Ask Ping!
Friday, February 22, 2013 | 9:05 AM
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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PrintMr. Ping Sir,
Huge fan, Love your work.
What is the deal with riders these days and the excuse of "the track is one-lined"? I mean, wouldn't every track have one line that is theoretically the quickest way around? Thus making every track a little "one-lined?” What else can the track designer's and builder's do to make the tracks multi-lined? Do riders want them wider? I think 12' or however wide they are should be sufficient. Do they want more rhythm lanes that have a multitude of combinations to get from corner to corner? Dallas sure seemed to have plenty of options, and still "one-lined". More 180 Degree corners and less 90 Degree corners? It seems like it would be a tough thing to solve and keep everyone happy. Is it even solvable? Or is this a phrase we can get used to because it isn't going anywhere no matter what the track is like?
Thanks Ping!
Can't wait until Supercross is back in Minneapolis on April 13th! I will be sure to find the one line that is the quickest from my house to the HHH Metrodome!
Chris Lownsbury
Minnesota
This is what multiple lines looks like.
This isn’t new phrase. As far back as I can remember I’ve heard riders complain of certain tracks being “one-lined.” While it would be easy to sit here and crap on riders from this era for not “manning up” and making passes happen I will try to explain what they are talking about. Sure, there is one main line that is the quickest way around any track. But certain obstacles and track layout can help or hurt when it comes to passing options. A technical, difficult set of whoops helps with passing. Unless you suck in the whoops, then it becomes a place to get passed. Adding 180 degree turns can also help with passing. But you have to put a berm on the outside of the corner to draw riders out of the inside line. In San Diego they had two 180-degree turns but they were flat. EVERY rider hugged the inside and nobody could pass. The more you bring the corner marker away from the berm the more passes you will have also. Tracks with too many 90 degree turns, sand corners, small whoops and easy rhythm lanes where every rider does the section exactly the same are bad for racing. Riders are already making fewer mistakes than ever, thanks the smooth, tractable power of the modern four-stroke. Add an easy track to that equation and you have 20 laps of follow-the-leader.
PING
Dear Ping,
I am a long time rider/fan of the sport, and am also currently in graduate school to be a clinical neuropsychologist (which is basically a psychologist that specializes in the assessment/evaluation of brain injuries and brain-related disorders). After watching Dallas supercross and Zach Bell's scary crash in the heat, I was very surprised to see that he was allowed to continue racing. I've read that he denied being knocked out, but the way he was laying there and not moving out of the way suggests otherwise (if he was conscious, you'd think he'd want to move off the track being he was on the landing of a triple).
Concussions are scary things. We do not fully understand the consequences of a concussion, and more alarming, there is not a great way to do an assessment of a concussion. After a significant insult to the head, the brain is hit by a rapid increase in blood pressure, which will then be followed by a number of inflammatory responses and metabolic changes that can last for a few days. I am sure Doc Bodnar and the Asterisk medical crew do an assessment of cognitive/muscle function before releasing a rider after a suspected concussion, but, as mentioned above, the brain is striving to reach homeostasis for a number of days and therefore you cannot determine the extent of a concussion immediately after it occurs. It should also be noted that a concussion does not require a positive loss of consciousness.
I wouldn't be writing this email if Zach Bell didn't have the second crash during the main. I'm not going to speculate and say his second crash was the direct result of his first crash. Rather, the fact that he DID have a second crash demonstrates that he should not have been able to ride. It can easily be argued his error leading to his second crash was a consequence of his first crash.
Zach Bell is young, talented, and extremely motivated to compete, and his career could have come to an end in Dallas. It is not surprising that Zach Bell wanted to ride; however, I think it's very surprising he was allowed to ride.
-Matt Herbert
Only Zach really knows how his head is.
Thanks for the letter and for your concern for Zach. It sounds like you are on your way to a rewarding career in the field of neuropsychology. Congratulations on the big brain. Watching the savage thrashing that Zach took in Dallas I was 100 percent certain that he was unconscious, broken and likely done for the year or forever. But you should know that you can’t base your medical assessment on how “crazy” the crash was. I’ve seen people get thrown from cars in freeway rollovers and walk away unscathed. The Asterisk Medical Crew assessed Zach on the track and when they got to him he was conscious, speaking coherently and answering questions appropriately. He remembered the crash and explained in detail what happened coming out of that turn. He was taken to the rig and given a Scat 2 test, the most current form of testing for head injuries. Zach has shared with the press that he passed with a 92 and the minimum passing score is 81. This test includes number and word recall, balance and coordination tests and various assessments of mental clarity and function. While Asterisk does have the ability to sideline a rider, they found no symptoms in Zach to suggest that he had a brain injury. It’s easy to watch from the couch and give an opinion but there was an ER trauma doctor, several paramedics, a nurse and a certified physical therapist and athletic trainer on staff in the Asterisk truck. Let’s leave the professional decisions to the professionals.
