As I sit here blankly staring at my too-small laptop screen, I am nearly 100% recovered from the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb. What can be so strenuous about riding for 14 minutes up a big, wide road, you ask? Apparently nothing, except for the oxygen-less altitude, sleepless practice schedule and unavoidable pageantry that comes with racing a motorcycle the second-oldest car race in the nation. Still, the competition was close and the views were incredible.

As I sit here blankly staring at my too-small laptop screen, I am nearly 100% recovered from the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb. What can be so strenuous about riding for 14 minutes up a big, wide road, you ask? Apparently nothing, except for the oxygen-less altitude, sleepless practice schedule and unavoidable pageantry that comes with racing a motorcycle the second-oldest car race in the nation. Still, the competition was close and the views were incredible. Having raced Pike’s Peak on a 150cc machine last year, I felt the need to step it up for 2008 and move into the 250cc division. Seeing as I was planning on making tracks to Colorado from the Vegas Endurocross, my Suzuki RM250 woods bike seemed more than up to the challenge. One long drive, two trips through tech inspection and one long riders meeting later, I was finally ready for practice up the big hill. As I mentioned in the intro, practice at Pike’s Peak is nuts. Since the mountain has to be open to tourists every day at 9am, the practice sessions go from first light—5:30 am or so—until 8:30am.

This doesn’t sound hideous until you remember that you have to be in your gear for the riders meeting, which is 45 minutes from the band of hotels in town. Add in time to get coffee and unload the bike and we’re talking a 2:30am wakeup call just to ride practice. Ouch! Fortunately, only getting three hours of sleep is more like taking a good nap than getting a bad night’s worth of shut-eye, so it’s not too difficult to adapt. But by the end of the week, most everyone is over the schedule. For the first day’s practice session (taking place in the course’s lower, 80% asphalt section), I rolled up to the line feeling pretty out of place. Compared to the leather-clad flat track riders in my class, I looked like I had just popped out of the woods nearby and was looking for the next trailhead. Oh, I’d ordered some Dunlop dual-purpose-type tires well in advance, but Mr. Murphy of Murphy’s law fame had ensured that they didn’t show up. Clad with full-on knobbies I made the best of the day, finding a few good lines and throwing down an okay qualifying time in the process. Still, I didn’t have much for the road racers in my class. Day two’s practice went much better, as I spent the entirety of the session snoring away listlessly while everyone else froze their tails off. I figured that sleeping in would do me more good than learning the course, so I simply unplugged the alarm and went back to sleep. Needless to say, I felt pretty good that day! Rested and hungry, I bucked up and made the trek up the mountain for the next morning’s practice. Along with my buddies at Faulkner/ Livingston Racing (who had organized the trip), Race Tech’s Paul Thede and the ever-so-talented Alexander Smith, the morning was a hoot and the practice was a blast. A nice rain had coated the upper section of the course with perfect (for a knobby) traction, and I was able to set some solid times whilst trying not to get roosted by the quads. Race day finally came, and after more than a few red flags for some of the cars, the motorcycle divisions finally took off. I was in the third or so class, and was happy to pull a holeshot as we disappeared from sight of the starting line. However, the knee-draggers in my class blew passed me after that and I was left to keep her on two wheels until the dirt section.

There, I made use of a few good (if not odd) lines and passed a few riders, but of more concern than the race was the view from the mountain. Each deadly corner had not only a vicious drop-off but also a solid view of the city, and after making my way through the checkers I was greeted by one of the better sights on the Front Range. I’d passed a few riders and ended up in sixth, though the results were second to the experience of just riding my dirt bike in a cool place. Apparently not everyone agreed as the rider who won my class got socked in the eye by second place, but I guess that is the way it goes for some people. All in all, the trip up the mountain was another good experience this year, and I’m psyched to say that I didn’t fall off of any cliffs on my way to 14,110 feet. I’ve got some more goofy stories and anecdotes from the entire week, so stay tuned to an upcoming issue of Dirt Rider for the full scoop on the race. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bit more sleep to catch up on…

Here is a link to a great video clip of only some of the action at the first round of the 2008 AMA Maxxis Endurocross Championship.

