I don’t claim to condone some of the shit Jason Lawrence has done over the last two seasons, but I am convinced he is getting an unfair rap. As I was standing with Jason and his mechanic as we all waited for the second 450 moto to stage, I witnessed everything that supposedly led to his gate penalty and ultimately, the black flag. That said, he got screwed!

In the first 450 moto, Lawrence busted his master cylinder… yes, you read correctly. As I heard one mechanic say, “I don’t think I could bust off the master with a sledgehammer.” So, you can imagine Lawrence, and his mechanic Toshi, were more than a little worried about the brakes in the second moto. The 450 guys all gathered behind the start gate after the second 250 moto, but the wait was excruciatingly long due to the live coverage. So, during the wait, Lawrence hopped on his bike and putted it back and forth tapping the brakes for about 20 seconds. With that, he returned the bike to Toshi and went about his business chatting with Josh Grant and Josh Hill. Within minutes, an AMA official pulled him aside and told him he was stripped of his fourth gate pick and would have to start from the 40th. Naturally, J-Law flipped. He yelled and mouthed off (as most of us would have done) and then threatened not to move from his gate.

Eventually, they coaxed him into his 40th gate, and everything seemed to be right with the world again… then he got black flagged. The word is that he jumped the gate, which is against the rules… but after personal inspection of the AMA rulebook, I found that jumping the gate does not warrant a black flag. It clearly states that “In the event of a rider jumping the starting device, he shall be penalized one lap.” Hmmm, one lap is a little different than a black flag.
I dug deeper. Where does it say Jason Lawrence can’t check his brakes while there is an indefinite wait for TV scheduling? And where does it say he is to be docked gate picks? I couldn’t find it.

Is J-Law wreckless? Yes. Did he deserve to race at Hangtown? Yes. Just sayin.

I haven’t been much for blogs, which sounds completely contradictory coming from MY blog; but it’s not so much that I am not a fan, it’s more that I don’t really know where to look for them…. the good ones, I mean. More recently, I have found that I can gain a lot of insight from people and outlooks I respect. It may be from people I have met before, or a person I may want to meet but never get the chance. For me, Embry Rucker’s blog has done just that for me. I have actually met him, though he more than likely doesn’t remember, but it was fun watching him work… albeit in an abreviated, impromptu environment.
Anywho, Rucker is pretty much a king among men in the photography world, at least the photography that I gravitate toward, and I have found myself enjoying checking in on his exploits. He is pretty good about updating his blog (something that I have not fully embraced myself), and he posts a lot of cool shots that I like just oggling at. It has definitely inspired me to update my blog more often… not that anyone really gives a shit about what I am doing, but that really isn’t the point for me, I guess. Perhaps it is more like those people who still write letters instead of emails, or keep a journal. It is for me, but if someone else finds something in it, then all the better. My point? Well, I don’t really know. Maybe it’s that blogs don’t suck as much as I thought they did when I first heard that word.

Everyone gets excited for Vegas Supercross, and for good reason. It’s the SX season finale; we get to see the East coast and West coast guys battle it out on the same track; and well, it’s Vegas!
Add to the excitement the after-parties, industry events, and big-ass casinos, and it makes for an exciting weekend.
One thing I am particularly excited for is the grand opening of the new DC Store at the Miracle Mile Shops. RC, Millsaps, McGrath, Robbie Maddison, Nate Adams, Adam Jones, Josh Hill, and Dustin Miller are all going to be there, so I’m gonna get some autographs…well, probably not, but I am going to go kick it and put out the vibe.

So, this is the newest look for my blog that no one reads. Most of the time, when I try to express my mind to others, I am reciprocated with a series of bewildered and/or astonished looks…not unlike the responses from those listening to the incoherent ramblings of a complete lunatic… Hence, the strait-jacket photo to your right.
The truth of the matter is, Swap and I had to get the lighting right for that killer lead spread of our recent Robbie Maddison feature, so I stood in as the stunt model. Yup, it’s dangerous; I could have died. But I did it; because i love my country. Right.
Anywho, this is the new blog format that will hopefully get some positive feedback; then we can have our (and your) favorite industry types start bloggin’ it up, or whatever. Plus, we have this new commenting engine that is pretty trick. Its called IntenseDebate and it is sort of a social networking tool in itself. It links your Facebook, Myspace, Digg, whatever… so you can really start to piss people of on a large forum. Also, IntenseDebate allows you to add polls and videos to your comments. Dope, right?
Well, I think it’s cool. And my mother always told me I was the coolest kid in school…and handsome too.
Skinny

Its race day here in Italy, and needless to say, I am pretty pumped. The rain has stopped and the track looks pretty damn good considering the onslaught of precipitation it took last night. It should be a good day.