PING
Dear Ping,
The first two supercross winners of the season were Davi Millsapps and Justin Barcia who both also finished 1,2, at San Diego last week. The thing that both of these riders have in common is that they spent a long time in there careers studying the science of motorcycle racing under the guidance of Colleen. I call it a science because she knows motocross better than a lot of my physics Professors know physics. (I now study physics in my post high-school experience of the motolife.) I think one thing which I have not heard mentioned is the credit which Colleen Millsaps deserves for nurturing these two arguably best motocross riders. What do you think, is this seasons results a testimate to Colleens coaching abilities or am I wrong to give her so much credit for how Davi and Justin are currently doing this season?
JonDrew
Professor Plum… also not a real professor.
Full disclosure: I don’t know Colleen. From what I’ve heard she has a pretty amazing setup down there in Georgia and there are a lot of good riders taking advantage of MTF. My question to you is: How does Colleen Millsaps know more about motocross than a physics professor knows about physics? Did your physics instructor get his education by taking his son to science fairs and watching the Discovery channel for ten years? Is he a real professor or a professor like Indian Jones was a professor? Or like Gary Bailey is a professor? Unless I’m mistaken, Colleen didn’t race motocross professionally. She spent a great deal of time taking Davi to the track and telling him his lap times and probably writing things on his pit board like, “Go Faster,” and “Breath.” Maybe she spelled breathe correctly, I can’t be sure. My point is that I’m certain she’s hired riding coaches to help the riders with the technical side of things. While she likely understands the basic tenets of motocross she is slightly under-qualified to be telling Justin Barcia how to ride a motorcycle.
I’m not knocking Mrs. Millsaps. She has an incredible facility and she is a savvy lady who has thought of everything that the aspiring motocross racer needs to have a successful environment. That place is packed year-round and from what I understand they are even looking at further expansion. She’s got a good thing going and Barcia won’t be the last rider you hear of who honed his craft at MTF. I’m not sure what college you’re attending but it sounds like you might want to take your studies somewhere else.
PING
Have a question for Ping? Email him at [email protected]
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I been saying this for years .......MOVE THE BERMS BACK FURTHER IN THE 180* TURNS TO OPEN UP AN INSIDE LINE OPTION ! and it seems like those new helmets the geico team are wearing passed the test with flying colors !
C'mon, people, we need better letters to Ping, not ones from people who think they know the answers. But, this year's tracks do seem to suck big time.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=pmNl-RENQf4
Go to 13:30 and watch Bradshaw pass. That's classic two stroke racing you don't see anymore.. Awesome.
I think maybe when they make a track they could preestablish 2 or 3 ruts (successively wider) in each turn for multiple lines, or add a hump to the inside to slow the inside down.
I can think of lots of things
The pass happens at 13:50 for people with no patience
Knock on wood don't wanna jinx anyone but these toned down tracks seem to have helped keeping the injurys down from last year so far.I hate the tracks as much as anyone on here but at least most or all of the top riders are healthy.Sorry everyone I'll knock on wood.
I think some of it is the 4 strokes. I go to local races at a really rough, multiline track and most of the motos look like parades.
I was just thinking about Colleen/MTF the other day. Clearly she is a good coach but just because I love airplanes doesn't mean I can teach you how to be a fighter pilot.....if you pick up what I'm throwin' down.
6-D technology at work??
Ping- we all need an editor, just sayin'
I too was shocked to see Zach out there but never questioned the Asterisk crew. They do a great job. BUT on the other hand if it was my son and I was there I think he would have sat the night out.
I think Davi Milsaps should be thanking his mother for tough love now. According to some, she knew if wasn't willing to put the work in.. And she knew he had the potential.
Obviously he got it together, and he is kicking ass. She was correct all along.. Tough love makes champions.
Riders might be smoother when they ride four strokes because the four strokes are so massive (heavy) that they are stabilized with the gravitational forces among them. Where a four stroke goes, the Earth (and, indeed, the entire solar system) follows, because the most massive thing sucks the most.
