Blaze Of Glory Off Road and Outdoor Recreation

Mar 11, 2010

More Really Cool Stuff, MM Poached, Wall Ride

Staying a little bit with the theme of a couple days ago, here's Jeremy Stenberg pulling off a wall ride on an office building in Irvine California! I came across this pic from Metal Mulisha's "poached" section and thought it was worth sharing. There's a full behind the scenes video from the shoot as well.

Reader's Rave, Dirt Bike Sequence Shot

A good friend of mine in the blogoshpere and a regular reader of this site sent in this sweet sequence shot of a quarter pipe jump! I'm not sure who the rider is, but there's a Metal Mulisha butt patch on the last shot in the sequence. It's definitely a killer shot and our thanks go out to MR. Motorcycle who sent this in! Be sure to check out his blog when you get a chance at 01mrmotorcycle.blogspot.com/. He rides a Harley, that you'll want to check out and the blog is really well put together. He's got a ton of regular readers so he must be doing something right, and I always enjoy reading his posts. It has a good blend of comedy, cool factor, and useful information.
Thanks again Mark!

Daytona Supercross 2010, Villopoto Dominates Round 9

Daytona was the roughest track of the season. Designed by Ricky Charmichael again this year, it really took advantage of the infield of Daytona Speedway with some long fast straights that were strewn with bumps and nasties. The lap times were over a minute making the riders work extra hard. Villopoto said before the race that he would at least make up 3 points on someone tonight and he definitely did getting the hole shot and never looking back finishing way ahead of the pack. Dungey finished second and maintained his controlling points lead as Dungey and Villopoto distance themselves from the other riders on the season. Unfortunately for Villopoto he wasn't able to make up any more points than the promised 3, but every little bit will count if he expects to catch Dungey. Trey Conard of Honda was surprising again tonight coming away with a 3rd place finish! Chad Reed turned in some impressive lap times at practice, but decided to sit this one out again saying that he really didn't have anything to gain by racing tonight. As a former winner at Daytona, he was itching to get back out and race, but perhaps he was right in taking some extra time to heal. Andrew Short was also at Daytona signing autographs and such for Honda. Next week the gates will drop in Toronto, Ontario, then 5 weeks before Salt Lake City! Even though we started the season pulling for Dungey(and still are), it would be fun to see a tight points race in Salt Lake, and the shootout in Vegas the following week. If one thing is for sure, anything can happen!

Supercross Results:
1. Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki
2. Ryan Dungey, Suzuki
3. Trey Canard, Honda
4. Kevin Windham, Honda
5. Davi Millsaps, Honda
6. Tommy Hahn, Suzuki
7. Nick Wey, Kawasaki
8. Kyle Chisholm, Yamaha
9. Josh Hill, Yamaha
10. Ryan Morais, Suzuki
11. Jared Browne, Kawasaki
12. Michael Byrne, Yamaha
13. Matt Boni, Honda
14. Jason Thomas, Suzuki
15. Manual Rivas, Kawasaki
16. Heath Voss, Honda
17. Chris Blose, Honda
18. Justin Brayton, Yamaha
19. Ivan Tedesco, Yamaha
20. Grant Langston, Yamaha

Supercross Overall Standings:
1. Ryan Dungey, 192
2. Ryan Villopoto, 172
3. Josh Hill, 162
4. Davi Millsaps, 150
5. Kevin Windham, 131
6. Justin Brayton, 124
7. Ivan Tedesco, 117
8. Nick Wey, 99
9. Kyle Chisholm, 82
10. Michael Byrne, 80

Dirt Bike/Motorcycle Tire Ring

I haven't worn my wedding ring for a while. Mostly it was because it was really beat up and barely even round anymore but also because it just looked cheap..because it was cheap, really cheap. At the time we bought it, I didn't care and I still really don't care, but my wife wanted me to have something on my finger to keep all those single ladies away. She found this dirt bike tire ring at Allyssa Jeweler's and gave it to me as a gift for Valentine's Day. It's stylized to represent a large variety of different treads that a dirt bike would have. It could easily pass as a mountain bike tire too..if you're into that kind of stuff. I actually think I would prefer a plain knobby tire design with slightly larger knobs as far as looks. I think it could look more like a dirt bike tire than it does, but if it was a gnarly as a real tire it could very easily chew up your finger. It's still something I might try though. They have other styles of tires as well including street bike tires and street tires for a car/muscle car. Even if others don't immediately recognize what it is, it's at least a reminder to yourself of your passion. Those who are close to you will be able to pick up on it and know that you have pride in your passion as well. It's a subtle way to be able to keep it with you all the time without being to over the top, and of course, if you choose to wear it as a wedding band it will serve a dual purpose. Pretty cool, and it won't break the bank either! You'll still have cash left for some real tires for your ride.

