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As I sat at my computer I was getting this sudden PANG of NEEDING to be in the mountains. It was as if the trees themselves were calling me. A distant howl that I could hear from my office chair, beckoning me to come back.

Sure, I’ve got a Gixxer sitting in my garage…and sure, I’ve gone on a couple street rides with it.. but I dunno… I don’t really FEEL like a street rider anymore. there’s so many cars on the street. Idiot drivers. Deer. Guard Rails. There’s no run-off in case of a mistake. It just feels so damned dangerous out on public roads. I like the track, where I can totally fuck up a corner and live to tell about it, and prolly not even fall down.

That leaves me with a bit of a predicament, cause I always long to be in the mountains on twisty roads away from civilization under canopies of Firs and along rushing streams and brookes…Since I stopped really riding on the street, I’m away from the mountains for months at a time. I hate it.

Yesterday, I needed to go back.

I didn’t feel like riding. I knew the weather was going to be somewhat inclimate, and I thought about doing some trails in the Element. I tuned to 1580AM before leaving only to hear about chain control and snow and this and that over Donner Pass, so I thought about it for a sec then called Han.

It was drizzling a little bit when I headed out the door for Han’s house. I was going to trade him the Element for his Nissan for the day. I love Han’s truck. It’s a Nissan Frontier with the Nismo Off-Road package. I got to his house, and we switched. Of course, he hands it off with the dash flashing “12 DTE” at me (distance till empty) and for those of you that know Han…well, he doesn’t live close to ANYTHING.

So my adventure begins: will I even make it to the gas station? Haha!

I did. And I headed east, towards Foresthill; destination: Robinson Flat. Well, a few miles from Foresthill, I realized that my plans were going to have to change…

On Main Street in Foresthill

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This weekend marked the first time getting the new 4theriders trackbike…well…on the track. It’s gone through it’s paces on some of the best roads California has to offer, but it had yet to put down some laps…

I’d order some new Galfer steel braided brake lines from the Pashnit Store (that’s where I get nearly everything, as the owner, Tim Meyhew, is a rock solid dude with flawless customer service) earlier last week in hopes that I’d get them in before the trackday… leave it to me, always procrastinating with everything…hehe. Sure enough, Tim of Pashnit came through and I got my lines in on Friday afternoon.

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There are few better ways to sum up the third weekend of February than; Growing Pains. I went into my first Expert race weekend with the goal of not finishing worse than I started, and not crashing. Although those goals were met, it was not in a fashion I had grown accustomed to nor expected. The Friday trackday at the Streets of Willow was the perfect omen as to what would lie ahead, and it truly set the pace for the weekend.

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Seriously…do you guys know who Dave Moss is? The man is a HERO. He’s the hands and arms and fingers behind Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning.

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So, a couple of us went up onto Mosquito Ridge Road the other day and decided to roach up some perfectly good Diablo Supercorsa Pros…and get it all on film. Toe, Mike J, Kev, and myself wanted to shoot some street footage with the new Sony HD cam along with some more GoPro HD footage. We still want to get more footage before actually editing up any videos right now, but I figured I may as well tease you guys with a few still frames from the video.

Be on the lookout for some fun road footage soon!

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So! It’s the beginning of the track season. Kevin went bonkers and ran around all over the place on February 8th at the Zoom Zoom opener and shot a bunch of amazing footage while Toe and I hustled the track getting photos.

This is part of the new video service we’re offering up to everyone at the track. Fully edited on-board footage set to your favorite track/artist/genre.

While Kev was doing his thing, when I finally had a few minutes of downtime, I also mounted the new GoPro HD to fast grrrrrlll Elena Myers and another fast gggggrrrrrl Melissa Paris! Talk about AWESOME riding along with them. Elena blows by other riders like they’re not even moving! It’s epic watching Melissa trail brake deeeeeep into every corner. Thanks you gals!

Be sure to watch it in full 1080p!

I mean really. I have an addiction. Most of you reading this share my addiction. The track… (Read more…)

So, I had the pleasure of going down to Las Vegas for the 2nd Round of WERA with the Pirelli guys from CTRacing. I got a phone call around Tuesday evening saying “we’ve got room! We’ll take care of ya!” and they sure did. Not only does CTRacing offer the SICKEST tires ever, but they’re some pretty rad dudes as well. I can’t thank Chris Maguire or Corey Neuer enough for taking me down there under their wing. We stayed at the Stratosphere hotel and casino for 3 nights and had a blast. Thanks again, guys!

In return, I offered up to get some publicity shots and video for their go-to 600cc guy Jimmy Wood! On Friday, during a trackday/practice for the WERA races, we got some pretty damned good stuff! Be sure to click “720p” to watch it in all it’s HD glory!

Camera is a GoPro HERO HD. It’s freggin RAD! I’m totally in love with this little piece of video bliss.

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i headed up the mountain to go visit rweezy. i ain’t seen him in about 2 years, so i figured it was time for a surprise visit. i didn’t bring my camera, but i did bring the gopro..i took a few pics on the way home. nothing special.

did an oil and filter change at his shop really quick and threw on the obligatory 4theriders-red grips like i do to all my bikes. i can’t help it…dunno what it is…i HAVE to have red grips!

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soooooo… i met up with chris from pirelli (trackmonkey) and we went to vegas for the 2nd round of wera… i brought the gixxer too, for some mucking about akshunz.

we landed in vegas on thursday night. i really didn’t feel like lugging around the camera on the strip or anything, so i actually ended up taking ZERO pics of the

bike+lights or anything. who cares about all that anyways?

instead, on friday EARLY morning, before going to the track, i rode out to red rock canyon. it was cold. REALLY cold.

