Niemela look like a bad coach and a horrible motivator. But if I happen to get a good start don't worry, it was just a mistake and I'll slow down so please don't try to catch me............Last Sunday at work I weighed myself, I lost 2 lbs. Monday morning I weighed again......I found the 2 lbs.......Back to even. Tonight I put on a pair of Levis, they were so tight but I was determined to fit into them............Had to hold my breath and suck the gut in to zip the zipper............It felt like I gained 20 lbs......I was really discouraged........Waist pain........We were on our way to Outback Steak House for Sue's birthday.......Should I only have a salad?.........Found out on the way to the restaurant that I had my son's pants on...........No wonder I couldn't breath......encouraged again......ate the Melbourne 20oz. steak for dinner........more pain..........Can't wait for round 3.................e

6-29-04    We put round 2 of the Summer Series in the books. I personally had a blast. The weather was perfect, no June gloom and not too hot either, it was sweatshirt weather when the sun went down. The racing went pretty good, Pam (Pixie) Watkins traveled from Arizona on her honeymoon to race. I don't know what her new last name is but she married a good guy who was racing for his first time. Pam took a header over a small double and was transported to the hospital. I heard her tell her new hubby "Go ahead and finish your last moto them come and get me".........Sounds like a good marriage already.........I decided to make a new place to waste time here on FirePoliceMX.com, it's called "Race Report". It's a place to post your thoughts and experiences of the races. Just email me your report and I'll post it. I wish I could watch all the races but usually end up recuperating from the previous moto or working on the bike, talking to someone or whatever but miss most of the action. So let's here about your experiences in "Race Report". Sue and I are working on the STORE to get it up and running again. She will handle everything so it should run smooth. Look for it in July...........Hey that diet thing is a travesty, a sham and a mockery..........It's a traveshamockery. I still haven't lost a pound. I've been a good boy, the crew at work last shift had Root Beer floats and I had water.........What gives? Although I did feel better racing last night, actually way better. I really never got to that point where I needed to slow down to survive, I was able to race to the finish and that felt good........Believe me it's been a few years since I was able to go 100% to the checkered flag. It seems like the closer I get to the fifteenth best shape of my life the harder it is to make progress. I mean it was nothing to go from 19th to 17th, I can do that in a few days but from there to 15 has been a challenge. Right now I sit at 15.5 and will be shooting for 15th by Round 3........Well I better go, there's a rice cake calling my name...........e

6-23-04   Ok it's been over a week now, I've been doing pretty good with the diet. I have been exercising and trying to stay away from the nectar known as ice cream..........Thing is I haven't lost one pond.......NOT ONE! First Fast Eddie Niemela turns on me now the temple known as my body pulls a fast one. Let's see........Eat everything in sight including ice cream and pie for breakfast, sit in a recliner only exercising my index finger on the remote or eat chalky tasting protein bars and sweat like a pig working out..............Ok I'll give it some more time. I actually feel better but am discouraged by the reading on the scale. Anyway I'm still shooting for the fifteenth best shape of my life by race time next week...................I tried to signup for the California Fireman's Olympics yesterday. The race is a month away and I was denied. Signups are closed. The event chairman was pretty cool and wished he could get more entries but those in charge of the Olympics told me "No way, we are not in the registration mode anymore, now we are working on medals and hospitality"..............Dude it's not that hard. I hope you have a really nice hospitality area.................I spent the day working on Jessica's race bike. Her next race is on July 31 & August 1st at Washougal, Washington.  It' kind of weird, I actually enjoyed tinkering on the RMZ all day. I still have a long way to go before the bike is ready but I have time. She won't even ride this bike until we are in Washington..........I really wanted to go to the STAR today but decided it would be a good idea to spend some time at home , I'll go Friday AM after work. Fast Eddie is off duty that day and I'm sure he will be at the track.......Anybody in my class need some pointers? Hey I was just thinking, muscle weighs more than fat........Maybe I just got buffed out in a week........Nope, guess not.  I still have to hold my breath to zip up the AXO's...................e 

6-21-04    Today was STARWEST day. It was a beautiful overcast day and the track was in great shape. Fast Eddie Niemela was there and stepped over the line this time! Dude, you work for L.A. County Fire, we work in the same station..........Why would you work with Dan Hadfield (LAPD) on his suspension and line selection? WHY? Hey Fast Eddie I have to race this guy in a week, I thought we were tight. Good thing I'm in the 16th best shape of my life. Yeah that's right! S I X T E E N ! Leckliter challenged me to that weight loss contest then I notice him cheating. Can you believe that he had the audacity to exercise and eat right? The other day I caught him munching on a salad while I was finishing up the Butter Pecan. Anyway I'm trying to keep pace with him now and it seems to be working. Exercise and a good diet, wow who would have thought?...............e

6-14-04    Another day at the STAR. There were a few minor track changes but basically the track remained the same. I rode with my LAPD buddies Dan Hadfield and Rob Cosner. The track was a bit crowded with school out for the summer. No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks. It's just two weeks until round 2 of the Summer Series. Last round was so fun that I can hardly, barely deal with the wait.........I just got off working 48 hours and on day one it was my choice to pick ice cream flavors. After several years of Fire House living I figured out the system. Yes I could buy my favorite flavor, Cookies and Cream or I could go for a less favorite flavor like Butter Pecan........What would you do? Here's the deal, I love Cookies and Cream but so does everyone else. I had another 24 hours to go......I bought the Butter Pecan. The plan worked, there was plenty on cream left for day two.......It was a perfect plan up until the point where Mike Leckliter challenged me to a weight loss contest. Darn Mike, I bet the Butter Pecan will be there when I go back to work in the morning tempting me to indulge in my 7th favorite flavor.........I'm not going to tell you how much I weighed  but it was only 2 lbs from my record. Some might think that that would put me in the 19th or 20th best shape of my life but I'm actually hovering around the 17th due to all the riding and basketball I have been getting in lately. And with the new weight loss contest I should be at 15 on the 28th..........Speaking of basketball I have a perdition for the NBA Finals......The LAKERS in nine, maybe 10................TOP GUN is the worlds greatest movie. It makes more top ten lists than any other flick. Winner of the contest was Greg Schowen of AMR. There were several guesses including Endless Summer, Breaveheart, Iron Eagle 3, Tombstone, Milo and Otis and Every which way but loose. My favorite movie of all time takes place on a boat called "The Reluctant".........Any guesses?.....................e

