Ride to eat: Williamson

In addition to the graduation and Memorial Day activities we enjoyed this past weekend, we also managed to squeeze in a ride. (I actually squeezed in a solo ride, too.) On Saturday, we took off on a short “ride to eat” trip with Garry and Shirley to the tiny town of Williamson, Iowa.

This trip took us southeast along Highway 5 out of Carlisle to County Road S45, which we took south through Melcher-Dallas, then a short jog on State Highway 14 and in to Williamson.

At our destination, lunch at the Williamson Tavern was large and cheap – it was also the only thing to do in this tiny town of under 200 people. The view from the main road in either direction is testimony to the “sleepiness” of this little place, which is still three times bigger than Millerton! (Garry & Shirley also ended up buying us lunch – what Williamson lacks in venues it also lacks in ATM’s. Thanks guys, next time we’ll try to remember to bring cash!)

After lunch we headed back out along the same route, but stopped in Melcher-Dallas for a couple of pictures. We had detoured through this hyphenated town on our way down (instead of passing right by), and I wanted to go back and catch pictures of a bridge and a mural.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any information about either of these local features. My “keen eye for the obvious” tells me the bridge is very old, given the weathered boards showing through under the top layer of asphalt. It arches over train tracks that run parallel to the highway. Heading into town isn’t as tricky as heading back out – the bridge dumps you right at the highway with a very short approach and a sharp downhill slope.

The other photo opp was this really neat mural painted on the back wall of the Melcher-Dallas Coal Mining Heritage Museum. A small landscaped seating area provides space to enjoy the artwork, which is signed simply “D.E. Adams, ’98.”

I posted more pictures from this ride on the BCN Facebook Page.

After taking my pictures we headed home along a route that included G76 west and S23 north. We did have one near-incident along S23 – I spotted what I thought was roadkill in the middle of the road up ahead, but quickly figured out that it was actually moving (walking) right to left. Uncertain whether it was something that could quickly reverse course, I slowed way down and went around it on the right – turned out to be a large turtle – my friends followed, but not before riding up on each other a bit too quickly. Of course I didn’t see this happening behind me, but I learned later that by slowing I had almost caused them to wreck in the back. Not good!

This, plus another near-incident on my solo Monday ride and my recent bike drop in the garage, have sort of caused me to wonder if I’m “off my feed” this year for some reason… maybe thinking too hard, or not thinking enough… anyway, it feels like I need to take a breath and push the re-start button on this riding season!

 

 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BikerChickNews/~3/LAF2RG7IU0Y/

Tim Ferry Ashley Fiolek Ernesto Fonseca Lauris Freibergs Paul Friedrichs

Catching Up With...Westen Wrozyna

We chat with Westen Wrozyna after his weekend at the 2012 Monster Energy Cup in Las Vegas, Nevada...

By Billy Rainford

 

 

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Source: http://www.directmotocross.com/news/features/2012/10/catching-withwesten-wrozyna

Gautier Paulin David Philippaerts Mickael Pichon Jim Pomeroy Christophe Pourcel

ME Cup Results

ME Cup Results from http://results.amasupercross.com/xml/sx/events/S1299/SMF2PRESS.PDF

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Source: http://www.directmotocross.com/news/breaking/2012/10/me-cup-results

Billy Grossi Davide Guarneri Thomas Hahn Torsten Hallman Bob Hannah

Taddy takes another win at Boise Endurocross

The 2012 GEICO AMA EnduroCross series took place inside the Idaho Center in Boise, ID. A packed house watched on as KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak took his 4th consecutive victory on proved to be th

Source: http://www.foxhead.com/us/#/mx/blog/id/27571

Danny LaPorte Mike LaRocco Jason Lawrence Ron Lechien Jeff Leisk

THE BILLABONG PRO JUNIOR 2012 AT SEAL POINT

Dylan Lightfoot Takes 2nd Place at The Billabong Pro Junior 2012 in Perfect Surf At Seal Point

Pro/Jr Final Results:

1. Davey Brand

2. Dylan Lightfoot

 Source: http://www.foxhead.com/us/#/surf/blog/id/27404

Connor McGechan Jeremy McGrath Andrew McFarlane Brett Metcalfe Heikki Mikkola

World Superbike: Online WSBK Assen 2009 Videos

Source: http://sportbikeblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/world-superbike-online-wsbk-assen-2009.html

Chris Anderson Fergus Anderson Hugh Anderson John Anderson Kent Andersson

Traversing Flat Corners

One of the great things about a worn down track is the help from ruts and berms.  Sure they can make things difficult, but they essentially help us keep our speed up in the corners.  Just like in NASCAR, the angled surface allows the bike to lean over and still find plenty of traction.  However, there are situations where you don’t always have this luxury and you must bring out your inner flat tracker.

