Motorized Picnic Table
Damn, you Aussies know how to do it right. Not sure what’s better than being able to drive motorized picnic tables around the streets. There is so much you can do with this: eat, drink, have a romantic dinner with the lady. The only thing that may be better is a motorized bed. You know who doesn’t enjoy this? The police in Western Australia, who posted this on their Facebook page.
Police are concerned for the safety of those riding on the tables with no protective clothing, especially when on roads alongside motor vehicles. There are overall safety concerns particularly if a traffic incident was to occur, resulting in the persons subjecting themselves to potential injury. The people using these vehicles could face a number of charges including driving an unlicensed vehicle, driving an unroadworthy vehicle and drink driving.
Total buzz kill, man.
Skarping
Until last week, I had never heard of skarping. Seriously, who has? A combination of water skiing, basketball and butterfly catching, skarping may be the coolest sport no one has ever heard of. Apparently, it also helps the environment. Win win. From Indefinitely Wild:
Asian carp were originally imported to America from China by fish farmers in the 1970s, who hoped the species would help keep their fish ponds clean. Escapes into Mississippi River basin trickled out over the subsequent decades, but it was the heavy flooding of the river in the 1990s that is largely credited for the spread of the species.
They expanded rapidly and are now rampant in the river and its tributaries as far north as Illinois, where this video was filmed. Massive efforts are underway to keep the carp out of the great lakes — they threaten native species — but the fish defy most efforts at control. They feed by filtering plankton from the water as they swim, so can’t be caught on rod and reel.
UFC GIF
Okay, this is funny. Prior to Ronda Rousey’s last fight, Motherboard reported on UFC’s apparent problem with media outlets creating Gifs of her fights. Their argument: Rousey’s fights are so short that comprehensive video clips of her victories are easily sharable across social media and that no one will tune in to watch the fight. That’s understandable, UFC makes a ton of money off their video content. Now for the funny part: Rousey got knocked out by Holly Holm with a violent kick, which became the most sharable THING EVER…
C’mon, Man
This is the most dad thing ever. An Irishman recently went to Las Vegas for the first time and wanted to document his trip. His son let him borrow his GoPro, but forgot to tell him how to use it. The man filmed his entire trip in selfie mode and it’s hilarious. I could totally see Weege doing this. The video is super long, but you have to check out at least a portion of it. [Editor's note: I got a GoPro three years ago and haven't figured out how to use it yet. -- Weege]
Skier Drops a Far Way
At some point Thursday, you probably thought about things you are thankful for—family, friends, health, dirt bikes. The guy below is surly thankful just to be alive. While filming Paradise Waits, veteran skier Ian McIntosh, who thought he scoped his line, fell into a five foot deep trench, according to the YouTube post, and cartwheeled more than 1,600 feet. "From there, my slough took over and their was no way to stop, I pulled my airbag to help prevent against any possible trauma injuries as I tumbled to the bottom," he said. Somehow, he was uninjured. Wow!
Boarding the Backcountry
Since we’re on the subject and all, Olympic gold medalist Sage Kotsenburg just released The Other Side, a killer look at backcountry snowboarding in the Swiss Alps. Even if you don’t like boarding, this is a rad video.
F1 Rookies
Wired recently ran a profile on Formula One rookies Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, Jr. The twenty race season also visits twenty countries in a span of eight months, and that can take on the body. It’s a cool look into the physical demands driving a car can have (which many don’t consider. It’s just sitting and driving, right?).
Muscle is only necessary to a point. The combined weight of the car and driver must be at least 1,523 pounds. Every pound of that you can take off the driver, you can replace with ballast, and strategically locate it to your advantage. Coming into this year, Sainz had never followed a diet before. Verstappen was used to going to McDonald’s once or twice a week while racing in Formula 3. Now they obey their nutritionist, eating five to six small meals a day. Lots of greens and protein, minimal carbs.
The muscle that gets the most work in the weight room is the neck, which has to keep the head and helmet upright through all those turns. Verstappen and Sainz spend time lying horizontally, with weights strapped to their head, working to match McLaren driver Fernando Alonso, who once used his neck to crack a walnut. Each seems to have borrowed his neck from a rhinoceros.
Check out the full piece here.
