11-27-08 Happy Thanksgiving! Again, I apologize for not writing for a while. Life has gotten very crazy for me recently. I have taken over the duties of running the supercross team whereas for the last few seasons I was only doing my portion. This season I am in charge of everything and it is a full time job. I believe that we will have the best season to date. Stacie Gonzalez has been a tremendous help with gathering sponsors. Securing sponsors is the hardest part of this job. The rest I can handle but I can't write checks for other people in the name of FirePoliceMX Racing, I really wish that I could. Racing would be so easy if I could do that. A few months ago we had a nice budget on paper but with the economy many of the "verbal" sponsors have slipped by the wayside. Nobody has any money! So our budget has been slashed in more than half but for me that is just another challenge that needs to be tackled. As it looks right now we will have two riders, I had originally planned on four riders but had to cut it to three, then two due to lack of funds. I am really excited about the two riders that we have. Carlos Gonzalez will be back for his third year with the team. From a kid who wasn't making night shows in the beginning of the 2007 season to receiving the last two ASTERISK MEDIC CARDS of the East Coast series that year and then last year qualifying for 3 mains, I believe 2009 will be a breakout year for Carlos. Joining Gonzalez coming off of a Troy Lee ride will be "Lites" veteran, Justin Keeney. Justin and Carlos have been good friends and riding buddies for many years and will push each other to success. I enjoy helping these kids and that makes my job way easier. As far as my riding.....what riding? I don't have the time to ride. Every day away from the fire station has me driving all over So Cal and and on the phone breaking the law because I hate those bluetooth things. Take for instance, Tuesday. I got off work in the morning in LA (LA County), drove to Upland (San Bernardino County) to work with NTENSETEES to get all of our pit clothes for SX. Then I was on my way to Trinity Graphics in Temecula (Riverside County near San Diego County) to work on the wrap design for the rig only to get a call from Eide Canopy to start work on the new awning. First I needed to pick up the old awning at Bill's Pipes in Corona ( Riverside County) so I backtracked to Bill's. Bill is building our race pipes. So after spending some time there I drove to Cerritos (LA County) to drop off the old awning for measurements so they can build the new one. After doing some contract stuff there I was on my way home only to chance a stop at one of our sponsors to see if he was at work (Orange County). He was! Awesome! Things are looking great there and we can expect a check next week. So far I have been doing all of this out of pocket. Yes I am broke but loving it! I don't like to count on anything until the check is in the bank. I have had many bad experiences with that over the last several years of Supercross. After I left the OC I drove home to Carlsbad in San Diego County. I put a few hundred miles on my Tundra that day. Yesterday was supposed to be somewhat the same but I needed to wait for UPS to drop off some suspension so I could get it to the riders but UPS never showed. A call to MDK and I found out that there was a mix up on the suspension, it was nobody's fault but that threw a monkey wrench in my day so I stayed home and worked on the computer and cell phone trying to get things arranged for the January 3rd opener. After getting home from my little road trip around So Cal the day before I realized that I was not spending much time with Sue so I asked her out on a movie date for the next evening (last night). We saw "Four Christmases". That was the first time in a theater in several months for us. Being a connoisseur of movies I felt that this one could make it on my "I'm on the computer working and like to have a movie on in the background that I have already seen so I don't have to pay attention to it" list along with many greats like Joe Dirt, My Cousin Vinny, Nacho Libre, Top Gun, Tombstone and the one on now The Bourne Ultimatum......You know some of the classics.......I am looking forward to the Christmas GP/Toy Drive in a couple of weeks. Though I have not been on a bike in a while I still plan on racing the 40-99 45 minute GP and then resting for a while before doing the two hour Ironman. Wednesday will be a day of rest........So I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving today. Top off your vehicles before gas prices shoot up again. Things are good..............e
11-16-08 So I am driving home from Erv Braun's Amateur Open, I am by myself cruising West bound on I-8 in El Cajon about 11pm. Traffic starts to slow and I see brake lights going left and right, swerving all over the place. I started to hit the brakes to avoid whatever was going on ahead of me..........I went to the Amateur Open to support Erv, the FirePoliceMX.com Junior team and to learn from another promoter. I really don't go to any other events besides FPMX events and I wanted to see if there was anything that I might be able to use to better our events. The Amateur Open is very well organized. I thought the event was ran very well. Erv brings in workers from all over. Cyndy Washburn from Frozen Ocean was there doing the scoring, the finish line flagger was Anne from our Mesquite events and the Edgerton clan was there flagging on the track. Our FPMX kids rode well against the top amateurs in the nation. I did not stick around until the final motos but I was proud of the all of our kids. The FPMX riders were Joey Webb, Sean Lee, Justin Lee, Richard Wright and Dominic Wright. Natalia Tressler was home with a broken arm. So back to the I-8 incident......I am on the brakes pretty hard when all of the sudden the truck in font of me goes hard left and my headlights shine on this shirtless Hispanic guy chasing cars and hitting them on the hood with his fists. At his point I am going pretty slow, maybe 10 mph. He turns and looks at me and stands in my lane like a singular logo. You know, with both legs spread and both arms stretched in a "V". I had cars on both sides of me and had only two options.......Option (1) Run him over. Option (2) Stop. I decided to stop. Now this guy starts pounding on my wind shield as he is moving to his left (my right) towards the "Door" side of the motorhome. As soon as he was on the side of the motorhome I hit the gas to get a way from him. I took a look out the right side mirror to see what he was doing as I was driving away only to see him hanging on my mirror with his legs propped up on the side of the motorhome. Now what?.........My first thought was to do a Dirty Hairy type move and pull to the right and scrape him off on a road sign or something. I was doing about 20 mph at this time and accelerating. What if this guy falls off at speed and dies? Am I liable? Crap!......So I slow down and he puts his feet on the ground and walks but is still holding on to my mirror. I speed up and he puts his feet up.......I slow and he walks. This goes on for a few hundred feet as I am making my way to the right shoulder. At his point I am on the cell to 9-1-1 but unable to get through.....Busy signal...Three times I get a busy signal. So I stop and he finally lets go of the mirror. I hit the gas as hard as I can but being so heavy it takes a little time to get the motorhome up to speed. I look in the mirror again and now see said Hispanic guy hanging on my door handle with his feet on the fold in step. At this point I hear him trying to get in the door. I continue to drive doing about 10 mph for a while in the right lane. Still unable to get through to 9-1-1..........I am driving down the freeway with a Mexican guy hanging on my motorhome, trying to bust into my door. It happens............ I am so glad that I have a habit of locking that door. I did the stop and go thing for a while and finally this guy was unable to grab back on to the door handle. As I looked in the right side mirror I saw him pounding on the hood of another car. I am really glad that I locked my door. Now I have a question for the "P" in FPMX.........What if I would have had a gun without a permit and this guy was able to come inside my motorhome and I shot him. Would I be held liable? Since it is a motor"home" can I travel a loaded weapon? Not that I would have capped this guy but..........Actually he is lucky that I locked the door..............e
10-22-08 I have been off work for the last month with a knee injury. The MRI told a story of a torn meniscus that has since healed and could or could not be a problem for me. Dr. Clifford told me to go out this week and test the knee with some walking/jogging and stationary bicycling. If the knee held up ok then I could return to work but if there was problems then I would go under the knife. Dr. Clifford really wants to go inside my knee to see his handy work on the patellar tendon and use it as a learning tool but can't justify it if I get through the week. Well it's been a few days now and everything is going ok. It's not perfect but it's not swelling so I believe that I will return to the Fire Station on Halloween. I am kind of bugged because I was planning on carving 4 pumpkins to display on the 31st. I have been planning to do this for a few years now but something, usually getting ready for Supercross or the Fire Station gets in my way. But some day I will carve Paul, Gene, Peter and Ace's faces on orange pumpkins.....Speaking of orange pumpkins, guess who's testing KTM's this week?..................e