Take it from a guy who rode the course, this stuff is gnarly. Endurocross is like taking all the bad spots in a GNCC or National Enduro, or maybe a sick trailride and throwing it all into the space of a quarter-mile. Not enough time to breathe, really.

Here is a link to Beau Cottington ProMoto.TV for a quick hit of Endurocross action. There will be a full hour-long show coming on Versus Network and we'll let you know when its happening.

Want to know what it is like to take a lap around the course? Well, I'm trying to get hold of my helmet cam footage and a few pictures of me crashing so I can explain it in detail...

JIMMY

Typically I'm know to be pessimistic, but I'm going out on a limb here and switching sides. I'm optimistic about where were going to get to take DR.com. It has been a long road of fighting, arguing and downright getting pissed off about what has happened to our site, on the quality and information side, not the traffic end of things, where it has just come back to a level we had it at about three years ago. When it was a lot better than it is now, if you ask me.

But in the background there has been a lot of hard work going on so we can make the site what it should be. I'm a novice in the digital world but I know what I like to look at as far as motorcycles and the web are concerned. We are going to bring that type of content to you.

What is that you ask?

Well if things go as we have been promised, a whole lot of cool stuff is going to be up and live, way before you ever see it in the magazine. Starting Wednesday evening. And if the site traffic grows like we think it will, then bigger and better things will happen, it will have to. 

You'll see tests, regular weekly features, videos and have the opportunities to participate in the actual goings on here at Dirt Rider. Initially through the forums, then we'll spread it our into bigger and better things as we grow and mature.

So bare with us during the growing pains, enjoy what we have coming and spread the word. And if it doesn't work, I won't be around here much longer.

JIMMY

You guys know Pete Peterson, right? He works here at Dirt Rider and is one of our favorites. We're always helping him out with his dirt bike riding technique, his fashion choices and, until recently, his freestyle skills. Pete took a big step yesterday and did his first freestyle grab trick. Check it out!

This was the beginning. Pete finally stepped up and rode Chris Denison's FMX bike. Chris is a real jumper, let me tell you. See those holes in the airbox: That's for maximum air. Also, his bars are high so he can get extra extreme. Poor PP can barley reach the levers!

This is PP getting ready for his trick. His weight is centered and he's already reaching back.

It's a good idea to start small, like Norman (Pete's other name) is doing here. That way, you can pull it back in if things get out of shape.

He's really going for it now. Bring it back, Petey! Ahhhh! So Extreme!

Whoa, that was close. Pete's a natural! Who knew? 

He even managed to throw his goggles to the kids in the crowd.

Is that a wink to the photographer?

What a champ!

For more PP updates, be sure to check back often. Today, I heard him say he's going to Subway instead of Quiznos for lunch.

Every year the Dirt Rider staff heads up to the Hangtown Motocross Classic, this year round two of the AMA Outdoor Motocross Championships. The Dirt Diggers also have a really good amateur program and of course the Monster Energy Crossover Race.

Here is some pretty good helmet cam footage from the top of Daron Rahlves head in both the amateur day races and during the Crossover Event.

Click here for the link.

Rahlves is a World Champion skier who competes in the event every year, here mixing it up with the field that included snowboarders, cross country runners, snowmobile riders, BMXers, Surfers and even the media, though they hold us for a second gate.

It's a really good time and competitive too.

JIMMY

James Stewart is back. Fox Racing recently caught up with the former AMA Supercross and Motocross champion to see just how his recovery from knee surgery is going.

Check out the video here

James Stewart Video

It's great to see James back on the bike.

Try not to freak out when you see his whips.

I wanted to one-up Jesse Ziegler so I slammed a short video from a ride I did a few weeks ago. I loaded up my BMW 1200 GSA and headed for the hills.

You can click here for the video, since we are still working with our people on this end to get it up on our player.

Don't worry we're not going to get all soft and dual sporty on you. Remember, Dirt Rider is the world's largest motocross magazine. Transworld MX has the proof in their current issue! But we like all kinds of dirt bikes! We do it all and we are the real deal.

