Ask Ping

Mr. Pingree,
What is your opinion of the design of tracks today, especially about the number and types of jumps squeezed on to tracks? Do you think they contribute to the injuries suffered by pros? What happened to mud holes? Back in the day it wasn’t a motocross track if it didn’t have a mud hole. I am not talking about mud races, just mud holes on an otherwise normal track.
Steve Wardlow
 
Dear Steve,
Mud holes? Really? Why stop there? Howzabout getting the Dirt Wurx guys to build an alligator pit? Maybe the finish-line jump

could be a leap through a big Ring o’ Fire! We could get a Volkswagen bug packed full of clowns to circle the stadium floor and a couple of black bears to ride unicycles in tutus. Hey, maybe Britney George would grow a beard for us and do a freak show just before the main events?
    Come on, Mr. Wardlow, this is supercross, not a Ringling Bros. act. The tracks are supposed to be filled with jumps. Our sport has come a long way since the “mud hole” days of 30 years ago. Let’s not go backward. Hey, if you really want to see a mud hole, come watch the first practice of, say, Budds Creek. I promise you’ll get your mud hole fix.
PING

Dear Ping,
I think it’s in the Moto XXX 2 freestyle video that you get busted by the cop riding at Reche Canyon. You went on to tell the cop your name was Scott Sheak, I think, and the cop started yelling at you. What happened next? The video cuts out after that.
Steve Gomolka. Englishtown, New Jersey

Dear Steve,
Actually, that riding segment was filmed up near Valencia, CA, in Mike Kiedrowski’s old stomping grounds. It wasn’t Reche Canyon. And that wasn’t me in that segment; it was, in fact, Scott Sheak. So you’ve really gotten everything wrong here. Thanks for trying.
PING

Ping,
Who's the biggest prima donna in MX today?
Dennis Thomas. Whipple, OH

Dear Dennis,

LaRocco waits impatiently for his manicurist at Anaheim 2 photo: TFS

Mike LaRocco. I know he seems like the rugged working man/man’s man of motocross, but from what I understand, he’s high-maintenance. I’ve heard that he demands that a bowl of red M&Ms (only red) be placed in his locker at each supercross. And he has a manicurist, hairstylist, and masseuse on call at every race. He also demands Evian water, couscous, and asparagus spears (lightly steamed) with his meals throughout the day. And I once had someone tell me he likes to unwind after the race with a glass of Merlot, and if anyone walks into his truck during this time, he has his people push them back behind the velvet rope he likes to be behind at all times. Maybe this is all just vicious rumor, but I’m not walking into Le Rock’s truck to find out.
PING

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