Imagine riding on a train. You're like a gnat on an anvil. Now imagine the train being really, really heavy. That's a four stroke.
Some track designs do tend to be one-lined, but on four strokes it's even more pronounced. Why? For the same reason train cars don't pass each other. They're heavy as a MO FO, and they are doing what they were designed to do when they simply, boringly freight train around the course like some kind of gay parade.
Four strokes love easy tracks because extremely massive (heavy) objects do not like to change directions - if they did, ping pong balls might also weigh as much as a four stroke, and ping pong players would be getting injured like four stroke riders do.
This mass affects riders when they eat it on a four stroke. When a four stroke lands on a rider or otherwise impacts him or her, it's like being hit by a very condensed version of Proxima Centauri. That's going to leave a mark. If a four stroke were all soft and puffy like, say, Neptune, it would be like being hit by some kind of ball of cotton candy. But four strokes have that extremely large and heavy engine that hits you, and bolted to that engine is a frame which sports all kinds of prickly, pokey things like footpegs, shifter, brake pedal, and triple clamps, which hold long and pokey things like handlebars, which also hold long and pokey things like clutch levers and brake levers. Envision a wrecking ball with long prongs sticking out of it in all directions.
Furthermore, if you modify a four stroke very much, it will go supernova.
In conclusion, racing is boring with four strokes; many tracks become one-lined with four strokes; when riders crash on four strokes, they get hurt more; and maintaining/modifying four strokes is like owning a Harley. They cost too much, they're unreliable, parts are too expensive, and when you need a top end job you need to sell the bike.
Oh yeah. Never buy a used four stroke! LOL
@speed shifter- That was awesome!!
Hopefully some will listen to the reason expressed in Ping's response on Bell's crash.
The outpouring of criticism of the Asterisk medical crew (and the sport in general) based on a 1 - 2 second snippet of film they saw on Speed is simply alarming.
It boggles the mind to think that so many can be motivated to such extremes by something they see on television.
What we were allowed to see was, admittedly, pretty severe.
But lets keep acouple of things in mind:
1) How many times have we seen the same type of thing in the past (say, maybe, a little Mike Alessi) with no unusual long-term effect?
2) How would our perception of the accident change had we been allowed to see more of Bell's conduct after the immediate crash, the response by the medical team, and the administration of subsequent cognitive testing?
It's easy (unfortunately) to apply the diagnostic skills gained by years of watching "ER: and "Bones" (sorry, I don't watch much TV and those are the only medical shows that come to mind right now) to what we saw on TV last Saturday night and get on a rant.
It's (not a whole lot) more difficult, but much less inflammatory, to allow that we have highly educated and trained medical professionals watching over equally prepared, professional competitors in one of the most challenging and exciting sports around.
Of course, if reason prevails, these comment columns may end up barren.....
Ping, what's with the weird trust in the docs?
Asterisk have an amazing rep and I give Doc Bod a fist pound every time I see him, sh!t we been tight since Deegan was winning with a bored out machine yo.
But still, the best doctors in the world have dropped the ball on occasion... and concussions are a medical anomaly, easily misdiagnosed... IF Bod f-ed it up, ain't no thing, can't blame a brother for doing a great job and all the tests checkin out clean... but sometime concussions trick the best of the best... and I don't even mean Zach... I jus thinkin it's wack why you are choosin to turn your mind off and broadly claim "they're the professionals, blah blah blah, don't question them yo, you stupid if you question a doctor yo, they pros blah blahs"?? Seriously bro, that's how you sound.
Supercross needs more tracks going up into the stands like the superbowl and monster cup. The track creativity seems to have stalled. remember the water hole they put in back in '83? Bring in required pit stops. put a 1 liter fuel limit in the tanks so they have to stop. make 'em change their goggles. Anything to lengthen the damn night show and generate drama. I can picture someone rear ending Vince Freise on pit row in frustration now...
run your 250 for 10 laps and then switch to your 450 for the last 10 laps... that would be cool... heh, heh! heh, heh! Shut up! Beavis!!
I've got to question your answer regarding Colleen Millsaps. It's obvious you don't know enough about her to make an informed reply to that letter. Now I don't know her either, but I've seen enough video to know she doesn't just go around "providing an environment" and getting riding coaches to do the work. She's a machine, out on the front line with these kids. And really, since when did you have to be a professional motocross rider to be able to instruct with competency and sometimes even a bit of genious. Did Eli Tomac's dad race professional motocross? Did Ryan Dungeys dad or Villopoto's dad or (insert almost every pro rider's name here) race professional motocross? Is it because she is a woman? What about Ricky's mom? Is she qualified? Remember the old saying, and it does ring true in many instances: "Those that can't do......teach. Those that can't teach......teach gym (or coach hockey).