Have a nice day and see you in the dirt,

JIMMY

Whilst reading through the grand assortment of BMW press material associated with the 2008 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure I ran across the creation of a new motorcycling genre:

Extreme Touring

Cool. I wanna try it.

Lucky for me I was invited out to Scottsdale Arizona last week to do just that.

I arrived at Eagle Mountain Golf Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona with a pile of other moto journalists packed into an airport shuttle van. The spread was swanky, clean and incredibly green for being in the middle of the desert. I immediately started shooting pictures with my handy enduro camera: a three year old Canon SD300 with a broken screen. I have to shoot through the viewfinder and can’t see my pictures until I download them. It’s a fun game.

Anyway, back to the bike thing.

As far as I can tell Extreme Touring is the activity of going a long way around something. Like, say, the World.

I’m not sure where it was invented but I’m sure that Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman made it popular with their uber-entertaining documentary The Long Way Around. Yes, watching dudes ride huge bikes 20,000 miles is entertaining to some people, so what? If you’re interested, the silly fools are doing something else called The Long Way Down; a trip from the northern tip of Scotland to the southern tip of Africa.

My adventure wasn’t nearly as dramatic as those boys’. But, I did traverse some stellar mountain roads, bounce down fantastically fun desert trails and blast across two states on my way back to the Pacific Ocean. I’ve racked up over 700 miles on the big dog and more than half of that is in the dirt.  So, I’ll be careful when I say this because I don’t want to sell out to all my true off-road peeps. I really like these humongous, crazy, silly “off-road” motorcycles.

Why do I like them? Well, there’s just something about riding them in technical situations that is a blast. I think, probably, it’s because they're really hard to ride correctly. All room for error is eliminated when you’re manipulating a bike that weighs around 600 pounds when full of gas. You have to use total concentration and skill to keep the traction, stability and power in check. If you’ve never considered trying something close to this, I suggest giving it a shot; it will show how bad your motorcycle skills are in a hurry. I hope you're humble...I quickly became so.

Since BMW was nice (or crazy) enough to let us use a BMW GS Adventure for a while, expect to see more updates on our time together up here on Dirtrider.com and in the pages of the magazine.

For now, here’s a quick rundown on the new features on the bike and a few photos from my trip through the Scottsdale area.

Cheers!

-JesseZ

Coolest features of the BMW R 1200 GS Adventure:

• Reworked transmission and short first gear if required.
 BMW actually offers an Enduro gearbox with a shorter first gear for really tight sections
• Optional Enduro ESA.
 ESA stands for Electronic Suspension Adjustment. You can actually adjust damping settings for the shock and fork on-the-fly through a button! And the shock preload can be set at different pre-programmed levels. It’s very cool and comes in handy when you go from the street to a dirt road with differing degrees of bumps.
• 8.7 gallon tank.
 Wow…yes, it’s heavy when full.
• Adjustable handlebar position
• Cylinder crash Guards
 Don’t use these
• Adjustable-height seat
• Beefy off-road foot pegs
• ABS (Anti-Lock Brakes)
• Very functional on-board computer
• Heated Grips

Here is another link to a video of the National Hare & Hound series:

 Beau Coddington's Pro Moto TV

The race was near El Centro California which is wide-open and desolate. Check it out.

Evidentily the high winds played havoc with the course markings and David Pearson got lost and missed the first check and was later disqualified.

Happy viewing, maybe someday soon we can have cool videos like this up on DR.com

Trust me, I'm working on it.

JIMMY

ThumperTalk got this letter writing going and I'm participating. So should you. Today is a great day to sit down and write out a quick letter to an elected or appointed official and let them know what is important to you.

Check out this form for all the info.

ThumperTalk Letter Writing Message

All it takes is a short hand written letter and a few minutes of your time. Do it so we can all ride dirt bikes!

And if you read this tomorrow and feel you are to late, it does not matter, it is still today for you, write a letter!

JIMMY Lewis

Editor Dirt Rider Magazine

Beau Cottington sent us a link to his video of the second round of the National Hare & Hound series.