10-18-08 Last night after coming home from a bite at Daphne's I saw a sign in my front yard with an arrow pointing toward the cul-de-sac that said "Garage Sale". I figured that I would get up in the morning and mosey on down the street and see if my neighbor had a mountain bike for sale. I found one on eBay a few weeks ago but lost the bid in the last seconds. If it was on iWannaTrade.com it would have added a minute to the end of the auction and I would have owned a killer mountain bike now. This morning when I opened the garage to go out front I noticed that there were several vehicles driving around and people walking everywhere. This just wasn't my neighbor having a garage sale, it was the whole community! I guess I missed the notice on that one. I decided to join the mayhem and venture out in my Tundra with the crazy people trying to find a bargain. I just wanted a mountain bike and wasn't interested in people's old clothes and couches. I cruised for about a half hour among the stupidest people ever. Crazy Ivans were coming at me every few minutes. Left, right, it didn't matter. Jay walkers jutted of curbs without a thought, just looking for that gem that would be in the trash on Wednesday if they hadn't of talked the guy down from $2 to .50 cents. I am lucky to have survived the day........During my journey through this war zone called "Garage sale day in Carlsbad" I spied something that took me back a few years. 1971 to be exact. There in a driveway cluttered with old dressers and 8 track tapes was a Honda Trail 90, aka CT90. I remembered this bike as being pretty cool in it's day, not a race bike but a license plated trail bike with a set of high and low gears. I had never rode one but always kind of admired them from afar. It's like the perfect motor home bike. Throw that on the back of the "Boardroom" and head off to RV heaven. Just Sue, I, my gray hair and my step through CT90. I know the guys at the Good Sam Club would welcome me if I rolled up with a CT90 on the back. Before making a big decision like this I knew there was one person who I should talk to. I mean you shouldn't just go out and spend family money without talking to that person first and making sure that it was going to be OK. So like any FPMXer buying a bike form the 70's I called Mike Dunn! Mike gave me the go-ahead and a few minutes later I was fighting traffic to get back home and pick up some tie downs and my ramp. It took forever to get through the traffic, when I turned the final corner I noticed that my driveway was full with other people's vehicles and that my next door neighbor decided to put stuff out to sell. I also noticed a mountain bike being wheeled down his driveway and loaded in the back of a pickup with a bunch of old mattresses. I asked if he just sold the bike and he said "Yes"....I told him that that was why I was out canvassing the neighborhood and he said that if he had known that, that he would have just given it to me. Dang! After picking up the project/pit bike/Good Sam acceptance device I continued to search the mean streets of C-Bad for a mountain bike.......... No luck.........I spent the rest of the day taking the CT90 apart so I could clean it and get her running like a champ. I can't wait to ride it from my RV spot to the shuffle board courts to see the boys so we can tell war stories of cleaning our Black Water tanks and finding the satellite on the first try...............e
10-13-08 Last Sunday many of us FPMXers headed to Glen Helen Raceway for the Fire & Police Nationals, rounds 7 & 8. I was pleasantly pleased with the turnout. In this time of financial turmoil we managed to keep pace with 2007. On Monday we had 249 entries, a year ago at round 7 we had 249 entries..........pretty amazing that we were able to keep our numbers up. We are a blessed group of people as we have secure jobs with a steady income. Most of the motocross community is way down on attendance. I have heard numbers as low as 40-50% less riders than a year ago. I just want to say........Thank you for supporting this organization ! ! ! !...............Remember Jessica Snyder? She represented FirePoliceMX.com during the 2004 Women's Motocross Association Nationals. Well Jessica got married this weekend to Colin Baumgartner. They live just outside Chicago. Colin is not from the motocross community but is famous in his own way. Do you remember the movie "Uncle Buck"? Colin was the kid at the birthday party who hated clowns. He did another movie as a child but left Hollywood after that. I met Colin at the 2006 St. Louis Supercross, the first and only race he ever attended. Nice guy. Jessica and I have stayed close over the past 4 years. She has retired form MX and works in the medical field now. Congratulations on your wedding Jess!.............The Supercross team is shaping up to be the best that we have had so far. We get delivery of some of the team bikes from MDK this week. Actually I was going out the door on the way to Redwood City when MDK called and said that the bikes were here in So Cal. That saved me several hours of driving so I am pretty pumped not to be looking for a hotel around midnight tonight in the Bay area........Carlos Gonzalez rode the US Open in Las Vegas this weekend. It was a good experience for Carlos. We threw a bike together for him and he had a few days of practice before heading to Vegas. He got great starts but was out horse powered by all the 450's. In the LCQ Carlos came out in 3rd and rode great. He was aggressive and made several passes in the early part of each moto but failed to make the 14 rider main.........I played in the "Road to Recovery" charity poker tournament this weekend and did pretty good. Out of the 90 players, I made it to the final 2 tables. But when I got there I had very little chips and I was up against some of the best players in the world. I didn't stand a chance against all the pros with huge stacks in front of them but it was a blast to play. On one hand I was dealt an Ace and a 4, The flop was 2,3,5. My heart started pounding as I slow played the hand. After the river I went all in and was followed by one pro and some other guy. The two of them continued to bet as I was out of chips. I won the hand.....The pro, a guy I have seen on TV many times looked at me and said "I knew you were made, you didn't have a care in the world, I was just playing for the split"......Are you kidding me? My heart was well over 100 beats a minute and the adrenalin was flowing like crazy. I did everything I could to not show emotion, it was hard but I think I did OK. I can't wait to play next year. I learned a heck of a lot. You know what sucks about playing in a tournament? You can't see everyone's cards like you can on TV. If I could have seen there cards I think I could have won...............e
10-3-08 The weekend is here, bikes are being prepped, trailers packed, gear washed...etc. It's time for the Fire & Police Motocross Family Reunion at Glen Helen Raceway in beautiful San Bernardino, California. First time racers are wondering what it must be like to round Talladega side by side with 15 other bikes........Some will say "We only get 5 laps?....that's #&%*!" Then after the second lap you can hear them say "Where the heck is the white flag?" Yes Glen Helen, the track without jumps becomes the hardest track in the world. Anyone can make it around the track you just can't do it very fast. You should feel lucky on FPMX days because that is the best that you will ever see the Glen. I discourage new riders from practicing at Glen Helen most of the time. I get scared when factory pros pass me like I am standing still yet going as fast as I can (Oh, I didn't know this bike had a third gear)...........The anticipation of your first race, the many trips to the Glen Helen toilets with the lean-tos around them. The smell of chaparral in the air, the soothing voice of Erv Braun in the morning. YES! The morning dew. Racing with your buddies, mooching BBQ from pit to pit. Oh yeah it's October at Glen Helen! An FPMX tradition..........See ya'll Sunday Eve................e
10-1-08 Well it's October first again, seems that it happens every year. "We're not taking proposals until October"............"Oh our budget is full, you should have called last month"............"Call us next month"............Awww the silly season. I have to tell you that when MDK called back and said "YES", I about fell out of my chair. I am so use to rejection that a "yes" sounds so wrong to me. It's like I want to start arguing with them....."Are you sure you mean yes?"........"I think that you should think about it and call me later, what do you mean, yes?"..................I am really excited to be working with MDK this season. It's time that our team steps up and with good help I believe we are ready. We will be riding KTM 250 SX-F bikes again this year out of MDK/Redwood City. The MDK organization has really helped us out in the past when we needed it at the races. They are a great group of people. We pick up the bikes right after the US Open. This gives us enough time to prepare for the season. KTM has also been great to us and allows our riders to use the Factory test track. That really helps our boys..........This week has been a little crazy trying to get Carlos Gonzalez ready for the US Open. It was kind of a last minute deal and we have been scrambling for suspension and to get the motor in his practice bike ready. All American KTM stepped up and loaned us a set of Works suspension that the team used last season. Carlos started riding SX today...........The FPMX Nationals are also just around the corner and thus I am running around like a head with it's chicken cut off.........what?..........Anyway it looks like Glen Helen is shaping up to be a good event. We have had several entries come to the FPMX offices (spare bedroom) this week. I wish that I could ride but I am laid up with a knee injury. I have been off work for a week and the swelling has gone down but there is something wrong in there. Oh well, let's fix it soon so I can prepare for the Christmas GP (the most fun you can possibly have on a motorcycle)...............e out!