Top Four Reasons Supercross Beats Watching The Olympics

Steve Nash?

Our New JVC GZ-HD300 HD Camcorder Specs/Sample Footage

Our old Cannon Powershot camera finally bit the dust a couple days ago. We were always happy with the picture quality, but the video quality was not great. When looking for a new camera, we looked at many options including optical zoom, megapixels, video quality, memory capacity, cost, and durability. In the end we decided that a camcorder had a lot more features that we could use than a regular digital camera including a 60gb hard drive memory capacity and the ability to take snapshots while simultaneously shooting video! After reading some reviews, it became obvious that we were still going to need a decent digital camera to shoot still pics in order to get good quality still pics in low light or less than optimal conditions(at least in order to stay in our price range). This camcorder has the ability to record up to 25 hours of HD video! This can then be burned to a dvd or even blu-ray (if you have a blu-ray burner). By the time we got that kind of memory in a regular camera we'd be spending much more. It focuses on the video quality, but the still pics are still rather good provided you have decent lighting. Another huge benefit is the 20x optical zoom, something that is hard to find on a digital camera in this price range. The video works well in low light, just not the still pics. We should still be able to find an affordable digital camera in the range of a 12MP and 3x optical zoom for crisp still shots in various lighting conditions. We won't need to worry about video quality, so one around $150 should be fine. This kind of technology is getting more affordable all the time and should be leaps and bounds better than our 7.1MP cannon with crappy video. Here's some footage(in 720p) that I took. It does have a higher quality setting, but it's hard to upload and view the bigger file. The 720p seems very good and the speed should be good for most things. We'll experiment with the 1080p etc. after we get more ability to do so. Full size mode is up to 1920 x 1080.

Pictured larger than actual size. Dimensions are 1.9" x 2.4" x 4.4"

SUPERCROSS Round 8, Points Summary Atlanta

Wow! What a night in Atlanta! The points lead in the Supercross(450) Class took a dramatic turn tonight as Villopoto came up short on a jump. Somehow as he was going down the exhaust on Villopoto's bike was packed full of red Georgia clay. Ryan frantically tried time and again to start the bike not realizing the problem. He exited the track where one of his mechanics immediately saw the problem, but by then it was too late. With a 19th place finish he'll have to overcome a devastating drop in points to bounce back on the season. Josh Hill continues to struggle getting in the middle of the pack on the start and working his way back to a 6th place finish. Millsaps didn't start great either, but rode really well and was able to come in 3rd to get on the podium. Amazingly 2nd place went to Western Lites rider Trey Conard who is riding for Honda instead of the injured Andrew Short. He looked at home on the big bikes and was able to capitalize when Villopoto went down.

It was Ryan Dungey's night! He was UNTOUCHABLE out of the gate grabbing the hole shot in his qualifying heat and the main. Whatever changes he made to his bike this week really paid off! The bike was a rocket on the starts, getting almost a full bike length ahead before the first turn. Having a good gate choice was key as well which is something that he didn't have last week. The track was slicker than normal tonight and the corners were very flat making it hard for many of the riders to find their groove on the turns. Those that were able to cut in tight and make tight quick turns did the best. Dungey now takes a rather commanding lead on the season as he is a full 20 points ahead of Hill and 23 ahead of Villopoto who was tied with him going into tonight. Kevin Windham had a crazy little wreck where his bike ended up jumping the barriers and going into oncoming traffic where he had to wait for riders to pass so he could reclaim his bike. Luckily the bike landed in a trough where riders where jumping over it, but it cost Windham and took him out of the top ten on a night where he looked like he could do very well. It's still fun watching "the old man" ride with his smooth style. He turns 32 tomorrow.

The Lites did not disappoint either as there were many lead changes and a real battle where everything changed 4 laps before the finish and Pourcel took the lead for the 2nd time in the series. Stroupe went down causing Barcia to turn around him so that he didn't go down allowing Pourcel to get the lead. Stroupe was able to salvage the race and come in 2nd however.