6-09-04    I finally got back on the bike again. I went to STARWEST today and had a great time. The park was almost empty, the only FPMNer there besides me was Rick Lindsey. The track was great, that June Gloom stuff is pretty nice. It keeps the track in good shape and doesn't zap all of your energy. I was kind of nervous before I started to ride after reading about the Chads (Jones & Jensen) both getting injured last Monday at the STAR. Hope you boys have a quick and easy recovery. This is a risky business that we are involved in but I wouldn't have it any other way. Last Thursday while laying around the hospital for 24 hours, wondering if I had a bad pump, I had the opportunity to reflect on life, family, motocross, work etc. It's a week later and it's all still on my mind. I feel fortuitous (that means lucky) Yeah I know what it means.............What do you want out of life?..............Oops sorry I got in to Tombstone quoting. Which reminds me, I've been doing a survey over the last few years and came up with what I think is the greatest movie of all time. I have been asking people for their top ten list of movies and there is one movie that is on almost every list, both male and female. It's one of those movies that when you see it on TV you can't turn it. CAN'T! This movie made my top ten but hovers in the lower half of the list. Hint.......It's not Hope Floats, I hated every minute of that movie. In fact the first FPMNer to email me the winner of the survey wins a free hat and t-shirt................eDub out.

6-5-04      Wake up call? hopefully..........Thursday started off like many days, I woke up at 5am and by 5:30am I was off to work with my RM250 in the bed of my F250. I was planning on getting some moto time on the way home from work on Friday.  FPMXer, Pat Scanlon just bid into the station and brought two dozen donuts on his first day. Being on a strict diet I only had a chocolate and a glazed before I stated my cardio workout and a cinnamon twist after. Heck I was in the 17th best shape of my life and could afford to drop the the 18th best shape. Plus they were free (You cops know what I am saying). I still had almost a month before Round 2 of the Summer Series where I would like to be near the 15th best shape of my life.............Before I go any further I would like to add this disclaimer: In High School I played Football and Basketball, I was not a male cheerleader and did not play tuba in the band. Ok moving along.......Remember that skit on Saturday Night Live with Will Farrell and Sheri Oteri where they were the Spartan Cheerleaders? Well I was screwing around doing a Will Farrell impersonation on the apparatus floor after downing donut # 3 when I developed a substernal chest pain radiating to the neck, it was a dull pressure pain rating about a 2 on the 10 scale. I tried to dismiss it as something other than cardiac but I have never felt anything like this before. I told Scanlon ( a medic) and soon I was on Oxygen and aspirin. The pain went away after about 10 minutes. I started the denial thing but the boys convinced me to go to the hospital. When the paramedics asked me the question "What were you doing when the pain started?" A voice from the back said "He was cheerleading". "No really what were you doing?" Another voice spoke "No really, he was cheerleading" (Thanks guys) Soon I was off to the the E.R. After spending the night in the cardiac unit, donating several vials of  MX Positive blood and being in a room with a TV that only had 7 channels, finally I was given a stress eco cardiogram. The doctor was able to get a good look at the inside of my heart and my EKG. He told me that whatever was going on in my chest was not cardiac related........What a relief.........What could it have been?............... Maybe it was the 510 pound crate filled with Jessica's motorcycle, gas can, stand and a ton of clothes that I tried to lift into my truck by myself (using cribbing, a car jack, tie downs, lumber and finally lifting and balancing the crate so Sue could back the truck under the edge of the crate) on Tuesday only to get pinned between it an the tailgate. Lucky for me the UPS guy was driving by, saw my situation and freed me (true story). Maybe it was the donuts? Anyway I decided to get into the 14th best shape of my life by race time and see if I can win a moto or two. By the way I decided to bypass the riding and head home to be with my wife. I'm pushing the limits going to the E.R. four times within the last year. And with all the blood they took and waking me up all hours of the night to take my blood pressure I figured I didn't need to push the envelope and risk another ride to the E.R. while still sporting my Beverly Hospital wristband from the night before..................The wake up call? Well maybe it's time to cut out Dreyers Cookies and Cream for breakfast, maybe only one donut occasionally and time to turn up the training. After all I have a 33" waist living in a 38" body.................Life is good, live it to the fullest............eDub   

