Life on Two Wheels | Editor’s Blog 1

July 20, 2019

Life on Two Wheels | Editor’s Blog 1

Inspiration comes in many ways and for some reason, a memory popped into my head this morning as I finished up a morning mountain bike ride with a quick lap around the neighborhood with my dog, Yuki. Back in 1997, I launched MXracer Magazine, a sister title to Dirt Rider, where I worked as the Test Editor for a couple of years before pitching the idea to my bosses for a spin-off title. One afternoon while we were testing a new Kawasaki KX250 at Glen Helen, I came in from a moto and the Kawasaki guys told me a funny story. Apparently, the editor of a more-established magazine has approached them and asked what they were up to. When they replied that they were testing with MXracer, he scoffed and said, “Well, I keep a journal. Can I have test bikes for that, too?”

At the time, I was pretty fired up, but none of that matters now. Today, we are nearly four months into this new adventure known as Swapmoto Live, and though it’s been a lot of work, I have to say that the team and I have enjoyed every minute of it. With the unexpected demise of TransWorld Motocross, we’ve adapted and continued to do what we love best: create content about the sports we love. To each and every one of you who have checked the web site, watched a video, downloaded a podcast, or liked a post: thank you from the bottom of my heart.

But back to this post! I’ve gotten a few e-mails and DMs suggesting that I write a regular column as I did in the print version of the magazine. Truth be told, writing that page was the bane of my existence after nearly two decades of doing so, but it was always kind of fun to give readers a peek into what went on behind the scenes of the magazine. That said, I’m gonna try to write a weekly journal that focuses mostly on what’s gone on over the past seven days.

Sunday

Free event program at the AMSOIL Swapmoto Race Series.

The AMSOIL Swapmoto Terra Firma Series kicked off at Milestone MX Park and we had nearly 500 entries show up, in spite of the 100+ degree heat that was forecasted. CMXRS partners Craig Davis and Aaron Cooke do a great job of running the series, and the day went off without a hitch. As it turned out, the heat wasn’t as terrible as I had feared, and I got through both of my motos pretty easily. I rode far too cautiously and dropped to fourth in both motos after grabbing both holeshots (thanks Jamie Ellis, Twisted Development, and FMF Racing!) because I’m still pretty leary after being KOd a couple of months ago at Fox Raceway. Still, I had a great time racing and hanging with buddies.

The 250 Vet class is a blast! If you’re over 30 and have a small-bore, come on out!

I was pretty excited about racing in my first set of 2020 riding gear. The new O’Neal stuff came out only a week before, and I was pumped to get a box a few days before the race. The high-end Hardware gear has been much improved, and the pants are much lighter than before thanks to a complete redesign.

In between motos, I got a kick out of chatting with a guy I met many years ago on the ProRide.com message board. I actually sold one of my bikes to Brent55 back in the day, but he went kind of sideways on me and my group of buddies who frequented Phil Cruz’s SoCal message board. Eventually, it turned into a pretty funny message board war with lots of photoshopped photos and dumb jokes. All in all, it was a huge waste of time, regardless of how entertaining it was. I reconnected with Brent55 at our races last year and he’s now a mini dad with a five-year-old ripper. It’s been nice to put all of that ridiculousness behind us and share some laughs these days.

Remember how I said the heat wasn’t as bad as I thought? I guess I was wrong. When I got home I planned to wash my bike and go for a quick MTB ride, but after running upstairs to use the restroom, I laid down for a second and took a five-hour nap!

Monday

The entire SML staff usually congregates at the office on Mondays, mostly because it’s a good chance to touch base and see what we’re all up to that week. That, and if Anton is in the office, I know he will actually work on Monday Kickstart and not let it slip until Tuesday. Haha! The 6D Helmets Kickstart Podcast is also on the agenda on Mondays, and I usually start to arrange a guest co-host on Sunday night. Since I fell asleep, though, I didn’t reach out to anyone until Monday am! Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Justin Cooper was just running errands on Monday and agreed to stop by our office since it’s not far from where he lives at Wil Hahn’s place in Lake Elsinore.

