“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the Life in your years!”

Happy New Year!

As Pancho, the Cisco Kid’s sidekick used to say, Holy Schmokers!!!  Here we are starting a brand new year in 2019. I am looking forward to it because I have decided it is time to get back to the moto tracks and do some OTMX racing.

I can’t believe I have not raced a motocross in 5 years! That was when I seriously injured my left hand at the Baja 1000. It also was the same day Kurt Caselli died as a result of a crash in that same race. Godspeed Kurt. It definitely puts things in perspective.

My left hand was injured very badly to the point it required a couple of surgeries and most of a year to get it working satisfactory enough to start riding again. The doctor was skeptical when he first spoke to me about the reparation, but I told him not to patch anything. Fix it correctly because I was going to ride and race again!  He was a very good Orthopedic surgeon, Dr Schaub, and told me he was not a motorcycle fan because of all the injuries he has fixed over the years. He said that he understood and would do his best. That was all I could ask for.

So here we are 5 years later on New Year’s Day and I am spending the day wrenching on my motorcycle and mountain bike so I can bust out some track time when it warms up!  Today was too cold for a cold weather sissy to get out and ride. 37* is just not cuttin’ it for this cold blooded geezer. It was 58* degrees in my garage with the little heater on. But I was able to re-lace a rear wheel on my KX 450. Turned a 19” rear into an 18” wheel for off road.

Then I moved on to my Cannondale mountain bike in an attempt to fix something I screwed up last week. While trying to locate a creaking noise I overtightened a crank bolt and broke the head off. Damn recycled aluminum beer can bicycle! I guess I need to get a torque wrench for working on aluminum bicycles. I did get the Cannondale patched and can now ride it until I order the clean new parts to fix it properly.

So I hope your New Year starts out as well as mine. I am looking forward to riding and racing this year. If you need a riding partner for either one, give me a holler!

#33

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the Life in your years!”