Here is is:

Click here for video

I remember when I used to race these things and it makes me feel like we were going trail riding speed compared to these guys.\

JIMMY

A very crazy person just emailed this to me and told me to post it. Enjoy.

-Jesse Ziegler

SPY GUY ONLINE BLOG

EVS Neck Support System Uncovered.  

What’s up peeps? Spy Guy in the hizzie fo' shizzie.

I was kickin’ it old school with my homies and my lady homies the other day (today) when I had this urge to investigate and uncover a completely radical, totally new product. One of such revolutionary thinking that I’d be tempted to not even tell you, my main spies and lady spies, about it and its inherit sweetness.

What I found were a lot of dope, radical products out there on the superhighway of love…er, I mean information that fit into the world of dirt bikeness. All of which were just waiting there for me to steal.

This is mostly due to my supreme hacking technique and stupendous dam-skippiness. Also, I kick serious butt on a moto course and do whiskey diggers with the best of them off the super kickers. I digress.

What’s important is how I uncovered this new product. This is how it went down: I smoothly and coolly opened my roommate’s laptop (never use your own laptop for covert network infiltration) and logged in as a very buff and tough Second Life avatar named Root_N_Tooty_Fresh_N_Fruity inside the fantasy online “game” www.secondlife.com.

Then I danced.

I did a set of jiggy-with-it moves and soon other Second Lifers were walking over to see what I was up to. It was there that I met my informant. We’ll call him Ned, Ned Ryerson. We pre-arranged to meet on Second Life because the police are too dumb to catch us there.

I continued to dance.

All this dancing was for a reason. And that reason is secret. So you will not find out why I was dancing no matter how many Linden you offer.

Soon, after Ned Ryerson and I teleported off to a more chill pad, he spilled the beans about the newest product from the company he works for.

Ned works for EVS. A company most well-know throughout the dirt biker’s realm for supplying some guy named Travis Pastrami (my spell check says this is how you spell his last name even though I typed “Pastrana” in accordance to EVS’ official website; www.evs-sports.com ) with pads for his knees.

EVS assumes fellows of Pastrami’s kind need neck support, too. So they made this thing called the RC_EVOLUTION race collar.

After I agreed to buy Ned Ryerson a Second Life house for about 100,000 L$ he let me teleport into a virtual EVS marketing meeting and this is everything I heard before I followed a hot lady avatar to a dance club and busted some sick moves.

- EVS isn’t going to sell this thing until May, 2008 at the earliest.

- The RC-EVOLUTION has been designed from its inception with the assistance of top orthopedic professionals to reduce neck compression and extension related injuries.

- The EVS RC-EVO offers more effective load transfer to the shoulders, and deals with filling the space between helmets and shoulders more effectively than other devices.

- Other plusses are simplicity of use, easy adjustability, lower weight, lower bulk and: it works with EVS roost guards and everyone else’s.

- Colors available are rumored to be Black, Red, Blue and White and a special Pink one for you lady dirt bikers.

……………One day later………………..

Sorry, I’ve been gone for a while. I was dancing all night with a starlet named HurtzSoGood when, at around 3 am, Ned Ryerson came over and clued me into the fact that she might be “packin’ heat”.

Instead of loathing in a pool of self pity or disinfecting my brain with a Clorox nasal rinse, I investigated her ISP number and found she was, in fact, an inmate at South Southern Georgia Regional Men’s Detention Center.

Firecrackers! I’ve been duped by a dame in a short virtual skirt!

I hope Ned Ryerson wasn’t blowing dirt up my main jet…we’ll see in May.

-Spy Guy.

I'm posting on this because of a few reasons. (This is a response to a thread on Thumpertalk.com)
First, because I hate it when one magazine does something stupid and it drags the collective magazine credibility down the toilet.
Second, because I wear a lot of helmets and I've used them for what they are designed for. I've had a few concussions in different brands and for the most part the helmets are all doing their jobs. I don't like to test helmets but sometimes I do.
Third, because I have a few simple rules about helmets that are easy to follow. Fourth, I replicated the TW test and it is 100% bogus.

