Journal2006

12-07-06    I have to admit that it was a little difficult to watch the races. It wasn't so much the racing that I missed, it was just throwing a leg over the bike and riding. I first noticed it when Mark Davenport rode up on his TT (Whatever size that is) YAMAHA. That little blue thing looked like a lot of fun. It was that moment that I first felt the urge to get back on a bike. Mentally I know that I will be back on a bike but I haven't felt the need until then. Darn you Mark Davenport! That moment just slowed the clock down on my recovery. Kind of like that Van Halen video "Hot for Teacher", when the kids were watching the clock and waiting for school to get out when all of the sudden the clock moved backwards. Remember how long those last couple of minutes seemed waiting for the last bell of the day? Well Davenport just put me in that mode...........So last Sunday Sue and I were over at some of our old friends house. We were sitting at the table after dinner playing some new board game. My cell rang, being that it was right before the GP and just a month away from Supercross I answered it. Yes I got the dirty looks from those at the table but I was still able to play the game and talk at the same time. I was talking to the owner of All American KTM of Ramona, CA. We only talked for 3-4 minutes, the whole time I was making strategic moves trying to pay attention to both the conversation and the game. As I ended the call with David from KTM, I put my cell back in my pocket. Then Sue say's "Oh I love you" in a mimicking voice. "I didn't say that". My buddy from across the table said "wow you guys sure are friendly" I looked at him with a puzzled look and said "what do you mean?" "Well you told him you loved him when you hung up" "WHAT, really?" "Yeah" "NO!" "Yeah" "Sue did I say that I loved him?" "Yes" "No, oh crap". So I looked across the table, "Heidi did I tell him that I loved him?" "YES YOU DID" "Oh no, no, no, NO!" I couldn't remember if I said that or not and stated freaking out. I don't know David that well and didn't want to start a new relationship with that lingering around. He might think I was batting for the wrong team or something. I actually said that twice on accident before when hanging up the phone and it wasn't a good thing. But at least the other two times I knew the person on the other end of the phone pretty well. I had no choice but to clear this up ASAP. I got back on the cell and made the dreaded call......."David, um....hey this is Ed, again, um hey, uhhh, did I tell you that I loved you when I hung up?" ...............Sue and our friends started laughing so hard, I started laughing and couldn't talk on the phone very well. I heard David start to laugh and then he said "No, you didn't say that, I think I would have remembered that"...............I was had! Great job!..........I want to thank everyone who came to the Christmas GP / Toy Drive. We had a good turnout and we brought in a lot of toys. Thank you! They will go to families who will appreciate them. Well I better go, it was great seeing everyone at the GP, see ya later, love ya, bye.................e

12-3-06    Oh man I over did it the other day with all that walking. My knee feels ok but the muscles in my right leg had a wake up call. My right calf really took a beating and today I am sore and back on a crutch.....Tomorrow is a big day. It's track design day at Glen Helen. Man I wish I could ride tomorrow. Track design day is the best. How many opportunities do you get to ride a groomed Glen Helen track with one or two other guys? Almost never. A couple years ago Mike Frieling and I were out there designing the track. The Glen was sooooo smooooth and I was flying around the track faster than I ever had at the Glen. I was riding a gear higher than normal and KNEW that I was going to whip up on everyone in my class. I mean I was really going fast. As the next day came around and the course started to get hammered like Glen Helen gets, I found myself riding a gear lower than the day before and dealing with the ruts like usual. I think I ended up 4th in my class that day. I was human again. But for that one day I was really fast (at least in my mind - let's keep it that way ok).........e

12-2-06    I've been off work for just over 2 months so far and my surgeon expects me to be off work another 4 months. I think the worst is behind me, I mean I can finally do everything on my own. Just a couple of days ago I needed to hit the brakes on my F250 and without thinking about it I quickly stabbed the brake peddle with my right foot. Good bye Mr. Hagar! Yesterday morning I rolled out of bed and without thinking about it I took a step towards the bathroom. It was a weird feeling to take a step for the first time (Doc said we would start doing that in a couple of weeks). I decided to continue my walk that morning. I have been hobbling around ever since. I walk really slow and deliberately, trying to use the muscles as I morally would. I don't want to mess up anything, like my back, by limping or favoring my Jell-O thigh. Therapy is going well. I actually enjoy my time there. Yesterday I was able to peddle the stationary bike and make full revolutions in stead of back and forth movements only. The pain level was very high on  top dead center on the right knee stroke. I got 105* flexion yesterday and my therapist says that I am recovering really well and faster than most. Although I don't think that was a big deal as "most" are like 80 years old. I feel like a kid in there. So now I'm driving and able to function on my own, no threat of diapers (man that was a scary time). Hello diaper, good bye manhood. The pain of that October 1st journey 12 feet from the Connelly 2500 was well worth it. Anyway we are on the verge of a great event next Tuesday, my favorite race of the year, the FPMX Christmas GP/Toy Drive. And for another year I will miss racing in this epic event.....$#)%@)! One good thing about not being able to ride is that I won't have to witness that one eyed Mike Dunn owl thing again this year. Believe me if you don't know what I'm talking about you are the lucky one, you don't want to know. Well the Connelly 2500 is in the hibernation mode again. That TV in front of the CON is also in a deep sleep as I am mobile and for the most part crutchless. I will sport my crutches at the GP I suppose. You know pain is very temporary and with the power of the MX+ blood flowing through the veins I can't wait to be back on the pegs. Yesterday while hobbling though the showroom at Hahm Motorsports I was having a hard time moving past all the bikes. My heart fluttered as I stopped to take a breath and noticed that I was next to a brand new SUZUKI RM 250. Man I miss riding my two stroke. I know I was faster on the KX450F but I really miss the feel of the smoker. Wouldn't it be nice if the only problem that we had in this world was a choice between fun or fast? Fast is fun too. I'm sure I'll be on a four stroke in late '07. Well I hope it's good bye forever to the CON............e

11-23-06   Happy Thanksgiving to all. I love this time of year, living in Southern California I would even like to extend our winter time by a few months. 80* and sunny is pretty nice. Some of my best memories of Thanksgiving are the times the entire family spent this holiday together at Ocotillo Wells. Camping, eating turkey, camp fire and shmoores (I have no idea how to spell that but if you have ever camped you know what I am talking abut). I am a bit bitter at myself for not being able to enjoy the desert this winter. My knee will heal up just in time for summer (which isn't a bad thing). Each year when we get our shift calendars at work the first thing I do is check out what shift will be working on the BIG 4 (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years Eve). Then there is the almost as BIG 2 (Christmas Eve and New Years day). I know how much I hate being away from the Family on the BIG 4, even though I am doing a good thing, serving the public, saving lives and cats in trees and all. I just know that however much I miss being with my family on those days it is way harder on our military families who have loved ones away from home, many in hostile lands. And whether you agree with the politics of war right now or not I would hope that you support our troops as they put their lives on the line for our freedom. This is a call out to all motocrossers who read this, civilian or FirePoliceMXers. Please come to the FPMX Christmas GP/Toy Drive on December 5th at Glen Helen and bring an unwrapped toy for the children of those who's families are not together over the holidays this year........e

11-9-06    Oh man, sorry.......I got busy. Here's my injury update: I'm still on crutches, I can't put weight on the right leg yet but things are improving. I have been going to therapy 3 days a week, so far it's been easy. The therapist can't get too aggressive until my doctor lifts the restrictions. But Michael, my therapist, got an evil smirk on his face when he said "Just wait until Doctor Clifford let's me bend this thing, bring a stick to bite down on cuz it's gonna hurt".........Well I'm bikeless in Carlsbad again, I traded the Kawasaki 450 to pay the fuel and driver bill for the New York race. In the words of Kicking Bird, "good trade". I don't need the bike right now and I need to pay the bills and get the '06 season behind me so we can move on to a new year. Usually when I sell a bike and don't have one in the garage I start to get a weird twitch, over time it's like I'm having a focal seizure in my neck then the panic attacks start. The only cure is a new "next years" model. But that's not the case right now. I'm more concerned with walking again. I'm not worried that I won't be able to, I know that I will heal 100% and be back flying through the air on a piece of aluminum and plastic soon enough, I just don't know if it will be on an '07 or an '08. And through this whole injury process I feel lucky to know that I will be back to health in a short time........Remember right before my injury I told you about my F250 taking a dump so I couldn't go riding with the boys at Competitive Edge so instead I went to Starwest a few days later? Anyway I got hurt at the Star that day. Since then my F250 has been sitting in my driveway collecting dust and business cards from lawn care people. Yesterday I decided to drive it to the local repair shop. I could start the truck but it wouldn't idol. I was able to slide the seat back enough to get my right foot on the gas. It was within the 25* that the Doctor said that I could bend my knee. So in Sammy Hagar fashion I drove across town with one foot on the brake and one on the gas. You know it never fails, this old white Cadillac pulls out in front of me doing 15 mph and I can't pass. I can't let off the gas or the truck will stall.........I finally get to the repair shop after stalling the FORD 4 times. It's an automatic, you don't stall automatics. It's like stalling a two stroke.......Oh yeah, I've done that too. Anyway I made it in one piece (barely). Well the Christmas GP is coming up. I love this event and again am bugged that I can't ride in it. Last year you guys did a great job in bringing unwrapped gifts for the children of Camp Pendleton Marines who are defending our freedom. And I want to thank you for that. I have had a request from those who help us distribute the gifts on Christmas Eve to even out the Boy/Girl toy situation. It seems that we have been getting 80% Boys toys and last year we had to purchase Girls toys to have enough gifts for the girls. You guys can bring whatever toys you want and I don't want  to tell you what to bring but I was thinking if we have bike numbers ending with a even number (example # 170) bring a girls gift and bike numbers ending with an odd number (711) bring  boys toys. If you want to bring one of each that will work too. But again bring whatever you want and we will make it work on this end. Thank you so much in advance for you generosity..................Ed

10-24-06    I injured my knee a month a go tomorrow and for the past almost month my wife, Sue has had a change in job description. She became Nurse Susie. It's starting to get better, I mean I'm starting to get more independent and do stuff on my own but that first week I was like a new born, completely helpless. If she didn't bring me food, I didn't eat. So I just want to thank Sue for taking care of me and doing things that she normally wouldn't consider doing........Sue and I hit a milestone today. We've been married Twenty Five years...........wow.........A lot has happened over those years. When we first met all the way through our first couple of years of marriage Sue had no idea that I had an addiction. I didn't have the money to feed my habit, in fact I was I was kind of in moto rehab. Then my dad decided that he needed 2 bikes and we started riding in the desert again together. A few years later I started the FPMX. We just finished our 18th season. If you know Sue, you know that she isn't into motocross, dirt, spiders etc. She's no Pit Tootsie like Dee Davenport who swept my gate at Frozen Ocean last month. I get in trouble when I bring dirt into the motor home. So the fact that she has supported me over the years and has played a big part in the FPMX means a lot to me. One thing about Sue though, she loves Supercross and knows more about who's dating who and stuff like that. Last week she told me that Brittney George was dating Davi Millsaps.......I would have never known.................e