6-02-04    I don't really know what to say, I get lot's of emails and several photos sent to me from FPMXers but this one left me speechless. Before you go any further do yourself a favor and check out Chris Cadman's capture of the Beavertail Mullet................I'll wait for you to come back to the journal...................................WOW, what did you think? I never really believed the legend of the Beavertail Mullet but I guess it's twoo, it's twoo.........Round one of the Summer Series was a blast. Maybe it was because I haven't raced since last October or maybe it was the two stroke or maybe it was just because I was racing with my Fire/Police buddies but I had a great time. The track was fun and safe as per usual on race day at Starwest. Malcolm McCassy's crew did a fantastic job of taming and grooming the track for the FPMXers. Note to self: Don't wear tinted goggles in the third moto. I couldn't see the ruts after the sun went down and it made for some interesting (scary) cornering....................I have been noticing a weird phenomenon lately, entire families are drinking out of one cup at fast food restaurants. Today I saw a family of five, each with a burger and fries but only one medium drink between them. Dude with all the backwashing I could barely down my double cheeseburger, biggie fries and biggie Diet Coke (with a refill before leaving). Is this some new dehydration diet or what? .................Friday I get back on the bike, I need to drop about two seconds a lap before June 28th. How do I do that? (A) Drop some lbs. (B) Share a medium soda with strange families. (C) Practice.........I think I'll go with A & C.........I'm looking forward to round 2................e

5-21-04    I'm sitting here watching the Lakers, it's half time and all I can think about is motocross. You would think I've had my fill this year but this time it's not about everyone else. Over the last seven months or so all I have done is pick up bikes, call for parts, drive across the country, fly across the country several times, BBQ, I've been a mechanic, parts driver, bike washer, problem solver, problem maker, blah, blah, blah.........Tuesday night I get to race! I can't get it out of my head. I keep thinking about the holeshot. I haven't had a holeshot in a long time. I'm not a holeshot virgin but I can't really remember the last one. I personally would rather win by working my way forward but that happens less than holeshots for me. I won one moto last year. It was at Starwest, round 1 of the Summer Series, moto1. When I came off the track Tracy Garcia (Ross' mom) said that I had a freight train behind me. She also told me that I was a lot faster the last time she saw me race (1992). The excitement of that moto win lasted about 30 seconds, just long enough to get the checkered flag and ride to the pits to get the good news from Tracy. I remember blocking for the last couple of laps. I was so tired but a win is a win. Well if we're going to have another freight train at the track this week I hope to be the conductor and not the guy in the caboose..............the "e" train 

5-20-04    Last year I saw Brad Hannig drop a brand new helmet on purpose at Perris Raceway. He said is was a superstitious thing. I thought it was a bad move, why would you want to scratch a perfectly good helmet? I never really bought into the superstitious thing until today. It was kind of weird, I was at Starwest preparing for the start of the Summer Series and while getting dressed I picked up one of my EVS knee braces, it was the right side brace. I immediately put it down and grabbed my left brace. I have no idea why but I always put on my left brace first. I never realized it until today. The more I think about it I guess I am superstitious, I didn't watch game 3 of the Lakers vs San Antonio series because I knew if I didn't watch it that the Lakers would win. I didn't listen either and it was driving me crazy but I had to sacrifice for the boys. The Lakers won and then went on to win the next three games and take the series 4-2. Like my existence has anything to do with the NBA. I wish I knew of some superstitious thing that would help me win next Tuesday evening but I don't. I think it's got more to do with talent, desire, practice and luck. Not to mention a good start. One thing that is bugging me is that game three of the Western Conference Championship between the Lakers and Minnesota is next Tuesday while we are racing at Starwest. Maybe I can get some karma by not watching that game and win, I can guarantee that the Lakers won't be watching me race. Does it work that way? I don't know, I'm new to this superstitious thing. Rob Harper did you watch game seven between the Kings and the Timber wolves? Bad move............Zen Master e 

5-18-04    Well it's been a while, We had a good time at Havasu, lot's of R & R and WaveRunning. Sue and I drove home Friday morning and then I was off to Hangtown with Jessica's bike. I put 800 miles on the F250 that day. It's been a weird week, it's been a weird season. First off Team FirePoliceMX.com and Jeremy Chaussee have decided to part ways. It was the best situation for both parties and there are no hard feelings. I wish Jeremy the best of luck in the Nationals. Next thing...... Daton Beavers decided to take some time off the bike  to get things right. Daton had two concussions over a short period of time and has not been himself for a while. So at this point we are down to one rider, Jessica Snyder. Ok back to Hangtown........Jessica had a bad day. We don't know why but sometimes that happens. It defiantly wasn't the same Jessica I saw last week at Glen Helen. We will be working on that. Today we rode at Starwest and worked on starts, I saw some major improvement during the short time we spent on the start straight. The thing you can't teach is heart and I saw that in Jessica last week at the Glen...............Today the first time that I started to feel comfortable on the 2 stroke. I have been recovering from fourstrokeitis. That's a disease where you get lazy and forget to shift. Your riding style has been infected and it takes time to get back to health. Fourstrokeitis is bad but there is hope it's called two cycle therapy.........The one good thing about four strokes is Ultimate 4 racing fuel by VP. If Vidal Sassoon came out with an Ultimate 4 perfume there would be no need for all those dating shows on the WB Network. Any woman wearing it would be a 10. That stuff smells awesome and rivals the smell of synthetic two stroke exhaust. Yet another perfume idea...........Well I'll see ya'll Tuesday evening at the Star and at FSA (Four Strokes Anonymous) on Friday, our regular weekly  meeting.............e

5-08-04    Today was the opening round of the Women's Motocross Association (WMA) National Championship Series. It was at Glen Helen and the track was laid out like the AMA Nationals with the big up hills and down hills. Jessica has been doing a ton of PR work for the team and now it was finally her time to do some racing. She was relatively calm going into her first National of the year. A poor start in moto one put her in the back of the pack. One by one Jess worked her way forward and on the white flag lap made an awesome pass on the long down hill moving into sixth. I was very proud of her fighting forward the entire moto and never losing a position. She was very disappointed in her performance but I was very impressed and proud of  her. Moto two had Jessica with much better start but still buried a bit in the pack. After restarting the Suzuki RMZ 250 due to a stall Jess was again flying down the steep long down hill when she hit a braking bump and ended up on the ground. It was a pretty horrific crash, but she walked away with back pain and a major headache. The RMZ was tweaked too badly to continue and her day was over. Again Jessica was disappointed with her performance. She's a hard charger and someone to lookout for in the WMA Series. Daton and Jeremy had warm up motos today and open their National Series next week at Hangtown. Hangtown will also be round 2 of the WMA Series. I'll get back to you in a week, until then..............eDub out. 