Lastly because I feel it is my responsibility to our readers and to dirt bike riders anywhere to dish out solid information when I have it even if there are not enough pages in the magazine to do it.
(Disclosure: Sparx advertises in Dirt Rider, where I'm the editor. And personally I didn't care for the ad's content as I feel it was a little too naughty for our reader even though that stuff does not bother me. I don't have any say over the ads and rarely see them before the magazine goes to print.)
So, rule number one, buy a helmet that fits your head. That is the safest thing you can do. And throw it away (or make a lamp shade out of it) after a good hit or crash, it has done its job and it will be a lot less safe the next time it hits the ground. That is the second safe thing you can do.
About 20 years ago I was a test rider for Dirt Wheels and I was given a Bieffe helmet, (a cheap brand) to wear for photos. It fit. I wore it and was involved in a nasty crash where I slammed head-first. I didn’t have any concussion nor did I feel funny but I swore I didn’t hit my head like the photographer told me I did. The helmet was scratched a little but that could have happened in the following tumble. So a few days later I saw the photo (pre-digital, dude) and was shocked at my head landing in the dirt like it was. I was sold based on performance. I called Bieffe and tried to get sponsored. They were shocked, since what racer wanted to wear a cheap brand, and offered me a deal. I wore them until I became an editor and they did their job plenty of times. When I started to get all these helmets for free, top of the line ones, I was wearing Shoei for the longest time and had similar results as I’d had with my Bieffes in crashes, the helmet protected my head. I would not wear Arai during this time because it did not fit my head properly. At some point Shoei changed their fit and I started searching around for a new favorite and learned that Arai has changed their fit so I started wearing one of those most of the time. I was still wearing Bieffe but they were disappearing. I also found Vemar and Suomy helmets were quality. Remember I get all this stuff for free. Left to my own penny pinching ways I might not be so extravagant. Or maybe I would. It is my head and I tend to buy high-end stuff for things I love. I have a top of the line skateboard and the best pads and I pay for that stuff. Same with running shoes, bicycle equipment and chain saws. Just not beer. But back to the point. Sometimes you don’t have the bucks for the best stuff, no matter what. And of all the studies I’ve seen and scientific tests that have been done on helmets it is so subjective and random to actually compare that to real world crashes. Believe me they try and most of the standards are a good thing for making helmets safer and giving consumers a “stamp of approval” of sorts. My testing in my head has shown that a good fitting approved helmet will do a decent job of protecting you as a rider until you have that one header that is off the charts, then it is in God’s hands.

So I saw the TW test and I was shocked. Sure I knew it was the sacrificial lamb tested of the month but I was horrified by the photo. I had been wearing (yes, while riding dirt bikes, and outside of my office) a couple of Sparx helmets for the past few weeks and since they fit well (I feel they run just a bit on the large size, my medium feels like a medium-and-a-half and Sparx seems “rounder” than my favorites), had the certification it was a decent helmet. I’d even crashed in one and hit my head a little above average in my totally subjective scale and it worked fine, only slightly scratched. So I grabbed my helmet and tried to break it with my bare hands with no luck. Sure I made it pop and crackle with some pretty unrealistic (long slow speed sustained pressure) pushes, but not breaking. We even talked about shooting a video, but didn’t have the camera and sort of forgot about it. So skip forward a few more days and I’m out riding in another Sparx helmet. I tell one of my editors, Jesse Ziegler about the test and hand him my helmet (after the ride.) He goes to town on it, being the gym-going muscle man he is he gets some pretty good movement out of it and after a few good pushes and tugs gets a crack at the lower vent opening but could not get the total detachment that is shown in the TW photo. That took all of my weight pressing on the already cracked lid from the back ramming the chin bar into the ground. Basically like running my head into concrete and having the bike land on top of it. Then with some twisting it finally broke. I have a good idea of what this took force-wise and I’m still comfortable wearing this brand of helmet when riding (just not that specific helmet as it is in the garage and I throw it at the wall when I get mad). I’m going to break some other helmets just for comparison because I want to know, even in my unscientific way, how some stuff stacks up. I can afford to do this, I get these helmets for free. I’ll let you know. And yes, I’m going to use old used ones I have laying around.
I’ve been regularly wearing a couple of Fulmer helmets ($99-$109 retail) and often I choose to wear the One Industries Combat over the higher end Trooper based on fit. I’ve had good luck in Fox and Troy Lee Helmets as well. Currently Bell and Shoei helmets do not fit my head as good as the previously mentioned lids. But my outright favorite is still the Arai with the best fit and what I consider the best safety based in a few things. It is very round and has no sharp edges. It has a lot of foam padding and it has the best feeling material inside the liner. Even where the straps are located just fits better than any other lid and I’d expect that if I were paying $500. And I would. I typically race (if you call it that these days) with an Arai. But for under $150 you get what Sparks and Fulmer are offering, that is a deal and I wouldn’t go bashing a lower end price product because it is easy to pick out as being “uncool” giving the condemner wearing his trophy lid some safe ground to stand on.  Sure they may be new, their designs might not be the best looking to you, the price point or country of origin may have implications on perception of safety. But until you test it properly you shouldn’t be telling everyone what you know. If I were a magazine reader and I had DR and TW in my hand and I read the review of the Klim helmet (if it has been published yet, I loose track) where DR gave it an 89 out of 100 and TW rated it a 4, what would I think? One of those guys is wrong or lying to me. If  5 of the TW points were for style and the author, who I’m unsure of because there isn’t name on it didn’t like the looks, then that rating is OK. But since I wore the helmet a lot and I know some of the things they claimed to be a problem are not a problem, then it’s bogus.