10-21-06    You know I'm a recliner guy, at least since knee surgery just over three weeks ago and so you might imagine that the Mesquite races kicked my butt. Even though I didn't do that much there. Walking on those crutches is the best abdominal workout I have ever done (actually the only one I've ever done). But wow what a workout........I wish I could tell you that the track was awesome but I really have no idea because I didn't get to watch but I can tell you that the 2006 FPMX Banquet was the funniest thing that I have ever witnessed. Ken Armstrong......Hilarious! Rob Harper.......I have no words for what that guy did on stage. It was sooo funny. Seriously watching that show was another abdominal workout. I laughed from start to finish. I had to use the table cloth to dry my eyes. I said this on stage and I will say it again.....If anyone can think of a better entertainer than Marc Savard for next years banquet please let me know. Heck I'll pay for your racing next year!........Yesterday I witnessed something that was almost as funny and if Marc can't make it next year I have an idea. We had to put the motor home away last night and so before we parked it we needed to empty the tanks......I can't bend my knee and there is no way that I could get down there to do the job. I told Sue that we could leave the tanks full or she could dump them but that I couldn't. You needed to be there but that was one of the funniest things that I have ever seen but this time I couldn't laugh, at least not too much or I would have paid for it later. I hope she will tell you in her own words what it's like to dump the tanks for her first time......................e 

10-10-06    Wow it's been a week since I wrote, I've been so busy here in the Connelly 2500 that I forgot to write. Let's see, oh I got my cast off last week and I was put in a straight leg brace. I am getting around a little better these days. The 12 foot journey south seems like 8 feet now as things get easier........So the Doctor said that I snapped my patella tendon in half. He also said that without that tendon people can't walk. He said it's worse than a torn Achilles tendon as far as walking goes. The good news was that a little piece of bone broke off the patella and a tiny strand of the tendon was attached to it. Anyway he reconstructed my knee and said that I should walk again and be able to return to work in 4 - 6 months......Last week I got so sick of the CON that I made my way on crutches upstairs to sleep in my own bed.....Mistake. I am not a flat back sleeper and with the brace that was my only choice. Needless to say I was back in the Con the next night and I will be here to stay until the brace comes off. The CON is just like a bike. You buy a stock bike and start to make it your own, you know like suspension, handlebars, gearing, levers, pipe, jetting, etc. The Connelly 2500 is actually more like a Connelly 4000 now with my new mods. It's a proto type and I think you'll be able to find some of these modifications on floor models soon. I have a table sitting next to the right arm with an HP copier/fax/scanner. As of yesterday I have blue tooth for my cell. You know those things that geeks have on their ears as they walk around talking without a cell phone in their hand pressed on their ear. Sue got that for me. I also acquired one of those things you pee in while in a hospital bed. Believe me that thing is worth a million bucks. You can measure your urinary output and everything. Donny Rivas brought me this foam pad that is made to elevate your leg and it works much better than the 3 pillows I was using. I'm telling you life in the CON is the way to go.....I don't want to make it sound too appealing or guys might start riding over their heads just to get a shot at a Connelly 4000 proto type. No, I think it's best to ride within your ability and stay healthy...........So next week we are off to Mesquite again for the final rounds of the FPMX Nationals. Man I wish that I could ride. I set my sights on this race several months ago and felt that my speed was getting up there toward the front of the 45-49 Intermediate class. I'll be 48 years old in February that's only a couple of years away from riding with those old guys like Ernie Kopasz, Keith Ehlers and Greg Green in the Fifty Plus class............Wow I'll get t ride with some legends. I am looking forward to that sooooo much.........I had to turn the "Shape-O-Meter" off  because I had no idea how to calibrate it with a major knee injury. I'm like in the worst "best shape of my life".....I know, that doesn't make sense, but it does!...............eDub in the CON

10-3-06    Everyday is the same as the last here in the Connelly 2500 and the only way I know the date  (left my watch upstairs) is because I remember writing yesterday and I can see the date next to the Journal entry. I have been off the Vicodin now for 36 hours and feeling better. I got up on my own today and traveled the twelve feet South to do my business. There was some pain with the knee in the cast but I feel like a big boy now.......Tomorrow morning I go to the Doctor and get this cast cut off. I'm pretty sure that I will be back in another one or hopefully a splint, either way I can't wait to scratch the back of my itching thigh...........Life in the FPMX offices can get hectic with the Mesquite rounds coming up, supercross negotiations and the banquet not to mention the Christmas GP/Toy Drive and scheduling the 2007  season. So when I got the email from Jamie Little telling me that she couldn't make it to the banquet I just about keeled over. Jamie is a great girl and I was looking forward to working with her again but a job came up and she needed to be there. FPMX vs ESPN........I understand. Brittney George, Miss Supercross 2006/2007 has taken up the slack and will be on hand to present the #1 plates for the National and  Summer Series. I want to thank Brittney for stepping up for us and I look forward to getting to know her...........For the 2007 I have decided to condense the classes and will go back to the 10 year increments. 18-29, 30-39, 40-49 and Open age in the Beginner and Novice classes and 18-39, 40-49 and Open age in the Intermediate and Expert classes. Also eliminating the Women's class because it's usually without any women........That's it for now...............e

10-2-06    I've been hurt before, most of us have been. My last ER visit injury had me off work for four months with a fractured scapula. That was in 2003. The only place that I could find comfort was in my Connelly 2500 recliner. I slept in it for a couple of months because the bed killed my shoulder. Since recovering from the scapula I have pretty much left the Connelly 2500 alone. It sits in room that is rarely used in front of a TV that is never watched..........Until last week. With the new knee injury the Connelly 2500 and I got reacquainted and for the first few days of the injury spent some quality time together. For those who aren't familiar with the Connelly 2500, it is a recliner with a vibrating massager, heated, it has a telephone (I never use the phone), drink holder and magazine storage (I store food there now). But what I like the most about it is that in the full recline mode the legs are on a 4.38% incline. Add a pillow under an injured limb and you are in the perfect "Elevate the leg" chair. During post injury / pre surgery, I spent 10.4 hours a day in the CON (that's what I call the Connelly 2500 for short). I slept in my own bed at night, I could go up and down the stairs on crutches with some effort but I could do it. I could walk with my crutches to the bathroom and take care of business. I was able to shower on one leg, although getting in and out of the shower was difficult. Anyway this injury was much like any of the others that I have had in the past. I just dealt with it and found ways to do what I had to do........That was until surgery. So on Thursday of last week (today is Monday) I had surgery to repair the patella tendon on my right knee. I've had knee surgery before and it was no big deal, I was walking in a few days, slowly and deliberately but I was walking. So why wouldn't this one be any different?.....It's WAY different! First off let me tell you this. I live in the CON now! The first time that I got out of it with my crutches I about died. I am in a hip to ankle cast, the Doctor doesn't want me to move my knee at all. So when I stood up my leg began to swell immediately, it took about 5 seconds until the surgery site and the inside of my cast were pressed together.....(pain scale 8.3).....Awww Vicodin! So down I sat with one thing on my mind......How in the heck am I going to go to the bathroom (#2)? A few days went by, I ate less than normal trying to prolong the inevitable. When I had my kidney stones last year (pain scale 10) and was on Vicodin I got constipated. That's a whole other story, one I can cover in a different forum. This story is pushing the envelope as it is. By the way I hate taking pain killers. I didn't take any until after the surgery and I'm weaning myself off them now. I told one of the nurses about Vicodin and constipation and she acted like it was common knowledge. Yet nobody ever told me about that and I've been prescribed Vicodin several times in my life. She said to take a stool softener with each Vicodin..........Seemed a little too excessive to me. So I cut that in thirds. Knowing of my dilemma Sue brought home Adult diapers........Come on! I tried to explain to her that there was no way in this lifetime that I was going to chose crapping in an adult diaper over whatever it took to make it to the can. Yet Sue kept encouraging me to put on a pampers. And I kept telling her NO! Anyway the time came last night to make my way 12 feet to the South. The Vicodin bottle read "1 to 2 tablets every four hours", I went with the maximum dose. I drank a Diet Pepsi to get things moving in the right direction. I was a man on a mission. There was no diaper in the near future for this peg leg. Just to get to the target was something I wouldn't wish on my enemies but from that point on it was pure hell. The cast came up too high on the leg to get a good seal. The leg pain was high. The leg needed to be elevated on the magazine rack, the left leg was cramping from holding all the weight. The door was propped open because my leg was in the way, my cat jumped on the sink and decided to knock things off the sink onto me. My hands and arms held the weight of my body, sweating, hoping that tonight wasn't another false alarm as we had a few nights prior when I was still on hospital sedation. As my good leg was falling asleep.......Contact!........I don't even want to describe the clean up, no I will spare the FPMX Journal readers that. The trip back to the Connelly 2500 was a whole different animal. Sweaty, exhausted and over medicated I made my way slowly back to the CON, I was light headed but I knew that I had just protected my manhood by avoiding a diaper.......3 - 1 on the Vicodin / Stool softener is the way to go...........It's been 18 hours since this traumatic moment in time and I have remained in the CON the whole time waiting for my Wednesday appointment to cut this cast off my leg. We have less than two weeks before Mesquite. I know I can not compete with my brothers on the track, I'm just glad the race isn't this week because I don' think I could make it there to run the event.......................e

9-27-06    A couple of days ago I decided to do a few laps at Starwest on the way home from work. I had to drive my motor home to work with the Kawi on the back. Once I finally got to the track I did a sight lap then started to jump things. On the third lap I went into a double, double, double rhythm section that I did the previous lap. I over jumped the first double and loaded my suspension up on the face of the third bump. As I came off that jump my bike started to loop out. There was no way to save it so I pitched the bike and landed on the ground with both feet. My right knee buckled and I went t the ground. It wasn't good, I knew that this wasn't one of those injuries where you wait it out and heel up. Kim (Track nurse) came over with some riders and helped me out by splinting my knee and getting me loaded up on the golf cart. I told Kim not to call for an ambulance, I figured that I had enough Fire buddies living near by. I got a hold of Mike Wright who raced with us a few years ago. Mike and his wife, Debbie, were able to take my bike and motor home to their house and get me to the ER. Thanks Wrights! Sue came to get me a few hours later. I got the "Your an idiot" speech several times on the way home, several times! I made an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon in Riverside from the ER before I left. My appointment was for Thursday at 1pm. Donnie Rivas (RaiderMX on the message board) called when he heard of my injury. Donny reminded me of a orthopedic surgeon that he met in a motorcycle shop last year. His name is Robert Clifford and he specializes in knees. He also has an office in Encinitas, CA, the town just south of Carlsbad where I live. Donnie called me back this morning with Dr. Clifford's phone number. I called and was able to get an appointment at 1pm. By 2:30pm I was getting an MRI down the road. On the way home from the MRI my cell rang. It was Dr. Clifford, he told me that I had an appointment at 10am tomorrow for surgery.......WOW! The last time I went through this it took months before surgery. Dr. Clifford said that I ruptured my patella tendon and tore my meniscus. The tendon was split in the middle and would need some grafting and suturing. He then said "I really don't know how we are going to fix it, we'll figure it out when we're in there"......cool. Then he said "You also tore your meniscus, we'll either repair it or cut it out depending on the damage. It's going to be wet in there, I don't know how we're going to do it but we'll figure it out"......cool. I like his attitude and the way he bypasses all the Bee Ess and got me into surgery within 24 hours. Wow. Thanks Donnie. I'll be in a cast for several weeks because I can't bend the knee while the tendon is heeling. Anyway life goes on, Sue wants me to quit riding. I did that twice and don't want to be that miserable guy ever again. We'll figure it out.............e

