ODI dates back to the 1980’s as the leader in grip manufacturing. Focusing primarily on the bmx and mountain bike industries through the 90’s and early 2000’s, ODI re-entered the motocross scene when they developed the patented lock-on grip system that eliminates wire and glue. Continuing to advance the way riders hold on to their bikes, ODI has worked closely with the teams they support such as Troy Lee Designs to create the product that is now being used by some of the top teams in the industry.

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Ping,
Your wife just had a little girl; how is fatherhood treating you? My wife is 8.5 months pregnant with our first child and the baby is a girl. Prom is only hours away … what a nightmare.
Jeremy Duddlesten

Miss Ellie Pingree

photo: Ping

Dear Jeremy,
Things are starting to mellow out around my place. The baby is sleeping better and she seems generally more content with being alive than she did the first month or two. Those sixty days were a sampling of what some of the inner circles of hell would be like. I’m going to do my best to enjoy my daughter before she hits 13 or 14, because the teenage years are going to be another living hell. If you have a boy you only have to worry about one wiener; when you have a girl you have to worry about hundreds of them. The truth is…I’m terrified. I’ve envisioned the day she shows up at the house with a boy. The best scenario I’ve come up with is for me to be cleaning and loading a shotgun when he walks in or cutting down the biggest tree in my yard with an unreasonably oversized chain saw. I suggest you do likewise. Best of luck to you.
PING

Racer X,
Did Speed offer Ping the outdoor commentating this year, or did they just want Emig? Ping was the best thing about the coverage last year. He told it straight up and we were guaranteed at least one laugh every round. Pretty bummed about this news. My friends and I were just talking about this last night while watching some highlights from last year’s outdoor coverage. Specifically, Spring Creek when Reed and Stewart were stuck on the hill.
Kevin

Celebrity? Ping thinks so.

Dear Kevin,
The job wasn’t offered to me. They made the decision to keep the current supercross broadcast team on for the nationals before I even had a chance to send them a resume. Oh well. I will be helping out with the Racer X webcast at some of the nationals, and you can rest assured that I will have plenty of stupid things to say during those. In fact, if Reed and Stewart get stuck on a hill in front of me this year, I can pretty much let it rip. I won’t have any network CEOs sweatin’ me about my comments. It should actually be a lot of fun. Besides, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to work with Jason Weigandt? He’s practically a celebrity from his karaoke jams and his recurring appearances on DMXS Radio.
PING

Ping,
Why don’t you guys do product testing in your mag? You have bike tests on the web that are great, but what about all the products for them? Seems like every other dirt bike magazine tests new products except you guys.
Kurt

The only products we test are from Subway. Farber demonstrates with the 2008 six-inch meatball.

photo: Matt Ware

Dear Kurt,
I can’t believe how many people ask me this question. There is a very simple reason that we don’t do product tests. Each of the companies that want their product tested are also advertisers in our magazine. How can we - or anyone, for that matter - give a thorough, unbiased opinion about a product when they spend money to advertise with us? It’s insanity! If we think the product is bad and say so, then the company would probably reconsider where they spend their ad dollars. If we say it’s good when it isn’t, then we are lying to you, the consumer. Now, most products out there are pretty good, so we could get away with some generic rating scale and give even the bad products an average rating. But we would rather let you decide which products to buy and why. In the meantime, we will continue to produce the best motocross magazine in the business and hope that you keep reading it because of that fact.
PING

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