I, like most, thought Bell was unconscious when i saw the crash and was surprised he was allowed to race. That being said nobody knows that he actually was unconscious. I have been knocked out more than a few times, and you can't just pretend to know how the crash happened if you were unconscious from it. I have however been slammed so hard that I was sure that I had a serious injury and felt like I couldn't/shouldn't move even though i was right in the middle of the track. After a few seconds I realized everything was working I was able to walk off the track, but the spectators said they thought I was dead. Anyway, the point is you can't tell if someone is knocked out from watching on TV or even from the side of the track, so you have to trust the professionals at the track.
@Byrner99 the difference between ET and RV's dad and her is that they are not charging mucho dinero to train people's kids like she is. I would also think that Tomac's dad could be very helpful with his training seeing as how he was a world class athelete. I agree with Ping 100%.
faceplanted @ 40+mph.I got up and tried to get back on bike but I was unconcious.My fiance tried to pull me off track.10 seconds orso later my dad pulled me from track.not then or now do i have any memory of wife pulling on me.76 rm 125 snapped frame clean and broke both cables.front end with me holding on to bars 20 feet further down track than rear half.Officials need to error on the side of safety and hold riders out.
I have hit so hard that my tongue shot out like a frog as the wind shot out of my body and WITHOUT being knocked out decided to lay there in the middle of the track and just be quiet for a while...lol....as for Davi's mom ...it looks like her drill sergeant type mental pain vs cake reward system is starting to show promise....i will say though that if I was turning laps and my ma came out and starting yelling at me and jumping up and down like an escaped orangutan I would find the juice to turn faster laps just to make her go back in the house.......tracks used have these things called 's' turns , off camber turns and obstacles . sand whoops , imagination......but they don't use them anymore.....
That was too technical for me. I only just got through the first question. Just keep with the humorous stff ping. It suits you better. Nobody takes you seriously.
I do
@tonewall, I think you're describing Stewart's dad.
I need to ask Colleen MILLSAPS how to go thru the whoops more efficiently. I would rather take her sideline take on what she "thinks" is proper, instead of asking a former Pro like Ping that's vertically challenged and can explain EXACTLY what I need to know based on his personal experience (he won a Supercross and figured the whoops out).
My point? A former pro racer is much more qualified to help a rider just like a doctor is an injury. I would take Ping as a coach over Colleen any day of the week, not only would my riding get better but I was get donuts and lessons on how to be a good republican at the same time.
While Colleen maybe a good motivator, like Aldon Baker, and bring knowledge to the table I highly doubt she can seriously help a rider wack a 100ft triple having never experienced it herself. That being said, I admire that woman for what she has done and is doing. I'd hire her anyday for a mental coach for sure.
Sequester.
Right on @speed shift. Verry funny!! Direct injection 2 strokes (marine ) R incredible.Not only R these reborn dinosaurs expensive they are way 2 LOUD. Ask Chads about his neighbor. Oh ya I'm surprised U didn't mention how many kicks after U wash out u'r front wheel in a banked 180!! Thx ping
Get a college degree and work for 10yrs in a field that requires your degree, then you can talk. Before you do that shut the hell up, people could care less what worthless classes you have 7 credits in.
Ms. Millsaps may have not raced dirtbikes, but I would bet my fortune that Davi would have grown up a lazy loser without her pushing the lump. The guy is around 26yrs old, and the fool is just getting around to putting in hard work??
Funny how everyone loves DM18 as soon as he starts doing well. Forgetting all the teams he has ripped off, with broken promises and no work ethic. Same people forget what a worthless piece of shit Ryno has been his whole life.
@pizzacorner--You ignorant loser.. Millsaps finished 4th in his forst 450 outdoors season.. How is that ripping anyone off??? And he just turned 25 on the 15th of this month.. And he won a 250 title too, what a negative loser you are, your life mush really suck...
pizza-
While I agree with much of what you say, there is this word called "couth".
Check it out.. people will possibly accept what you say a little more often..
(I am all about speaking your mind, telling it the way it is.. but you take it to another level)
Wow
yeah, when pizza goes for the block pass he leaves no room up top, just slams your slow azz right thru the blocks over the berm and out onto the concrete ! and dont go to his pit after the race, you will not get an apology ! because you got exactly what you deserved...............
