Atlas Neck Brace Impression

ATLAS NECK BRACE

It seems the more I use the ATLAS neck brace the less I find myself thinking about it until someone asks me how I like it. I guess the stand by expression, “so far, so good” is a good way to put it. Having gone through a couple of other name brand braces I was fortunate enough to have ATLAS want a “seasoned” rider give it a go.

The ATLAS has a couple of adjustments that work very well for me making  the brace fit well enough on my 5’ 11” / 195 lb frame to forget I was wearing it after the first 10 minutes. That never happened with the other braces I tried. There was always a point of pressure somewhere on my body that never let me forget I was wearing a brace. This was never the case with the ATLAS, no pressure points and almost no restriction in my head movement while riding. The other thing that was an outstanding feature was the hinged almost floating supports that rest on the chest and back. These pivoting parts allow enough flexibility to put the ATLAS on with my chest protector and have enough give to fit more than just my size and shape.  Meaning if you are thick, thin, muscular or anything in between it will pivot to support itself correctly with your physique.

The other significant improvement was less restriction when I began to ride more aggressively. As I lower my body into an aggressive stance on the bike the ATLAS has almost no restriction to the rear that always occurred with the other braces I tried. I can lower my body and still raise my head enough to look ahead to ride quicker than a trail pace. That restriction is what would allow me to practice or trail ride with the other braces but would keep me from racing with them. This is not the case with the ATLAS, it allows the more aggressive stance used when you transition into race mode.

Now it is up to ATLAS to figure out how to make this thing so perfect that I can wear my tool belt, chest protector and back pack (24lbs) that contains everything but the kitchen sink and still be able to ride fast!  That would be perfect.  Do you think I am asking for too much?  They are very close!

Have a safe ride, try an ATLAS

#33

500x Baja Celebration Party!

500x Baja Champion Marc Princ and his wife Debra threw a celebration party for all the riders that helped them earn the Class 50 #1 plate for 2012.  The Class 50 winner is issued the coveted 500x for the next racing year in the Baja 250, 500 and 1000.

The day was fun from start to finish as Marc had us all meet at the picturesque motocross track known as Zaca Station. It is located near the coast in the rolling hills near Santa Barbara. Having never been there I was looking forward to riding Zaca Station since I had read about it and had seen pictures in many ads and magazines. It was just as good as the photos showed. The rolling hills provided elevation change, the jumps were any level ability friendly without being dumbed down to make it boring and the track was prepared nicely.  Anyone could ride this track and have a good time no matter the rider ability. It was well thought out and nicely prepped. The next thing I noticed throughout the day was it was never crowded even without the novice/expert or little bike big bike practice splitting. Riders cycled themselves on and off the track by tiring themselves out just having a good time. Everyone rode together without any problems which maximized ride time. Good job Zaca!

When we were sufficiently tired we loaded up and headed to Marc and Debra’s house to start the party! This was a treat for me since they live in Malibu. I had only seen Malibu on TV whenever the news shows something about one of the movie stars that live there. Debra went all out and provided some great food, drinks and a big screen TV to watch the Anaheim Supercross! We visited, told some whoppers, ate and watched the racing on TV. During all this Debra brought out the plaques for each rider that helped Marc win the 500x plate. She also made a special award for the 3 race series participants that was very nice. It was a commemorative bottle of Tequila with the race series, year and participants name emblazed on the bottle in a very nice display container. The container had two shot glasses just in case it was ever used for more than a trophy. I think I will just keep mine as a trophy.

After the races and the presentation it was time to go back to the ghetto so we said good bye to Malibu and started the long drive home since I pretty much figured I was going riding somewhere the next day! What a surprise, huh?

#33 aka 500x

A Ride with the Starz!

I just returned from a few days of riding with some of the crew from Dirt Bike magazine. The infamous editor Ron Lawson and the newbie assistant editor Mark Tilley. They we kind enough to bring an extra test bike for me to thrash…..I mean ride. It was a ton of fun and quite an eye opener. When these guys test bikes they have no intention of going easy on them and are not worried about giving a bike back with a few bent and broken parts. It is truly a let’s see how this thing holds up and what needs fixing kind of test.

They did some photos and videos that I am looking forward to seeing because they talked me into jumping the Beta test bike through a tree!  I laughed and asked what if I crash the bike and break something?  They said it is not your bike, don’t worry about it we will get it fixed! I thought about it for a minute and said to myself I may never get another chance like this. I figured I could always jump off if it got too scary.  I would never try this on my bike because I still have to pay for all the parts. Mark told me the video would show up on Dirt Bike’s face book page or their video section on their website. I can hardly wait, I get to be a star for a minute!