9-22-06    Last night I got a call from FEN (Fast Eddie Niemela) "Dude grab your camera and let's go take some pics out at Competitive Edge tomorrow"......It sounded good to me, I was planning on going there in the morning anyway. I had prepped the KXF and had everything ready to go before dinner.......This morning I woke up and was getting everything ready to go when I noticed some rubber hanging off the medial aspect my right rear tire. As I got down on all fours to check out what was going on I saw metal where it should be only rubber. My tire had come apart but was still holding air. I made the call to FEN......"Hey Ed I can't make it today, my tire is falling apart" "Dude don't you got a spare?" "yeah but (cut off by FEN)" "But what, get out there and change your tire and get some ridin' in"......FEN is one of those persuasive guys and he got me to thinking......"OK, I'll be there!"....So I decide to put the F250 on flat ground to do the tire change but the truck won't start. I've had this thing since 1999 and it always starts. So I kept at it and she finally started but as soon as I let off the gas she would die. It was a bad omen or something. I don't think I should ride today so I got back on the phone and told FEN the bad news.......only to hear the words "My tire is flat, my truck won't start, I'm cramping"! Anyway I worked on it for a few hours and it still won't run. Right now I can not afford a new truck. It has a V-10 in it and only 215,000 miles what gives? It's not like I don't want a new truck, it's just that this one is all paid off and I don't have an extra $500 a month right now to spend on a pickup. I guess I'll be driving the FPMX motor home back and fourth to work until I get my trusty FORD back together. Shoot I was hoping for 250,000 miles before changing the oil.................e

9-21-06    Silly Season is here and we are working very hard to have a great Supercross team this season. I think you'll enjoy your team this year..........While in New York I raced two classes each day and I didn't fade at the end of the motos. I got a little tired but not like normal, I think it was the "Magic Water"..............Have you ever been to New York City? Sue and I drove from Auburn and entered the city through the Holland Tunnel. In just a few hours we went from the country side to the craziest place on earth. Now I know why Oliver Wendell Douglas made his big move. Anyway as we were entering the big city we got stuck behind a car while sitting right in the middle of a cross walk trying to turn right on 7th Ave. Holy Cow, all of the sudden a thousand people started walking around the front and back of the car crossing the street. I was right in the way and now I couldn't move or I would kill hundreds of pedestrians (serious). I was expecting to get some attitude, maybe a finger or two and some pounding on the car....but......nothing. Nobody seemed to care that I was right in the way. In L.A. I know I would have gotten some attitude but in NY it was completely normal. In fact there really didn't seem to be any traffic laws in NY. Run reds, jay walk anywhere anytime. It took me all of about three minutes to fit in. I loved it. Whipping "U" turns anywhere I wanted to with NYPD on the corner watching. I guess as long as you don't hit anything your good to go. Sue always bags on me for my lousy driving (note: I have an impeccable driving record). I know she'll never admit it but she was happy that I drive like I do while we were in the big apple. New York is a trip and I think that we'll go back there soon to visit......The task at hand is getting ready for the Mesquite National and see if I can get the S-O-M into the thirteen's.......e

9-13-06    As I sit here in my Auburn, New York hotel at the key board of my HP laptop I fear that I won't be able to write an article here in the FPMX Journal that will do justice to what has gone on over the last few days here. First off I have to say that we dodged a bullet with the weather. It had rained a lot prior to the event and it rained last night but we had the greatest racing days we could possibly hope for. It was in the mid to high sixties, partly cloudy and no humidity. The 10 day forecast was calling for rain but I think someone above had different plans for New York for this past weekend .......Most of you out West have been to my rider meetings, over the years you have heard the same things over and over, most of you don't even bother to show up anymore. I mean how much can we talk about? After somewhere around 100 of those meetings over the years it must get pretty boring. I have never been to a riders meeting like the one we had at Frozen Ocean. In the words of Ryan Chapin "If there was no racing, that riders meeting made the trip worth it" I don't really even want to talk about it because it brought out feelings that I haven't felt since September 11, 2001. They are coming back as I write this so I think I will move on..........You could not wish for better dirt. The track on Bill Denman's farm is one of those places that you dream about while deep in your REM sleep. The track went from good to fantastic. On the second day of racing I don't think you could have better racing conditions. The turf is a clay base, very tacky....wheelie city if you know what I mean. My MAXXIS IT rear had my front end up more than I was use to. Fire and Police Motocross riders from all over the country and Canada blended together to make a special moment in time........One of my favorite movies is Doc Hollywood. I can watch that thing over and over. I love movies about small towns and the people who live in them. I would love to live in small town America someday. The people who run and work at Frozen Ocean are the greatest people. They are right out of one of those movies. They are a bunch of characters, witty, nice, caring, friendly......I kind of want to stay here for awhile. I has been like an trip back in time for me.......Today will be like a fast forward as we travel to New York City and will be staying at Time square (Sue's idea). Over the years Sue and I have made many of our vacations around a motocross event. Whether it be the World Police & Fire Games, The California Fireman's Olympics or an FPMX event. And what works best for us is the first half of the vacation is all about motocross and after the racing when the bike is parked and the gas turned off it becomes Sue's time. This is where we do the touristy stuff. We have a huge country and there is no way to ever see it all so I am very happy to stay put right here in the US with an occasional trip across the northern border to Canada. These post race memories are just as great as the ones I have from the time at the track. Phase one of out trip has been great and now I look forward to phase two..............Ed

9-9-06    I tried to go to sleep. It was 9:30pm here in New York but it ended up just being a nap. It's now almost 1am and I am still on West Coast time, wide awake. This morning I was laying in bed about half awake thinking that it was around 5:30 or maybe 6am. I looked at my watch and......Oops......It was a few minutes after 11 (8am back home). After cleaning up we left the hotel and headed North on Hwy 87 to Albany, NY (the State Capitol) where we took a left onto I-90 and made our way to Auburn, we drove about 300 miles. Once you get on the Interstate you stay on the Interstate. When you want to eat you pull off into these Travel Centers. They have everything you need before you get back on the road. They are like rest stops in California but with restaurants, shops, gas, nice air conditioned bathrooms instead of people selling Indian jewelry and bathrooms with those little squares of toilet paper that are almost impossible to get out of the dispenser ...When you finally pull off the Interstate you pay a toll. After arriving in Auburn it was first things first, we stopped by the track to make sure we could find it. We only got lost a little bit but eventually found our way to the  farm land where the track sits. I had a big weight taken off my shoulders when I saw a big yellow semi sitting on the edge of the track with the words "FirePoliceMX.com" on the side of it. Could you imagine if that big yellow rig full of bikes didn't make it? I usually don't worry too much but those bikes not making it here has been on my mind for a month or so. Now the pressure is off and it's business as usual.......Tomorrow is a practice day but the track owner won't allow anyone on the main track because it is groomed and ready to go for race day. There are a couple of other tracks there that the guys can ride. I think I'll make sure that my bike starts and then just walk a few laps on the big track to try to memorize it before I go to sleep. I sure hope I'm on East Coast time by then. -Update- It's now after 1am and I am still awake, wide awake. Auburn is an old town and it sits on Lake Owasco, one of the Finger Lakes. It is surrounded by green rolling hills and lots of trees. The track sits right in the middle of these green rolling hills, the pits are grass. I haven't actually walked down to see the track but one of the guys that did said that it was long and technical, his name is JJ Mendez from Massachusetts. It's like I have nothing to base his comments on. We don't ride the same tracks so as far as I know it might be short and easy or maybe super long and crazy technical.....who knows. I love traveling and racing new tracks. I don't know, there's just something about it...........I can't think of anywhere else in the world that I would rather be right now than in Auburn, New York...........e 

9-8-06    It's been a busy few days for me but it's been a lot of fun. Yesterday Rich Eggett (bikesellerz.com) and I were working on the 2007 Supercross team. Things are coming along real well. I'm excited about next season. Time was running short but we decided to sneak in a few Go Kart races before we headed off for Motobowl. We were joined at the track by Marcus of "Kingdom". The three of us went at it back to back to back on the tight circuit. Eggett has a hard time turning but besides that he's a good driver......So we stopped by the abode and picked up Sue and headed for the Motobowl.....I told you last year and I'm going to tell you again....."GO TO THE MOTOBOWL NEXT YEAR". It's a great event and well worth whatever you end up bidding for your spot on the team on ebay..........So Sue and I get home about 11pm and I'm wide awake, besides I needed to pack for New York. We both ended up with about 3 hours of sleep before we were up and off to the San Diego Airport (Lindberg Field). After a layover in Dallas we landed in New York at LaGuardia........Anyway we're somewhere North of the Big Apple in a hotel right now......It looks like we might end up with some good weather for the 9-11 MX, I sure hope so. I'm tried right now and need to get some sleep....eDub

9-1-06    Maybe I shouldn't have rode Glen Helen yesterday, maybe I should have prepped my bike a week ago for New York........who knows? So I hurt my heel at work a couple of weeks ago and have been off on injury. I've been limping round but everything is improving ok but I still have a way to go before I'm 100%. I'm like 72.3% right now. Well my work decides that I have to come in and do light duty, yeah drive 180 miles round trip in traffic to work 8 hours. On top of that they want me to walk around all day and do fire prevention........uh, no. So I had a miraculous healing of the heel and took a vacation day which gave me 3 more days to recover. My "V" day was spent at Glen Helen recovering and testing the advantages and disadvantages of riding motocross with a bruised heel. The advantage is that you get t ride your bike. The disadvantage is that it hurts.....so, it's motocross. Anyway I limp back to work tomorrow. You know GH is a tough track, I forgot how hard it is to get around that track after riding STARWEST all summer. That natural terrain is a killer.........So today was bike prep day for NY. No big deal, change tires, clean the air filter, change the oil and filter........oh and put a accelerator pump cover on the green 4 fiddy. Now every good mechanic knows that you don't need to look at instructions before doing something as easy as changing out a piece of aluminum on the bottom of your carburetor. I mean it only has 3 screws, what could go wrong? The fricken' thing kept leaking. Everyone I talked to said "Did you put the O-ring in?" "YES!!!!!!!!!!!!" But the fricken' thing kept leaking. No prob let's take it back and get a different one........leaking...........What the................."IT STILL LEAKS!!!!!"...."did you replace the O ring?"........"Y E S, Y E S, Y E S   I replaced the O ring, what, you think I'm an idiot?"..........Man's last resort........read the instructions......"Oh, it has pictures, cool I don't have to read.......What...Hey there's two O rings!   What the.......?" I still have a lot to do to get ready for the New York trip, the bike is 72.3% ready to go just like my heel but I'll get her ready somehow. This thing called work gets in the way sometimes....And that stupid clock just keeps moving. Maybe I shouldn't have rode Glen Helen yesterday, maybe I should have prepped my bike a week ago for New York..........At least I know I can beat you at Pole Position. See ya Monday...............e