5-03-04    It was hotter than a jalapeno today at STARWEST. Between arm pump and fatigue, I rode like a sandbagging beginner under the watchful eye of Dennis Romero. I have half lap speed right now so I have to make a huge decision......Do we cut the laps from 6 to 1/2 or do I train?.........The path of least resistance says that a 1/2 lap moto would be the best option. If I could just get back to the 18th best shape of my life we might do whole lap motos.......Remember we are doing a three moto format. That would be three laps in one day! I'm already feeling the pain. Shortly after leaving the track today I decided to go on a diet. I would start right after I finished the large dipped cone at DQ..........Round 1 is three weeks from tomorrow......Crap! I guess I better start training in the morning.........Ed

5-02-04    Well we made it through the Supercross season. To be honest with you we might of bit off more than we could chew but we chewed it anyway. We're still chewing and learning a heck of a lot along the way. It didn't always taste that good either but there was some sweet times. All in all it was a good experience. We're getting ready to take a huge bite out of the Nationals. Mmmmm..........Over the years I have learned that driving home from Las Vegas on Sunday is a bad thing but today we left a little before 7am and it was a breeze. Sue and Jessica slept the whole way and it gave me a chance to just drive and think........Mind was a blank again. Actually I did some thinking on next year's SX team. Lots to think about........I'm trying to get into racing shape. I've been hitting the STAR as often as I can. Last Thursday the arm pump thing presented it's ugly head again. So I just concentrated on learning some sections of the track that I was afraid to do. I got two of them down now but I heard Daton Beavers was out there on a dozer making some changes on Friday. With my luck it will be the sections I just learned.............I stalled my 2 stroke last week and just popped the clutch and all I heard was Waaaappppp, getting off the four stroke was the best move I've ever made. The 98% of you guys on four strokes need to list your bikes on Bikesellerz.com asap. Don't continue to be taken in by the Dark Side............e Dub U

4-27-04    Ed Niemela sent me a picture that he took of me at STARWEST last week. It's the one at the top of this page right now. Am I getting old or what? What's with all the gray hair? I first started turning gray when I was 19 years old and figured by the time I was 30 I would be fully gray. I'm 45 years old now and still holding out a bit. I have a few black ones up there. In 1989 when I started the FPMX (then FPMN), I was 30 years old. Back then we only had a few 40+ riders (4 or 5) and I thought they were really old. In fact that class was called the "Old Timers". I never thought I never thought I would be that old, I mean that was ancient. When I started to get close to forty I felt a need to change the name of the Old Timers class to the 40+ class. I also never imagined racing a motorcycle at age fifty but now I'm kind of looking forward to fifty because it's a new start, a chance to be a kid again. I get to be the youngest guy in my class once more. That is what is so great about motocross and competition. We always have something to look forward to. I've taken a few breaks over the years from racing, usually due to injury. Twice I decided to hang it up for good and good only lasted 3 years. Now I know that I can't stay away from the sport, I don't know what it is but something always brings me back. At STARWEST on Monday Dan Hadfield and I sized up a triple jump. We did some practice approaches then tried to bust it. We both came up short but there was something about the thrill of the challenge. Next week I'll do it. I just have to figure out how to keep my corner speed up. Like I said there is always something to look forward to in motocross. I'm looking so forward to Round one of the Summer Series next month. It's great to see old friends and make new memories at he track.................eDub  

4-20-04    Jessica and I went to STARWEST today to do some riding. It was a typical day, her mid pipe mount broke and a small hole in the pipe melted a hole in her air box. We drove to Daton's house to get a mid pipe off his parked RMZ and we were back riding. On the way home we stopped at a car wash to pressure wash the bikes. I put the quarters in and turned to get the nozzle but Jess already had it and washed the bikes.......cool. As we were leaving these two guys drove up and asked if I wanted the body damage on my F250 repaired and ready for new paint. I have been wanting to do this for a long time but am too busy to leave my truck anywhere for too long to get it worked on. When they said that they would do it in my driveway, it would be done today and the price was right, I said "Alright lunger, let's do it". They followed us home. On the way Jessica said "Ed you can't say no" "Yes I can" "No you can't"........"I should have said no when you asked to be on the team" "You begged me to be on the team" "Nuh uh" "Yeah huh"........."So". Well anyway we get home and low and behold I walk in the house and hear....."Sue you won't believe what Ed just did"...........I swear, they love to gang up on me. Then Sue starts to tell of the time she came home from work to our first apartment and found a Sparklets Bottled Water dispenser next to the Arrowhead Bottled Water dispenser...........e                    Ps......................NO! 