We also did some trail riding to take some pictures and ended up finding some rocky canyons that were not motorcycle friendly before we rode down them. I like riding with these guys because they love to explore never ridden areas. Since I also love to explore, I fit right in with these two. Sure hope I get to go back to do more “testing”.

Wannabe test rider  #33

EKS Brand Goggle Review

X Goggle

At the end of 2012 and during this New Year, 2013, I have been testing a new goggle. The EKS brand which is a bit clever with their Logo being a Big “X” for recognition purposes.  These goggles have been very durable, easy to install tear offs and durability has been good. They don’t seem to fog as easily as the last brand I was using and are quite comfortable on my face with a couple of different brands of helmets I go back and forth between.

They come in a wide variety of colors and designs to match whatever riding gear you choose. I would recommend to the mx43.com readers that they not be afraid to try the “X” goggle just because they have not seen them around. I will continue to thrash test them and give a longer term evaluation but am confident they will hold up well since I have not had a single issue so far.

Heading out the door to go riding!

#33

The Geritol Tour!

The Geritol Tour

2013 is off to a great start with the Annual Baja tour starting out with Cinco (5) riders. Ages range from 55 to 75 years of age!  Normally we have been two or three riders doing this mid winter tour to log some miles while the rest of our buddies try to squeeze in some riding between freezing temperatures and sloppy conditions with all the rain. We added two guys to the ride and both of them had to travel quite a distance to participate. Don Tocher came all the way from British Columbia, Canada and Kerry Barnes made the trek from Reno, Nevada to ride right around 1100 and some odd miles on their dirt bikes in Baja, Mexico.

Since Don Tocher now nicknamed Rocker, but we will get to that in a minute, had to fly all the way from Canada he wanted to make the most of his time. So we went down to San Felipe a day early to meet up with the rest of the group. The idea was to ride the local area before the others arrived.  So Rocker, myself and Don Nelson decide to explore from San Felipe to Mike’s Sky Ranch and back in a day. We covered some ground on Rockers first day and see the infamous San Felipe Whoop section, Rocker got a bit of video. We rode miles of dirt roads used by the locals, a lot of sandy whooped out sand washes, a dry lake bed that goes for miles and some mountains as we get close to the Sky Ranch.  My favorite part of this particular ride was all the sand washes we rode through with the exception of the hidden rocks often buried in the sand. This is exactly how Canadian Don got his nickname on the very first day in Baja! It seems Rocker didn’t see the huge rock he hit because it was in the shadow of one of the few trees in this sand wash along the way.  I was leading the way and saw the rock narrowly missing it at the last second. When I got to the end of the wash and no one showed up for a minute or so I went back to check on the two Don’s.  Don (Rocker) was picking his bike up and trying to sort himself out after finding that same rock that I estimate was about 24” to 30” and probably right around 100 lbs.

 He was ok but had taken a direct hit on the helmet when he drove himself into the sand head first! It looked like it was going to be an Advil evening. The rest of the day went according to plan and we completed the ride. We had a great time and took a bunch of good pictures. When we made it back to San Felipe Rocker and Don were both ready for dinner and a good night sleep.

The next day we headed for Gonzaga Bay early so we could make a stop in town to look around and get a haircut. Don and I thought it would be the perfect chance to tidy up since it was an easy ride day and how many people do you know that can say they had their hair cut in Mexico. I was a bit concerned but Don didn’t seem too worried so I went along with it. Twenty minutes and $5 later I was coiffed and ready to ride!  The guy did a good job!  We were off to Gonzaga by way of this year’s Baja 1000 race course to break up the almost 100 miles of pavement that is slowly working its way south year by year. The course is pretty worn in and whooped out in some sections so it made the average speed much slower than the paved section but is a lot more fun than road riding on dirt bikes. We encountered our first mechanical of the trip when my bike rubbed the wire on the kill button and shut itself off. I had my tank and seat off when Rocker came back to check on me and we found the problem occurred when the steering stabilizer rubbed the kill button wire. Disconnect and away we went. There is some beautiful scenery riding down the Gulf coast that you have to see to believe. Our two riding buddies would catch up to us later that afternoon and the group would become 5 for the remainder of the trip.