Justin Cooper was the guest on Monday’s 6D Helmets Kickstart Podcast.

Cooper was great on the show and even joked around with us about asking for a “Crybaby” butt patch since so many fans won’t let the Colorado incident between he and Adam Cianciarulo go. CLICK HERE to listen! As Justin was leaving, I asked him if I could swing by on my way home from work to grab a jersey to give away this month. He agreed, and I put a reminder post-it on my wallet so I wouldn’t’ forget. A little while later, Cooper texted me and said he found a set of gear in his truck, and he walked back into our office a few minutes later with it. How cool is that?

Wanna win this kit? All you have to do is drop us some suggestions and feedback!

Since we’re only four months old and trying to create your favorite new media outlet, we’re always looking for feedback and criticism. CLICK HERE to help us out, and to also enter to win Cooper’s Thor MX gear. Mark Burton dropped us a comment on last week’s 6D Helmets Kickstart Podcast with Adam Enticknap and said that our audio levels were horribly unbalanced. I often get a frog in my throat and speak softly at times and that, combined with The 722’s loud, booming voice, proved tough to balance. That said, we invested in headset mics, and should have better audio from here on out. Thanks for the motivation, Mark!

Tuesday

80 degrees at 7:00 am? Yep.

Rene Garcia is a rider I met at our race series a few years ago, and it’s been cool to see him grow up, get off minis, and gain more and more speed. I’ve been using him as a test rider for a couple of years now, and he recently made the move to the pro class. His talents as a test rider are commendable, as he has a good feel for what a bike is doing and is able to communicate well with manufacturer technicians. Last week, we used him for the 2020 Husqvarna FC 250 intro, and during that day we talked about how long it had been since we pedaled together. Rene texted me on Monday night and we agreed to meet at Skyline at 6:00 a.m. And would you believe it was already hot?! We rode a leisurely pace to the top and had a blast coming down the optional Troy Lee and Block singletrack trails. Rene claimed that he was struggling on the climb up, but I think he was sandbagging for my benefit. Haha!

The 2020 Kawasaki KX250 felt much more impressive on home turf.

Last week, Kawasaki invited the media to join them at Castillo Ranch in Los Alamos, California, to take our first ride on the 2020 KX250. We didn’t get to take the bike home that day as they wanted to go through them after the initial day of testing and make sure they were all in tip-top shape before handing them over. On Tuesday, we met up with the guys from Kawasaki to take delivery of our KX250 test bike, and I was anxious to ride it on a more-familiar track. Though the Castillo Ranch track is a lot of fun and quite scenic, it’s sometimes hard to get a clear impression of a bike on an unfamiliar course. As I expected, my impression of the bike was a lot different on the familiar Milestone dirt. While the bike still lacks low-end punch in comparison to the 2019 bike, the boost in midrange and top-end power is worth the tradeoff! With the white (aggressive) fuel coupler installed, the bike absolutely ripped. We tried a one-tooth larger 51T rear sprocket, and that seemed to make the bike livelier down low without hurting the bike’s excellent top-end pull.

Video guy Chase Curtis loves the KX250.

Chase Curtis took his first spin on the KX250 on Tuesday and he was really surprised by the performance of the new engine and especially impressed with the new Kayaba spring fork. Chase was filming all day at Castillo and didn’t get a chance to throw his boots on, but he more than made up for it at Milestone. Thanks to Scrub Daddy for the photos!

On Tuesday afternoon, I got a call from Mike Ulrich, asking if I was still down to test the 2020 Yamaha YZ250F. He had actually e-mailed me last week, but I had forgotten about his message. The plan was to meet at Cahuilla Creek in the morning, but a small fire nearby had us both trying to convince Racer X’s David Pingree to move the test to Perris Raceway. No such luck. Fireman Pingree knew that the fire was small and held his ground. Haha! A quick call to my buddy Brian Pappalardo at Piston Bones Printing, and I had a set of YZ250F numberplate backgrounds within a couple of hours. Nothing like advance planning!

