Seeping Matter

Anyone who reads my blog at all knows that I have a real thing for Motocross and Supercross, the world’s greatest sports, alongside football. But I have to admit, I’m worried a bit about the effect of motocross on the minds of young professionals.

Take Trey Canard for example. He is doing absolutely fabulous so far in his rookie season, having won the first three pro Supercrosses he raced in so far. But perhaps his avid involvement in racing is having an effect on his brain; perhaps the home schooling is not going quite so well as one would hope.

Apparently, this is at least true somewhat in math. Trey has, in repeated interviews, indicated his plans this year to give “200%” to his racing effort.

Oh. I see. Trey is planning to give even more than people who are only going to give 110%, 120%, or even 150%, although apparently he doesn’t plan to be as committed as anyone who is going to give 1000%.

Well, Trey, I’ve got news for you. You cannot give more than 100%. This is a mathematical fact. Perhaps if you went to school instead of racing so much you would already know this.

I will translate Trey’s statements, in order to make them easier to understand: “This year I plan to give twice as much as possible. I plan to be two times more dedicated than is possible. I plan to perform in the races two times better than I possibly can.”

Maybe I’ll try this at work. I’ll give 200%, and bill my employer for two times the amount of work than I can possibly do.

A Half Bad Day is a day when a Half Bad Boy does a Half Bad Boy thing. Going to rock concerts is a half bad thing. So is holding a Guitar Hero party or attending a college football game.

Yesterday was a Half Bad Day. The day before, it rained, and Greg and I know when it rains that means it is time to take the motorcycles to the sand dunes the very next day. Oh yeah, wet sand dunes and motorcycles.

Yeah, check out those awesome dunes. These are absolutely not the dunes we rode yesterday. The dunes we rode on yesterday are now covered with motorcycle tracks. Tracks that the wind will cover up, and restore the dunes to pristine riding conditions for next time.

Any day on a motorcycle is a great day, especially on pristine sand dunes.

Here’s a picture of me on my motorcycle. My bike is a 1998 Kawasaki KX 250. I picked this bike up for under $1500 and then spent another $500-$600 fixing it up. So yeah, it isn’t new or anything, but considering what I spent it is a pretty awesome bike, if I do say so myself.

This picture was taken at a local track. This track is a fairly easy track, with nice big berms and easy jumps. No whoops anywhere on this track. Hey, I’m not a professional racer or anything. I just want to go ride and have fun. This track is plenty challenging for me.

I haven’t ridden my bike for a few months now. Last time I went riding, we went to a different track than the one in the picture. This track is a lot more difficult, with whoops, rhythm sections, and double jumps.

It was bad timing cause I’d just come home from the US Open of Supercross in Las Vegas the weekend before. I’d spent all this time watching guys, even little kids, jumping these double jumps like it was nothing. I was thinking, “These little 8-year-old kids can do these doubles on a 50cc – I should be able to do this on my 250 no problem!”

Well, I’ll admit it – they are much better riders than I am. After clipping the front tire on the top of the second jump, I almost rode it out before I lost control and went over the top of the berm. All I really know is that I landed really hard on the back of my left shoulder, and when I got up I had a huge bump on my collarbone where there shouldn’t be one (see above). I now have a metal plate on my collarbone. Hey, sometimes it hurts to be a half bad boy.

Oh, and by the way, if you ever break your collarbone and the doctor says they can’t do anything about it, don’t believe it. That’s what my doctor said also. Then I referred myself to an orthopedic surgeon who told me they do this all the time. If I had listened to my first doctor I would have been crippled in my shoulder for life. No kidding.