were the guy who wrote that I’d be apologizing first to my readers who got bogus and stilted information and then to the company for doing some pretty severe damage. At Dirt Rider we sign our names to our DR Tested because I feel the editor should take responsibility for what he says to the reader and be held accountable for the results of a test. If it’s jacked up there’s no black hole of who did it.

Oh yea, I wrote this because it is a plug for the magazine I work for even if the post is loaded with useful information.

JIMMY

The 2008 Suzuki RMZ450 is finally on the shores of these United States of America and ready for a test ride. But not until tomorrow…

It took long enough.

In fact, it took so long that this bike missed our 450 shootout by a solid month! (You’ll see the rest of the 450 motocross machines matched up head-to-head in the March issue of Dirt Rider). But let’s not dwell in the past. The Suzuki is here and holy beans, is it cool.

Suzuki unveiled the 2008 Suzuki RMZ450 motocross machine in Brea, California today. A private technical briefing took place inside the Brea Community Center and featured top brass from Suzuki including the Japanese variety. When the factory’s Chief Engineer, Engine Developer and Chassis Engineer for a specific model are on hand, you can be sure to get your questions answered, let me tell you. And man, did we have some questions!

Being that this is the only currently-in-production, EFI-equipped motocross bike, its technology and uniqueness had Jimmy and me on our toes throughout the lunchtime meeting. Our curious questions were met with some great answers and we can’t wait to rip around Perris Raceway tomorrow and get a real taste of the bike.

I’m not promising I can have an update posted right away tomorrow evening, (I am going to be a little smoked after running that thing all day, after all). But I will have a first impression story up on the web before the weekend.

Consider this your sneak peek into the RMZ before the ride.

As always, look to the pages of DR for the in-depth testing you deserve.

-Jesse Ziegler

I feel your pain. In fact I live your pain. The truth is that the staff of Dirt Rider has very little actual control over this web site. From our side of the fence it is like shoving a square post into a smaller round hole.

Why am I telling you this in a blog? Because it is the only way we can actually post content onto the site and have it go live without  it going into a vortex and then being posted by people who know nothing about motorcycles, let alone dirt bikes. It really frustrates us and we want you to know that we know this. We are constantly fighting to get some additional control over this site and have stories, news, riding impressions and breaking news put up in a timely manner, with the quality and authority you have come to expect from us at Dirt Rider. Truthfully our company and the sub-division that runs the electronic side would like the same thing, but we do not see eye-to-eye on anything.