Casey Davis and I: friends and co-workers.

Two other things happened on Tuesday. First, my long-time friend Casey Davis told me that he officially has a girlfriend now. While that might not seem like a big deal or worth writing about, the thing that makes it funny is that he is dating my niece! They first met last year when I invited her to come to watch one of our Swapmoto Race Series events, but the “seeds of romance” weren’t planted until recently. How about that?! Two great people, connecting without swiping right or signing up for some other online dating service. Amazing. I back it. Looks like Thanksgiving dinner might be a lot more fun for me this year!

The other thing was the Face App sensation that swept through motocross, thanks to Racer X. Of course, I succumbed and downloaded the free three-day trial, and laughed uncontrollably as I used the app to make myself, family, and friends, age into senior citizens. The technology really is amazing, and some of the results are uncanny! I added a few decades to myself and thought I looked a lot like my dad, but my brothers pointed out that I looked a lot more like my Uncle George, who we just lost this year in his 90s.

How old am I in dog years?

I hope that if I last into my 90s like Uncle George, one of my kids will knit me a sweet beanie with a ball on top.

Wednesday

My buddy Matt Cerami was a little nervous about his first test with SML, so of course, I am running this photo to poke fun. Don’t worry: he hauls just fine.

Like Garcia, I met Matt Cerami at our race series when he was still a novice, and have enjoyed watching him move through the ranks and reach pro status. He’s been asking me to ride mountain bikes with him through his local Chino Hills State Park area, but after being lapped by him at the Tuesday night Over The Hump races, I know better. Haha!

Anyway, I felt it was time to recruit Cerami and he showed up at Cahuilla with bells on. To my surprise, he seemed a little nervous at first and as you can see in the photo above, he tipped over a couple of times while we were trying to shoot action photos. Cerami found his pace soon enough, and he was shocked at how well the 2020 Yamaha YZ250F worked, especially in comparison to his personal modified race bike. He was also blown away by the bike’s connectivity with the Yamaha Power Tuner App, and how easy it was for Yamaha’s Steven Tokarski to tune the powerband to better suit his taste.

After everyone was done riding, it was time to take Yamaha’s Mike Ulrich for a mountain bike ride through my favorite local spot in Murrieta. Chase tapped out because he was trying to sell his truck, so it was just my old buddy and I. I met Ulrich in the late 80s when we were both racing CMC events at Ascot Park in Gardena. While I went on to get a job with Cycle News and begin my career in moto journalism, Mike went on to race pro for several years before landing a testing job with Yamaha. These days, he is the Media Manager and I really enjoy working with him.

MTB Lit Kit? Mike wins, even with his borrowed helmet.

As it turns out, Mike forgot his helmet but Chase loaned him his Oakley lid since he was going to be vacuuming the interior of his Chevy instead of pedaling. I was a little worried about riding with Mike since I’ve managed to eat shit every other time I’ve ridden with him previously. As I write this I am on layover in Portland en route to Whistler Mountain in Canada, where I will enjoy five fun-filled days of vacation with my buddies, and I was worried about breaking myself off on one of the numerous jumps on the trail. Somehow, I made it through the day unscathed and went home to wash bikes, edit photos, and write stories.

Thursday

On Thursday morning, I woke up early and planned to hit Skyline on my mountain bike before heading to Glen Helen for the 2020 KTM 250 SX-F intro, but just as I started to get dressed, Alex Ray texted and suggested meeting for breakfast at El Cerrito Cafe. ARay lives just down the street from me and since he’s not racing the Nationals, he’s always around and down to go riding, whether its with motors or not. It didn’t take much to talk me out of the climb and I headed to the restaurant instead. I was surprised to see Aaron Plessinger when I walked in. He’s in SoCal for the next couple of weeks to test with the Monster Energy Yamaha team, and I guess he crashes at ARay’s place. Aaron didn’t eat the side of sausages he ordered, but Alex gave them a quick sample. Of course, I was able to catch a photo of him inserting the tube steak into his mouth. If only he had left it whole instead of cutting off a bite. Haha!