If you have been checking out the news, you know that reigning champ David Philippaerts has the “pole position” for the MX1 GP of Italy, while Arnaud Tonus put his KTM in the top spot for the MX2 class. I would have guessed that Red Bull Factory KTM’s Rui Goncalves would have taken it after seeing him last season and hearing that he has continued to improve; but unfortunately for him, he was part of a start-straight pile up in the Qualifying race. Nicolas Aubin was also involved in the wreck. I believe no one was hurt, but I will let you know if one of them doesn’t show up to the line today.

So it’s 8 AM local time as I sit in the Brussels airport awaiting my final flight into Italy for the opening round of the 2009 MXGP. That means its midnight back in California where I took off. I wasn’t able to sleep on the plane…probably because of the phenomenal programming on the in-flight television and the delectable cuisine served to me. Or maybe it because its only midnight back home and I would still probably be up reading comments on the website while I watch syndicated Family Guy episodes.

While I was cleaning up the junk on my Blackberry, I came across multiple, uh, inspiring photos of Swap that I had snapped off when he wasn’t paying attention…or conscious. Here are two that are particularly telling of his dedication to motocross..and bowel movements.

Angel Stadium welcomed a bunch of Monster trucks and a slough of people last weekend and, yes, I was there to bear witness to the glory that is Monster Jam. It all started early last week at lunch. As the TWMX crew all sat down at our favorite Orange County spot for sliders, we noticed some Monster Jam action on the big screens. At first we chuckled at whole spectacle of it all, but after a while I realized we were glued to the TV. It was like staring at a bug zapper. Before I knew it, we were begging Swap to get us tickets; and since Feld Motorsports promotes both Supercross and Monster Jam, only a phone call was needed.

Since being stuck in Seattle over Christmas due to weather, I have had plenty of time to sit back and take my surroundings. I am from the Northwest and have spent my entire life there up until my move to California about a year and a half ago. And other than Seattle Supercross last season, I haven’t returned to my roots once.

While sitting in the airport, and then later walking through downtown Kirkland, I remember the look that has defined Pacific Northwesterners. You know the look, and it spreads far beyond the Northwest I am sure, but it seems most celebrated here.

I’ll break it down for you…

Pants: Carhartt denim; always in some sort of earth tone

Shirt: Tee from some local brewery or fly fishing shop, or a muted button-down from L.L. Bean or REI

Socks: In winter, wool. In summer, wool

Footwear: summer, Chacos or Tevas (with wool socks if possible); winter, Lace-up boots (Vasque, Merrell, etc) or slip-on boots

Headwear: Knit beanie with tassel on top, or cap from same brewery of fly shop on tee

Dog: Labrador with Silverfoot woven collar. leash made from climbing robe and attached with carabiner.

Jacket: Fleece, ski shell, or down jacket from Northface, Marmot, Patagonia, Arc’teryx, or Mountain Hardwear.

Accessories: Suunto Watch with altimeter. daypack from Mountain Gear or one of the companies mentioned above. Nalgene bottle with various stickers from mountaineering or non-profit companies. REI membership card.

What’s better than racing A Day in the Dirt? Not much of anything I can think of… But a distant second may be racing the exact same track with a fresh track prep and a fraction of the racers; and being able to be home before noon. Yep. Its awesome.

This last weekend the TransWorldMX crew met at LA County Raceway for the CRC (California Racing Club) Merry Christmas GP, where they were utilizing the ADITD track before the end of the year. This year’s track was incredible; rough, but fun as hell. The super-fast uphills and downhills, the concrete straightaway, deep sand… so much fun.

Ya know, I was actually doing semi-okay too…until the last lap. I just had to screw it up, just had to stare at the rut in the turn….stare and stare and stare, until I pushed the front end and was sent over the bars and onto the back of my head. I took it as yet another lesson learned: don’t look at the rut or your fender, eyes up, look ahead.

I have to be honest, getting dead-last kind of sucks. I don’t where I placed in this last GP, because the results still have yet to be posted, but I imagine it is somewhere near the back. Granted, a few dudes DNF’ed, but still…

Even so, I have been having a blast racing. Even if my results aren’t showing it, I know that racing has improved my ability exponentially. Riding practice days kept me riding in my comfort zone, and it left me no room to improve. Racing has forced me to ride faster and more aggressively for more laps at a time. So even if I don’t post great results, I am stoked on my progression.