For those of you who didn’t already know, I had a bit of a freak accident.  I’ve been working down in Texas for a while, and when I finally returned home my truck wouldn’t start.  I have pull-down electrical reels hanging from my garage ceiling, and in order to reach the reel I had to move a WaveRunner that I had on a wheeled stand in my garage.

Not rocket science.  At least for a person of average intelligence, which apparently I am not.

My garage has a slight slope leading towards the doors for water runoff, so I had locked the back two casters on the ski lift to prevent it from rolling into the garage door.  Now here’s where the difference between myself and someone with brains comes in.  To move the ski, I grab the back of the boat and begin to pull backwards.

Now simple physics and geometry will tell you that locked wheels act as a pivot point when you have a top-heavy item such as a WaveRunner on a stand.

The entire stand tipped backward, and the metal ride plate on the rear of the ski ended up right on the big toe of my left foot.  Or right where the big toe of my left foot SHOULD be.  The edge of the ride plate isn’t terribly sharp, but sharp enough to slice right through skin and bone when there’s enough inertia behind it.

So I’m looking at the ski that I just knocked over, and I notice my toe on the floor next to my flip-flop.  My first thought was "Now that is not a very good way to start a Monday morning"  My second thought was that it was going to start hurting like hell once the shock wore off, so I shuffled the ski off of my pinned flip-flop, grabbed my toe, and made a very poor attempt at bandaging it back on with some paper towel and bandages.

Keep in mind that I’m home alone, and my truck has a dead battery still.  So I manage to get the truck plugged in, wait a couple minutes, and it still won’t start.  Plan B.  My uncle Gerry lives a couple minutes away, and a quick phone call later and he’s on his way to pick me up.

Now you know it’s a good injury when the physician’s assistants are taking pictures of it with their cell phones.  They initially tried to block my view of the area when they began working on it, but if I’m going to bang myself up I want pictures to show for it.  Several hours and lots of Lidocaine later, I’ve got a toe of normal length, just missing a nail and with a lot of stitches.

I got lots of good drugs - Vicodin and Percoset, only to discover that I’m immune to Codeine, so they were pretty useless.  Good old Tylenol for me.

The worst part is living on a lake and not being able to get in the water because of all the bacteria in Michigan’s inland lakes.  The couple times that I absolutely HAD to go out on the Waverunners, I wrapped a couple garbage bags around my foot and duct-taped them to my leg.  Waverunner?  Check.  Garbage Bag?  Check.  White Trash?  Check.

So back to riding and racing.  If this had been my right foot, I’d be back to riding already because the stiff sole of a motorcycle boot would keep too much pressure off the toe.  But since it’s my shifting foot, no such luck.  The doctor took the stitches out yesterday and the wounds have healed well, but the broken bone will take several more weeks before it’s healed up enough for shifting duty.

Here’s looking forward to healthy and productive 2009 season!

I’ve crashed more times than I care to count over the last few years, and despite the plethora of other injuries I’ve had, I’ve never had the slightest hint of a foot or ankle injury.  Luck some may say, quality protective gear I say.  These are a premium boot at a premium price, but much cheaper than the hospital bills for a broken foot or ankle.

The replaceable sole for the Supermoto Crossfire boots are incredible, coming in 2 compounds depending on how much you want the sole to slide on the pavement.  I ran the red compound last year, as I get more seat time this  year I’m going to test out the yellow compound to see if I can tell the difference and if it helps me out at all.

The start to my season is coming up at Nelson Ledges is coming up this weekend, so we’ll see how things start to shake down after the long winter layoff.

SDG is an acronym short for Speed Defies Gravity.  And indeed it does.  I tried an SDG seat on a friend’s motocross bike in 2006 and was surprised what a difference the stepped seat made in keeping me forward in the saddle, helping initiate turns.  After several repeated rides with the step, I realized that I couldn’t ride without it any longer, but I wasn’t sure how it would translate to supermoto.  2008 is the year that we’ll find out - stay tuned for more.

Matt is making good strides with his physical therapy, and should be ready to rock by the first Grattan round.

Want to know one of the last things you think about on your bike?  Your grips.  Think about it - you’re putting in a good race or practice session, the suspension is working right, your engine is running strong, your grips are — well, your grips are just there, right?  Not so fast.

