#33 Articles

Entries from October 1, 2015 - October 31, 2015

Monday
Oct262015

Tested Tough - FLY Kinetic Shock pants

It seems my time spent riding the couch for 6 months hadn’t done much for my fitness or waistline.

Unfortunately it became necessary to ask Dale Spangler at WPS/FLY racing for a pair of “Fat Pants” for rehab riding. Dale was very gracious and sent me the next size bigger, although I am fairly sure I heard him chuckle on the other end of the line!

I received the FLY Kinetic Shock riding pants and couldn’t wait to try them on. I sucked in my gut and finally got them fastened to head out for my first ride. It seems I have now taken off some of the weight and am now back in my normal riding pants, although they are still a bit snug!   Now that I have stopped wearing the Fat Pants I realized how many miles I had logged on these pants. I am somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 miles of off road riding. They have been very comfortable as well as durable. The only hiccup at all was me burning the right knee on my exhaust pipe and having to do a repair to cover the burned area. Once the hole was repaired I continued to wear them for several months with no issues.  Very impressive.

Comfortable and Durable, what more can you ask for!

#33

Thursday
Oct152015

#33 Returns To Racing!

Baja 1000 Rehab Return Ride

It will be 2 years next month since I seriously injured my hand at the 2013 Baja 1000. I have been writing about rehab tours so I guess it is about time to get back on the horse.

I just agreed to race with the team I raced with in 2013 when I crashed and injured my left hand. I am a bit surprised they want me back after I destroyed their bike and ended the race for them two years ago.

I bought a used Honda CRF 450X from my buddy Charlie to use as a pre runner, since we will be racing a highly modified 450X. Today was spent wrenching and tweaking the bike to work for me and it took about 8 straight hours in the garage to prep it. Now I will take it out for a few shake down rides until I know I can trust it for long distances. Then some more adjustments to fine tune it and it should work just fine. I had one of these bikes a few years back and really enjoyed it.

I also have to try the rider out for some longer distances at higher speeds. I have had a few people say I was crazy for going back to race in Mexico again. Maybe. But I am looking at it as a challenge. I can’t live with the thought of not going back to do it after having a nasty crash. It would be like admitting that the Baja 1000 beat me or scared me. Nothing in life scares me more than having to live with myself and doubting myself. So maybe this will be a new beginning or just the final chapter. I won’t know until after the race, when all the dust has settled (literally!) and I have time to think it over as to whether or not it is important to me.

Only time will tell,

#33

 

“Scars remind us of where we have been, they don’t have to dictate where we are going”