I would have much rather used this space (not this space really but rather the top story) to show you the radical new Husaberg and its crazy 70-degree inclined motor. Or to tell a story or two about our recent crazy weekend at the last round of the GNCC series. Heck, I could tell you what I really think about the delay of the all-new Suzuki RM-Z450’s press introduction and why we are going to go on ahead with our 450 Shootout without it. But since all I can do is drop these little blogs, and fight the antiquated system it takes to post them, most of the time we’d rather not tackle the hassle. We prefer to concentrate on making a good magazine, which is pretty much a full-time gig on its own.

So sorry for this little rant but as the leader of our group at Dirt Rider I felt I owed you, the reader, an explanation on this site, because frankly, I’m sick of saying sorry for it. We’ll try and keep some stuff coming and get it up here as best we can, maybe you’ll have to train yourself to look in the blog section for the good stuff? Maybe you’ll see some of the changes we’ve been promised, but until then we can only work within the tools we’ve been given.

Regards,
JIMMY

Jimmy Lewis
Editor
Dirt Rider Magazine

It's rough. It's rocky. And for the first time ever, it's actually a series. The 2007 Maxxis Endurocross circuit kicks off tomorrow in Denver, Colorado with continuing action next week in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Read on as Dirt Rider gives you all the dirt from the road.

In true gusto fashion, we hit California's I-15 freeway at 5am in Big Air Tod Sciacqua's trusty motor home, loaded to the gills with bikes, riders and several cases of Arizona iced tea. Along for the ride is Tod, goofball Gary Fogg, hard enduro master Kyle Redmond, photographer extraordinaire Tony Scavo and me (Chris Denison), a scary mixture of attention deficit disorder and slapstick humor, no doubt. The drive went slow as usually, but we kept things entertaining with stupid jokes and a Police greatest hits CD. In an odd twist, we bumped into Endurocross racers Matt Karlson and Eric Rhoten at a Wendy's in Grand Junction last night, headed in the wrong direction. Apparently, these guys are racing the WORCS race in Hollister, California on Sunday, which means that they had to park their van their today and then fly back to Denver for the race tomorrow. Now THAT is gusto! We finally rolled in to town 18 hours later, bleary eyed but still laughing. This morning we got up early and headed straight to the track to check things out and get signed up. Once again, EX masterminds Tim Clark and Eric Perronard?along with track builder Shane Schaffer have created a beauty. Filling the entire floor of the National Western sports complex in downtown Denver, the course is a mix of the usually big rocks, slick logs, even bigger rocks, water holes and sand whoops. The track is more wide-open than Vegas, but that isn't to say it?s going to be easy! The rider list looks insane as well, with a host of qualifying riders trying to best the likes of John Down, Ty Davis, Damon Huffman, Geoff Aaron, Ricky Dietrich, Nick Mantzoros, Nathan Woods and several others. Practice starts in less than 12 hours, and I am now going to grab some sleep. Check back soon for an update from the smelliest motor home on the road to Endurocross. See you then!

The Road 2 Recovery
Announces the First Annual National Ride Day 2007
?RIDE FOR RECOVERY?

The Road 2 Recovery has teamed up with Dr. Steve Augustine and the Action Sports Medicine Foundation (ASMF) to provide a mobile medical unit at the top Amateur Nationals;  Loretta Lynn; Lake Whitney, Oak Hill, Mini Olympics, Ponca City, Amateur Open, and World Mini.

When and Where:
The event will be held nationwide September 29th & 30th, 2007.

How It Works:
Each participant gets pledges for laps ridden at a participating MX track, or simply a flat donation. The event is held in conjunction with a practice day at each track. Minimum pledge is $0.50 per lap with a 10 lap minimum.  Each rider must have a minimum of $25.00 in pledges to participate. Riders will register and pledges can be made on-line at www.r2rrideday.com. Additional questions call R2R @ 480 276-1131.

Great Prizes for a Great Cause:
? Each rider will be given a participants goodie bag.
? Regionally, all participants are entered into a drawing for 2 Tickets with all day Pit Passes to a 2008 regional SX closest to their home.
? Example of awards for riders at each track: pants, jerseys, gloves, goggles, boots, chest protectors, knee braces, helmets, tee shirts, hats, equipment bags, pipes, silencers, chains, sprockets, tires, wheels, handle bars, graphics, and lubricants
? Grand Prize top rider nationwide wins his/her choice of a MX bike. We will be giving away 5 MX bikes, one each Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, Yamaha. First place gets their choice of the 5 bikes; second place gets their choice of the 4 remaining bikes, and so on.