9-22-08 I'm a little bit bummed out right
now, my right knee just won't heal up. I have stayed off the bike and
have tried to rehab the knee with rest and light exercise but it remains
swollen and achy. I have an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon on
Wednesday. Dr. Robert Clifford repaired my patellar tendon and I didn't
want anyone else looking at my knee. It was a major pain to set this
appointment up. Too much red tape I tell you! It's way easier to get
hurt off duty than on duty. I had to do a lot of work to be able to see
Dr. Clifford. The County wanted to send me to an ER or an Urgent Care,
are you kidding me? Those places don't have orthopedic surgeons on duty
and I didn't want to know more about my knee than the doctor I was
seeing. Dr. Clifford has been inside this knee and I feel pretty good
about him making the call on whatever needs to be done. So as for now
the KX450F is parked and will remain parked until further notice. That's
ok with me. I was riding like a goon anyway and need to lose some
weight. Being away from the fire station is like a diet. So I will
either be going back to work soon and riding again or going off work on
injury to get my knee repaired and in the diet mode. Either way it's a
win win for me..........It's the last week to Pre Enter for the Glen
Helen Nationals so if you would like to save a few bucks please Pre
Signup. You can do that by PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, check, cash. You
can fax it, US Mail it, hand deliver it. You can FedEx it, UPS it. You
can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. Dey's uh,
shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried,
stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp,
pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and
potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about
it..............Bubba
9-15-08 Last week I mailed flyers to all L.A County Fire Stations for the Glen Helen Nationals. I was getting tired of the low County turnout for the races. I hope to dig up a few of the older racers and find some new ones. We have done a lot of hiring since I last sent out flyers. Sue thought it would be a better idea to send out post cards since they are less work and cheaper to send so I gave her that job. The post cards went in the mail this afternoon. They are for all the people on the FPMX mailing list. Pixie (Pam Edgerton) posted on the message board a while back and said that I should save the money and time it takes to stuff envelopes because everyone visited FirePoliceMX.com anyway and they had all the information that they needed. So I gave it a try. I sure didn't miss stuffing envelopes and paying for copies and stamps. I quit sending out flyers 3 to 4 years ago and have noticed a drop in attendance. I don't know if it the economy or the lack of advertising.......maybe both. Anyway I hope that the new advertising will bring the numbers up a little. I am trying to build up theFPMXstore so it can help with some of the expenses of holding these events. I have had a good response over the last week or so since opening the new store. Please check it out. If there is anything you would like added please don't hesitate to ask. I will do my best to take care of your requests. I am trying to keep the prices down also. I am working on HONDA graphics now.............I went to Perris last Friday, the track was prepped to perfection and there was a few fun changes. I think it was Factory day. I felt like a road block out there but just held my line and hoped for the best. When my riding session was over I went home and not the ER so it was a good day. My knee is still a little swollen from a work related injury but resting it for the last week or so didn't help so I figured I would test it. The knee was good to ride but remains swollen. There is a slight dull ache but I can function............The entries have started to come in for the Glen Helen Nationals next month. I just received Denis Moon's race entries, he says that this Shape-O-Meter is high right now. I sure hope so because mine is touching twenty. 19.9 is where mine is at, I need to remedy that soon. I am looking at 2009 as a rebirth. I will be the youngest in my class once again and it would be nice not to be the fattest................e
9-4-08 The Fire & Police Motocross Nationals, rounds 7 & 8 are coming up at Glen Helen in just over a month. Glen Helen has been on the FPMX schedule since 1995 and usually attracts a pretty big crowd. Although GH is not the birth place of the FPMX it has served as home base for us. I am looking forward to closing the season at Glen Helen again...........I had planned to go to GH today and try to get a feel for that place before the Nationals but I tweaked my knee at work yesterday and it swelled up pretty good so I decided to take my KXF home to take it easy today and try to get the knee better so I can race next month.......... I'll get back to you soon.............e
9-1-08 When the gate dropped at the Perris rounds of the Nationals last February I felt like I had pretty good 1.5 lap speed and actually holeshot and led a couple of motos for a lap and a half before fading to a mid pack finish. This was not really a big deal to me because I knew in time that I would get my endurance back and be able to run up front again. After all I had only been on the bike a few months after recovering from knee surgery. At round three of the Summer Series a couple of weeks ago I felt really uncomfortable on the bike and had a horrible race. I rode really timid and in my opinion I shouldn't have been on the track. My cornering really lacks right now. I don't understand what is going on but it's in my head, I know it, I can't find it but it's there. I don't want to call it old age even though I might qualify for some senior citizen discounts next February. I really don't know what to do about it other than ride through it. I had a talk with Chris Cadman at Perris on Friday while we were out there practicing. He said that he has been through this and to just ride and try to do the right things at a slower speed. Basically do the fundamentals and everything would work it's self out. Well I hope so because it's no fun riding when you feel like I feel on the track right now. Anyway I am planning to be at Perris in the morning and work on my cornering for the entire time. I don't care about the jumps, they are all doable with corner speed...........I really need to get out to Glen Helen soon, hopefully on Thursday. I love GH when the AMA Nationals are over and the pro riders start to test for Supercross. I don'r have to look over my shoulder so much. Glen Helen is the mother of all tracks to me. If you can ride GH fast then you can ride anywhere (as long as you can jump). Rut, bumps and sand take there toll on you. When I first go back to GH after a long absence I can barely make it around the track and arm pump kicks my butt after a lap or so..........I can't wait for Thursday.........e
8-14-08 A couple of days ago I was roaming around the world on Google Earth. I always try to find the motocross tracks that I have been to and place a marker on them so I can go back and find them again. I have always liked studying maps, don't know why but I can spend hours looking at the Rand McNally map book. Now that Google Earth is at my finger tips, I don't look at maps much anymore. If I need to go somewhere I just Google Earth it or use the GPS in my truck. GPS' are pretty cool but I prefer to actually see where I am going to be driving to first.......... Last Saturday I worked an overtime shift at Station 57 in Hollydale. I grew less than a mile from there and had a great time reminiscing as I drove through the streets. It's been like 30 years since I left the neighborhood. Many things have changed but still many seemed untouched. As we drove by a service garage I told the guys that it used to be a Sunland gas station and that I would push my empty Briggs and Stratton mini bike there after I ran out of gas. I would fill up the 1 gallon tank for a quarter. Yes it was .25 cents a gallon back then. That is the lowest I can remember the price of gas. Right by the fire station is a set of railroad tracks. I used to ride my Suzuki RM 125 to those tracks through the streets of Downey and Hollydale. Once I got to the tracks I felt pretty safe (from getting a ticket) and would ride the tracks across town to a little riding area next to the 710 freeway, just South of Imperial Blvd. I remember one time showing off and riding wheelies right next to the freeway as traffic was coming toward me. I thought I was so cool putting on a show for the motorists heading home from a hard days work. I remember looping the bike in 3rd gear while only wearing a white t-shirt, levis, a Bell Star helmet and Pro Keds tennis shoes. I shredded my t-shirt, road rashed my back and cart wheeled my RM to the bottom of the riverbed.........good times. I guess I need to mark that dirt lot as one of my riding areas on Google Earth. There have been so many riding spots over the years. Many of them have buildings on them now. Growing up I used to love riding at Escape Country and Saddleback. I never had the chance to ride Indian Dunes. I went there once as a kid with my dad when we were passing through the area to check it out but we didn't have our bikes with us. So many tracks have come and gone. Yesterday as I drove home from Zing Racing, I passes the hallowed grounds once known as Carlsbad Raceway. I still get a little bitter every time I pass by and see concrete tilt ups sitting on the famous "Carlsbad Freeway"...........See ya Monday..........Ed
8-7-08 Well I think it was a productive day as far as the 2009 FirePoliceMX.com Supercross team is concerned. I was able to have two really good meetings. I left both with a positive feeling. (I'm trying the SECRET). I should hear very soon if anything will come of them. I sure hope so............What about them Trojans?............What? Oops........sorry. I wanted to go riding today but didn't. Not enough time in the day. I think I will try for Monday somewhere in the Inland Empire. Someone said something about Perris being open on Monday but I really don't know. Their website is down. "There website is down". Isn't it pathetic that we rely on computers and cell phones so much? I can't leave home w/o my cell.......no way! If I do leave home without it I will turn around and return to the FPMX estate and retrieve it ASAP. Pretty sad actually. I'm tired, I'll think about mindless stuff later, good night............e