2 more laps into your moto, and your arms start to pump - so bad in fact, that you can’t run race pace anymore and you start falling back in the pack.  Or one of your grips falls apart, effectively putting you out of the race completely.  Now I’ve got your attention!

There are quite a few companies manufacturing grips, so how does a racer find the best grip which combines feel, control, AND longevity in one fancy package?  Look no farther.

I was excited when the MotoGrip package arrived in the mail, I’ve talked with them for a bit and was pumped about the product, but until you have your hands on something and see how it feels and works, you just don’t know.  I love the cushion of the grip,  and the design is mega-cool.  Mounting up is a cinch, although the package clearly states to use grip glue, I cut the ends off for my brush guards and safety wired them on.

Longevity?  Dunno!  Once I get back from Seattle on the 16th I’ll be putting some laps in to see what kind of feel and durability they provide - stay tuned for the results!

About MotoGrip:

MotoGrip has revolutionized the dirt bike grip with it’s new patented 3d skull design!  The skull size and placement is engineered to comfortably give the rider the ultimate grip for extreme riding conditions.

MotoGrip also manufactures some pretty sick grips for street bikes, snowmobiles, ATV’s, Harleys and BMX bikes.

MotoGrip can be reached at http://www.motogrip.net or at 1-(888)-MOTO-GRIP

We’ve tried various setups over the years, from a 8mm HandyCam recording from a bulletcam, to a Mustek PVR recording from a bulletcam, to Oregon Scientific ATC2K self-contained camera, to Samsung’s SC-X210L. A few had their strengths, but all had their weaknesses. Difficult to use, too much wiring, reliability, you name it, we’ve seen it.

When we heard that Yamaha had a deal going with GoPro cameras, it immediately peaked our interest. And after watching the Josh Herrin/Ben Bostrom video, we knew that this camera was something we needed!

So when GoPro offered us a sponsorship package for 2008, we jumped at the opportunity. Yes, that’s right. For the 2008 season, we’ll be running GoPro’s motorsports cameras on our bikes and posting up the videos. You be the judge of how you like the video quality, and we’ll let you know how they hold up under the abuse that our supermoto bikes dish out.

Check out their website at GoPro Cameras, and see why they’re making waves.

It’s going to be a great season.

BNRG (http://www.bnrg.com) formulates and distributes engineered foods and nutritional supplements. All Company business activities are governed by a singular focus: To make available to consumers products which have clearly demonstrated the ability to significantly enhance the health and performance aspects of human physiology. BNRG believes that, when optimally directed, the core issues involved in this pursuit, a strong immune system, efficient food metabolism and rich daily supplies of proper macro and micro nutrients measurably extend and enrich the life experience. We know of no goal more satisfying than this and are proud and privileged to participate in the life enhancing process of any individual entrusting our group with that mandate.

BNRG began formulation work on the initial offering of products, the Prescription One line in June of 1991. The process completed and the products became available to retailers in February of 1997. New products are always “in process” and existing products are enhanced as the data becomes available.

We’re hammering out the remainder of the sponsorship details for the season, big things are in the works so make sure you check back often!

Date Organization Venue Location

4/26-27 WERA North Central Nashville Superspeedway Nashville, TN
5/3-4 WERA North Central Nelson Ledges Garrettsville, OH
5/17-18 WERA North Central Grattan Raceway Belding, MI
5/31-6/1 WERA North Central Gingerman Raceway South Haven, MI
6/14-15 FastTrax Nelson Ledges Garrettsville, OH
6/21-22 WERA North Central Beaverun Raceway Beaverun, PA
7/5-6 WERA North Central Nelson Ledges Garrettsville, OH
7/11-13 WERA National Grattan Raceway Belding, MI
7/19-20 FastTrax Nelson Ledges Garrettsville, OH
7/26-27 AHRMA Mid-Ohio Raceway Mansfield, OH
8/9-10 FastTrax Nelson Ledges Garrettsville, OH
8/16 MISuperMoto Race Auto City Speedway Flint, MI
8/23-24 WERA North Central Grattan Raceway Belding, MI
9/6-7 FastTrax Nelson Ledges Garrettsville, OH
9/18-21 AMA RRGC Mid-Ohio Raceway Mansfield, OH
9/27-28 WERA North Central Nelson Ledges Garrettsville, OH
10/4-10/5 FastTrax Nelson Ledges Garrettsville, OH
10/8-10/12 WERA Grand National Finals Road Atlanta Atlanta, GA