4-09-04    Sue read my last journal entry and said that I asked the stupidest question of all at the Nationals. "Sue are you having fun?" Her answer at the time was....."Uh NO!". She's not much into Motocross, dust, heat and sweat, I kind of dragged her into the moto life but she's there to support my habit. Yesterday while taking a break from the WaveRunners on a sandy beach between Needles and Havasu City on the Colorado river I asked the same question........Answer......Uh YEAH! "You really like this?" I asked........."I love it!" So I got to thinking..........maybe she'll like a quad. I mean it's like a WaveRunner but on land, Seat, handlebars, stable.......hummmm. "Sue want a quad?".........Uh NO!.......Another stupid question I guess........I can't wait to get back on the bike. I kid you not, it's all I think about. I think that being off the bike for a while has given me an attitude adjustment. I just want to ride. If all goes right I will be riding on Monday somewhere in the Inland Empire....Probably Starwest. I just need to get the bike put back together in time. I'm so looking forward to the Summer Series. We just added two dates to that series in Santa Maria......August 30-31. It will be a six round series and should be the best yet.............. If you need a new helmet click on the M2R logo on the front page.....deal! Well time for bed, work in the AM.............Sue asked me yesterday morning if I wanted sunscreen on............Answer.....Uh NO!...........WRONG ANSWER...............dub

4-03-04    We decided that there were no stupid questions but here is one I have never heard until last Monday at the Nationals. "Ed what side of the gate is gate 1 and which side is gate 2?" Five minutes later I was asked the exact same question. Which brings us to the First time beginner class. I bet these two guys have never raced before and I would also be willing to bet that they are hooked now. I'm glad they asked that question. Sometimes we do something for so long that we take for granted all the stuff we learned along the way. Go talk to some non-moto people and drop the line "Dude I railed the berm and almost got stuffed but squared it off and then hit a kicker on the face of the step up, almost ate it but made the pass stick". How about...."I think my rear end is too soft"......."Try the buns of steel workout". Ever have a computer problem and call the computer geek for help? "Hi my computer isn't working" "What's wrong with it?" "It's not working" "What's it doing?" "Nothing, it's not working"........I don't have a clue what to say to them. Then they start asking me questions and using some foreign sounding words like gigabite or hardrive, it's easier to throw the thing in the dumpster and go to Best Buy. Motocross has a language of it's own. I have been riding all of my like but I don't have words to tell you how I feel right now. I'll give it a try......Elated, excited, ecstatic, giddy, good, gonzo...no, Double Live Gonzo..........You see I just brought home a 2004 Suzuki RM250 and I cannot wait to ride it............soon...........ECW 

3-27-04    We discussed this topic about a year or two ago but I feel the need to bring it up again. Yes we are talking about stupid questions. "There is no such thing as a stupid question" my teachers would always say. Still I found it easier to wait until after class and ask a friend, I didn't want to look like a goon in front of the everyone.........So I'm with a group of friends the other day and one of the guys (Mark) says that he is going to Ohio this summer to visit relatives. Being an almost Ohio local (two trips to race the Ohio FPMX), I asked what city was he visiting. I don't remember what town he said but I have never heard of it so I asked what big city was it near. I was wondering if it was near New Philadelphia. "Cleveland" was the answer. I think Cleveland is up near one of those "Great Lakes". (HOMES). Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie & Superior, but I don't know which one. Another friend (I won't reveal his name) says "Oh you are going to Ohio, do you know Marty Garrison?"........Ok let's face it, that is a stupid question! I mean come on, the guy lives in California, he's visiting a relative in some Podunk town in the middle of nowhere in a state 2400 miles away. Give me a break. I just sat there and shook my head. I started thinking of all the questions that I get asked around race time and none of them are in the same league as "Do you know Marty Garrison?" I get stuff like "What time is my moto?" (after the moto before yours) , How many people are in my class? (wait until signups are over and check the board), "Can I race First time beginner class?" (Have you ever raced before?"), Do we need numbers on our quads?' (?), I don't really have words for that one.......As these thoughts were racing through my heard I heard the words that made made a believer in the "There are no stupid questions theory".................."Marty Garrison, that's my cousin"........I stopped shaking my head, turned and just walked away. I'll you see you guys Sunday night, ask whatever you want.................e

3-22-04    Well boys and girls we are only a week away from round 1 of the FPMX Nationals. Are you ready? The Glen gets rough, have you been there testing? How is your suspension? The Glen is a suspension track you know. I'm sure going to miss racing this round. I wish I could but I have to pass on this one and just do the promoting thing. There is nothing that makes you want to race like sitting on the sidelines watching your buddies race.......I went riding at Starwest the other day. I was fortunate enough to have a friend loan me my old bike (CRF 450). I had a great time riding but it is so frustrating to know how it feels to ride and not be able to do it. I felt like a fish out of water. It's been a while since I tried to go fast. Last time I rode I tried it for a couple of laps but that was on an RM250 that was set up for Supercross. I figured it was the suspension holding me back.....Not! It was me. You see the CRF has my suspension set up still as it was when I sold it. Fact is I need to work on my riding skills big time before the Summer Series. Here's my thoughts on the CRF450 vs the RM250. If I was to buy today I would buy the two stroke and probably will soon. I have always ridden them and feel way more at home with the power delivery. Also the stalling thing........I hate stalling the 4 stroke in a race. It seems like I only do it during racing conditions. It's funny how things have changed over the last few years with everyone going to the 4 stroke. Sure was nice not mixing the gas and oil for a year. Now my lawn mower needs to get use to pre mix again. Alright Brothers and sisters we'll see you in a week. Watch out for Black Thursday! Seriously, don't try to develop into a way better rider in one day. Just work on your skills a bit and bike set up. Then go home and get the ride ready for the Nationals. See you in a week.........e 

3-17-04    I made the pass and this one stuck. How in the heck can a little tiny pebble thing with a few spikes bring a man to his knees. The key to dealing with the stones is to hyperventilate until the lips, fingers and toes go numb, soon after you pass out. Did it twice! Note: Make sure you are lying on the floor  first..........St Louis was a bad week for the team, we blew up 3 RMZ 250 motors in practice. Not good............ The body is back feeling pretty good, the five days of pain meds finally worked it's way out of the system. I need to start getting ready for the Summer Series but I lost my ride last week, Tommy Harrison needed the RM 250 I was riding as he is getting ready to make a return to Supercross. Mike Leckliter offered me his CR 450 to ride......hhhmmmmm. I might just have to take him up on it. Mike is busy in training and that's my old bike. Mike said the suspension and everything is still as it was when I sold it to him. Perfect.......Thanks Mike, I'll fix what I break, if I break anything............e   