Since you don’t have any help with your leaning, the entrance needs to be a little bit different.  When approaching the corner, take a wider approach than you normally would.  If you have ever watched any kind road racing, drives use wide lines that are smooth arcs.  Traction is very important here, so you want to get all of your braking done before you start to lean in.  When you are upright, the tires have the most bite for better braking.  Just like normal turns, you want to be in the attack position and keep looking ahead.

When it comes time to sit down, remember that this is one, fluid motion: get off the brakes, sit up on the gas cap, leg out and apply the throttle.  The smoother you are, the easier the corner will be.  Sitting up close to the gas cap will put as much weight on the front wheel as possible for optimal traction which will give you some confidence when you lean in.  The best way to sit is on the outside edge of the seat.  This keeps your weight centered and straight down, rather than out and away.

The basics really play a big role in this situation.  That outside elbow better be up and the outside peg should be weight.  Again, this puts more emphasis on traction.  If you feel that the rear wants to drift out still, you can drag the rear brake to weight the back end down.  This is a great technique to use on the exit when power is put to the ground.  However, if you have a steady throttle hand, you won’t need to use this as often.

Drifting out too wide can leave the door open for a pass.  Keeping your elbow up and weight on the outside peg gives you the traction to power through the turn and avoid drifting out.  Unlike riding through a wide arc, squaring up flat turns robs momentum and drive.  It is time consuming and a waste of energy.  Once you find that balance between leaning and twisting the throttle, these corners become excellent passing opportunities.

Source: http://www.mxtrainingblog.com/riding-techniques/traversing-flat-corners/

Rex Staten James Stewart Jr Brian Stonebridge David Strijbos Kevin Strijbos

Australian heartbreak for Pedrosa as title slips away

Repsol Honda Team's Dani Pedrosa suffered heartbreak at today's race in Phillip Island as a crash in the early stages of the race put him out of title contention.Pedrosa crashed out on the second lap in a race he was pushing to win, despite the incredible domination his teammate Casey showed throughout the weekend. The Spaniard had taken the lead on the first lap, overtaking Jorge Lorenzo in Turn 4, and in that same turn, a lap later, he lost the front and his race and title hopes were over.Dani Pedrosa"It's a sad feeling more than disappointment; I pushed as hard as I could; I did what I had to do and I have no regrets for my riding, especially this season. I feel very proud of my team and of my performance throughout the year. I think after what happened in Misano, we showed a very good attitude, skill and power. So, there is some sadness because we've been closer than ever to take the title, but also proud for all we achieved. Concerning the crash, it was nothing strange; I just went wider on the corner, I had some chatter and lost the front; maybe the tyre was not warm enough as well, but it's like it is. Congratulations to Casey for his sixth win at his home Grand Prix and to Lorenzo because he deserved the championship, as well as Marc Márquez in Moto2."Source motogp.com

Source: http://www.fim-live.com/en/media/news/news-detail/article/1351415999-australian-heartbreak-for-pedrosa-as-title-slips-away/

Fabio Barchitta Alan Barnett Lorenzo Baroni Jose Barresi Manliff Barrington

Go Pro Moto – QLD Moto Park MX1 Motocross

Some footage from my Go Pro Moto helmet cam. Riding a CRF450 on motocross track 1 at Queensland Moto Park. The track is rutted and has the normal braking and acceleration bumps as it doesn’t seem to be prepped that often. Like track two it has a handful of table tops but with a mix of tight and wide corners and short straights.

Overall the track is not bad considering what off road riding parks are available in Queensland.

Source: http://www.superfreestylemotocross.com/blog/go-pro-moto-qld-moto-park-mx1-motocross/

Jeff Emig Harry Everts Stefan Everts Jaroslav Falta Claudio Federici

Chris Vermeulen Anxious to Return to WSBK

Source: http://sportbikeblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/chris-vermeulen-anxious-to-return-to.html

Sadao Asami Giuseppe Ascareggi Franz Aschenbrenner Stuart Aspin Len Atlee

Setting up for Corners Mid-Flight

Saving time on the track is always a priority.  If you can master a technique to get faster, you better take advantage of it.  When things get tight during racing, it’s the little things that add up and make a big difference in the end, especially if you can set up for corner more efficiently.  When the outside is not available or you need to make a pass on the inside, sometimes setting up mid air for a corner can help get that pass made.