8-6-08 We FPMXers are not the typical motoheads but we are indeed motoheads. It's just that many of us didn't grow up racing, many didn't even ride until they were adults. I, for one started riding at 10 years old but my first race wasn't until I was 28. I played all the "Stick and ball" sports throughout my childhood. I loved to play basketball but for some reason football has always trumped all of the sports. If I had the decision to go to Anaheim 1 or USC vs Notre Dame in South Bend, I would be in South Bend. I do love Supercross but College Football (USC) really matters to me. I don't know why. I have no explanation for it but when USC loses I go into a funk. I can't stand it. It bothers me when the other team even scores a point. Pro Football on the other hand doesn't really matter that much to me. Maybe because you can have a mediocre season, barely make the playoffs and still become "World Champions". Heck there's lot's of "World Champions" out there. I met a few over the weekend..........I was talking to Steve Marquez on the phone the other day, after his ankle injury Steve is bikeless in Cucamonga and has no immediate plans of returning to the track. I totally understand where Steve is coming from. After a few of my injuries I sold my bike and didn't have the desire to get back on one. I was just going through life motoheadless. It was no big deal, I had plenty to do to keep me occupied.......But.....But one day, long after I was 100% healed up I needed to ride. I can't explain it other than "it's in the blood". Motorcycle riding really mattered. It was like losing to UCLA. I felt sick, I needed a freakin' bike. All of the sudden life wasn't as good as it was the day before. As time went on I became somewhat miserable. I was like the old man down the street who hated kids and always kept our baseballs when they went in his yard. I needed a bike, I needed to ride..........Racing would come later but I just needed to ride! Now! Until I got my new bike I was frustrated. This is what I mean by "we are indeed motoheads".............I love the fact that Supercross and College Football don't collide. Maybe just a bit in January but that's OK. I think that the main difference between SX and Fooball is that I love to watch good racing but it really doesn't matter who wins unless he is riding an FPMX bike. I get a lot out of watching great racing. But a great football game is only great if you win. That is unless you don't care for either team, then you can enjoy a good game. But put yourself in an Irish fans place in 2005 when Reggie Bush scored in the final seconds of the forth quarter to beat ND in South Bend. I think it was the greatest football game ever but I can tell you from experience that the ND fans were not happy. The nicest people in the world became very bitter. There were 6 of us Trojan fans in a restaurant packed with ND fans after the game and we were not welcomed. Why? Because it really mattered to them. I can't explain it but it's a fact........I think I'm rambling on here........Anyway, I am so excited for Ohio State to come to Southern California to play USC next month. That is what is so cool about College Football, one of them is going to lose and you just can't lose! Every game is a playoff, every game matters! I don't know of any other sport where you have no pre season and you can't lose a game. I love it. Sorry about all the football talk on a motocross site.......Tomorrow I have a meeting with a potential big time sponsor for the Supercross team. If all goes well I'll talk Supercross tomorrow..........Wish me luck.........e
8-4-08 This past weekend was the X Games in Southern California. Some of the worlds greatest athletes gathered to compete for the X Games Gold! There was a lot of racing going on for us motocrossers to watch. It was fun to see all the different events on ESPN, skateboarding, bicycles, rally cars, free style MX, etc............. On Saturday I was asked to be a judge for an event in San Diego that was not associated with the X Games but one where I was in the presence of 8 past World Champions. EIGHT! This event was part of the World Championship Series. I was a lower level judge but was able to mingle with all these great past World Champions and several other winners from past events. The worlds greatest competitors were there, being a lower level judge I was able to hang out in the main tent with them, have all the free food I could eat and listen to some great war stories. It was just like bench racing but different. I was out of my league but tried to blend in the best I could. This was my first experience at this type of competition..............When the event was over I drove home. I wanted to get some sleep because I needed to be at work in Rosemead in the morning but I was so affected by this event that I couldn't sleep. I was awake until at 12:30 am, got a little sleep until 4:24 am. I stayed up for a while but was able get a few winks in before getting up for work. This event had a lasting affect on me. The alarm went off at 5:45 am and a few minutes later I was on I-5 heading North towards LA. On weekend days I can make the 90 mile drive in an hour and 15, non stop door to door but on Sunday morning I had other things on my mind. The previous days judging really got to me, I needed to take a break about half way to work, I just had to sit down by myself and take a few minutes. I called work to tell my relief that I would be a little later than usual. After a few minutes I was back on the freeway feeling a little bit better but by the time I arrived in Rosemead the previous days activity was back on my mind. Again I needed to sit down and take a few minutes to try to get it out of my system....................I don't think I will volunteer to be a lower level judge at an International Chili Society chili cook off in the near future. I tasted over 30 different recipes some burned on the way in and some on the way out ...........Imodium rules........e
7-30-08 Yesterday at work we moved up to Pomona to help with recruit training. They were going to do some truck operations. We had just got there and were talking to some of the training captains when all of the sudden the earth began to shake. Now I have grown up here in Southern California and have been through a few of these earth quakes. This was one of the bigger ones that I can remember. It was pretty violent, I looked down at the ground between my feet and expected the earth to part between my legs. I was ready to jump to one side to safety. We were lucky that we didn't have any recruits climbing the ladder. The concrete was rolling much like a boat wake, it was pretty weird. Pomona was hit pretty hard, we went to station 181 in down town Pomona right next door the Pomona Police Station. I saw a cop walking by and asked if (Chad) Jensen was working. The answer I got was a little weird.....In an excited voice he said... "He'll be right there". The officer was almost apologizing to me for Chad not being there. Then he said, "check with him", pointing to another cop standing next to a mobile command unit. So I asked the second officer if Jensen was around.....I got the same type of anxious response. "He'll be here in a little while", again almost apologizing to me..........Later I found out that the Mobile Command Unit was Jensen's baby and the other officers didn't really know how everything worked. I later heard them on the phone with Chad asking a few technical questions..............I had the opportunity to ride Friday the 25th, Monday the 28th also today. All at Perris Raceway. I'm actually trying to get ready for the 50+ class, which I will be in next season. I need to drop a few lbs. and build my stamina. Not only that but I need to relearn how to corner ........Yes, I am struggling in the ruts.........Until next time...............e
7-25-08 Yesterday I was able to work an overtime shift at LACoFD Station 77. This station near located in Gorman, California just about 2 miles North of "I5MX" I had my bike and gear with me but was unable to ride on duty. I called Ryan Chapin to see if the track would be open in the morning (today). I got Ryan's voice mail. Later Ryan left me a voice mail telling me that there was a private rental and he would try to get me on the list. Phone tag is so fun. Later I called Ryan and he actually answered. He said that he couldn't ride and needed to spend time with his family. He had just heard that he was leaving on Sunday morning on a Strike Team and would be gone for two weeks. I really wanted to ride Perris but Gorman and Perris are almost in different States. Without traffic I was looking at over two hours of driving. If my relief was not there pretty early I decided to ride Elsinore (Perris closes at noon) but really wanted to the the best dirt in the entire world (Perris). My relief showed up just after 7am, I was already packed and split right away. I arrived at Perris at 10am after a brief stop by my Fire Station to drop of all my gear........Back in the day, at least back in my first several years on the department we didn't have that much gear to worry about but these days it's crazy........Anyway, when I arrived at Perris it was 88* and when I left just after noon it was 102*. I was feeling the heat but got in a few good rides. I still have a long ways to go before I feel I am up to speed. The S-O-M (Shape-O-Meter) needs to read somewhere around 15 or below and not the high 18's......... It took several years but I'm pretty sure that I concurred anorexia......... The Message Board post I wrote about the 2009 FPMX Schedule sure riled things up. There are many opinions on this subject. Some would like to go back to the way the FPMX was back in the late 90's and early 2000's with two, 2 day events a year (April and October), while others want to keep the series at four, 2 day events per year. I am on the fence right now but if I fell off today I would land on the "two, 2 day events per year". Only because it was so successful back then with huge rider turnout. Some say that we should keep the entire series in So Cal and others like the AZ and NV events. Basically it comes down to the almighty dollar. Large rider turnout pays the bills. I often get asked the question "Can I help?". The answer is yes you can! Please help spread the word, copy flyers and post them all over your department. Let your riding (non racer) buddies know that the FPMX races are not Supercross. The tracks are not what they see on TV. We also care about rider safety. Let's work together to get the numbers up. If we can get the numbers up than we can do whatever we want. AZ, NV, Alaska..............What?...............e