8-26-06    I've had quite the musical week........But let's go back in time 6 or 7 years........For me music hasn't changed in a while, like from the 1970's and 80's. I like classic rock the best, bands like Led Zeppelin, Bad Co, Boston, The Who, Cheap Trick etc. On the other hand Sue is into pop music, which I hate. In 1999 she was big into N*SYNC and wanted to see them in concert. She never asks for much so when she came downstairs all upset that the N*SYNC show sold out while she was trying to get tickets over the phone, I decided to help her out. "Honey just because the show is sold out doesn't mean you can't get tickets" "What do you mean, it's all sold out?"....So I explained that ticket agencies (scalpers) would have tickets in a few days and she could buy them and actually pick her seats....."Can you call them and get me some tickets?" "I don't think they will have tickets yet, they just went on sale" "PLEASE?"......Anyway after awhile I decided that life around the Wilson Estate would be easier if I made the call (even though I knew better).......ring  ring   ring "Why yes we have N*SYNC tickets" "Really?". An hour later we were checking out the tickets. They ranged from $80 to $500 a piece. Like I said Sue never asks for much and here I am getting a new bike every year plus all the gear and crap that goes along with racing. So I decided that we had $400 to spend on this one time (yeah right) thing. So Sue got two seats, $200 each, for her favorite Boy band. So I tell her, "Darling I want you to take whoever you want to the show. They don't have to pay for the ticket, just take whoever you want" "I want to take you" "No honey I mean anyone" "Yeah, I want to take you" "Seriously ANYONE, just think of who you want to take and take them free of charge, my treat" "I want to take you".......silence............"I mean ANYONE in the entire world, ANYONE, ANYONE"........."I WANT TO GO WITH YOU"..............."ok". Now back then the Los Angeles Lakers were in the chase for the World Championship, their first with Shaq and Kobe, and I was way into it. Just so happens that game one of the Western Conference Championships lands on the same day and time as the Boy Band show......all I wanted to do was watch Portland and the Lakers, yet I was destined to a night of Bye Bye Bye. Well I took my TV and watched the game in my truck in the parking lot of the San Diego Arena them after the Laker victory I joined Sue just before the lights went down for the main act. Second worst show I ever saw.....Bruce Springsteen owns that title........Ok back to the present........Tuesday night I went with a high school friend, heck I've known him since 2nd grade, to see Ted Nugent, I think it was my 15th time to see the Motor City Madman. I first saw him 30 years ago opening up for KISS. Ted is amazing for a 58 year old man. It was a good show. So Last night Sue and I returned to the scene of the crime, The San Diego Arena for yet another concert. This time it was the American Idols Tour. I actually had a great time. Oh by the way, the new clapping for teenage girls is a high pitched, ear piercing scream that dwarfs the music being played on stage............E*DUB

8-24-06    The David Bailey Benefit day was a good time and it was a GREAT thing that Bruce Hale and Jake Westall did in raising money for David. My first few laps around the track had me wondering what I was doing on a motorcycle. Was it my first time to ride a two wheeler? Should I bolt on some training wheels? I felt like I had no business out there. But after a few laps and a little while spent on the bike over on the vet track, I felt a little more at home. I loved the soil but feel that the track is too technical for the average FPMXer. With a little time on that track I think that I could fall in love with it. In that way it reminded me of Starwest. As a promoter I need to think of the masses and I'm not sure that Racetown would be a good choice for an FPMX National. Speaking of FPMX Nationals, the time is here when I need to get next years season schedule....scheduled. Financially it is better to stay home in So Cal but with all the Arizona riders going to New York I plan on continuing the Arizona National at ACP. Besides, I love ACP, it just might be my favorite track. I am very proud of the Arizona FPMXers and their dedication to our organization and motocross in general. The Ohio and Indiana boys are stepping up too..........The day after the Bailey ride I injured my right heel at work while doing PT and I haven't been able to ride, let alone walk without a limp now for a week. Everything seems to be getting better and I should be back to work next week. I'm really excited to get back on the bike. As of now it sits in the garage plastered with mud from last week.............Just a thought, it would make it a lot easier if Cops would ride YAMAHAS, Firemen would ride HONDAS and if Wayne would ride a KAWASAKI. That way I would be able to highlight the bike and job together on the pre entry list. Come to think of it another thing that would make life easier here at the FPMX abode would be when people email their credit card numbers that they would space the numbers out in groups of 4. Example: 4896937200000332 compared to 4896 9372 0000 0332. The second group of numbers is way easier to deal with when attempting to charge the card. And it would really make it nice if Steve Marquez would drive to my house and work on my bike. I mean I get sick of limping into the garage and seeing my bike all dirty and missing a front spoke. After seeing a spoke missing I decided to check them all, only half of them were loose. I just tightened them a ride ago....what gives?...........e

8-16-06    Drugs are great! I feel so much better today. Tomorrow I will be a rider instead of being a spectator and that is a good thing, last time (the only time) that I was at Racetown I had a fractured scapula. Come to think of it, I was on drugs back then too. Well this time it's just antibiotics and Motrin............Well I've had some time to reflect on the FPMX and the direction that it is going. I think that maybe less is more, more or less. It's hard to figure out which way is the best way to go. Believe me I have had several suggestions. Some want more racing and others think that we have too much. Some say that we need to do the Summer Series again but have only 3 races spaced out a month apart. Others say that we should go back to just having the Spring and Fall Nationals again and forget the rest. Then there are some who think that we should do more Grand Prix's. All I know is that the FPMX has consumed my life and it's all I ever think about anymore. I know that I tend to take on too much. That's my nature, so as I am sitting here trying to figure out what to do in '07 I have a million thoughts racing through my head. My brain never takes a rest from the FPMX. So maybe we'll go back to only doing 2 day Nationals. Maybe January, March, May, July, October (10 rounds) with the Christmas GP/Toy Drive in December..........A week ago I would have said no way but while on that brush fire last week I drove right by I-5mx and the weather was perfect. It was in the mid 80's, last year we raced in 104* heat....no, HEAT! So maybe replace the Summer Series with a National at Gorman (I-5mx). Or maybe not.......What about a July round in Alaska or Nova Scotia? What about........no, yeah what about having all 10 rounds in a row at Glen Helen? What about just having Goon Races, everyone has to take their foot pegs off their bikes? What about, what about, what about? I really don't want your suggestions. Not that they aren't something I value, it's just that when I ask for them I get such a wide range of ideas that it's really no help. Maybe we should just go back to what has worked in the past. What about the future? I'm hungry....................e

8-14-06    I hit the overtime trail a few months ago, it all started when the attendance at the riders meeting at Round 1 of the Summer Series was almost 12 and I got ASCARED. I am very grateful to have a job where I can work many extra hours when the need is there. Today I just returned home from five days at the fire station. It was a busy 5 days. Yesterday we traveled North to the Kern County line where we had a rather large brush fire burning out of control. We were assigned to do structure protection last night. I was able to catch some sleep on a cot for a few hours, that was nice. The fire burned into Kern County, I don't think they wanted to pay us so we were released this morning to come home. After five days I was ready for a break. We stopped at a Carl's Jr. (Hardies) for a little breakfast, as I walked out of the restaurant I heard the words "Ed don't look".....So I looked. There was an FMF box van sitting in the parking lot by our engine with a KXF 450 on a stand next to it. I recognized the driver/mechanic from somewhere but didn't know the rider. They were coming home from a GNCC race in Washington. We talked for a while. One of the guys with me said that I needed a FirePoliceMX.com sticker on the side of the box van. I smiled and said that that would be nice. We talked a little longer when I noticed a FirePoliceMX.com sticker on the bottom of the rollup door. I was surprised it was there but happy to see it. I pointed it out my my fellow hose draggers who seemed dumbfounded that there actually was an FPMX sicker on the van. I was asked by the rider if I knew Ross Garcia or Bill Keys.......I do. It's a really small world isn't it?......I went to the Urgent Care today. Ever since Tuesday morning I have had an uncomfortable feeling downstairs. I figured that I did a little damage to myself during the Goon Race on Monday night. With my feet off the pegs I took some abuse from the seat on my KXF 450. I just figured that I bruised something and it would be OK in a few days. Not so. It kept getting worse but we were busy at work and I needed the overtime. Looks like I have some type of infection and am on antibiotics now. The Doctor said that everything looked FINE down there, she also said that the infection was probably caused by trauma......Stinkin' Goon Race. I hope everything clears up soon because I need to train for New York. Either way I will be at the David Bailey ride. I hope to ride instead of watch since I've been off the bike for a while and I have never had the opportunity to ride at Racetown..............e

8-8-06    Last night we got the checkered flag for the last time of the 2006 FPMX Summer Series. I felt like a ton was lifted off my shoulders. I have so much coming up but my mind was stuck in first gear with this series.........Yesterday morning as I was doing some race prep and washing the Barona Oaks mud off my KXF 450 in the driveway a Postman parked across the street, got out of his minivan with a priority mail envelope and headed toward me. It was for Sue, I signed for it. Then he started to make small talk about the bike. I told him that I was just prepping it for a race that evening. Before he had a chance to open his mouth I already knew what he was going to say....."You're too old for that stuff" or "You're body doesn't heal up like it used to". There's several lines that we always get when people find out that we race motorcycles. But then the Postman spoke........."You should have had this bike ready a long time ago"......WOW! I mean, yes he was 100% right but I just wasn't prepared to hear such truth. I tend to do things when they need to be done and not when they should be done. It was a good lesson for me.......Last Saturday I was invited to Barona Oaks, I haven't been there since 1991, It was a send off party for Jesse Casillas. Jesse is headed to Australia for a couple of years and his sponsors put together a farewell ride day for him. The last time I left Barona in '91 I was in the passenger seat of my son's mechanics wife's car headed to the Emergency Room. I split my chin wide open, it was hanging off my face. Actually the worst that I have ever seen. I spent several hours on laying on a table while a plastic surgeon put me back together. He told me that my mouth would hang open for the rest of my life. I had no feeling in my chin. Shaving was scary. But I started to notice improvement early on and basically everything healed 100%. I was told by my nurse that he was the best plastic surgeon in San Diego County....Great job Doc, thanks...........I ramble too much huh?.......Last night Alex Zapata won the bike give-a-way, Don't you wish it could have been you? Well I'm glad Alex won it. He was pretty happy..........Hey Doug Goff, I wrote this one for you. I read your post on the message board and felt pity. Now if we can just get the others to write..................e

7-29-06    That sneaky YZ Ernie...............December 6th, 2005 "Hey Ed, I don't think that I can race for 2 hours, let's cruise for an hour and 45 minutes and race the last 15 minutes"......"Sounds great Ernie"......So I notice that Ernie stalls or something on the start, he's not there in the first corner. I had already raced a 45 minute GP earlier in the day and decided to cruise and wait for Mr. YZ. I kept looking back but never saw him. On the back section of fire road tying the two motocross tracks together there was a big mud hole. I slowed and got way over to the side so I could go around it. I wasn't racing anyone, I was waiting for my buddy YZ Ernie Kopasz. Just as I got about half way past the mud hole some guy on a # 314 YZ 250 goes right up the middle of the mud hole pinned in 4th gear.......Thanks buddy........Today at work we had a drill, one of the engineers from another station was telling a story about how he was almost him by a car while going through an intersection. Everyone else stopped but one car went around the stopped cars. Both the fire engine and car skidded to a stop, only inches separated the two. No harm, no foul.......I spoke up....."Hey I had a similar situation"......The year was 1975, yes I am that old.......I just got my drivers license back from the court. It was suspended 2 weeks for speeding, I only had it two weeks before losing it. So now I am on my best behavior. I'm cruising West bound on Firestone Blvd just getting ready to cross Paramount Blvd heading to El Taco in Downey, CA. It's winter time so the windows were up. Ted Nugent's "Double Live Gonzo" Eight track tape was blasting from my old stereo speakers laying on the back seat of my 1968 Ford Mustang......Life was good. As Mr. Nugent was just finishing up "Baby please don't go" I noticed a pickup with an overhead camper shell hitting the breaks hard and swerving a little into my lane. No big deal, I made the adjustment into the center median, I took a quick look to see if a dog or a kid chasing a ball was in the street. Nothing. I proceeded and was just about to enter the intersection on the green light. As I passed the PU w/ camper I saw Big Red. It was a Downey Fire Engine entering the intersection. I quickly hit the brakes but couldn't go too far to the left because of oncoming traffic. We hit bumpers and that forced me into the opposing traffic. I quickly turned to the right and avoided the head on. I pulled to the right and stopped. The engine pulled in behind me. I hit a fire engine. My dad was a Captain for LA County Fire and I felt like I was in deep trouble. Not only with the law but also at home. I knew that I wanted to be a fireman and hitting a fire engine probably wasn't the best thing for my resume'.....A few weeks later I received a traffic violation in the mail. Things were not looking good for this young 16 year old driver......A few weeks later I appeared in court before the Judge. As I was explaining what happened the Judge asked me if I knew Lori Powell.........What? "Lori Powell, she's my daughter, I see that we live a few blocks apart and wonder if you go to school with her?" "Oh, L O R I   Powell my good friend, yes I know Lori, we've gone to school together since kindergarten, what a nice young lady". Judge Powell went on to tell me that he was a substitute Judge that day and that I had a good case. He took the time to tell me how to fight the ticket. He told me that there was no law against listening to Ted Nugent loud with my windows up although Devo would have been a violation, and also that the fire engine has to come to a complete stop before entering the intersection. He gave me a complete plan of attack. What a cool Judge.....Lori was a year older than me and we weren't friends but he didn't need to know that......Two weeks later I appeared before the Judge to fight my case.......The regular Judge called in sick that day and so I was to present my case before some substitute Judge.........Yes it was Judge Powell. He acted like he had never seen me before, heck with all the people he sees he might have forgot me, no big deal. I stood before him and presented my case almost word for word as he coached me to. After I was done he looked up at me. He didn't smile or give me a hint that he remembered me. He just said that I had represented a lucid, intelligent, well thought-out case and that I had won. I didn't receive a medal, trophy or a number one plate but I was a winner. As I walked away I gave the two week delayed ticket writing Downey Police Officer a wink and said "You should have been a Fireman"............Even way back then I knew...........e