If there is a berm already there, you don’t have to do this, but if the inside is flat off the downside, this technique will come in handy.  You want to make sure that you have the jump sized up before trying to sit down and set up mid air.  If you come up short or over shoot it, this will hurt.  Especially guys.  Once you have everything timed right, you want to loosen up in the air, trying to get the back end of the bike out just slightly.  You can let the outside leg out and lean in to get the rear end moving.

As you approach the down side, you want to start moving into the correct position for the corner.  You don’t necessarily have to be seated in the air, but as long as you are ready for the landing and corner, this transition will be smooth.  When you land, make sure that your inside leg is ready for the forces of gravity; keep it high and stiff.

If traction is not a problem, you can apply a handful of throttle and accelerate towards the corner.  Remember to keep weight on the outside foot peg and outside elbow up as this will plant you into ground for more traction.   If the downside is harder, you will have to apply the throttle with grace as you don’t want to the rear end to break loose.

This is something that you should start small on and on a jump you are comfortable with.  No sense in trying this on a new jump and getting hurt.

 

Source: http://www.mxtrainingblog.com/riding-techniques/setting-up-for-corners-mid-flight/

Thomas Allier Håkan Andersson Victor Arbekov Les Archer Nicolas Aubin

"What a day!" – Lorenzo

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo wrapped up a season of domination today with second on the podium in the Grand Prix of Australia to claim his second FIM MotoGP World Championship title, becoming Spain's first ever double premier-class Grand Prix Champion. Starting from second on the grid, Lorenzo took the hole shot from the start line, but dropped to third initially behind Championship rival Dani Pedrosa and race leader Casey Stoner. As the leading pack ran through turn four Pedrosa crashed out, leaving Stoner and Lorenzo to break away. The Championship leader delivered a textbook race of inch perfect laps, maintaining the gap to Cal Crutchlow chasing in third, eventually crossing the line to claim the 2012 MotoGP Rider's title.The win puts Lorenzo on 350 points, 43 clear of Pedrosa going into the final round. Over the season The World Champion amassed an impressive six race wins and ten second place finishes to secure the title. He now heads to his home race free from the pressure to win and happy to deliver one last race of the year in front of his home crowd.Jorge Lorenzo  - Position : 2nd Time: +9.223"What a day! I'm very happy, it was easier than I expected because Dani made a mistake in a corner and crashed. I wanted to keep with Casey but he was so strong. Today all I had to do was finish the race and I have become World Champion for the second time. It's such a sweet feeling! I want to thank all the team, Yamaha, my family, my friends, sponsors and fans who support me. Today is an amazing moment. We've been very patient, very concentrated and finally the World title arrives!"Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager"It was a very exciting start to the Phillip Island race, we knew we had to beat Dani and of course he knew as well so he pushed really hard in the beginning. In the end it was a bit too hard, but chapeau to him for trying. We knew we had good pace and think we maybe could have beaten him anyway on consistency. From that point Jorge only had to bring it home. He's had a great season of wins or second places and now the world Championship title!"Massimo Meregalli Team Director"Jorge has really delivered an amazing season for Yamaha and again today we saw his trademark consistency and dedication to deliver second on the podium. From the first race in Qatar his consistency and dedication have been that of a champion so we fully expected he could achieve the best result possible. I want to thank the whole Team who have also been responsible for the success, working as hard as him to make sure he has had a competitive bike to fight with his rivals at each round. It has been a pleasure to watch him ride this year, he is a worthy champion."Source Yamaha Racing 

Source: http://www.fim-live.com/en/media/news/news-detail/article/1351417944-what-a-day-lorenzo/

Geoff Barry Hans Bartl Harald Bartol Darren Barton František Bartoš

ECSC - Day 3

Check out photos of the Fox Surf, FMX & BMX teams at the 2012 Coastal Edge East Coast Surf Championships in Virginia Beach! Stay tuned over the next few days for more photos!