7-18-08 After twenty years of making every FPMX event I finally missed one. Duty called and I was deployed on a strike team to the fires burning up in Northern California. We heard the news about 11pm and I immediately started to make arrangements for Round 2 of the Summer Series. The first call was to my wife Sue......."Honey I have to leave for a couple of weeks to go up north on the fires and I need you to run the race on Monday"........."What, no, just cancel it".........."Ok I will stay home and miss all that overtime".........."What do I need to do?".......I was up until 2am packing for the trip and writing notes for Sue on what to do. It was actually good for me to not be there. I wasn't able to procrastinate until Monday morning. My mind was very focused on the race and all that needed to be done to make it a success. I was surprised how many things needed to be arranged, it was things that I don't really think about anymore. From my understanding the race went very well. I want to thank all those who made this happen. Sue did a great job and I also want to thank Russell Lee for stepping up and calling me and asking what he could do. I heard it was better organized than when I am there........Perfect! Thank you...................This morning I got up, loaded my bike and headed for Perris Raceway in beautiful Perris, California. I got there about 8:30 and to my surprise the temperature was only a mere 72* and the place was pretty much empty. I looked for Blake Fair but he was nowhere to be found. I haven't been to a practice all season without Blake in attendance. I remembered that he had a job and tried to relax. I went Blake-less today, weird. As most of you know the track has been leveled and completely re-built. It was a little weird at first but soon I was jumping most of the obstacles. By the end of the day I was jumping everything. I had a moment where I just thought "Life is awesome". When I first started going to Supercross races Ricky Johnson was the man. To me he was McGrath before McGrath. Today I saw RJ coming up on me just before a left corner with two ruts. I purposely left room on the inside and took the rut on the right. I didn't want to cut him off. We entered the ruts at the same time, I leaned in toward RJ and did the best that I could to keep up with him. We exited the corner side by side then he was gone. Here is a guy who went last to first at the LA Coliseum in 1987, a multi time National Champion, a legend and I had the opportunity to drop into a rut next to him. That is like playing a pick up game with Michael Jordan, hitting the links with Jack Nicklaus or rubbing paint with Richard Petty. Motocross is so cool! When I was in my early thirties I had serious thoughts of getting out of motocross because I was getting too old and who in their right mind would do this crazy sport when they were supposed to be a responsible adult. Guess what "Me", "You"! I think I will ride until I can't get a leg over the seat anymore. I don't get it, I just have to do it. We here in So Cal are so fortunate to be able to ride year round see the top pros and the past heroes of our sport on a weekly basis. Like I said, "Life is awesome" and Motocross is so cool".................e
6-20-08 Yesterday morning I got up at 5am and tried to load my front wheel-less bike in my truck. I stopped after bout a minute and woke up my son who just drove home from Utah. He drove all night and got home at 4am. Without him I would have never got that bike in the truck bed in time to leave for work and make it on time. After a 24 hour shift at the fire station I drove to RACE TECH this morning to meet Bill Rohde and pick up my forks. After loading the forks in the back seat of the Tundra I was on my way to Perris in the 100+ temperatures. After transitioning from the 90 w to the 15 s I decided stop by MTA and pick up some tires for the KXF 450. Rich Watchorn helped me out and in no time I was back on the Southbound 15 towards Perris Raceway. Blake Fair was there AGAIN, I think Blake lives there. I parked by Blake, Bobby Lyons and Ozzie Cuevas. It took about a half hour to get my front end back on the green machine. It was extremely hot in the bed of my bed truck, I was completely soaked with sweat before I even threw a leg over my bike. Perris dirt it the best in the world! This Monday we will be racing the track that we have been practicing on for the last month. There will be a section that will be cut off but most of the track will remain the same. Next month we will be racing on an entire new layout, more of an outdoor style track. Either way the dirt will be the best!...............A couple of days ago Sue and I went to the movies, we saw "You don't mess with the Zohan"...........worst Adam Sandler movie I've seen to date. It was no Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore or Mr Deeds for sure. Anyway, back to motocross........After getting home this afternoon I washed the Kawi, put the new MAXXIS tires on and changed the air filter. I couldn't find my pressure gauge so I'm running about 30 lbs in each tire. I hope I remember to bring the pressure down before the gate drops Monday. I am already a squid but that will really squid me out.................e
6-18-08 Double oops. So I guess the write in the journal once a week minimum thing didn't work. I promise to try harder...........A few of us have been hitting Perris on Fridays. I have been there the last two weeks and am trying to make it this Friday. Right now I have my forks over at RACE TECH getting the seals done. I got a call today from RT telling me that the forks are ready. So it sounds like no problem to make it to Perris on Friday but I have to work tomorrow and I have my bike here at home. So tomorrow at 5am I need to load the bike in the back of my 5.7 liter Toyota Tundra. I have to do this without a front wheel on the KXF. I've done this type of thing before but it hurts. I mean I am using muscles that I really didn't know that I had. Anyway it's either that or not be able to ride Friday. I need to ride Perris with good forks because last week I got all kinds of fork oil on my front brakes and was unable to stop. It took the fun out of riding and made it dangerous to do some of the jumps because of the corners after them. Anyway I really want to ride the track with my bike race ready so I can go into the Summer Series next Monday night with some confidence......Last night I went to the House of Blues in Anaheim to see my boy, the Motor City Madman himself, Ted Nugent. My niece works there and got me a couple of tickets and some VIP seating. It was fun, I took my buddy from High School. We've been seeing the Nuge since 1976.........As I am writing this my mind just keeps shifting back to my front brakes. I am really looking forward to riding on Friday, I hope all works out and I can run by RT in the morning, pick up the forks and get to Perris before it's too late for the morning session........Tomorrow the boys in Ohio will be racing, I wish I could be there but with the price of fuel these days I decided to stay home. Fuel prices are really out of control and it is changing the way we do things. I really have to plan out my trips to the Inland Empire to ride. I have nowhere to ride near my house. I think it's just over 50 miles to Elsinore and more to the rest of the tracks in the IE. I am looking forward to PALA opening up. That new racing facility will be only about a half hour from the pad............The Summer Series will 24 different classes, each racing for a Summer Series Championship and a #1 Plate. It has been decided to add all the points from the Summer series and the National Series together for the year end points 2-99 (number 1 will go to the winner of the Open Expert class at the Nationals). These are still two different series with #1 plates awarded in each series. Last year I didn't race due to my knee injury and thus didn't earn a National Number. This year I hope to get back in the top 20. 14 or 19 would be cool since I have earned 15, 16 17 and 18 in previous years. I would kind of like to make a strait. I wish it could be a straight flush but since I earned those numbers on a Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Suzuki so I guess it can only be a straight.............e
5-26-08 Happy Memorial Day! I am here at the Fire Station paying back trades from the SX season. I have a lot to pay back, I am glad that I have such great guys working on the other shifts that will help out. Yesterday was the opening round of the Outdoor Nationals at Glen Helen. We were not planning to go to the National but at the last minute one of our sponsors, OC Energy wanted us there and helped us get there. Ryan Beat and Carlos Gonzalez were riding in the Lites class and we had Austin Prescott on a 450. Ryan qualified for the main during timed practice on Saturday but Carlos had some bike problems and didn't have the lap times to qualify. Carlos had to do a moto on Sunday and take top 6 to transfer to the main. Carlos got 6th. Both riders were on stock KTMs and lacked power on the big hills, they both put in good rides but finished out of the top 20. After Supercross was over I really needed a break from "Pro Racing". I enjoyed my couple of weeks off and was not looking forward to going to Glen Helen at all. But once I stepped on the GH turf and was around the sport that I love my MX Positive blood kicked in and I was really enjoying myself. I watched the first Lites moto and never saw another bike on the track. I was in the pits doing my thing .........Working on the 2009 Supercross team ! ! ! It's like a drug, this racing thing, I can't quit doing it. It costs so much money and takes up all my time and I love it. Why? It's a freakin' addiction I guess. It must be because on Friday before Las Vegas I about lost it. I had so many things go bad from the day the air bags went out on the rig (4-23-08) to the LVSX. I swear that I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Major money issues, hotel room issues with the team and sponsors (BIG hotel room issues), riders not able to fill the remaining 20 spots in the West issues (open gates), rig issues, rig issues, ticket issues and rig issues. Oh and Comp Edge was just a few days away. I think I was more on the edge than Comp was......What? Anyway...............I have taken back the role of "Team Manager" of the Supercross team.......Yes I am a control freak when it comes to FPMX issues. I want to make the decisions and go in a certain direction. So succeed or fail this one is on my shoulders.........Got to go find money somewhere................e