Atlanta Results
1- Ryan Dungey
2- Trey Canard
3- Davi Millsaps
4- Ivan Tedesco
5- Justin Brayton
6- Josh Hill
7- Michael Byrne
8- Jason Lawrence
9- Grant Langston
10- Nick Wey

19- RYAN VILLOPOTO

Season Points Standings
1- Ryan Dungey 170
2- Josh Hill -20
3- Ryan Villopoto -23
4- Davi Millsaps -36
5- Justin Brayton -49
6- Ivan Tedesco -55
7- Kevin Windham -57
8- Nick Wey -85
9- Michael Byrne -99
10- Andrew Short -101

Top Ten Toughest Sports, Where's Dirt Biking/Motocross?

Want to know what the toughest sport is? Is it even possible to quantify somehow the conditioning, natural ability, training etc. necessary to compete in one particular discipline as compared to another? ESPN recently conducted a study, or a "degree of difficulty project" that attempted to do this. They took a list of a total of 60 different sports and had a panel of experts rate them on a set of pre-determined criteria. Each category would be worth ten points, with a total of ten categories for a total perfect score of 100. The results ranged from Boxing at 72.375 points at the #1 spot, all the way down to Fishing at 14.5 total points. So where did dirt biking come in? Apparently it doesn't fit in at all! Unbelievably, it was left out of the study. More unbelievable than that is that after receiving numerous complaints, the editor replied in a following article "Oh, and a note to all those motocross fans who organized themselves to flood my email with comments about what an idiot I am for leaving your sport off the list: I did not choose the sports for the list. But even if I had, I would never, under any circumstances, have included motocross. You're relying on a motor, for God's sake". It would be understandable if it had simply been overlooked, but to come back with a reply like this when AUTO RACING was included is kind of mind blowing. Keep in mind that I'm not claiming to be in great shape myself since I am nowhere near where I need to be to ride at a high level, however, had dirt biking been included in the study, I believe it would have been in the top ten! Here's why.

First, let's look at the criteria they used.

Apparently the general consensus was that even Fishing contained at least some of each element since there were none that received a zero avg. score in any category. Obvious to me, is that off road dirt biking contains a great deal of each element. When comparing Dirt Biking/Motocross to Auto Racing(ranked #32), it would be an easy argument that it would require a similar amount of NERVE, especially considering that on a dirt bike there is no protection such as a roll cage, car body etc. Considering that motorcycles travel at similar speeds as cars, can jump similar distance as a ski jumper, and as high as an Olympic diver, we can take some averages and assume it would receive a similar score, say a 9. Already we can see that it has to rate higher than #32 since it requires more or at least the same of all other 9 elements than Auto Racing.

What about STRENGTH? This is one area where the major misunderstanding about the sport starts. Thinking that you can just sit back and ride the bike like you would a car is not at all accurate. I recently watched Bodie Miller Ski in the Olympics. After just a relatively short run he was visibly winded, and after straining to reach a gate, he couldn't successfully finish one of his runs. How can this be when gravity is doing all the work? Just staying in a crouched position down a hill is difficult, now add in bumps, jumps, turns and speed and you can see why it requires strength. Now add a 230 pound dirt bike to the mix, a pulling, gyrating, 50+ horsepower machine that wants nothing more than to get away from you! It uses every muscle, legs, arms, torso constantly shifting weight, guiding the bike with legs and torso, holding on as the bike lurches forward, then pulling on the binders and keeping yourself from going over the bars. Many times it becomes necessary to aide the bike up a hill or onto a ledge, Yes, it does require strength! Skiing received a 5.75 on the strength scale, let's be conservative and give Dirt Biking a 6.

DURABILITY?, please. Dirt bike riders endure constant pounding in countless elements. Virtually every race you have riders going down, often in a heap, picking them and the bike back up and getting back into action. Ryan Dungey bounced back from this(pictured right) without even losing a place! One racer finished his section of baja with a broken leg! There's no replacements in dirt biking, if you get hurt you either race hurt or lose. BASKETBALL got a 7.75 in Durability! Dirt Biking deserves at least an 8!

Now let's look at ENDURANCE. Dirt bike racing can range from short sprints like Supercross to 1,000 mile or more multi-day races. Most are somewhere in between attempting to have some elements of sprint and endurance. Much like running, for example, if you are doing a sprint you are all out for 100 yards, 400 yards etc. the same holds true for dirt biking. The longer the race, the more you need to pace yourself and maintain that reserve. It takes different training techniques to excel in each discipline. Auto Racing got a 5.88, those who race baja know that dirt biking 1,000 miles is nearly impossible for one man. There are many trophy truck drivers, more strenuous than racing an indy car, that have done this. Dirt biking should at least be a 6 here. Doing the baja 1,000 should get a 9+! We'll go with the lower # here and call it an even 6.