 <

Source: http://www.foxhead.com/us/#/surf/blog/id/27365

Doug Henry Broc Hepler Rob Herring George Holland Jeremy van Horebeek

The facts of Vettel’s crushing superiority | 2012 Indian Grand Prix stats and facts

The facts of Vettel’s crushing superiority is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Visitors to the first two Indian Grands Prix might be left wondering whether anyone other than Sebastian Vettel is allowed to be at the front of an F1 race.

He repeated his feat from last year of starting from pole position, leading every lap and winning the race.

All that was missing from this crushing display was the fastest lap of the race. He did his best to secure that, setting a new fastest lap on his final tour.

However Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Bruno Senna all beat it with their final laps, leaving Vettel’s the fourth-quickest lap of the race.

Even so, this was another peerless performance from Vettel and Red Bull. It was his fourth consecutive win and the team’s third consecutive front-row lock-out.

Vettel matched his previous feat of winning four races in a row through the last two races of 2010 and the first two of 2011. Only five drivers in F1 history have managed to win five or more races in a row:

Driver	Wins	First race	Last race
Alberto Ascari	9*	1952 Belgian Grand Prix	1953 Belgian Grand Prix
Michael Schumacher	7	2004 European Grand Prix	2004 Hungarian Grand Prix
Michael Schumacher	6	2000 Italian Grand Prix	2001 Malaysian Grand Prix
Jack Brabham	5	1960 Dutch Grand Prix	1960 Portuguese Grand Prix
Jim Clark	5	1965 Belgian Grand Prix	1965 German Grand Prix
Nigel Mansell	5	1992 South African Grand Prix	1992 San Marino Grand Prix

*This span of races includes the 1953 Indianapolis 500, which counted towards the world championship, which Ascari did not enter.

For the third race in a row, Vettel led from start to finish. This last happened in 1989, when Ayrton Senna led every lap of the San Marino (pictured), Monaco and Mexican Grands Prix.

Vettel has been in the lead ever since Lewis Hamilton pulled over with gearbox failure on lap 23 of the Singapore Grand Prix: a total of 205 laps.

There are only four longer streaks of consecutive laps led in F1 history. They belong to Ascari (in 1952), Senna (in 1988 and 1989) and Mansell (in 1992). See the last edition of stats and facts for details.

This was the seventh race Vettel has led from start to finish. Only five drivers have managed more than that:

Driver	Races
Ayrton Senna	19
Jim Clark	13
Jackie Stewart	11
Michael Schumacher	11
Nigel Mansell	9
Alberto Ascari	7
Alain Prost	7
Sebastian Vettel	7

Vettel now has 35 pole positions to his name, but needs another 30 to draw level with the next driver in front of him on the list: Ayrton Senna.

Red Bull scored their third consecutive one-two in qualifying – the first time they have achieved this. The last team to score three consecutive front rows was McLaren in the 2007 Monaco, Canadian and United States Grands Prix.

By scoring his 26th win in his 98th race Vettel could match Jackie Stewart’s career record of 27 wins in 99 races in the next race.

Red Bull can also win the constructors’ championship for the third year in a row in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This will happen unless Ferrari take five points out of their lead or McLaren reduce it by 15.

Lots of landmarks

Vettel’s win was the 150th for a Renault-engined car. Here’s how many of those wins have been scored by different constructors:

Teams	Wins
Williams	64
Renault	35
Red Bull	34
Benetton	12
Lotus	5

McLaren recorded their 150th fastest lap. It was the eighth of Button’s career, putting him level with James Hunt, Gilles Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher.

And it was the 100th fastest lap for a Mercedes-powered car. The vast majority of those were set by McLaren, who’ve racked up 82 since their alliance with Mercedes began in 1995. The rest were set by Mercedes themselves (12), Brawn (4) and Force India (2).

More Indian Grand Prix stats and facts

McLaren scored points for the 55th race in a row, equalling the all-time record held by Ferrari. However, as noted here before, when Ferrari did the same points were only awarded down to sixth place for the majority of races.

Paul di Resta finished in 12th place for the third race in a row – the first time this has ever been done by a driver in F1.

Mercedes have still not scored any points in the three races since Hamilton’s move to the team was announced. Nor has Sergio Perez scored since McLaren signed him for 2013.

Finally, Michael Schumacher set a new record for the most laps completed by a Grand Prix driver. He has now logged 16,644 racing laps, eclipsing Rubens Barrichello’s tally of 16,631. The next-highest driver who is still competing is Button on 11,826.