7-28-06    Been busy, sorry. But if I was going to write something I would try to think of something stupid and kind of funny. So go ahead and laugh r i g h t..........NOW! Then I would get a little serious but not too serious. I would want to talk about the '07 Supercross season negotiations going on but I couldn't so I wouldn't. Then I would talk about the Summer Series and tell you how fun it has been. I might talk about the New York race and tell you that you still have time to make arrangements and also let you know that we have some room on the rig for your bike or quad. I could talk about all that crap but you probably don't care because you only race races within 4 miles of your house. It used to be 7 miles but gas prices went up too high. I might tell you that I beat Dan Hadfield straight up in moto one last week but that would be dumb because he smoked me in the next two motos so I'd probably keep that one quiet. I guess there's a lot I could talk about but I really don't have much to say. Oh what the heck...........Ok, hey guess what........I'm figuring out my starts on the KAWASAKI KXF450. I'm finally getting good starts again and I dig it. I can't weight.....oops, wait to race a big track where I can use the superior power of the GREEN machine, ACP will be really fun on the KXF cuz I love that long 5th......oops, 4th gear start. Actually I am looking forward to riding my new bike at Glen Helen. I feel like the KYB RACE TECH suspension will really work there for me, it just feels way more plush than my Showa stuff on the RM. Yeah I want a rematch with YZ Ernie in the Ironman race at the Christmas GP/Toy Drive. You know what......that YZ Ernie guy..........That will be a story for next time.................e

7-22-06   As I was basking in the air conditioning of the John Burr Cycles showroom yesterday I realized that my recent aches and pains were missing.....It Worked! I once heard that if you don't write for a few weeks that your minor injuries will heal up. I think it was Chad Reed or maybe it was Eric Sorby who said it, at least I think that's what I heard. Anyway sorry I didn't write for a while. To tell you the truth I think that not riding for the last couple of weeks accomplished the same thing..............I'll see you all Monday at the Starwest, looking forward to seeing the new track layout...............e

7-03-06    Sometimes hard work pays off, maybe you will never even know if it does but every once in a while you can see the fruits of your labors.......Many years ago (1985) I was working at a fire station in Carson, California. One of the new young firefighters in the station (Bill) said that he could beat me in a game of one on one basketball. I laughed and told him that I could beat him with my turnout pants and boots on. He was a good athlete but only stood about 5'6". He asked me how much I wanted to bet, I said how about a buck? To tell you the truth I didn't know if I could beat him wearing those boots and pants and didn't want to lose too much money. We played and I won. Later that evening while standing by my locker, he brought me a dollar bill. I told him that the victory was too easy and to keep his money. He insisted that I take it but I wouldn't. After a few minutes of this he ripped the dollar in half and dropped it on the floor in front of my locker. I went on a four day and when I returned to work the two halves of the dollar still laid on the ground near my locker. I left the money there for a few more days . Everyone in the station was aware of what was going on and so the torn money remained on the floor until I decided to pick the two halves up. Bill was a good practical joker, his style was much like mine. Our practical jokes were more head games than the usual water drops or the more physical type jokes. That's the reason the two halves of the dollar laid on the ground for so long. Neither one of us wanted to break and be the first to pick up the money. That would show weakness and the other guy would have won that battle. Well Bill must have felt the joy of victory when he realized that I gave in and picked up the money. A few months later Bill transferred to another fire station and I haven't seen him since. I held on to those two half dollars and one day got an overtime shift at the station he was assigned to as a paramedic. He was not working that day but I found his fire helmet and taped a half dollar on the inside. I kind of hid the half dollar up under a bandana that he had stuffed up in the crown of the helmet so it would take him a while to find it. I also gave the other half of the dollar to a friend that I worked with years earlier and told him what was going on. My friend was now my accomplice. He was instructed to wait a few weeks then placed the other half of the dollar in Bills car, hanging on a string from his rear view mirror. I gave my accomplice a few dollar bills and instructed him to rip them in half and place them periodically in places where Bill would find them. Over the last 10 years I never got a report back from my man on the inside nor did I ever hear from Bill..........Until yesterday! I was at work, the phone rang, you know that phone that is never for me. My calls all come on my cell so I was surprised to find out that the caller asked for Ed Wilson. "Hello" I said...."Ed how many years until you retire?" "Eight, how about you?" "Eighteen". The whole time I'm trying to figure out who owned the voice on the other side. Silence..........I finally broke, "Who is this?" "it's Bill, I got this envelope in the County mail today, it was the biggest envelope the County has, I opened it expecting something good and all I found was a half of a dollar bill. Do you know anything about this?"....I started to laugh and then said "No" "You don't know anything about this?" "Not really", still laughing. "Would you please stop, these things have been showing up my entire career, it's driving me crazy, how are you doing it? Who's helping you?"......We talked for a few minutes, most of the time I was being quizzed on who was helping me. He guessed many names, all of them FPMXers. But my man on the inside doesn't ride. He finally asked if it was a guy named Ward, I laughed and said "You know Ward?"...."So it's Ward, he's working today, I'm calling him right now".....We said our good bye's and I hung up the phone..........It wasn't Ward.........................Come to the Summer Series.......Ed

6-28-06    Well the Summer Series is half over and so far the attendance has been low. We probably won't do it again..........e

6-17-06    I have this Verizon wireless card that I plug into the side of my laptop and I can get the internet wherever I get cell reception. It's pretty cool. But since I got this new computer a couple of months ago I have been unable to get online with the card. I've only needed it a few times then forget to look into it when I return from the boondocks. A few days ago I needed it again and called Verizon for help. They were great, they stayed on the phone with me for several hours as we tried to figure out what was wrong. Still we were unable to get connected and online. They even called me a couple times over the next few days trying to help me figure out the problem. I figured that maybe the problem was with the computer and not the wireless card so I went to see the Geek Squad at Best buy. My Geek Squad person was Ashley, Ashley was cool and helped me figure out what was wrong, it took her all of about a minute. She saw the picture on the screen saver (me jumping the 519, KXF450 at Starwest) and asked if that was me. I said yes figuring that she was just being talkative. Then she asked if I take my computer to the track because there's a lot of dust on it. I said yes, I use it at the races........We live in a small world. I'm in Oceanside in a Best Buy talking to a Geek Squad girl and she asks me if I know any of the guys from RACE TECH. Say what? Then she asks if I know Paul, Mike or Ronnie........."Yeah I know those guys! They are my suspension Sponsor, I just saw them at Starwest last Monday night, see the sticker on my fork legs"............It's been a few days since then and I am trying to do some updates on the website this morning but am unable to update it. In fact all the changes made over the last two months are missing and I am getting scared. So back to Best Buy I go to see Ashley.....It took all of about another minute for her to get me back up and running. Thanks Ashley...........Ya know I wish I had a little more Geek Squad in me, I got the Geek part down, I'm just missing the Squad part I guess..............e

6-13-06    A week later and another six motos and guess what.........I'm sore again, I'm tired but I had a great time last night. I'm starting to figure out the Four Stroke. It's been a busy week and I didn't have a chance to ride but I felt so much better on my bike this week than I did last week. It was like old times battling with Dan Hadfield again and so much fun.......Changing subjects.......So I have this new bike, it's a four stroke, it takes an oil filter & I forgot to pick one up at John Burr Cycles when I got the bike. I know that I need to change the oil so I decide to pick up a couple of filters on the way to he track. I pass right by 3 KAWASAKI dealers on the way to the track and JBC isn't one of them. I hate using other parts guys, my parts guy is Vic from JBC. Vic is by far the best ever.....EVER! So anyway I pull into one of the shops, park my motor home, run inside and ask the parts KID for 2 oil filters for a 2006 KXF450. He was ready to look up the parts on the computer but when I said the order he got off his stool and walked in the back and came right out with 2 oil filters. They were in boxes that said KAWASAKI on them. I felt good about how fast the service was and was back on the road within a few minutes. The plan was to do a few laps at STARWEST then change the oil before the riders meeting. I got busy doing promoter stuff and never got to the oil change. Today I washed the bike, rode it around the block, drained the oil and pulled the old filter out. This was very easy compared to the other four strokes that I have worked on. My 2003 CRF450 was a bit of a challenge but the '04 SUZUKI/KAWASAKI 250f's were a pain. So I grab the oil filter box, remove the filter and SURPRISE! The KID parts guy gave me the wrong filters. I ended up with 2 oil filters for a KXF250. They are a much smaller filter and don't work for the larger much faster, well suspended and good looking KXF450. So I cleaned the old filter the best that I could, put it back in and fill her up with AMSOIL 10/40. ........It's hard to find a good parts guy. It's fortuitous ("that means lucky", "yeah I know what it means") that I happened into JBC twenty years ago looking for a spoke for a 1986 HONDA CR 250. Vic helped me, he said that he would order the spoke and it would be there in a couple of days. I shrugged my shoulders. Vic asked what was going on. I told him that I was leaving for the Fireman's Olympics in the morning.......Vic told me to wait a few minute and he would be right back.........A few minutes later he returned from the back with a new spoke taken out of a brand new bike. No charge!.....Customer for life!!!!!!!!!!!!.............e

6-6-06    My entire body is sore today but it's a good sore. I mean I'm aware that I have a body today because everything I do I feel. You know like breathing or trying to get off the couch......that stuff. But I'm not injured so that's the "good sore" that I was talking about. It's been a few years since I raced 6 motos in a day. Usually I signup for a second class and just go out and check out the track during my throw-away race so I can do better in the race that I care about. Last night I tried in all my motos.........."Hey Ed your bike is popping a lot, what's wrong with it?" "I don't know, it's a freakin' Four Stroke, I thought that was normal". Seriously I don't have a clue. Two stroke, four stroke......I don't know. I like characteristics of both. I think it will just be a matter of time until I can figure out the KXF 450. I know that I was shifting too much out of habit. But one thing I liked about the thumper was that I was able to twist the throttle out of a corner and do a double that I wasn't able (or had the huevos) to do on the RM 250. The one big difference that I noticed was on the starts. I had the start down on the two stroke and felt like I had a good chance to holeshot every moto. Last night I had no idea how to get off the gate. Although I really like the gearing on my Kawi on the track, I couldn't figure it out on the start. Second gear bogged so I tried first gear. First was great out of the gate but then I had to shift early. I think it's a 1 down, 3 up thing. I don't have a clue on that either, but I'll figure it out soon................I'm sure getting tired of seeing Denis Moon in front of me. I've been sucking hind tit all season. I need to make a change in my training routine, I might switch from Dreyer's to Breyers..............e