5-22-08 Oops again...........It just seems that there isn't enough time in the week to write here in the World Famous FPMX Journal. I know it's world famous because there is a guy in Europe that reads it and another down under. Anyway, I am sitting in the parking lot of the Concourse Bowl in Anaheim, CA right now wasting time. I had some business in the IE today and didn't have time to go all the way home to C Bad and back to Anaheim before Moto Bowl. I just signed up on the team with Michael Young and Sara Lipert. I know both of them so it should be a good night. Plus Michael bowled a 200 last year! Yeah, I'm competitive. I am sorry not to have told stories from Seattle and Vegas, I will. Those were two of the hardest weeks I have had in Supercoss ever. It emotionally drained me and I was on the edge. Anyway I am back and feeling like the idiot that I am again so I am happy about that. I will try to write tomorrow and tell you about Moto Bowl and post some pictures of the evening. But for now I need to go practice and get my form down. I bowl once a year so I don't expect much but you never know............e
4-23-08 What is going on? Let's forget about everything that happened this week and we'll just start with yesterday.........Mike Wright and I were at Mike's house working on the semi. There is a ton of things to do and it kept us busy all day. On our way to lunch I got a call from Turbo Reif. He decided to back out on Seattle with good reasoning. He is getting ready to become a firefighter and didn't want to risk injury. I told him that I understood and that was that. I wish he could have represented us there but no such deal. It wasn't a total surprise to me. Over the years we have had a few riders not make it to races or quit. I like Turbo and I think he made a good decision...........moving on........Mike and I finished up on the rig just after dark. Larry from MDK brought Justin Brayton's bike over so we could take it up to Seattle for him. When I left Mike's house last night I told Mike not to call me because when a truck driver calls it's usually bad news. Mike was on the road this morning.....How do I know that? Because he called and told me. Oh well, sometimes it can be good news........I decided to go riding today. It was my first time to ride at Milestone. John Varley, Charlie Solano, Brent Baker and Kirk Templeman were all there. I had a really good time. It was so nice to leave the worries of the world behind and just ride. I spent a lot of time on the VET track working on my cornering skills (need help). Everything was beautiful. The world was a great place. Song birds in the trees, butterflies, some girl playing the harp.........Life was wonderful..........Then I checked my cell phone to see if I missed any calls and right then the phone rang.........."Mike Wright".......Oh $#)%, please, no, no.......I beg of you............no............ Hello? ? ? ?......"Ed we have a problem".......One of the airbags on the trailer burst. Not a major problem to fix but we couldn't find the right airbag. Mike was in Castaic and I was on my way home to Carlsbad. After a while I thought to call Ryan Chapin since he lives in the area. Ryan did his best to remedy the sitch but was unable to find the proper airbag........Time was ticking. I finally decided to have Mike limp the rig back to his house to get it ready for Las Vegas. Tomorrow I am going to drive to All American KTM to pick up an enclosed trailer, then go to Mike's pad and unload the bikes and necessary equipment for the race and put it all in the trailer and tow it behind my Toyota Tundra (the official truck of supercross).........Sometimes I wonder what the heck I am thinking......Yeah, let's have our very own supercross team.........Carlos and Ryan in the main would make it all worth it.....Hey Rob Harper, it all started with a phone call from you in 2001 "Ed, I got us two CR250's from BVH"...............good memories.........e
4-18-08 Well it's been a week and here I am. It has been a really busy week for me. I have been on 4 structure fires this week on my truck days. Two apartment fires and a second alarm and a third alarm. Anyway truck days are usually rest days, in other words, I am tried. The Turbo Reif thing came up (Seattle SX) this week and I have been busy with that. I had talked to Turbo earlier in the week but he needed expense money to go to and we didn't have the money to get him to Seattle. Well soon after SX Watcher came on the message board with his first ever post and brought up the Turbo thing and FPMXers sponsoring him for for the race. I looked at it and thought it was a great idea but I also thought that people would think that SX Watcher was me because it was his first post. Thanks to a few guys who wanted to see Turbo on the team, the money was raised. Ray Martin (Ohio FPMX) donated over $200. Many others gave $25, $50, even $100. Thank you. I think Turbo will be a good addition to the team. Carlos Gonzalez and Ryan Beat will also be in Seattle representing us. Again I was too busy to ride. I was near Comp Edge today but SX sponsorship stuff kept me from riding. First things first I guess. I still hope to be ready for Glen Helen in October but right now I don't think I have 3 laps in me.....maybe 2.6............Gas prices are killing me right now. I have never been one to worry about that but what the heck? I can barely afford to drive to work. I look forward to Comp Edge. I can't wait to just be at the track for three days in a row and ride. I need to ride pretty soon because I am starting to get ornery. Orneriness is a sure sign of moto deprivation. See you at Vegas and CE............Ed
4-11-08 I am going to try to write in this journal at least once a week. I am sorry for being side tracked so much lately. Last summer at work we built this really nice planter in the back of the station. It is about 4 foot by 6 foot and 4 foot tall. It is built out of river rock and capped with used brick. It really looks great. Yesterday we finally filled it to the top with dirt. The dirt was out of another area of the station that was under a metal storage building for many years. We sifted the rocks out and moved it over to the planter. It took several wheel barrel loads. The dirt was moist but not wet. It was perfect. Bill McHale was checking out the dirt and said "man this is great dirt". I said "yeah, I would love to race on it" He looked at me and shook his head. "Is motocross all you think about?" Said McHale..........I though to my self.......No, but didn't say anything to him. I just smiled. I mean, yeah right, that's all I think about...........That's so stupid.........After dark I snuck outside and built a supercross track in the planter! It was awesome. I was out there acting like my hand was a motorcycle and ripping around the track. Hey I'm only 49 years old so I think that is normal behavior.....right? Well Bill walked outside because he heard so weird noises coming from the patio area. It was me making a two stroke sound as my hand was clearing the triple. I haven't converted my motorcycle noises yet to four stroke. I'm working on it but I seem to spit too much when I do it. Some guys are really good at the four stroke sound. Danny Lowers perfected it many years ago, Frank Lowers is pretty good also. Tomorrow at work I am going to use a trowel and really detail the track............This morning after I got off work I drove to Mike Wright's house to pick him up and take him to All American KTM to pick up the team transporter. We are starting to get it ready for the trip to Seattle. I had planned on riding today at Competitive Edge but never even got close to the place. It felt pretty good to get back into the Supercross game. I think that I actually enjoy being overwhelmed. I don't have any idea why but I had a good time running all around So Cal today. Next week we are going to try to get some electrical and pluming problems fixed on the rig...........I don't know, sometimes I wish that I could be fricken' normal and go to work, make money and ride motorcycles. But for some reason I enjoy self torture (racing, promoting races, spending all my time and money running a supercross team). Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I freaking enjoy it!.......I think tomorrow I will make a starting gate and a finish line banner on my supercross track.......If it's still there after the "A" shift today.................e
4-4-08 With gas prices hitting an all time high, I have been putting in a few extra shifts at work. I have noticed something odd starting to happen over the last week or so. I actually spotted Ed Niemela in the gym at the station several times. This is something that hasn't been a regular sighting for a couple of years now. So this morning I asked Ed if he was getting ready to make an FPMX comeback.....He smiled and said that he has been getting his bikes ready and will start hitting the tracks soon. It will be good to have Ed back at the races. He has been living at Glamis between shifts all winter long..........I guess I should join Niemela in the gym as it is an unfamiliar place to me too..........We are just about a month away from Rounds 5 & 6 of the FirePoliceMX Nationals at Competitive Edge and I am not ready.......AGAIN! I am going to try to get some riding in before the Natl's but it seems like I have been busy recently and not able to get to the track. Although last week a few of us went to Ocotillo Wells for the day. Ocotillo beats you up but it's not motocross. I need to concentrate on y cornering and conditioning a little more. Yeah, the two "C's" are killing me. My starts and straights (2 "S's") are Ok........jumps are so so........enough...........e
