Ping,
Am I missing something? Is Chad Reed racing outdoors this year?
Thank you,
Ashley the Moto Wife
Ashley,
I can’t be certain if you are missing anything, young lady. It seems as though you are a fan of the best sport on the planet and you have what most men would consider the ideal reproductive organs. That’s two very critical boxes checked. Oh, and Chad Reed is doing a couple rounds of motocross this year; unfortunately they are in Europe at the MXGP’s. I’m pulling for Reedy to run up front and earn some of that massive MXGP purse money! Go Reedy!
PING
Hi Dave.
Huge fan
Male, 52 Married. Been racing since 1979. I live 10 min from Barry Carsten.
What does it take to adopt a dog from Puerto Rico?
It’s in your best interest to answer me seriously as the more dogs I get from Puerto Rico, the less of a chance that your wife will bring more satos back to your house. Thanks for the help.
Kevin
Kevin,
Thanks for the brief update on your gender, age, marital status and approximate distance from Barry Carsten. Coincidentally, that is how I prefer all written correspondence to begin. The process of adopting dogs from the great American province of Puerto Rico begins with something that not many can pull off: You must be batsh!t crazy. That’s correct, Kevin. Canines run wild on that island like pigeons in New York City and no person with a clean bill of psychological health would go through the process of bringing home a feral dog when there are plenty of great animals at shelters right here at home. Now, if you happen to have a wife who can spot a homeless animal from 100 yards at night with her eyes closed you may find yourself in a predicament. My wife told me she wasn’t leaving without all six of the mouse-sized puppies she found in a laundry basket near a dumpster there, and she wasn’t kidding. A trip to a 24-hour vet for shots, two cat carriers and about three hundred little puppy turds later we were on a flight for California with six of our new best friends. I passed as many out to family members as possible when I got home but we still ended up with two. Sometimes, when I feel like being angry inside, I like to sit and ponder the money those animals have cost me in vet bills, food and damage to my home and yard. I multiply that number by the mental anguish caused by the dog hair on my sofa and clothes and the surprise midnight vomiting sessions that occur occasionally and it really brings me to the brink of an emotional breakdown of Britney Spears proportions. If you are dead set on having an exotic foreign dog, I wish you the best of luck. But I would consider a cat or a hamster before you book a flight to San Juan.
PING
Hello again Mr. Ping,
Congrats on making a cameo on Racer X's "First Nationals," 1993 Glen Helen 125cc National. On the start: One announcer: "This guy found himself on the ground." Other announcer, ratting him out: "That was David Pingree. " Ahhh, the pitfalls of Youtube, huh?
Anyway, my question that many a Joe-Blow-dreamer like myself, has wondered? Could we have ever sniffed going pro on a dirtbike? I have been to many races, compared myself physically to the racers and said, there is NOT MUCH these guys have that I don't. They are mortals like anyone else! Maybe I was wrong. Is there "magic" that gets someone into the pro ranks? It has to be 90% mental and maybe 10% physical? Could Aldon Baker hammer mildly gifted motorcycle riders like myself into a forged piece of motocross steel, or do we, Joe Blows, not have a snowball's chance in Hell? You made it to the top, Ping, so please enlighten us. Thanks.
AF Guy
AF,
I realize that some racers aren’t that impressive in person. If you’ve ever bumped into Cole Seely, Damon Huffman, Jeremy Martin, Jeff Emig, Wil Hahn or even Jeff Stanton in his later years, they don’t exactly overwhelm you like a pro football/basketball/hockey player might. But don’t let that lean appearance fool you… these guys are animals. You want to see if you have what it takes? Go on a fifty mile road ride with one of them. Go for a run with them. I promise you, unless you are a pro runner or cyclist, these guys would drop you like cell phone call by a T-Mobile customer under perfect conditions. Sorry, I might be grinding a bit of a personal axe there. I hate T-Mobile. Anyway, the endurance side of it is just a side effect, really. What these guys are capable of on the bike is what is amazing. I’m not saying that you CAN’T become a professional racer if you put your mind to it, but, unless you have been working at it diligently since you were a kid, you have a better chance of finding the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 in your toilet than winning a supercross or pro motocross race. Aldon Baker is an excellent trainer, not a magician. There are certain God-given talents attributed that you either have or you don’t, and even those that possess them don’t all make it. The great thing is that even if we can’t go 1-1 at Thunder Valley this weekend, we can still sign up and race against others on our level and love the game.
PING