Thanks rickamatuzio!
Great shot, we definitely need more of that in SX.
i have trained myself to skip over pizza faces comments! he has to be the biggest jackass!! if everyone would just skip him like the whoops, double over him, block pass him! dont reply to his stupid comments maybe he will go away! dude go read a book on how to be a decent person!!! it cant hurt!
500 to 1 bet, To the smartmouth ragging on Milsaps and Rhino, 500 to 1 says ya would be the slowest qualifier in the C group. Any idea what it takes to run in the same building as those boys? Naaa I didnt think so. save it man.
If you want to see great racing bring back a 125 class those bikes are so light and with all the new technology they can be super fast I spent 20 grand on one put Ti kit took another 5 pounds out of it had a amazing engine builder do the engine full ceramic bearings the works and I get the odd holeshot in an open class mind you it's a vet class I'm far from a pro but this bike is so fun when I mess up I just bounce of everything it's way safer than the 450 I used to ride and the sound ofv15100 rpm is awesome ya my engine builder put some crazy maps in the ignition box !
Dude, while I admire your passion.. PLEASE learn how to use a comma and period! I was holding my breath reading your paragraph as my eyeballs were rolling like a slot machine.
Kid had a woman baseball coach. she was fun handled parents well but sucked on third base. cost many tournament championships .A coach needs to point a direction and inspire.My youngest was good because he learned fom his mother.Luckily she was world class athelete.absolute trust and desire to please between most mommas and boys.
My Dad wasn't ever a motocrosser, he was a fighter pilot, but he watched what was going on out there when I was a 250 novice and decided that the difference between the fast guys and the slow guys was how deep you hold the throttle on into the turns. He went out to the track with me, got a big stick that was about four feet long, and made me hold the throttle on until I got to where he was standing on the straightaway. He gradually worked his way closer to the next turn, and if I shut off before I got to him he would hit me in the head with that big stick. We did it over and over until I was holding it on much, much farther into the turn. Then he said I just need to do that going into all of the turns. It was a tough lesson, but I needed to learn it, and for the rest of the week I hammered my newfound braking skills. At the next race, in practice I beat the fastest 250 pro who won that day, and he was trying hard - I passed him going into that very turn where Dad worked me so hard. In the race, instead of being right at the front of the pack where I was the week before, I won by half a lap! It took no time at all to work through the Intermediates and into the Pros, and I beat the #1 plate 250 rider in my first race, and it was all because of a guy who knew nothing of motocross.
But still, Ping is right, people who don't ride can't tell you much about the fine nuances of riding that only a rider, or a pro, knows. However, if some pros taught her what they know, a mother could watch, listen, talk among pros and learn many things. Not all moms are created equal. One merely tolerates MX, another lives at the track and immerses herself into it and asks 100,000 questions so she can make a great contribution to those she cares about.
@1BUSTER, of course you do. There is one born every day, and on your day it was you.
stff it
Actually Ping, I said she knows physics "better than most my physics prof.'s know physics", there is not nearly as many things to learn about in motocross as there are physics. There are quite literally infinitely many things to learn about physics, so it is not surprising that Colleen knows moto better than my prof.'s know physics. Just to add, My Prof. went to MIT.
And actually, in my opinion Colleen is more qualified to comment on Justin's riding than Justin is, I actually bet if Justin work with Colleen more he wouldn't have had such the turbulent career he's had. Remember his first race at Glen Helen? A short time later he left MTF and hardly gave a repeat performance but now I am just throwing out the "what ifs". Point is, that to just call Colleen Millsaps a savvy lady is equivalent to calling Indiana Jones, Al Gore. It is just disrespectful.
JonDrew
@byrner99, Your take on Colleen is more accurate than Ping's.
@pizzacorner, You're an idiot.
@SpeedShifter, You've never met Colleen Millsaps.
she knows moto*
I actually bet if Justin worked*
Ping, I like the picture of you at the top of this article.. Kawi #101 with red/yellow TLD gear and matching helmet, sick goggles. The only part of the photo that looks weird is your body is so incredibly small compared to the bike. Are you really the size of a 5th grader? Let me know. Thanks.
Both Zach Bell and Eli Tomac had bad crashes where they hit thier heads real hard..the 6D helmets were worn by both riders. this helmet is supposed to eliminate low speed concussions with their new technology.