The Blog

August – well summer finally hit with full force. After a cooler than average June and July, August has turned into a scorcher. I am just loading the van to head out to the track. The forecast says it will be a little cooler today so I am hoping it will be bearable. It is way too hot to go to the desert and I am having difficulty finding someone to go ride in Baja with. Odd as it may seem, the mountains of Northern Baja often get afternoon rains this time of year and keep the overall temps down to something reasonable to ride. Plus, there is absolutely nobody down there riding this time of year, so it is just one big private riding area.

I have been working on the dual sport bike, the KTM 450xc, and have it pretty much done. I got the lighting kit on last week and the Pro Moto Billet rack installed last night. Look for a  write-up on those next week. I have been out riding around the mountains of San Diego county some and that has been a nice break from the heat. I got to see a great lightning storm over Mount Palomar on Wednesday. I have been exploring some of the fire road systems in the area, so it is nice to get out and see some new stuff.

• My friends Curt and Martha Forget of Black Dog Cycle Works are ADV touring through Canada and Alaska and they sent along a couple of links to pics and their blog: Kurt and Martha’s Smugmug travel pics, and the blog post
• If there is anywhere else I wish I could be this weekend, that would have to be Indy. With Endurocross and the MotoGP race it has to be the focus of the whole motorcycling world right now. It is a great opportunity for the Endurocross guys because there will probably be a large european crowd at the event. My prediction for the EX results: Taddy, Aaron, Webb. Remember you heard it here first. Actually I am pulling for Aaron to get the win, but Taddy is really at the top of the game right now.
• I just got a text from Cameron Steele and he is flying to Indy right now to do the announcing for the event. He had a bit of a mishap last week. Somehow the scheduling got mixed up and he actually flew to Indy LAST friday by accident. Not only that, but he passed up an opportunity to drive a truck in the BITD Vegas-to-Reno because of the error.
• For MotoGP I am pulling for Nicky as always. If you remember it was at this race a couple of years ago that Ben Spies made his debut on an incredibly wet course and caught the attention of everyone with his very strong finish. He is just  on the verge of becoming a regular on the podium.
• I think the next bike I am getting to test is a Honda XR650L. It will probably become a long term project bike, so if you have any good tips for the L, let me know. I am also working on getting a 2011 GasGas 25o fourstroke, but that probably won’t arrive until October.

I have not been doing enough riding lately so lets hope the temps cool a little. I am trying to get a couple of guys together to go to Baja next week, I am going to work on some video of that, mostly just so I can improve my editing skill some. I need to be doing more video.

Cheers for now – and send me your comments, what you would like to see more of etc

Chilly

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