3-12-04    Kidney Stones! I have a new respect for pain. After ten broken bones, a blown out knee, a torn off chin and four surgeries requiring intubations, I have never, ever felt pain like that of this little tiny stone making it's way from my right kidney to my bladder. I have made some good passes over the years, Marquez @ De Anza in '89 (sorry for the broken rib Steve), Joe Benson @ Perris in '01 for the moto win, John Mittendorf on the long uphill @ the Fireman's Olympics '02 and several others but my greatest pass of all will be when I pass this kidney stone. I would rather give birth. My contractions are lasting up to 2 hours with the pain meter bouncing between the 9 and 10 mark. I tried that he he hoo hoo breathing thing they teach delivering mothers but it didn't work. Yeah I might be cutting down on the Diet Cokes. I cancelled my trip to the St. Louis Supercross, I just couldn't see myself laying in the isle of the American Airlines 747 moaning and groaning. Ok enough on the stones.........Nathan Crawford is out of commission for the season after a practice injury at the Daytona SX, Nate over jumped the 90 foot triple and flat landed it and tore his ACL. Jeremy Chausse and Daton Beavers will represent us at the St. Louis SX in the 125 class on the Temecula Motorsports Suzuki RMZ 250's.............The FPMX Nationals are just a few weeks away and things are going well with all the preparations. If the weather holds up we should have an awesome event. I will be working the event and waiting for the Summer Series to get back into racing action. See ya at the Glen........uncle e

3-08-04    Ok I'm back. Sorry but the FirePoliceMX.com laptop took a dump and then I was on the road for ten days and had no way to fix it. We have a lot to catch up on so let's get started.......I spent the better part of two weeks on the road with the new rig. It's actually only new to us and needs some work but is functional.  Atlanta.......Well I'm still alive but I wasn't too sure if I would make it. I flew in and by the time I got to the taxi's at the airport it was about 11:30pm. I caught a ride with a Hessian taxi driver who drove well under the speed limit even on the empty freeway. I told him to take me to the Georgia Dome, there would be a lot of big semi trucks for the race there and I was staying in one of them. "Oh yes I know these trucks"....After a drive through downtown Atlanta I noticed we were going down some dark alleys and over railroad tracks, I saw no stadium. The we drove next to the guys warming by the trash can fires. It was a set up, I was dead.........."Is that the truck?" "No" I said, looking at a Chevy 2500 pickup. "We must be lost". "Ya think?". We found the semis 45 minutes later. I was alive and tired. 5am.......Knock, knock, knock on the rig door........Who could it be, the AMA, Clear Channel, did we need to move the rig, what's going on? No it was a homeless guy asking for money for eggs and bacon. Well at least I got 4 hours sleep. We gave him a couple of bucks to leave us alone. Atlanta was freezing, snow had dumped on the ground that evening but mostly melted by the next morning. The racing was good, Nathan Crawford made both night shows (125 / 250) and was riding better than i had seen him ride all year. I'll be back soon. Lot's of stories............e 

2-24-04    Belt loops.......This is a pet peeve of mine, I hate seeing people who miss a belt loop on their pants, it just looks stupid. I first noticed that Brad Hannig missed a belt loop at breakfast in Phoenix on our trip home from Atlanta last week but kept my mouth shut about it. If he wants to look like a little kid who can't dress himself that's ok by me.........We had lunch in Cathedral City at the Del Taco (In N Out was packed) and I once again was embarrassed for Brad but kept my mouth shut..........As we were fueling up in Valencia I couldn't take it any longer and began to make fun of him. If you ever worked in a Firehouse you know what I am talking about. It was on him like Niemela on Davenport during the "03 Night Series . It was too much for Brad so he decided to remedy the problem right there by the fuel pumps. In order to re-route the belt through all the proper loops the cell phone needed to come off the belt (you know where I am going with this one right?)  .........(a few minutes later)......."Ed do you know where my phone is?" "Nope" "I think I left it on the truck fender at the gas station" "Wanna go back?" "Yeah" "OK"..........."Brad that looks like 3 cell phones in the street". You were right, Brad's cell hit the pavement and decided to explode under the wheels of a passer by. I kind of felt bad for him but then I realized that if Brad would learn to dress himself none of this would have happened. Losing a cell phone can only be compared to losing your wallet or your keys, not a good feeling..........Today I was running around after work and found myself in Temecula at lunch time. I stopped at El Pollo Loco for some chicken. I got the 4 piece meal with beans, rice and flour tortillas, sat down and began to eat. I like to take a tortilla out of the plastic baggy and then lay it on top of the baggy and load it up with chicken, onions, salsa, beans, cilantro and rice. They give you three torts so you can repeat this process a few times. Mmmmmm good. My mind was wondering as I began to think of my busy week ahead. As I picked up the third tortilla (the first two little burritos were tasty) I noticed that I forgot to take the tort out of the plastic bag and thus loaded all the goodies on top of the baggy........After a quick check of the restaurant patrons I was confident that I had gotten away with this little mistake, I carefully took the tort out of the bag and flipped the chicken, onions, salsa, beans, cilantro and rice onto the unbagged tort. We all make mistakes in life, it's just a little more pleasant when nobody else see you make them......As I walked out of El Pollo Loco I checked to make sure I still had my cell phone.......e pollo           