6-2-06    This morning I was able to squeeze in the last practice day before the Summer Series kickoff. It was my second time on the Kawasaki, I started to feel a little more at home on the brute. I'm looking forward to seeing what four fiddy life is all about. On the way home from the STAR while driving down the South bound 15 near Fallbrook a big white 4X4 Ford pulled up next to me. I looked out the passenger side window to see a familiar face. It was Scott Luben. Scott was an FPMX expert a few years back but suffered a few bad injuries and decided to give up racing.  I miss Scotty at the track but it was good seeing him. I have a picture of Scott covered with mud after one of the motos at Glen Helen at that infamous mud race. Anyone remember that race?............. Tonight Sue and I went to see The DaVinci Code. I like good movies, I rate all movies on the Iron Eagle 3 scale. Those of you who have been reading the Journal for a while  know this. Iron Eagle 3 is the middle of the road average movie. So a movie gets rated by how it compares to Iron Eagle 3. I figured that I wouldn't like The DaVinci Code because I hated all the Lord of the Rings flicks and also those stupid Harry Potter wastes of film. It seems like if Hollywood digs a film, I hate it. Back to The DaVinci Code. Yo man, check it out. It's OK. I think if Lou Gossett Jr. was in it as Chappy Sinclair it it might have been better but it was just all right with me dawg. I'd never buy it, I mean it was no School or Rock or Joe Dirt. I think they probably spent more money on it than they did for Napoleon Dynamite, too bad Napoleon Dynamite was a better movie. But I'll say it was a tad better than Iron Eagle 3 but not much better though. I'm waiting for that blockbuster, Nacho Libre' to come out, just on the previews alone it beats The DaVinci Code. I think the worst movie ever made was Yzernie's favorite, Hope Floats. Hey we'll see ya at the STAR on Monday............e

5-31-06    Here's my first practice on the KXF report: I like it, I'm not in love yet but things went well. I think we will see each other again and who knows maybe someday we will have a few KX 65's running around the garage...........It will take a while to get comfortable with the new ride but I think it will be a good move....Although.....I was getting my RM250 ready to sell and took her up the street. Man what a hit. I love that bike. What I noticed today about the KXF is that I was able to do more laps before getting tired. Also I was over jumping everything in the beginning and had to be conscious of the speed I was carrying off the face of the jumps. All in all I think that the KAWI 450 will be a great move for me................I don't know why they call two strokes "Smokers", my Four Stroke was smoking just as much. I think I'm going to have to go 40 to1 on my gas/oil mix instead of 32 to 1............I have to say that RACE TECH hit it right on the spot. I didn't touch a thing and the suspension was the best that I have felt in years. Thanks Dom and Bill for the quick and excellent work. Well I better get some sleep.......Oh yeah, by the way I was just kidding about mixing oil in my gas. that's one thing that I won't miss about my RM.....................e 

5-30-06    Remember when I said that I would finish the Summer Series on the RM 250?.........I couldn't wait. John Burr Cycles made me an offer that I couldn't refuse on an '06 KAWASAKI KXF450, yes a green bike. Tomorrow morning I will be heading to STARWEST to see what she's all about..........I worked over the entire Memorial Day weekend and this morning stopped by JBC then Race Tech on my way home from work. I put the KAWI next to my RM250 then went inside to say hello to Sue. After an hour or so we were off to a late lunch. Sue spotted the lime green machine next to the Yellow bike and asked what was going on..............."Well honey it's not my fault, if Wayne Ashby would have stayed on a two stroke we wouldn't have this problem"........Just kidding Riddla! Actually she was cool with it. I figured that I would be sleeping in the garage tonight with my bikes but all is well in the FPMX abode. Thanks Sue. RACE TECH is really good to me. Actually they are good to all FPMXers. Tomorrow when I hit the turf at the STAR I will be doing it on RT suspension, now that's customer service! Thanks RT for the super quick turnaround. Then I spent the rest of the day switching out the 7/8" handlebars so that I would feel at home on my new ride with the forgiving FASST CO FLEXX bars. I also put a RENTHAL 48 tooth sprocket on the rear, replacing the 50 that comes stock. Besides that I snugged up the spokes and slapped number 519 on her.....I'm kind of nervous, I really like my two stroke a lot and now I too have joined the dark side.........I just hope that I can shave a few seconds off my lap times within the week. Got to be ready for the STAR on June 5th...........I wonder if Yzernie will ever get off that two stroke?..............e

5-24-06    Now that "Mike Dunn Day" is over and the kids are back in school I figured that it was time to ride. So off to Starwest I went yesterday. The FPMX is starting to fill the pits at the Star as we are nearing the start of the 2006 FPMX Summer Series kickoff. I was having an OK day, no dirt samples and minimal arm pump. When I was done riding I decided to wash my bike at the bike wash. I have never done this before at the Star, I usually do the bike washing in my driveway with a pressure washer......Anyway there was a guy near the wash pad getting ready to ride, he just unloaded his 2006 KXF450. I walked over and introduced myself, his name was Todd. I asked him how he liked the KXF. He replied with an "I love it". I told him that I rode one a few weeks ago  (Ralph Collins') and I liked it but that the rear sprocket was dropped by two teeth so I didn't get the true feel of the motor. He said that he also dropped the rear sprocket by two teeth and that that was the way to go. Then he said something really cool........"Take it out and try it"........Humm...OK! Todd is a Vet rider and somewhere near my weight class so the suspension was pretty close.......I felt real comfortable the moment that I stood on the pegs. I have owned several KAWASAKIS over the years, but they were all KX 60's back in the day when my son raced. But I have never personally raced a  KAWASAKI.......It's time. I'll be finishing the Summer Series on the 2 stroke then moving on to the GREEN four stroke 450. At least I out lased Wayne Ashby. I felt faster on the KXF after 3 laps than I did on my RM250. I know "we told you so", whatever. Well I want to start winning again and I feel that I can on the KAWASAKI KXF450. Do you know how it feels to get passed buy guys that you think you should beat. It sucks! I can't wait for the '07's to come out................519 = Sig

5-22-06    I proclaim May 22nd as "Mike Dunn Day". #522..........................I took a little advice from my Border Patrol brother, Mark Davenport and decided to write down my thoughts throughout the day so when it came time to write in the journal I could remember what I wanted to write about. Today's notes just had two words written down......Tailgate and Spit........This morning I loaded all my moto stuff in my truck at 5:15 am in the pouring rain. I left the FPMX Estate at 5:24 am and proceeded 90 miles North to LACoFD Station 4. While backing into my parking spot I noticed in the mirror that the tailgate was down...."Oh crap!" This wasn't the first time that I have done this. A few years ago I drove to work with my tail gate down and lost a bike stand and an ice chest on the freeway. How would you like to be behind that idiot? Well today I got out of the F250 knowing that my tools and riding gear were safe and sound in the back seat of my crew cab but I was nervous about the bike stand and the ice chest. All was good in Rosemead, CA.........A few years ago while coming home from Starwest on the South bound 15 near Fallbrook, I spotted a bike stand in lane #2 of the freeway. It looked like a nice stand and I was tempted to get off the freeway and double back to see if I could acquire it but decided not too chance death running on the freeway. A few miles later I saw another identical bike stand also in lane #2 of the South bound 15. Again I thought about snagging it but better judgment took over and I cruised towards home with my beat up junky bike stand sitting next to my YAMAHA YZ 250. Being a fireman and not quite but almost above the speeding laws I kept the peddle to the metal (keeping it below 100mph). I saw a pickup in the near distance that had two motorcycles in the bed of it. As I caught and passed this vehicle I notice that the tailgate was down and I didn't see any bike stands in the bed. I took a glance to see if I knew these poor souls who would have to buy two new stands, to my surprise I recognized the driver. It was none other than our own Don Maeda of Transworld Motocross. It's just my guess but I bet he didn't have to buy new stands..........Today we responded to a "man down, Sheriff's on scene" call. It was a few blocks from the station. That North bound rain storm that I loaded my bike in hade made it to Rosemead. This guy was down on the sidewalk in handcuffs. He was from a local mental hospital and kept banging his head on the concrete. I held his head up by the collar of his jacket while Ed Niemela put his turnout boot between his head and the sidewalk to protect him. When the AMR Ambulance arrived we picked him up and were in the process of putting him on the gurney when he decided to spit in my face. I let go of his jacket and spun away with my head raised and eyes closed. The sputum missed my mug but landed on my sweat shirt sleeve and turnout pants.......I switched from wanting to help this person to wanting to beat the crap out of him. It was total adrenalin, I turned and walked away but I wanted to punch him in the face. I mean I really wanted to beat this guy. It was a weird moment for me. I never snap but I was on the verge. I thought about all  of the witnesses and possible cameras from the Edison buildings that we were between and I just walked away. That took all of about a half a second. The Sheriffs looked at me and smiled. One said "I know how you feel". I have only felt that way three times in my career. Each and every time someone made an aggressive move toward me and it was fight or flight syndrome.....I wanted to fight........So when I see cops on television being "aggressive" towards a dirt bag, well I understand maybe just a little about how you feel. There's a line out there somewhere, I'm glad I didn't cross it today............e

5-20-06    I know that I wrote about this at least once. I'm not going to go back and see what I said last time but I'm sure it will be just about the same this time as it was a year or two years or three years ago or how ever long ago it has been since I wrote about it last. I've been in the fire service almost 25 years.......TWENTY FIVE YEARS.....Holy Cow!.......I guess I'm one of the old guys now, it happens......I guess. Well I'm lucky to be alive today. Yes today was the annual "Dodge the cars day" that we have on the Fire Department. Not to be confused with the running of the bulls in Spain but similar. This is the one time where I can honestly say that cops are smarter than firemen........Side bar.....I was just at the river (Lake Havasu) with my family. We have two firemen, a retired fireman and two cops in the family. I stirred the pot a little with the cop/fireman thing and wouldn't you know it the cops started in right where the FPMX cops left off a few weeks ago on the message board. You know all that stuff about firemen waiting down the street until the PD secures the scene and makes it safe for us. It was pretty funny to see my nephew in-law cops get all riled up but let's all face this fact.......Firemen win that battle of wits. It's like...."Hey let's go race Glen Helen without our helmets". That would be stupid. I don't mean to offend but come on, It's better to be safe than sorry.......Ok Side bar over...........You don't see cops running through traffic collecting money for somebody else do you? They must just sit there in their patrol cars and shake their heads and think to them selves that we are a bunch of idiots. I don't know how our department or any fire department allows this to happen. I mean the traffic is flowing and we are running in and out of cars collecting money in a boot. Now please don't get me wrong, I know this is for a great cause, MDA, but it just seems so crazy. Who's gonna pay when one of us gets plastered in the street? Every year when this day comes up I don't want to do it. I really don't have to do it, I could just sit on the fire engine but I do it for charity. Here's the weird thing.......After a couple of donations it all seems worth it. To see the look on peoples faces as they drop a buck or ten bucks in the boot is priceless. You can just see the joy they get from helping others. It's weird. All of the sudden I don't mind dodging a Chevy Nova that just swerved out of the way of the guy in the Volkswagen Rabbit that just drove across 3 lanes to drop fifty cents in my boot.................Tomorrow is the opening round of the AMA National Motocross Series at Hangtown. This is the first year that I have missed  this race in 5 years. I look for a great battle between James and Ricky but think that #7 will win if he stays on two wheels. Also up there in Sacramento is round two of the WMA Motocross Series. We have two riders, Aubriana Dunn and Josephine Adlam racing with FirePoliceMX.com support. I wish I could be there to cheer them on....................eDub