3-19-08 Oops.....Sorry that I haven't written for A MONTH! I got my bike back about a week ago. The piston had a crack across the entire top and the head gasket was leaking pressure into the cooling system. I took my KXF to Terry Varner to get it repaired. She is purrrrring now. Although I am riding like a squid. A few of us (Vandergrift, Ashpaugh, Russell Lee and myself) were at Perris today. I just felt awkward on the bike. I can only imagine that it's from a lack of peg time or the fact that Wednesday at Perris was "Factory" day. Lot's of top pros were out there and the track was packed. I plan on putting in several laps over the next month or so to get ready for Rounds 5 & 6 and also the FPMX Summer Series. We'll see how that turns out............e
2-19-08 It's been a busy couple of weeks around here. Let's start with the San Diego Supercross........It was a great day, the weather was perfect...finally! Bill McHale from LACoFD Station 4 fame volunteered his talents at the BBQ and cooked Tri Tip for about a hundred people. The OC Angels were there signing autographs during the day. The boys rode well. Ryan Beat had some problems with his clutch during the second practice and didn't qualify for the night show. Tyler, Brad and Carlos all made the night show. Carlos transferred to the main and got a great start but stalled in traffic in the first whoop section. He finished in the back of the field but all in all it was a good evening.........The next day I was off to Perris in the motorhome w/o Sue who has been ill with a cold or flu. I new going into the event that was not in good enough shape yet to win a moto against the FPMX 40 + Intermediates. But I did feel pretty good in practice and thought that I would do pretty good. Just before practice ended, my KX450 gave up the ghost and I coasted to a stop on the far side of the track. I was actually happy that it didn't happen in the air. Kevin Bailey offered me his KX450 to race. I took it out for a couple of laps and decided to take him up on his offer. I was also offered a KTM 450 by Lyle Raymond. I was interested but felt that a Kawi would fit better right now since it is what I have been riding. Plus Kevin and I have our suspension set up for the same weight. The only thing that was different was the handle bars and levers. His suspension was a little soft but close enough for me to feel comfortable jumping. In the first moto I was able to get the holeshot and lead for a couple of laps but then got ate up by the pack. My arms were pumped up pretty good. I think it had a little to do with riding a different bike (handle bars). I run the FLEXX bars on my bike and can still feel a little pain in my wrists from the landing on the second step up. On the second day I was able to get another holeshot because Bradd Molner over shot the start and I was able to tuck under him. I led that moto for a couple of laps also but ended up with the same results as day one. I think Bradd ended up winning all 4 motos again. He is riding really well this season after moving up from the Novice class............On Thusday Morning Sue and I were off to the airport heading for Houston, Texas on Southwest Airlines. Yeah, yeah, yeah.....The middle seat again. I have no choice. I hate the middle seat but any other seat would cause too much pain. You see I am the buffer. Sue gets the window seat and I get to protect her from sitting next to some undesirable. My new plan is to sit in the isle seat until I see someone that I would like to sit next to me. I wait for them to be just in front of our row and I slide to the center. If I know the person I tell them that they can have the isle seat. If I don't know them I just hope that they take the seat. By the time this situation happens all that is left is middle seats so it usually works pretty good. The weather in Houston was pretty crazy. Erv Braun drove through the pits on Saturday morning and told everyone that "Severe" weather was coming and that he advised us to take down our awnings. I was at the grocery store when I got a call from Dennis Romero with the news. I told Dennis to start taking it down and that I would be there shortly to help. So we pitted in the rain for a while and then moved the bikes into the stadium for the evening. Well Erv did us a favor by telling us to take the awning down. Many teams disregarded his advice and paid for it. Sue told me that she is going to write about that and asked me not to, so I won't. Look for that story to come out in "Inside the FPMX" in about 3 months!!!!!!!!!! Dennis Romero and his father, Tom did a fantastic job filling the truck driver void. The rig arrived a day early and that really puts me at ease. Thanks Dennis and Tom.......All four boys made the night show. Brad Graham finished 18th in the main after transferring from the LCQ. Carlos and Ryan both fell while riding in a qualifying position. We were really close to having 3 in the main...............e (245) oops
2-4-08 Ok so I'm another year older, big deal. I still feel young, maybe my mind is just under developed. I don't know......The last week and a half have kicked my butt. I haven't got a good nights sleep in 10 days and I can attest to this sleep deprivation thing. Yesterday (Sunday) I went to work for the first time in a while. The night before was A3. Usually after an Anaheim Supercross I drive the motorhome to work and sleep in the parking lot. This time I needed to come home and get my bike because I was supposed to go to a "Saftey Course" (that's what I told Sue), I mean riding school but it was cancelled because of the amount of rain we have had here in So Cal this past week. So anyway I got very little sleep again before leaving for work. I woke up, loaded my bike, went through my mental check list and discovered that I didn't have my boots or helmet. Crap! Oh they must be in the motorhome from the ACP race. So I got out of my truck and went into the house to get the trailer lot keys. I drove to the trailer lot, made my way past the sink hole, opened the gate with the key pad and drove to the next gate. When I got there I noticed that my motorhome was missing..........What the heck, who stole it? Oh CRAP, I drove it last night and it's parked in front of my house..........True story. I finally got to work on Superbowl Sunday after my usual 90 mile drive. We were laying low and I spent most of the Superbowl asleep in a recliner. I did see the fourth quarter though. Last night I was on the truck, Firemen know what I'm talking about. For those of you who carry guns the truck is the one with the big ladder on the top. Anyway we slept all night. I put ear plugs in and slept like a baby. Feeling much better today. Kind of thinking straight again. I'm riding tomorrow and Wednesday to prepare for the Perris races. It will be my first time on the bike since ACP. I have no time to ride, let alone sleep during Supercross season. We get a break after Houston and I am looking forward to it. That will be my time to train for the Summer Series which I plan on winning. If you are going to the San Diego SX come by the rig and say hello................e (242)
1-28-08 Now I know why I hate flying.......The flights to and from Frisco were my first on Southwest. As many of you know, Southwest has open seating. The "A's" go first 1-60 then the "B's" and so on. You find a seat you like and sit down. I had ticket A23. Not all the spots A1 through A23 were taken. I was about 15th on the plane. Sue had "A32" and was a few spots behind me. I knew that my job was to get a window seat, not for myself but for Sue and then I would try to keep the isle seat and have nobody between us. As the people were filing by towards the back of the plane taking all the window and isle seats I tried to look like someone you wouldn't want to sit next to. It worked for quite a while but the plane began to fill up. The flight attendant came over the PA and said "This flight is full, maybe one or two seats will be open"......I decided to slide to the middle seat as these skinny girls walked by so one of them would take the isle seat. I didn't want to get the usual sweaty fat farmer guy next to me taking up my arm rest and leaning over me the entire flight trying to look out the window. As I made my move Sue said "No, just wait and maybe no one will sit there" I let the skinny girls go by then the flight attendant said "Folks, this is a full flight, there will be no empty seats". Within seconds I had a guy wanting the middle seat. I slid to the middle and now I had a guy sitting next to me that smelled of motor oil and decided that he needed to look out the window at the clouds and use the armrest for the hour and a half that we were in the air. Today I suggested that on our next flight on Southwest to Houston that Sue and I both get window seats or that we let someone sit in the middle so I can have an isle seat.......Wrong thing to say..........We have been married for 26 years, I should have known better........I thought that we had a good showing at the SF Supercross. Carlos Gonzalez qualified for the main out of his heat race. Brad Graham missed qualifying by one spot. In the LCQ Brad was running in a qualifying position with Ryan Beat just behind in 6th. Brad went down in the whoops with a lap to go and Ryan held on to 5th an collected the Gas Card. Ryan gave a great interview on the podium. I was very proud of the riders this weekend...........After the races it was time to take down the awning and just like clockwork the skies opened up again. For an hour and a half we worked in the rain. Later that evening the shoes were back on the clothes hanger hanging in front of the heater vent in our htel room. Our volunteer truck drivers did a great job this weekend. They were able to get us through a few problems that occurred over the weekend with the truck. As you could imagine, used trucks can be an adventure..........I don't think that I will be able to ride this week AGAIN but hope to get some riding in before Perris. We'll see................e