Scary Course Preview
Red Bull Rampage is arguable the toughest downhill mountain bike race in the world. Seriously, it’s gnarly. Claudio Caluori previewed the 2015 course in the most fitting video title ever—“Scariest Course Preview Ever.”
Kaleidoscope
Just watch—this is an amazing video.
Flat Track Goes Mainstream
This past summer, in addition to my work here at Racer X, I had the opportunity to work at ESPN as a researcher for the first ever Harley-Davidson Flat Track event. My knowledge of flat track prior to the event was zero. I spent the next three months getting to know every detail of each rider, their bikes, etc. It was an eye-opening experience, learning about flat track’s storied history, as well as getting to know the riders, who are some of the most humble, down-to-earth guys and girls you will ever have the chance to meet. I wrote about the event in the September 2015 issue of Racer X Illustrated (shameless plug), which you can read here. Prior to last weekend’s AMA Pro Flat Track finale, the sport got some great mainstream coverage from the Wall Street Journal and Sports Illustrated.
Dan Neil of the Wall Street Journal actually took to the track, riding AMA Pro Flat Track Racing champion Jared Mees’s Harley-Davidson XR750. Check it out below.
SI’s coverage focused more on the history, the current season and the future. It’s worth the read. Here is a small excerpt from the story.
Michael Lock, the newly installed CEO of AMA Pro Flat Track, said his mission is to bring the flat track discipline "to a new generation of race fans, to partner with manufacturers to bridge the gap between the showroom and the race track, and to see that the heroes of the sport, the athletes, become household names as the stars of yesteryear were."
"Pro Flat Track is America's unique contribution to motorcycle sport," says Lock. "All the other pro disciplines are derived from somewhere else.
"The Golden Era of American Grand Prix, stars in the 1970s and 1980s—Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey and others—came from the uniquely American racing apprenticeship of road racers learning and refining their skills on dirt tracks before riding high-powered and exotic factory race bikes," he says. "They revolutionized road racing and dominated international road racing until the disciplines of flat track and road racing separated in the USA in the 1990s."
Moto Fashion
I’m not what people would call a fashion aficionado. That’s more JT’s deal, with his thousand dollar jeans and Prada handbags and stuff. I literally wear t-shirt and jeans 99 percent of the time. Apparently, though, motocross gear is becoming a fashion trend. Vogue shouted this headline earlier this week: "Are All Runway Trends Made for the Street? Taking Motocross Gear on a Test-Drive.” From the article:
Because after Spring 2016’s major moto love (the X Games–influenced trousers made an appearance on the runways, ranging from slim-fitting silhouettes with a sliced-and-diced take on logomania at KTZ or cropped and padded at Vetements), I was tasked with giving the dirt-biking trou a test-drive. Sure, they looked chic on the catwalk, but I wasn’t wearing them for show: I would be cycling to work in the sporty breeches.
So, there you have it.
Paulin’s Dream
Like his current mentor at HRC Honda Jean-Michel Bayle, Gautier Paulin dreams of one day racing MotoGP. At the recent EICMA show in Milan, Moto Magazine caught up with the current HRC MXGP star to chat about a number of things—including his desire to one day try road racing. "On a dirt bike I try hard to reach the limit, and once you do, you begin to feel there is no limit! Twice this year I went to see Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa at GPs and the bikes looks crazy. So good. After MX, I want to go MotoGP!" Check out the full video below.
Rossi Video Game
This week it was announced that Valentino Rossi will launch his own videogame “Valentino Rossi: The Game” in 2016. Rossi has partnered with Milestone, the Italian developers who produce MotoGP The Official Videogame, for a game that will allow you to retrace Rossi’s career, let loose at the Valentino Rossi Ranch, participate in flat track races and more.
“We chose to include both the most important elements of my MotoGP career, and all the extra circuit stuff that are so important to me, like Ranch, Rally and more,” Rossi said. “It will be fun to approach the game not only as a gamer, but also as a 'test driver'. I'll work with the development team to make sure all fans will get the best experience they ever had."
Check out the trailer below. The game is scheduled to be released in June of 2016 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
Fox and Star Wars
Even notorious Star Wars hater Weege has to like this. [Editor's note: Grrrrrrr.-- Weege]