5-19-06    Sue and I just got back from our annual "Mothers Day river trip". We went to Lake Havasu and stayed at Black Meadow Landing. I've been going there with my family for 47 years now. My parents started going there almost 60 years ago. One of the great things about that place (and also the worst) is that I don't get cell reception there and also no internet. I enjoy the peace but I know that I'm missing a lot of FPMX stuff...........We had 30 some odd number of family members there. It was a good time..........It's time to moto! I knew that I would miss a week of riding so I took a benefit day off work to hit the Star before we left for Havasu. Niemela, Scanlon and I rode until we were told to get off the track at 2:30pm for track prep, that was a good day........My AXO's will be a little tighter after the river trip, I ate like a pig everyday........Like I said.....It's time to moto.......I'm going to try to get out to Starwest a couple of days this week to prepare for the Summer Series. Oh guess what I learned last week..........I learned how to do tear offs over the big double. It might not sound like much but I have never been a fan of letting go of the handle bars in the air. When I needed to do a tear off I would do it in a slow corner and waste a couple of seconds. Also I've been working on that standing up thing. Somebody once said that I sit down too much, I think I remember hearing that...............e

5-11-06    So I'm at work the other day and we get a call for a "bird in a wall". Sounds like a call for Animal Control but what the heck. So we get to the residence and guess what?......There's a bird in the wall. So Mark (New FPMXer) Bestwick removes the wall heater where the renter said the chirping was coming from and I and a boot fireman are on the roof looking down the vent pipe to the heater and we see nothing but light from Bestwick's  flashlight. We don't hear a bird, we don't see a bird.......I don't think there's a bird, at least not anymore. It must have flew the coop. So we go back to the gym to finish our workout so we can get in the best shape of our lives. Just as we are getting back to Garvey Park and could hear the bounce of leather on wood we get another call "bird in a wall". That's two "bird in a wall" calls on the same shift. Actually that's two "bird in a wall" calls in the same career. So we go back to the same house "the Bird House" and do some more investigating. This time I hang at the wall heater for a while and sure enough I hear the chirp of a little birdie. We decide that we need to go up into the attic and do some more investigating. Our first investigation only turned up a bloody glove behind the house, but the glove didn't fit. We found the crawl space to the attic in the oldest daughters room. One of us had to go up and crawl around in the attic to find said bird. This is a no brainer. The second day Boot Fireman was going up! The landlord who lived next door was keeping an eye on what was going. This man was in his late 60's or early 70's. He had a Humpty Dumpty body type. He was about 5'5" tall and out weighed all of us by a lot. He sees that one of us is going up the crawl space and decides to give advice. He pulls the Captain aside, who is a stocky individual himself and whispers a litttle to loud  "Hey you and I and that skinny kid over there would be OK to go up in the attic but it's pretty tight up there. I don't think those two bigger guys could fit" . He was talking about the two FPMXers, Bestwick and myself. If I had all the King horses and all the Kings men I don't think I could squeeze him through that crawl space again. I don't think he realized that I just got down to the High Fifteens (15.9) on the Shape-O-Meter. Anyway I'm taking hits on the message board for sitting down too much when I ride and now I'm taking hits from the public. A man can only take so much............We rescued the bird. at least for a while. He was young and just about ready to fly, I let him go behind the station, I checked on him later and he was gone. I didn't see any feathers lying around but I did see our local tom cat licking his chops that evening.............e

5-04-06    So I'm sitting here on the eve of Supercross Finals Eve, (or Thursday before Las Vegas). I was feeling bad for not writing in the journal for a few days, I really didn't have much to say so I figured that I would check out a few of the other articles that get posted here on FirePoliceMX.com...............Ok that was no help! Davenports Diary was the one that was updated last and that was one week, one day and another week ago (or 15 days) but I'm not too worried about Mark. He wrote quite often over the 30 months when he was injured (or 2 1/2 years) so I know he must be on assignment somewhere in the world, maybe with Joe Benson (aka the invisible man). So then I went all the way over to the High Side to see what YZ Ernie had on his mind...........Nothing I guess. He hasn't written in 29 days (or three weeks and 8 days). I know Ernie has been under the weather for a while and then couldn't get time off work to make it to Glen Helen so I understand the motivation probably isn't there to write but I know he's had time because I see him online all the time. When I try to locate him all I get is a message saying that he's in a Backstreet Boys chat room......So what could I write about? I know let's go see what secrets my wife has told everyone about me.......Nothing.........Sue hasn't written in 8 weeks, 56 days, almost two months (or a long time). Yes it's been awhile but that can be a good thing because my private life stays a bit more private when Runaround Sue doesn't write. So I guess I will talk about Nothing. Hey how about them Lakers? No how about them Clippers?!!!!! I know.... How about Chad Reed? Here's a guy who has been written off all year long as being an also ran behind James and Ricky but here he goes into the last round tied for the points lead. Amazing! This Supercross Series is almost as exciting as that time when Andrea Carson posed as her brother Andrew Carson to win the championship and get a factory ride! Remember when she beat that French guy Carter (Kar-Tee-Ayy), wow that was a good series. I think this Saturday night has to be the best thing that has ever happened to Supercross. The three great ones, the guys who were picked to battle it out for the championship which started way back on January 7th in Anaheim, CA are going into the final round within 5 points of each other. The guy who has been doing the winning lately is the one down by 5 points. James needs to win the race to have a shot at the title but whoever takes second place between RC & CR wins the #1 Plate. But what if Nick Wey or Kevin Windham can get the second spot on the podium? It's a long shot but a possibility. Then Stewart wins the title. What if Ricky gets a flat tire on the line and then rides back to the pits to find Brad Hannig washing his bike and jumps on it and races? What if...............................eDub  

5-1-06    It's been a week now since the Nationals at Glen Helen and I can't count the times that I have been reminded by one of you that I lost to Steve Marquez. To tell you the truth I think it's the best thing for both Steve and I. Steve seems to have found a new desire for racing and I found a new desire not to lose to him again. Don't get me wrong, Steve is a very good friend but also my longest rival. Today I got a call from Steve asking me when I was riding this week. That's a phone call that I haven't had in 10 years and I was glad to get it.. I have always said that Steve is technically a better rider than I am and a very smart rider. Over the last decade I have had a little more endurance and I deal with jumps better but Steve has always been good in the corners and he has had good two lap speed but then would fade. He didn't fade last week. He's been telling me that he was training but I didn't believe him. That's an old game we have played over the years. You know stuff like, "I got a new top end", "I just had my suspension done", "I've been dieting". We've been doing little head games back and forth for years. I think Steve just pulled the best one ever, he told me that he was training but I thought it was just another head game but he was telling the truth. I just figured that he was crying wolf. It's actually good to have my old rival back, we're going riding together tomorrow at Starwest. I'll be working on my cornering and I'm sure Steve will be working on his jumping. Actually I'm sure that we will help each other figure out how to cut our lap times........... I didn't eat any dinner tonight, I just had an XS Energy drink and called it good. I hope Steve is reading this after eating a double cheeseburger.............If I could figure out a way to rig the Shape-O-Meter to mess with Steve's head I would but that thing has been always stays calibrated................e

4-29-06    "Dear fellas, I can't believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid but now they're everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry." That's a quote from Brooks after he was released from Shawshank State Prison in Portland, Maine. Man I feel the same way. A few weeks ago I got a new cell phone. It's got everything on it, I mean everything but all I can do is make calls. Then two days before the Nationals at Glen Helen my laptop took a dump. So I had to get a new one. The one I got is $400 cheaper than my last one but this one has a full media center. If I ever figure this thing out I will be able to put videos on the website but don't look for them in the near future. It took me 4 days to figure out how publish changes to the website on this new computer. Nothing is simple anymore. I was telling Sue today that I was about ready to move to the mountains and live in a cabin w/o electricity. No phones......no nothing! That would be nice....................Yesterday I decided to go to Elsinore to do some riding. I rarely go to Elsinore but it's the closest place to the house and I didn't have all day. I ran into Ralph Collins there. Ralph own's Fins Up Suspension and is a RACE TECH technician. Ralph let me try out his '06 KXF 450. It was the first time I was able to ride the green monster. I likeed it. Ya know I would be happy on an Mike Dunn replica 1974 CR 250 Elsinore (if everyone else had to ride a vintage bike) but it's keep up with the Jones' in MX. After a flat tire at the starting gate of moto two on Tuesday and a panic scramble for a bike to race, I found my buddy Brad Hannig washing his bike. Brad lent me his bike and I made it back to the gate before Marco stomped on the lever to start the roar of four strokes. This time I was on one. I felt a bit uneasy but not too bad as we rounded Talladega. I had a good moto long battle with an old friend, Steve Marquez. This is a friendly rivalry that dates back twenty years and started on the same Glen Helen dirt. It came down to the last corner and Steve prevailed. I felt like I was slower and faster on the four stroke. There were some spots on the track were I know I was faster, like going up the hills but other places I was slower like going into corners. That engine breaking thing kinda sucks but I could get used to it in time. Anyway I'm thinking four stroke for '07. I haven't tested the Blue bikes yet but have had the chance to ride the other Japanese 450's. If I bought today I would go with the KAWASAKI because it felt really roomy. I like both the 4 speed bikes (Yellow and Green) best so far.......I also ran into Sogi Achumoto at Elsinore yesterday. He was testing a HONDA CRF 250 X. He had the thing running like a top. I really liked it. I felt so slow on it but my lap times were right there with the KXF 450. I  understand a little bit more now why guys are getting the smaller four bangers, they are fun!.........Anyway if you are reading this then I figured the website/internet thing out and can start on the video thing.............e

4-18-06    On the way home from work yesterday AM I stopped by Starwest for a little bit of riding. Starwest is the sight of all six rounds of the 2006 FPMX Summer Series..........Switching subjects, Sue wanted to get a new cell phone. It was one of those Blackberry type things. It's a Trio 700 from Verizon with broadband internet on it. Well I decided to get one too. I mean why not? We got a good tax return and if I was ever going to get one of these devices it would be smart to get the same one that my wife has. She could learn how it works and show me. That way I could benefit from the knowledge she gains while trying to figure out how to use this piece of equipment while I do more important things like ride or work on my bike. Anyway we bought two of them. It has two games on it, Solitaire and Bubble Breaker. I kind of got hooked on Bubble Breaker, it's a game where you have 88 bubbles on a screen, there are five colors of bubbles. Blue, yellow, red, green and purple. I really like the yellow bubbles best. Anyway the object is to pair the bubbles up on the screen and eliminate them. When you group two bubbles you get 2 points, when you group three bubbles you get 6 point, four =12pts, five = 20 points and so on. It just keeps multiplying as you group more bubbles. So I got to thinking..........Hey lets do this with the Summer Series. Here's how it's going to work. Ready? Ok here we go...........If you race one round you will get 1 raffle ticket. If you race two rounds in a row you will get 4 raffle tickets (2x2). Three rounds in a row  (3x3) 9 tickets etc. Now if you race all six rounds in the same class you will get 36 raffle tickets. If you race two classes you double that number (72 tix). Three classes would be.......You do the math. Now Here's something very important to remember..Mike Dunn can remind you of this on the message board. If you have a break (miss an event or don't race one of the classes) you will start all over (1x1=1 ticket). So what good are these raffle tickets? I will pick one raffle ticket at the end of round 6. The winner and I will go down to the bike shop and buy the winner a brand new 2006 Motocross bike of their choice. Their choice will be anything from a PW 50 (which I think would be the best choice) to a RMZ 450. The list of choices will be posted before the series ends but it will be a Japanese Motocross bike. 50cc to 450cc. I told YZ Ernie about this last night and he asked why I was doing this. The reason is this. I think the chance at a new bike will increase the signups, make the event better and at the same time generate enough cash to pay for the bike. And someone gets a new bike for free!..............e     Fire, Police, Civilian are all eligible to win.    Disclaimer: You must be a paying participant of the event to be eligible to win the bike.  