The Road 2 Recovery a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the sport of motocross through assistance to riders who sustain career ending injuries.
www.road2recovery.com

Ana Cody takes you to Baja. 

Hello all,

As some of you may or may not know I crossed the finish line of the Baja 1000 on 11/17/06 somewhere around 4:20pm. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, I rode for 33 hours and 35 minutes, the longest break I took was 1 hour, and that was around 2:30am after my bike nearly got ran over by a trophy truck, I had to sit down and get myself together. I was just outside of Loreto when a silt pocket swallowed my XR650 I came up out of it only to dump it over on its side in a two track road with the rear wheel hanging in the tracks, the lights flickered off and I tried to pull the bike out of the way when I suddenly heard the roar of the trophy truck, suddenly I could see everything I worked so hard for go down the drain, in an instant I threw myself in front of the bike waiving my arms up and down, the co driver saw me and motioned to the driver, who than pitched the truck sideways into the bushes,the truck went sideways and missed my bike by about one inch, I had such an adrenaline rush I grabbed that bike and pulled it 25 feet off the course and picked it up, I peed my pants and than started the bike and went on to pit 14 for a well deserved break.

I had to rest there because the next section was the hardest part, the Hurrcaine that happened in OCT destroyed about 300 miles of the course, leaving a rock river bed to ride on with 50+ river crossings with some of them as high as the seat, but I plugged away, never once did the thought of quitting enter my mind, anytime I got tired I thought of my former teammate Lillie fighting her battle with Cancer and realized that this is only 2 days of my life and I can do it.

The last Honda pit was great, they knew I was coming and when I got there they had a sign that said welcome Anna it was really exciting because I knew i was almost there, onward I went into La Paz, there were thousands of people cheering me on, I was way pumped I had tears that filled my goggles, I looked up into the sky and blew Lillie a kiss and than the checkered flag with Sal Fish greeting me, he said where can you race where you see the sun rise, the sun set, the sun rise and set again. He asked me if I was ok, I just said I am a bit over whelmed he said we all are, than the next thing I know Mouse Mccoy came up to me and gave me a hug, he said I know where you have been and we talked for a while, than off to interviews with OLN and speed vision. I threw my googles into the fans, a girl got them and came over to have me sign them.

We went to the hotel and I had huge blisters on my hand they were raised up full of fluid, off to dinner I ordered and fell asleep on the table.

The next day I got invited to an private Red Bull party and than went to the trophy presentation, all Ironman finishers got trophy's , we than went to dinner and afterwards I was walking down the sidewalk when Mike Metzer got up from his dinner and came over and gave me a big hug and said he could not beleive I did it, now that was my highlight the guy that did a back flip over Cesars palace fountain was in coming up to me.

All and all this was a life changing exsperince, I dug deep into my soul and discovered so much about myself and was finally able to come to peace and let Lillie go.

I rode this race Solo but it was not a solo effort so many people got behind me, my sponsors Honda Pro Oil and chemicals FMF, GPR, BRP, IMS,Maxiss, Slime, AXO, MTA, Lippert Racing, Team Caveman, Thousand Oaks Honda, my chase crew,
all of the great Honda Pits and my mechanic Richard Jackson, the list goes on
and on, I am just so proud I did not let any of you down.

I am making a CD of the race, we have lots of video and hope to have it out to you all by New Years.

Solo next year? We will see some offers are starting to come in

God Bless all

Anna Cody

Dirt Rider Blogs are on line. 

Dirt Rider has entered the world of blogs.  This is going to be a great way for us (everyone here at the magazine) to update you guys on the daily going-ons here at the Dirt Rider offices. 

You're going to find some funny stories, but also lots of valuable news.  I'm also excited about the local events blogs so dirtrider.com can be your first stop to find out what local race or ride day or event you're going to attend. 

So keep checking back, there's going to be a lot of great stuff going up here.