2-19-04    Ok let's talk food. In my opinion Reliant stadium in Houston had the best food of all the stadiums so far. The double cheesers were very good and juicy. Now the cost of this "Black Angus Burger" was a bit on the high side, around 7 bills. But worth it at the time. It was twice the size of an In N Out burger and very tasty. It reminded me of a big Kahuna Burger, the cornerstone of every nutritious breakfast. As Hannig and I were just about to leave the great state of Texas, we decided to get some KFC in El Paso. I noticed that during our trip that Brad usually orders first thus he finishes eating first and rushes me while I am enjoying the last few bites of my fine fast food meals. I was not about to be rushed out of the Colonel's crib so I made a point of getting to the front of the line before the Bradster. "I'll take the four piece meal with baked beans, mashed potatoes and a large drink"......"Original or crispy?"......"Original please" (I learned the system at KFC, never say the word "combo" or you cause mass confusion with these talented fast food register workers). I sat in a nice booth waiting for Brad to join me for some juicy chicken......."What do you mean you're out of chicken, isn't this a chicken place?" As I turned to see what all the commotion was I spied an upset Bradley Arnold Hannig heading toward me with three little breaded chicken strips. They looked kind of like smashed Rice Krispy squares. Anyway my nice relaxing meal was once again not so relaxing. Brad kept eyeballing my chicken breast to the point where I said "Just take it". Without hesitation my 4 piece meal turned into a breast less 3 piece meal (not combo). The road presents many fast food choices, Whataburger, Waffle House, Wendy's, Sonic Burger, MacDonald's, Dairy Queen, Shoney's, Hardee's, Taco Time and many more. The Texas Roadhouse & Cracker Barrel offer an nicer home cooked meal feel at prices under that of stadium food. So there you have it, a guide to fast food on the road. Tip: Don't go for the refill on your refreshing beverage or you will need to make an extra stop thus delaying your arrival time............................Not so Fast Eddie 

2-17-04    Well it was a road trip alright, wow! Brad and I landed in Atlanta at 7am Eastern time. After several hours and a hundred miles driving towards the Atlantic Ocean we filled out the loan papers on our new (used) race rig. It was 2:30 pm by the time we were ready to start the trip to Houston for the Supercross. I was working on a few days of little sleep as was Brad. You know when you get to that point where you can't focus on the road and you are fighting to stay awake? We were both in that zone for several hours. Brad woke up about 2 am and saw me in the zombie mode behind the wheel......"Ed pull over, let's take a rest break and get some sleep". It was poring rain....I pulled into a hotel parking lot and climbed up to the cab over bed, I checked my watch.....2:17 am.........I woke up as the rig was pulling back on the highway, I must have been out for a few hours. I checked my watch.....2:29 am. Twelve minute sleep break? Come on Brad! The next 100 miles was the roughest road in the history of travel.....In fact I wonder if Brad was even on the road or if he decided to go cross country. One thing is for sure Brad had his foot buried in the throttle. I don't know how my aorta stayed connected to my heart. I spent most of that hour somewhere between the mattress and the ceiling. We finally pulled into Houston at 7am on Saturday, 1000 miles later, it was time for Supercross.......oops I mean bed. We woke up in our hotel around 3 pm and headed to the track. Awesome stadium, good concessions, average racing.........Sunday we drove 1200 miles to somewhere near Tombstone. Brad hit the hotel bed and was out in just a few seconds, I needed to take care of business. A few minutes later I was headed to the Hotel office to get a plunger "Son what room are you in?" "211 mam" "Oh yeah we've had a lot of trouble with that toilet, let me get you another room" "My partner is asleep, plunger please". Now I'm qualified to work as hotel maintenance. Monday was a short trip from AZ to Valencia to pick up the race trailer then back to Vegas. Brad dropped me off on a back road near the strip and I wheeled my luggage to the closest hotel, The San Remo, what a dive! Brad continued home to Logandale, NV as I crashed in a skanky hotel room. Today I drove back home and home never looked so good. I need to ride but I really want to sleep right now.......good night.............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2-12-04    I tried to turn it up a bit Monday at Starwest. Out of shape and out of control would be the best way to describe my riding. The good news is that I stayed out of the hospital. I tried to stay out in front of Jessica and did so for a lap and a half until I got too tired to ride. Later in the pits she said she was too afraid to try to pass me because I was riding like a pinball bouncing all over the track. Hey maybe I have a new technique. Actually I think it's going back to a two stroke and losing that controlled feeling you get in the corners. The Supercross suspension isn't helping either. Although I did WAY over jump a few times and I really appreciated the suspension then. I need to get that taken care of soon. I lost 15 lbs over the last few months but I also lost a lot of endurance too. I wonder if Cookies and Cream = endurance?..........Just after midnight tonight Brad Hannig and I will depart from Las Vegas and fly to Atlanta to pick up our new race transporter, it's been pretty tough the last few weeks w/o a rig but we should be back in business by the Atlanta Supercross in two weeks. The riders will be working out of a pickup and trailer for the next two weeks. We will probably get a little help transporting our stuff from BikeSellerz.com. Check them out, they are pretty cool people. Well I better get on the road, I need to drive to Vegas.............e out 