1-25-08 What am I doing? My life is so busy that I can hardly get next to myself.........what? I don't know, I just know that I have no time to ride, let alone change the Amsoil in my bike or throw on a new front tire. So last week Stacie Gonzalez (Carlos' mother) calls me and asks if I watch the "Real Housewives of Orange County", I tell her that I don't but I'm sure that Sue does. Anyway next thing I know we are having a meeting on Friday in the lounge of the FirePoliceMX.com semi in the Anaheim pits with these beautiful girls called the OC Angels and the owners of the OC Energy Drink. It seems that almost everyone I talk to knows of these girls or watches the show. We had a lot of people hanging around our rig on Saturday taking pictures with these girls. It was pretty fun. I have been on the go since before the Phoenix Supercross and need a break. Yesterday we got the rig ready to leave for San Francisco. It was an all day affair. The guy who has been driving the rig couldn't make the trip so I began to search for a driver. Low and behold, Mike Write, the Paramedic on my shift has a class A license and decided to bite the bullet and do the driving for us along with his brother, Jerry who also holds a class A and is a truck driver by trade. The rig was finally on the road a little after dark. Several hours later I received a phone call from Mike telling me that the lights on the rig went out and that they couldn't drive until they were fixed or the sun came up. The rig needed to be in SF by 8am and it was in Victorville just after Midnight when I got the call. At first light I called Mike and they were just getting on the road. It had been snowing and raining on the rig all day and somehow there was an electrical short. I called Live Nation and let them know of our dilemma. Sue and I were off to the the San Diego Airport to catch a 12:30 pm flight. We boarded the plane and waited, waited and then waited until the flight was cancelled. Too much rain in SF had backed up all the flights. We were shuffled around for a while then caught a flight about 2:30 pm. Ryan Beat was on the same fligh. We arrived in SF an hour and a half before the semi did. It was pouring rain. After the semi arrived we began to set up the awning in the dark with a steady down pour soaking us to the bone. I was completely, 100% wet. Just as if I had jumped into the San Francisco Bay. Oops, I only brought one pair of shoes and one pair of pants besides my pit uniform pants. I was able to rig up a shoe dryer (Sue's idea) to the heating vent in the room. I usually like to sleep in a frigid room and get cozy under the blankets but tonight the room will be just under 80* so my shoes and jacket can dry out before tomorrow. I'm not a huge fan of the mud race but it does somewhat even out the field. I hope to see our riders do well tomorrow. Tyler Kalisiak didn't make the trip due to a case of the flu. Ryan, Carlos and Brad will be carrying the FPMX colors this week on their KTM's. Tomorrow should be another wet one. My feet are freezing right now. Well I better get some sleep so I can get up in the morning and go to work on the Supercross effort. Still working on the biggest loser..................e (244)
1-16-08 Round two (Phoenix) report: On Thursday Sue and I were just pulling away from the Carlsbad Estate when the cell rang........."Uh, Ed.....the semi is stuck at the weigh station in Yuma"........We had some paperwork problems and the rig sat there with orders not to leave until the paperwork could get figured out. Sue and I drove all night and arrived at Chase Field about 4am. We parked the motorhome and I tried to get some shuteye but had a hard time getting my mind off the fact that the rig wasn't sitting in the pits with the rest of the team transporters..........Friday afternoon......no rig.......Finally the rig arrived just as the sun went down. We owe a lot to Jed (the guy who drove the rig to NY), he was at the DMV in Utah at 8am and finally got everything straightened out and faxed the paperwork late in the afternoon. On Saturday all the boys rode really well. Seventy riders tried to qualify for the night show, only 40 would make the cut. Brad Graham qualified 27th, Carlos Gonzalez qualified 32nd and both made the cut. Tyler Kalisiak and Ryan Beat finished 43rd and 44th and barely missed the night show. Bad Brad made it to the main and finished 18th........The Lites main was one of the best races that I have ever seen. I usually watch our riders but couldn't take my eyes off of the action up front. It was really fun to watch..................ACP Report: The weather was much better this year from the frigid temperatures of '07 but the Santa Ana's seemed to followed us from Glen Helen for Monday's event. Monday was my first MX race back since my knee injury and it showed. As the 30 second board was being turned sideways, I clicked the KX into 2nd gear and didn't have the clutch in quick enough....Stall......The gate dropped as I was trying to get my bike back into neutral. Anyway I got a last place start. I rode like a true beginner and was embarrassed to be on the track. Moto two wasn't much better. I thought I would ride better but didn't expect to finish the race strong.....I didn't finish strong or ride very well. That's what you get for not practicing. I made a few adjustments to the bike on Tuesday morning and tried to get my head straight and get my mind into racing instead of all the Supercross and promoter stuff going on in there. I decided to practice harder and treat it more like a moto. I felt much better going into moto one. I arrived early to the gate to pick the one I wanted and prepare it for the start. This time I didn't stall the bike when the board went sideways and actually pulled a holeshot. I held the lead for a lap and a half and could feel the heat from behind. There was a couple of uphill triples that I wasn't doing and I got passed on both sides at the same time. My forearms pumped up and I began to fade a bit but tried to go as fast as I could. I believe I finished 7th. For moto two I decided to do everything that I did to prepare for the first moto. I started in the same gate but was unable to get the same start and came out 4th. I did the best I could but finished in the same spot, 7th, as last moto. I can't say that I was disappointed with my day two results even though they weren't much better than day one. But I rode better and I had first lap speed and could run with the moto winners for a while. I know that I have a long ways to go before I can expect to podium but I do believe that I can get back to that fitness level and again. I'm working on it........The rider turnout was low at ACP and I don't know if we will be going back there for the '09 season. We'll see.............e (?)
1-9-08 Round one (A1) report: We were expecting rain but the showers held off until we were packing everything away after the SX. The track however was very muddy from the previous days down pour and made for a sloppy event. We had 3 riders competing on Saturday, Carlos Gonzalez, Bradley Graham and Tyler Kalisiak. Billy Swapp injured his shoulder earlier in the week that will require surgery. Billy will be replaced by Ryan Beat for the remainder of the season. Carlos qualified in the first practice session and Bradley qualified during the second session. Tyler rode well but failed to qualify for the night show, he was just a few tenths of a second from qualifying. A mud race isn't a true indicator of what to expect for the season but I was proud of all the boys and believe that we will have our best season this year. Ryan Beat rode a Yamaha last week and qualified 41st missing the night show by one spot. I look for all the boys to make the night show this weekend and hope to have them in the main. I hope to see many of you come by the rig and say hello in Phoenix............I haven't been on the bike for a few weeks now. Actually I have only ridden once since the Christmas GP, fortunately it was at ACP. I understand that the track has changed a bit since then but I still feel pretty good going into this event. I hope to finish in the top 5. I think I will have 1st lap speed but have no idea how long that will last. Anyway I am looking forward to racing motocross again.........e (249)
1-2-08 Two thousand and eight......wow! This year marks our twentieth season of the Fire & Police Motocross Nationals. I am really excited for the season opener at ACP in a couple of weeks. I feel pretty healthy but not riding shape healthy. Anyway I plan to compete in the 40-99 Intermediate class this season and prepare for the Fifty Plus next season. Last week I started to prepare for "The Biggest Loser" (TBL) competition that we are having at work. I ate as much as I could over the holidays and it paid off. I hit the scales at an all time high and thus reached 20.0 on the "Shape-O-Meter" for the first time ever. For the last two days I have been in the training mode for "TBL" and ACP. I plan on getting into the 12th "BSoML" by the season closer at Glen Helen. My goals for 2008 is to finish the series in the top five and also come away with a moto win during the season. I think top 5 will be easier than winning a moto for me against the guys competing in the 40+ Int class this season.........The Supercross season opens in a few days at Anaheim. It looks like it might be a mud fest again. Our team will be there primed to put in some good results. Please come by the All American KTM - FirePoliceMX.com - KINGDOM rig to say hello & meet the riders....... The other day at work a few guys decided to Google their names. One of the guys, James Todd had many pages come up but non of them were about him. Another fireman. Leyth Daoud Google'd his name and it came up saying "Leyth Dauod, an over weight Irish/Palestinian Paramedic in the station". I about fell out of my seat laughing. I kind of remembered writing that in the FPMX Journal a few years ago. So Bill McHale, a Captain in the station decides to Google his name. Again many Bill McHale pages came up but none of them were about him. I told him to write something else after his name like "Bill McHale Firefighter" or Bill McHale Los Angeles County Fire Department" or any word that describes him or zeros in on his life. After many attempts still nothing ever came up on this particular Bill McHale. I was making fun of him and telling him that he needs to do something with his life. He was a bit frustrated and said that nothing would come up on me if I Google'd myself. So I said "Try Ed Wilson Motocross" several pages came up. I tried "Eric McKenna Motocross" and several pages came up, "Blake Fair Motocross" and our Blake comes up. I just tried " Justin McMurrich" without the word motocross and our Justin came up. Now that's a star!.........I wrote this last bit for Bill McHale so his name would come up on Google next time..........e (257)