OMGHAI!!

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I’ve been walking around in a bit of a daze for the better part of the evening trying to figure out how I’m going to write up this little “race report,” for lack of better words.

Should I write it like I normally would trying to make jokes and being happy-go-lucky? Should I talk about what some of you already know happened? While I’m still sitting here, pondering on it, I sometimes think it’s best to speak of things (or write them) as you think them…so that’s what I’m doing now.

First of all, I want to mention that a WERA racer passed away yesterday in a solo accident during his race. His name was Joe. He was a Salinas Police Officer. He had a wife. He had children.

It’s not the first time I’ve seen someone lose their life at the racetrack. A few years ago, I saw Allen Rice hit a k-wall at Infineon, never to breathe again. He was a good friend of people that I know. I didn’t know him personally, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget his name. Or what he looked like as he lay there.

Yesterday, I watched, with my 400mm lens, Joseph Pusateri crash his motorcycle, ending his life. I watched his wife run out onto the track crying and trying to fight her way past the corner workers who were trying to hold her back. At that moment, I felt somewhat removed from the situation as I’ve learned to do over the years; watching people crash…some harder than others. Usually they just get up. Or they twitch…or move…at least after a few seconds, there’s SOME type of tell-tale sign of life.

You sorta become immune to it. There’s no more adrenaline rush like I used to get when someone would crash right in front of me… There’s no more tightening of the chest in a sort of empathetic physical reaction like there used to be…There’s nothing more than simply being a robot who documents things that unfold in front of him. Yesterday, while bursting off a sequence of photos of Joe crashing, was no different. It didn’t even seem that severe, to be honest. I fully expected him to get up and limp around a bit and maybe punch the air a few times in dissapointment. He didn’t move. I assumed maybe he was knocked out. He wasn’t.

I’ve seen friends and family members hop fences to try to tend to their loved ones in the past. I simply watched Joe’s wife crossing the track while speculating on what the extent of Joe’s injuries might have been.

It wasn’t until about an hour later that I’d learned the Joe passed away. Suddenly, as I was being told, the image of Joe’s wife flashed through my head. It hit me hard. I don’t even know how to explain it. Suddenly all this emotion that I’ve learned to put to the side to do the job I do hit me hard. I can’t even begin to imagine what’s she’s going through right now. What Joe’s family is having to deal with right now.

I can’t help but to selfishly think about my own family and my accident from 2 years ago.

I really don’t know where I’m going with this right now…I’ve just been typing as I think. All I know is that a complete stranger to me passed away yesterday doing something that he loved, that I loved, that everyone at that racetrack loved, and I’m pretty torn up about it all. I wish I could turn back time and simply tell him not to race that race, and he’d have gone back home with his wife to Salinas.

Rest in Peace, Joe. I’m so very sorry to all the family and offer my deepest condolences.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I am lazy, so enjoy the next 20,000 plus words!

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 This is my third winter as a year round rider. The cold, wind, and rain fade into the background if you have good winter gear. I actually prefer the bike over the car, and given the choice of riding or taking my wife’s car I gear up 100% of the time. My wife does not share this view of the weather, so sometimes I am forced to endure the confines of a Subaru Legacy GT. Don’t get me wrong, I owe my life to a Subaru, and the Legacy has some nice features. Heated seats, satellite radio, cup holders, reverse…you know, all the same stuff as a Honda Goldwing. 

I bring this up because I had to drive yesterday. The rain was fairly steady from Concord to Fremont, and since it was a weekend, I didn’t have to deal with the commuter traffic. We listened to the comedy channel on the satellite radio, there was Starbucks in the cup holders, and at risk of  talking too much about my behind, the heated seats were functioning flawlessly. Once we got to our destination my wife brought up an interesting point… 

40 minutes or so on the freeway, in the rain, and not once did I hit the switch for the wipers. I shrugged it off but paid more attention to it on the way home. George Carlin? Check. Peppermint Mocha? Check. Warm rump? Check. The wipers, however, remained off. I guess I prefer the way the world looks through my visor, and yesterday this was the best I could do.   

I just got a sweet little package in the mail not 10 minutes ago…new bits for the 2007 GSXR600 4theriders trackbike. Pew pew pew! Axle sliders front and rear, plus a Sportbike Cam rear mount so I can hook up the digital still camera on there to get track photos of you while ON TRACK.

I’ve used some of Harry’s products from Supermoto Engineering and Sportbike Cam in the past, and I gotta say: top notch stuff! Check out their site and see what they’ve got to offer for your bike! You won’t be dissapointed!

As the 2010 track season is right around the corner, I can’t help but to think and reflect on 2009 and what I have learned in such a short amount of time.  At the track, everyone is there for the same reason… to ride, and have fun.  Everyone is more than willing to help one another, and help in any way they can.  I really learned a lot about what a track day is through the lens of my camera.. as a silent observer if you will.  If you are hungry, a complete stranger will make sure you are fed.  if you have a headache, someone will make sure you get some aspirin.  If you are hurt or you go down on the track, a flood of complete strangers will come by just to check on you and make sure you are ok.  I have also seen countless acts of kindness when it comes to bike maintenance, with complete strangers helping other riders get their bike dialed in, even if it means missing a session or two.  It is this type of environment that I have grown to love in such a short amount of time.  This is where my excitement comes from filming events like this.  Being able to capture these types of behaviors, along with some fantastic riding, is why I do this. 

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