2-2-04    I was not looking forward to going back to work, I enjoyed retirement (3.5 months) but the day came, it was Super Bowl Sunday. I have to say that I am glad to get back to work, I needed a break from Moto, might sound weird but it felt great to drive a fire engine on the wrong side of the road, work on a gunshot victim and hang with the fire boys again. I felt normal, it just felt right. This morning I left work and headed for Starwest, I needed to ride. I missed riding so much. I had the opportunity to ride Jeremy Chaussee's SUZUKI RM 250. The bike rips, the RG3 Suspension was way too stiff for me. It's unbelievable how stiff Supercross suspension is even after I backed the compression all the way out. I have to say that I was a bit nervous going to the track. I didn't know how my shoulder would hold up to the pounding. It wasn't too bad, I just took my time and re-learned Starwest. It took a while but I did all the jumps, The shoulder held up ok. It was a great feeling to be back at the track and on a bike again hanging with the moto boys. Now for the 2-Stroke vs. the 4-Stroke thing, I don't know, I think I like the 2-Stroke better. Who knows, at least I'm going to give it a go this year and see how the results read at the end. Looking forward to the battle...........eDub

1-30-04    Well it looks like I am going back to work for the first time since the October Nationals. I return to LA County Fire Station 4 on Super Bowl Sunday. I'm planning on riding on Motocross Monday at Starwest with the 5-0 boys. I am very nervous and will be there just to cruise around the track and have some fun. I'll be on Jeremy Chaussee's FirePoliceMX.com, Varner, FMF, RG3 Supercross RM250. Jeremy is getting ready for the East coast 125 series on a Suzuki RM-Z 250 along with Nathan Crawford and Tommy Harrison. Tommy switched to the four stroke last week and was running 4th in his qualifier before coming up short on a double and going over the bars. You need the four stroke to get the starts in the 125 class. But I am so excited to be back on a two stroke, don't know why but I am pumped about it. I sure hate stalling the four stroke during a race. It seems like that is the only time I stall them too. Anyway I've learned a lot about racing these past few months and I am looking forward to putting it to the track and seeing what happens.............e out

1-22-04    Yesterday Sue, Jessica Snyder and myself were sitting in an El Pollo Loco restaurant, as usual we got on the topic of motocross. Sue and I usually don't talk too much moto but with Jess in the mix it comes up often. Do you remember the "Lethal Weapon" movies? Remember the one where Rene Russo and Mel Gibson were comparing scars? Well that started to happen between Jessica and myself. Sue just sat there and listened as Jessica showed here wrist scars, I showed my plastic chin. Jess showed her lip scar then I told of my clavicles. Next Jessica was showing an abrasion scar on her right waist........All of the sudden I looked up and saw all these people looking and listening to our conversation. Three young guys with SKIN hats on were very interested in the waist scar.........Anyway it was kind of funny. I've noticed that a lot of people who love motocross tend to get into the business in one way or another, maybe as a parts guy or a mechanic, could be in sales or working on a team. It seems that those people tend to ride less often than they did before they got way involved in what they love. Well I haven't ridden since October 13th, I know that I was injured and unable to ride but I feel the need, the need for moto. I miss it so much. I think I will be released to go back to work next week. I can't wait to ride. I still need to get a bike. I sold the CRF 450 to my buddy Mike Leckliter. I'll be getting an RM250. I can't wait to mix my gas and smell the scent of real motocross again.............e 

1-12-04    The boys rode hard this weekend. Three out of four qualified for the night show. Daton  Beavers had some bad luck in his day qualifier, while rounding the first corner another bike slammed him and somehow the choke was pulled on. I know what you are thinking..........There was tire marks on the side of the bike and rubber left on the tweaked choke knob. While in the 125 LCQ Daton came from a bad start to a photo finish, he needed 3rd place and after several minutes the AMA gave us a ruling. Daton was 4th. He is a tough kid and this is his rookie season. Look for great things from Daton. Tommy Harrison Qualified for the night show and rode really good. In his qualifier he had a poor start and rode aggressively towards the front passing several raiders to a 12th place, he needed 9th to make the main. In the LCQ Tommy was involved in a battle for a qualifying spot and ended up over a berm. This is a tough sport with tough competitors. In the 250 qualifier Nathan Crawford and Jeremy Chaussee were involved in a first lap pile up. Jeremy escaped with in good shape but the bike needed some quick attention before his next shot at qualifying. Nathan on the other hand ended up going to the Emergency Room with lower back pain, abdominal pain and some dizziness. Nathan has spent the last two evenings in the hospital but should be released today. I visited him yesterday and he said he hopes to be back in action by round 4 in San Diego. Rick Johnson has been working with the team during the week and is there on the weekends to help coach the guys. It has been a big help and I have seen improvement over the last few weeks on the practice track and on the race track. I'm actually learning a ton by being around and listening to Rick's instruction. Two rounds down and 14 to go...........e

1-5-04    Round one of the THQ Supercross Series has come and gone. I have to say that I am very proud of the team. So much had to be done and it all came together Friday afternoon at Anaheim. The Bikes are awesome, the rig looks professional, the mechanics are the best and the riders were ready to go. All the riders rode well but made a few mistakes or bad starts and it cost them the success they wanted. I know each rider has the ability to make the main events and will this year. I am proud of them all. This is a team effort and we have an awesome team. Our sponsors are part of our team and we have the best sponsors in the business. Take a look at the bikes and you can see the backing we have. All five team riders signed autographs for many FirePoliceMX.com fans. It was a good day. I'm amazed how well everything went off, the Hospitality area was a hit (thanks Danny and Ursula), the mascots were awesome and did you happen to catch the RISK video on the big screen just before the 250 LCQ? That is a story in it's self. Brad Hannig pulled off a miracle. Special thanks to Terry Boyd and Todd Jendro of Clear Channel for getting the video up on the big screen. I have to tell you that Jared Yochim, Brad Hannig, Danny Lowers and myself haven't slept much over the last few weeks. Look for great things to happen with this team. Thanks to all of you who have helped in any way, it is very appreciated. Thank you.  It's a short work week, we have to be on the road Thursday morning for Phoenix...........e