At Glen Helen, I took advantage of having AP in town and did a quick interview with the 2019 250 Supercross and National Champion. CLICK HERE to see it and learn why he might ask Thor to make him a “Pleasing Her” butt patch.

Mike Sleeter used to test for me in the early days of TransWorld Motocross, but he was eventually recruited to test for the KTM factory race team and eventually the factory R&D department. All told, he played a critical role in KTM’s current success, but after 15 years with the brand, he decided to pursue new opportunities. Today, he runs Pinnacle Nutrition Group, is an ambassador for Intense Cycles, and has returned to the fold as a test rider for SML. Sleeter did the honors on the KTM 250 SX-F for us, and he was excited to test the first KTM product that he had no input on.

Loving the 20202 Husqvarna FC 350. Simon Cudby photo.

While Sleeter put the KTM through its paces, I decided to log some laps on the Husqvarna FC 350 that we got our hands on last week. I really enjoy the mid-sized engine and have been having a lot of fun on the bike. With Whistler on my mind, though, I decided to park the bike after I got a little sketchy on one of GH’s big downhills.

The 2020 KTM 250 SX-F is deceivingly powerful! Photo by Dallas Dunn.

Before I could change out of my gear, I needed to spin a few laps on the KTM 250 SX-F though, so I would be able to relate to the feedback Sleeter would later give me. Again, with vacation on my mind, I only rode a few conservative laps, but I was able to gain a pretty good impression of how the bike felt. With minimal changes from 2019, I already had plenty of experience on the SX-F.

Later that night, I posted this pic that Dallas Dunn sent me on my Instagram account and engaged in the first social media battle of my life. Some guy commented that we should use top privateers from the Nationals to test instead of a bunch of old guys. He tried to be clever by disguising his insults as hashtags, in between the grammatical and spelling errors. I’ll admit it: he reeled me in. I commented back a few times, but his rebuttals became even more idiotic. Finally, I just blocked him. Man, how it all reminded me of the dumb message board battles with Brent55! Haha!

For the record, we rely heavily on the input from our panel of test riders that is led by Rich Taylor, Pat Foster, Mike Sleeter, and Rene Garcia, all skilled professionals with plenty of experience. Furthermore, I’ve ridden every major motocross bike made since 1990. I may not possess pro speed but I’d like to think I know how a bike works at my pace, which is a lot more relatable to most readers, anyway. Testing bikes and products is a big part of our job. It’s not the favorite part of it for me, but it is something I take seriously.

Friday

Christian Craig turned 28 yesterday.

Friday was pretty low key, as I used the day to write and hang out with my family, since I will be gone for a few days, riding bikes with my friends in Canada. Have to wish “My Guy” Christian Craig a happy 28th birthday. He returned to action today at Millville, but I don’t think things went ideally in the quagmire that the rains turned the track into. His wife Paige told me that he returns to SoCal after Washougal, after spending the summer with her family in Minnesota, and I’m looking forward to seeing him around again.

Saturday

Celebrating the holiday!

This morning, I woke up early to an e-mail from Fox Racing that declared it International Ride MTB Day, so I snuck out for a quick taste of the horrible Bedford Canyon climb behind my house before heading to the airport. I’ve been testing out a new set of Spinergy 29er LX wheels on my Specialized Epic for a couple of weeks now and I’ve noticed that they seem to offer some extra comfort and bump absorption. Looking forward to spending more time on these when I get home. I have been blown away by the Maxxis Crossmark II tires that I mounted on the wheels. The 2.25 width grabs a lot more traction than I expected, and I’ve actually gotten myself into trouble on my Epic with these tires on, as I’ve actually forgotten that I was on a 100mm XC bike. Yikes!

My flight to Vancouver is boarding now. That’s all for now. Hate this feature? Like it? Let me know in the comments below!