4-14-06    I made it out to Glen Helen yesterday to do some motos before the Nationals. I had a band new DUNLOP on the rear and added 1 tooth to the rear sprocket. After the sight lap I began to ride at speed. The track was really good, I think it was from all the rain that we had a few weeks ago. It never dried out and it was never muddy. Also there were a lot of quads in the morning flattening it out. My cornering was good but it felt so weird. I was back steering the RM. The rear would just come around and line me up for the next straight. I was having a great time. The bike seemed slow or at least like it wasn't hooking up, especially coming out of corners. I decided to check the rear tire......I had a flat! No wonder the rear end was coming around on me. I had only put in one hot lap and wasn't ready to drive the 110 miles home after two laps on a almost rutless Glen Helen course. Lucky for me that I brought everything that I needed to fix the flat. I bought this tire changer from "Joe Hauler", it hooks into your receiver on your truck. It's awesome. I was back on the track in less than 20 minutes. It took about 10 minutes to change the tube and that was with a hand pump. I had a hard time seating the bead on the rim with the hand pump. But after several pumps and even more whacks with a rubber mallet the tire was back on the rim with a seated bead. My cornering with pressure in the tire wasn't quite as good as with a flat tire....weird, but the RM was hooking up out of the corners and I had a big smile on my face. The Glen Helen course had a few changes since the last time I was there. The hardest part for me was an off camber left hander going into the first up hill. I hope the course remains the same for our races next week.............e out

4-08-06    As Firefighters and Police Officers we often get a little love from the local eating establishments while on duty. It's always nice and appreciated but not expected. Tonight Sue and I went to Fuddruckers for dinner. The girl at the cash register was a family friend, almost a daughter to me. I've known her since she was born, she's 18 now. As she was making change for me she looked up and said "Ed don't be upset with me"......I was a bit puzzled. I thought that maybe she was going to have to give me lots of pennies, I didn't know what she meant. She had a smile on her face when she handed me the change and receipt. The change looked normal, not too many pennies or small change. So I took a look at the receipt.............10% Senior Citizen Discount! Ouch! Good one. If only yzernie could come up with something that good.....................With all the rain we've had I've been doing all my Glen Helen prep below sea level. Most of my riding since the Starwest Nationals has been at Ocotillo Wells. Have I ever told you that I love that place? A couple of days ago I went with some Fire buddies from work. It was all good but then I smacked a rock pretty hard and got a rear flat. I had to leave early but it was still a great day in the Dez, except for the flat spot on my rear rim..................As most of you have seen on this website, Pole Position Raceway has come onboard with FirePoliceMX.com as the Title sponsor of our amateur race program. I have worked out a deal with Ken Faught, President of Pole Position. For every $23 race ticket you buy, you will get a $5 credit towards your race entries or items in theFPMXstore.com. Now this is IMPORTANT: Listen to Mike "Walker" Dunn on this one. You must tell the cashier that you are with "FirePoliceMX" to get the credit (FPMXbux). Good night.........e

3-31-06    I had a great time in the Dez with Mark Davenport, Steve Marquez and Mike (Walker) Dunn. On a ride early in the day we ran into Bruce Hale who was driving a Rhino through some of the sand washes. We were supposed to meet up with Joe Benson for lunch at the Blue Inn but it was closed. We ended up eating lunch at the Rose Cafe but Benson was a no show. Later in the day Davenport and I ran into Joe and a friend of his. They were hitting some pretty sweet jumps. I was too scared to do any of the big ones. Joe took Davenport over a couple of the big jumps but there were a few that Mark wouldn't try. Those were the only guys we saw all day, small world huh?..............So the day after we get back from the Dez I am working an overtime at my station on Ed (FEN) Niemela's shift. Someone described FEN as a Bulldog that day. He said Ed lays around and just licks himself most of the time but when he decides to do something you better get out of his way. Well FEN decided to fix the dishwasher in the station that morning. It was installed by top notch County employees about a year ago. Every time the top shelf got loaded with dishes and the door was down, the top tray would roll out and then the weight of the top shelf would make the whole dishwasher fall forward. Anyway Ed had enough and was on the floor with his arm way up under the dishwasher. He asked me if I could tilt the dishwasher out and hold it steady while he worked. All of the sudden I get a jolt of electricity though my entire body, up both arms and down to me feet. This was not the 9 volt on the tongue shock, this was like something I have never felt before and never want to feel again shock. Witnesses said that I let out a high pitched girl scream but I don't really remember. All I know is that I let go as fast as could and then went to the floor and just laid down for a while. I did a quick body check and felt OK. I did have a weird feeling in my knees, elbows and shoulders for a few hours. It wasn't a pain but I was aware of them if that makes any sense. All the guys wanted me to go to the hospital but I signed AMA (against medical advise) because I knew that I was OK, besides I was working overtime  $ $ $ $. Now what I am going to tell you here is completely true. About an hour later I sat down at the kitchen table, opened the newspaper and saw the "Word Jumble", I picked up a pencil and within a couple of minutes I had the whole thing solved. The scrambled words all made sense to me as soon as I looked at them. It was really easy. Now I've looked at these "Word Jumbles" before and never figured them out. I get bored after a few minutes and never finish them. I think the electric shock stimulated my brain or something. I was brilliant! Today I tried the "Word Jumble" again. Unfortunately everything in my brain was back to normal (Unbrilliant). I figured out one word then got bored and moved on to something else. FEN fixed the dishwasher and all is well at station 4.....................e

3-26-06    I'm getting a little bit nervous about Rounds 5 & 6 @ Glen Helen next month. The last two times that  I rode there I felt awkward and slow. There's something about the Glen, I have never ridden a track like it. The jumps aren't too big, actually they aren't big at all. The place looks too easy. It's just that it gets so rough and the ruts get deep. I can't find the right suspension settings for the Glen either. And if you are in "Tommy Boy" shape like me, you hit the wall after a couple of laps. The best thing about race day is that the track stays in great shape as compared to regular Glen Helen Thursday practice. I think that's due to the Quads we have out there at our events. Thanks Quadies. I don't know if you noticed but the "Shape-O-Meter has dropped a few points since last week. I was so excited to see that I hit the 16's, it's been a while since I've been there...............Several months ago I bought a new set of running shoes. Last night I dusted them off and used them. Is that supposed to be fun or something? I understand that they have magazines that cover this running stuff. What in the heck can they talk about? THEY ARE JUST SHOES!!! Do people really get excited about the '07 models coming out? Do they do tests on them? Can you buy aftermarket souls? Do trick shoe strings cut lap times? Is there a cure for toe pump? Hey everybody there's a shoe sale at BIG 5 this weekend!.......I wish I liked running but I don't. Oh well I'll get over it, I need to put some wear on those shoes..............I'm really excited about tomorrow morning. A few of us are heading out to Ocotillo Wells to do some DEZ. I love that place. I can not wait to ride my bike. I love that little screamin' yellow zonker!..........e 

3-25-06    Do you ever get into a funk? I've been in one for a few weeks now, I just haven't been motivated to do much. Sue started to notice it and asked what was going on. I didn't have an answer, I was just kind of out of it. A couple of days ago at work I was talking to a buddy in the morning. I asked him a few weeks ago to kick me in the butt and get me in the gym at the station. He hasn't been very successful. Anyway we were talking about a few different things when the funk I was in came up. He told me that my problem was due to a lack of exercise and that I needed to get into the gym. He said that my body was full of toxins. Ok now you're over my head but it doesn't sound too good. So I got up from the table where I was reading the sports page and eating donuts and made my way into the gym. It was weird in there, they had these bicycle things that you ride but they don't go anywhere. A lot of heavy things too. They also have this thing that you run on but don't move, you just stay in the same place. I watched for a while then jumped in. It was a strange experience to be in such an unfamiliar environment but I think it worked. The funk went away, at least for a while.................This morning I woke up and heard a lot of noise on my street. I looked out the window and saw  lots of people walking, there were cars all over the place, they were parked half way in driveways, some in the middle of the street......It was garage sale day! So I started thinking, hummm, I have that lawn mover taking up room in the garage and Sue has three vacuums for a two story house, we don't need all three ....Why don't I see if someone wants to take a couple of things off our hands? Bingo! I opened the garage and I got rushed. It took all of about a minute to sell those items so I started to look around the garage for more stuff that I didn't need. As soon as I put something on the driveway it sold......I might retire from the Fire Department and become a professional garage seller.......Wait a minute, maybe I could start the GSMX.............After about two hours I was out of product and decided to work on the RM250. It needs a little TLC for the ride I have planned this Monday with a few FPMXers (not GSMXers) at Ocotillo Wells. Terry Varner told me that the best setup for my Varnerized motor was to run an FMF Factory Fatty with a stock silencer. Well today I bolted the pipe on and took her down the street. MY GOSH what a hit, I about ripped my arms out of socket! Now that's what I'm talking about. It's crazy how a pipe can wake up a motor like that. Oh man I can't wait to ride on Monday........eDub   

3-24-06    A few weeks ago I put a post on the message board regarding some free magazine subscriptions. In my post it said that in the subject on the email it must read "Transworld Motocross". You also had to put your address in the email. Easy enough right? All you had to do was be one of the first 20 to respond and follow those simple directions. To my surprise less than half of the emails that I received for the free subscriptions were done right. It was a mix of Cops and Firemen who couldn't follow those simple directions. Heck if I were on the other side of this free give-a-way I would have probably done the same thing. I hate reading directions. I always had parts left over when I was building model cars as a kid. It wasn't long before I started to take some incoming rounds on the message board and emails from those who lost out on the free Transworld. Well the other day I was going through some of the contingency stuff for this years FPMX Banquet that we will have this October in Mesquite, NV when I found some RACE TECH gift certificates buried under some t-shirts. I checked the expiration date and it was only a little over a week away. I decided to test the waters again and see if the FPMXers out there in cyber land learned from the Transworld Motocross experiment. So I put out another post on the message board about the RACE TECH certificates. Only this time I would make it a little more obvious, the subject had to read "yzernie loves suzukis". How could you just read over that? Even if you didn't know about the magazine mishap you would probably notice this one right? Well I'm happy to say that over half of the emails coming in for the RACE TECH certificates had "yzernie loves suzukis" in the subject. I got a good laugh every time a new request came in. One of the best things about this whole deal was that I got to mess with my friend Ernie Kopasz. Ernie is a die hard YAMAHA man as you can tell from his nick name. But the very best thing about this was that I got an email from Ernie requesting a certificate and in the subject it read "yzernie loves suzukis". I know it killed him to write that. He must really need his suspension done............RM Eddie

3-15-06    Yesterday morning the alarm woke me out of a sound sleep, it was 5:25am. I had plans to head out to the Anza Borrego Desert to ride Ocotillo Wells with some guys on my shift at work. I laid in bed for a short time listening to the radio. "Sonny and Cher were just finishing the song "I got yo