POWER. Hefting a 230+ pound dirt bike is hard. Even lifting it up from a crash takes some effort, now imagine you are not on flat ground lifting up, or lifting the bike up a ledge, or over a log, rock, hill etc. that it will not climb. If the bike hits a rut, or dip, or sidehill that causes the bike to want to go where you don't want it to go, the momentum it gains is a lot to overcome in order to keep the bike on course and requires a burst of power. GOLF got a 6.13 here!, Tennis a 7.13! Dirt Biking gets a 7.

What about HAND-EYE COORDINATION? Many times the guy with the holeshot wins the race. When the gates drop is a mess getting the first turn, not to mention getting through in a position to place in the race. Throttle control is crucial quickly deciding how much to give and when can mean being successful or not. Reacting to a bump in the track, an opponent on the track, suddenly loosing or gaining traction. Riders actually do adjustments to their bike while in the air! Quick shifts are a constant chore to get the best power to the ground under different conditions, as well as feathering the clutch in and out of turns etc. Hitting a deep silt bed and keeping yourself from going over the bars, it all requires excellent hand-eye coordination. Auto Racing got an 8, Dirt Bike Racing/Motocross deserves an 8 too.

SPEED. Alpine skiing got a 7.38. Dirt biking requires the rider to move quickly all the time, shifting weight much like a skier would need to do to keep balanced, moving to the front or back of the bike, leaning, turning, carving, correcting flight in the air, so dirt biking gets a 7.

Next is AGILITY. Let's compare this to alpine skiing again that got a 6.13. Changing directions quickly is a big part of compensating when a rear tire slips out from under you. Quickly shifting your body weight is crucial. Dirt Biking scores a 6.

FLEXIBILITY. Unless your in to freestyle motocross, this wouldn't seem very important to me except to avoid injury, but if kayaking and canoeing gets a 3.88 and horse racing a 3.75, dirt biking deserves at least the same. Dirt Biking gets a 3.88 here.

Last is ANALYTICAL APTITUDE. Knowing when and how to make a critical pass, whether to go inside or out on a turn, triple the jump or double it, hit the throttle or pull the brake. Auto Racing got a 7.5, Horse Racing a 6.5, Dirt Biking get's the average of the 2, a 6.

What's the final score? Adding up all the scores gives Dirt Biking/off road motorcycle racing a 66.88. That's a 5th place finish! Recreational dirt bike riding is a lot like any other sport we choose to do recreationaly. We aren't up to the level of the pros, but we pretend to be sometimes. Choosing the intensity, difficulty, and dedication to put into it determines the "toughness" as compared to what is experienced at the top levels of these sports. Of course with any sport a leisure investment of yourself will produce leisure results. In other words, it is possible to sit on a bike and ride down the road and it's probably not that tough(compare this to about any other sport)..,but that's not what winning in this sport is all about. It's about pushing the limits, using every capacity we have to go faster, further, higher, longer than the guy next to you. The way you chose to ride when you recreate is up to you.

Here's the CORRECTED top ten with Dirt Biking/Motocross in place at #5. Think I'm wrong? Maybe, but it does belong in here somewhere. These arguments place it in the top ten where I believe it should be, #5, #10 etc. makes little difference. Don't agree? Tell us why! Think your sport belongs in the top ten? To see the entire top 60 as rated by ESPN click here, see where your sport ranked!

Modified Traxxas 1/16 Slash With Big Tires!

I'm not sure what it is, but just about everything ends up getting modified around here sooner or later. There wasn't really anything wrong with our new little RC truck, but we knew it could be better. We just happened to have an old RC rockcrawler laying around in pieces and as chance would have it, the rims were the same size. The tires were quite a bit larger in diameter, but about the same width so by cutting the old tires off and gluing the new tires on all that was left to do was make room for them. We ended up just trimming the body to make room for the tires. This really is the all around best way to make room for bigger tires if you don't mind the look and you don't need to keep them covered up for other reasons. It allows bigger meats without getting too much more height. The power on this little thing is amazing and is more than enough to handle these tires. It's built beefy enough too since this is the same exact drive train that is used on the mini e-revo. The e-revo is already fitted with bigger meats, but is a bit larger in width and wheelbase. Here's some pics we took and a little video of it in action. Keep in mind this is with the power of one battery! There is still an option to double the power by running the batteries in series, although I'm not quite sure why you'd want to. It was really cold outside when we took the video, so we were loosing traction more than we would on a warm set of tires. The tires have a very soft foam insert and are run without air pressure.