2012 Indian Grand Prix

• The facts of Vettel's crushing superiority
• 2012 Indian Grand Prix lap charts
• 2012 Indian Grand Prix fastest laps
• 2012 Indian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops
• 2012 Indian Grand Prix in pictures

Browse all 2012 Indian Grand Prix articles

Images © Red Bull/Getty images, Honda

The facts of Vettel’s crushing superiority is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

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Christian Bourgeois Philippe Bouzanne Ellis Boyce Helmut Bradl Stefan Bradl

Husqvarna Celebrates Victory at Loretta Lynn's GNCC

Source: http://imxmag.blogspot.com/2011/11/husqvarna-celebrates-victory-at-loretta.html

Guennady Moisseev Bobby Moore Blair Morgan Gaylon Mosier Marvin Musquin

2012 Phillip Island MotoGP Post-Race Round Up: Of Champions, Home Crowds, And Past Glory

Two freshly anointed champions, three impressive winners, and a large crowd of ecstatic and yet wistful fans, come to say goodbye to a departing hero and hope to spot a new one arriving. Even the weather cooperated. That's how good the Australian Grand Prix was at Phillip Island this year. All three races were a lot less intense than the previous two weekends, but even that didn't matter, because of the manner in which the winners secured their victories, and because the Australian crowd had something to cheer about in all three categories.

It started in the Moto3 race, where Sandro Cortese rode one of his best races of the year, the title he clinched last weekend at Sepang clearly a weight off his mind, allowing the young German to ride freely. He had Miguel Oliveira to contend with for most of the race, but in the end, he would not be denied. The home crowd still had much to cheer about, as local boy Arthur Sissis, the 17-year-old former Red Bull Rookie, won an intense battle for third, putting an Australian on the podium for the first time on Sunday.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/yfMeAzSEDeE/2012_phillip_island_motogp_post_race_rou.html

Andrea Borgonovo Eduard Borisenko Juan Borja Sergio Boroncini Gino Borsoi

RCU - Ricky Carmichael University Invades Lake Elsinore

Provided by: John Basher - Motocross Action Magazine

 

On Monday, September 10^th, Ricky Carmichael University (RCU) invaded the Lake Elsinore MX Park.  Ride

Source: http://www.foxhead.com/us/#/mx/blog/id/27444

Michael Byrne Antonio Cairoli Trey Canard Håkan Carlquist Ricky Carmichael

STG's Alpinestars Tech 1-R jacket CLOSEOUT. Save over $150!

The Alpinestars Tech 1-R line is up for closeout and we've got some really decent stock left. This previously $699.95 jacket is going for $542.14 and free shipping in the US.

Give me a shout direct and I'll get you set up! 888-784-4327 ext. 210!


Click on each picture/color for that jacket's current availability. Once they're gone, they're gone for good.

Source: http://www.esportbike.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144945&goto=newpost

Chris Baert Graham Bailey Steve Baker Peter Balaz Romolo Balbi

Monster Energy Cup - Las Vegas, NV

Source: http://www.foxhead.com/us/#/mx/blog/id/27552

Bob Hannah Donnie Hansen Torlief Hansen Marcus Hansson Doug Henry

Now it's a McLaren for Sebastien Loeb

Story from www.wrc.com

Instead, the nine-time world rally champion took part in the final round of the French GT Tour series at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France last weekend, which has recently been linked to a return to the Formula One calendar for next season.
For the first time, Loeb was sharing a McLaren MP4-12C - made by the same company responsible for the cars Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to fourth and fifth places respectively in the Indian Grand Prix on Sunday - with French racer Gilles Vannelet. They finished third in both hour-long races.
Loeb completed the final stint of the second race and would probably have finished runner-up, had it not been for a delay during the last pit stop. Nonetheless, he enjoyed several frenetic battles in the rush to the chequered flag, seeing off plenty of more experienced racing drivers.
“What I like about racing is that it’s never taken for granted that I’m going to win,” said Loeb, whose car was being run by his eponymous team. “It’s basically like starting all over again, and that’s a lot of fun.”





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Source: http://www.motorsportforums.com/wrc-news/155858-now-its-mclaren-sebastien-loeb.html

Gerhard Boll Jacques Bolle Pierre Bolle Maurice Bolwerk Gianfranco Bonera