Our first day with 5 riders started out well and we covered some ground quickly until we made our first stop at CoCo’s corner. I had been to his place several times but had never seen CoCo there. Well it was the group’s lucky day, CoCo was there and we met and visited for a few minutes. CoCo has been immortalized in some of the Baja documentary films. He has been battling diabetes for many years and has lost both legs below the knees. He walks on leather pads attached to his knees when he is not in the wheelchair.

 

Just one more reason to give thanks and be happy we are on our dirt bikes on this trip! We never know what is in store for us in life. Time to head out and we are on our way through a canyon and then finally onto a single-track trail I have ridden before. It is a picture perfect trail that would be the photograph of a perfect Baja trail in any magazine. We ride this trail, take a lot of pictures and cross a dry lake bed before we get to the road that leads us to the motel. I should mention that this part of the trail takes us about 3 hours! The boys had a great time until we got to the rocky part that was shall I say a bit challenging. It required us to be cautious negotiating the rocks if we want to keep certain items like our brake pedals, shifters and toes! Fortunately it didn’t last too long and rest of the trail more than made up for it. As we exit across the dry lake bed our first bike goes on reserve. Not a good sign since we still have about 30 miles to find gas. Fortunately I am riding the super tanker Valdez with a 4.6 gallon tank. Then our second bike runs out of gas with about 6 miles to go. We make it to the Pemex station and top them off before heading in to the motel for a great dinner and a good night’s rest.

We take off for San Ignacio and encounter some beautiful scenery along the gulf coast. We stop and visit a Mexican man named Pancho that lives in a shack at a place on the map called San Rafael.  There is no one there but Pancho and he has lived there for 27 years. I met him on my first trip 3 years ago and always stop to say Hi. He impressed me with offering us a place to sit and visit while we rested and coffee or whatever he had to share, which was not much. But he does have the most beautiful view of this little cove he lives in with a beach that is right out of a postcard. Awesome!  Back on the trail until we come across a few cattle roaming the open desert ranges. This is where it gets good. Senor Kirby (Doug) comes upon a cow that believes she owns the road and doesn’t feel like moving. So while we watch Senor Kirby ride up and start honking his horn to persuade her to move he slows to a crawl and can’t keep his balance in the deep sand on this stretch of road.

 He falls over laugh-in style and we all start giggling. But it gets better. He gets up tries to remount and falls over in the sand again! Now we are all howling in laughter and grabbing for our cameras! We got Senor Kirby trying to right his bike and falling over a couple of more times. By now the cow was a quarter mile down the road and looked back over her shoulder as if to say, “Stupid Gringo!” After we stop laughing and wipe the tears from our eyes we ride up and ask Senor Kirby if he needs any help. One for all and all for oneJ! We survive the rest of the day and make it to San Ignacio. Now it is my turn. We pull up to the gas pump to fill the bikes and I try to get off on the high side of an XR 650R which is a mistake. Bam! There I am on the ground at the gas pump. Well this isn’t my first rodeo and I KNOW what is coming as I scramble to my feet. As I stand up and start to pick up the bike I see all the cameras were on their way out but I was too quick for them! What’s the rule, no picture no proof? On to the motel and dinner.We head out the next day for Mulege which is a long day and our plotted course crosses the peninsula from the Pacific side back to the Gulf. We had a great day of riding with stops along the way to buy gas at a remote stop on the coast out of a 5 gallon can. We also stopped at a small fishing village and got swarmed by the local children asking for stickers.

 We were carrying some and handed them out while we visited with the kids and their parents. We finish off the day while traveling through a long canyon/valley that leads us to the motel in Mulege. Somewhere in that canyon is a kick starter from a KTM 450. Kerry rides up to me and asks if I want to hear something funny. He tells me he lost his kick starter and I wonder what the punch line is. I guess it is kind of funny because it is not my kick starter laying somewhere in that canyon.  Well at least he has electric start on his KTM.  We stay at a very nice motel and have a great dinner right across the street at a restaurant that had everything this group could ask for. Good food and a BAR! During the course of the evening I learned from our newbie, Kerry Barnes, that he was quite the handsome one in our group. I had somehow overlooked this fact until HE brought it to my attention.  Who am I to disagree with such an obvious proclamation!  But I am the one to christen such a claim with a nickname to validate his claim to fame. So from that night forward he was known as “El Guapo”. Or the handsome one in English. So all I can figure is that in order to celebrate his new identity, El Guapo offered to buy dinner!

Next we start our return trip north. Senor Kirby’s mishap is caught on tape! Stay tuned.

#33