The John Penton Movie Preview

The John Penton Story

(The movie)

Monday, June 23^rd, I attended a sneak preview of the movie ‘The John Penton Story’.  It turned out to be an even better time than I expected because of the array of riders and motorcycle industry people that showed up.

I talked to riders, shop owners and friends I had not seen in many years at this screening. It was a blast catching up with some of them for the first time in a decade or two! I saw faces from a distance that I couldn’t put a name to (maybe too many concussions?) and didn’t get a chance to walk over to talk to all of them because of the number of people that showed up. I would estimate there were easily over a hundred people there.

I did get to catch up with a few from ‘Back in the Day’, like Dave Duarte, Hi-Point West CEO in the 1970’s and 80’s, who has just gone through a life changing illness and was out here attending the special screening. Then I figured it out when during the movie Dave’s face shows up splashed all the way across the big screen while he is being interviewed/quoted a couple of times! Everyone in our audience cheered at Dave’s cameo appearance.  What a HAM!  But it was great to see Dave up and doing much better than last year when it was touch and go as to whether he would even be with us. That alone was enough to make it a great evening.            God Bless you Dave.

Then there were the usual suspects of riders, shop owners, mechanics, etc.  Bob Messer, Billy Deprado, Mark Gibson, Bob Pearson, Dave Coupe’, Pat Wilson, Brad Teegarden and many others. So many people and not enough time, literally, because the movie was fairly long especially for a motorcycle oriented flick.

The movie was very interesting and covered a lot of ground in both time and people during John Penton’s life.  A great source of information and history much of which I was never aware of until now and I have been riding since the early 70’s. This covers Penton’s life all the way back to his earliest years as a boy even his service in WWII.  It contains a lot of interesting facts and some great old footage and photos of events and races. I would recommend if you like motorcycling and have any interest in the roots and history of our sport that you make an effort to find where it is playing and go see it.  A last tidbit is that it is narrated by the country singer Lyle Lovett and it is revealed how as a kid he worked at a Penton dealership just to be around motorcycles. Now that is my kind of guy.

#33

“A bad attitude is like a flat tire, you will never get anywhere until you change it”

Matrix Concepts Brings New Technology To Gas Cans

Matrix 3 Fuel Jug

I have been using the Matrix 3 fuel container now for over a year and have been impressed with the features. But with my current rehab status and having to pay attention to EVERYTHING I do and use I am just starting to appreciate the Matrix 3.

To begin, the Matrix 3 holds 4 gallons instead of the normal 5 gallons as with most containers. I never realized what a benefit this really is for someone like me that has a hard time just handling the bigger containers with my current physical limitations. Then I started to think about smaller riders, mini riders or women that may not have the physical size or strength to handle the larger and heavier jugs.

True this can holds 4 gallons instead of the normal 5, but when was the last time you ran through more than a tank of gas plus 4 more gallons? If you are like most people your gas can goes back in the garage until you get to go out riding again. So there sits the leftover fuel for who knows how long and with the poor fuel quality we have to live with now days it is much smarter to start off your next ride with fresh fuel. Fresh fuel equals a better running bike.

Then there is the size benefit, I can fit this can into places the larger containers won’t squeeze into. The nozzle has a nicely attached screw on cap that won’t fall in the dirt or get lost. There is a screw top vent to loosen that allows gas to flow as you pour. The side of the jug has a handle molded that lets you control as you pour. Also there are molded ridges in the bottoms that allow you to get a good grip with the other hand. Not the normal flat smooth nothing to grip bottom like the other cans.

This has become my everyday gas can and I had no idea how great this can was until now.

#33

Rehab #33 Style (phase 2)

Well I finally got it!  The doctor said I wouldn’t do any harm to my hand/wrist at this point because it had been long enough into the healing process that it should be solid.  So he said I could start riding again.  I never did bring up our little secret, you know, about my new little part time job riding street bikes as a test rider. But since he has released me to ride I couldn’t wait to venture off road to see how I would do on the trail. I believe moto and racing may be out for most of this year.

The very next day I was awake at 0-Dark thirty (about 4 am) and headed out to the garage to hop on my KTM 530 dual sport and give it a go. I guess I had a bit of trouble sleeping in anticipation of my first off road ride in 7 months. I dressed, geared up with back pack, tools, spares, etc and set off into the darkness with my Squadron 2 headlight showing me the way at about 4:30. This headlight is definitely bright enough to ride off road at night with as long as you are not trying to go race speeds.

I was in the dirt in 10 minutes of leaving the house and realized immediately how much better riders all you dirt boyz are than the rest of the motorcycle people that only ride the street. I actually had to use the arm and hand as I stood up for obstacles and bumps. It became quite apparent that this was going to take some time since I rode like a girl (sorry ladies) because I was still trying to protect the hand/wrist.

It didn’t take too long to relax and really begin to enjoy the ride. The fact that I was out there is what really mattered and the sun was not up yet, but dawn was beginning to break. It was awesome!  So I continued to ride at a leisurely pace and had a great time. After about an hour or so I noticed the wrist was beginning to ache so I started back toward the garage. My total time when done was about 2 hours of seat time. I lost track of how many times I smiled and probably giggled in that 2 hours, but it felt great.

I got home, lubed the chain, took off my riding gear and sat down in a chair in the garage to savor the ride and appreciate it.  I did think to stop and take a couple of pictures along the way, just so I could enjoy it again and again.

Anyone need a trail riding partner?

#33

“Time spent in the saddle, is time well spent”

Rehab #33 Style!

I just counted the months since my accident down in Mexico at the Baja 1000 occurred and it is now at the 6 month mark!  Wow how time flies when you are NOT having any fun.

I have been doing some rehab therapy now for almost 2 months and am just now seeing any REAL progress. Karen, the therapist I am seeing is very good and tells me how great things are going, but I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. I know part of her job is physical therapy and positive reinforcement. The doctor has been holding her (and me) back because of the extensive repair he had to perform on the fingers and wrist. Doc has had me limited to no more than 5 lbs of weight for the first month. When he took the weigh restriction off I knew it was time for me to take matters into my own hands (or the one good hand) and start making some progress.

So I started out on the bicycle to test the amount of weight bearing exercise I could stand. That was ok and I found out I could support about 10% of the load on the bad hand. It gets sore quickly and keeps me from getting too big for my britches. So now I am looking for the next step in physical training/therapy when I come across a Help Wanted ad in the paper for motorcycle riders! WHAT? Someone is going to pay me to ride a motorcycle! Who do I have to kill? This sounded like the perfect way to rehab a damaged hand, pulling the clutch over and over, you know muscle memory and all that crap. I couldn’t imagine a better way to retrain my now reconstructed rekluse qualified left hand than to go out on someone else’s bike, use their gas and burn up their tires.

It seems there are companies out there that do product durability testing and need bodies to log miles, lots of miles. So I inquire and find out I am qualified.  Who-da-thunk, so I sign up and have been out about 6 times now. The good is that I ride about 350 miles a day on the road and have seen some very interesting things along the way. The bad is that it is all on the road, and as I pass the occasional open area and fields I can feel that big 100 plus cubic inch V-Twin engine trying to drag me off into the dirt. I would love to play Jay Springsteen for a few minutes. I am wondering how these things would jump. Nothing big, just a few small hits. But until I get the doctor’s permission to ride a motorcycle, I have to keep this on the down low. So keep this to yourself, homie!

#33

“Don’t count the days, make the days count”

SOMETIMES BAJA BITES...Hard!! PART 2

BAJA BITES 

When we last left off I had just crashed and gotten the bike up and going with a serious hand injury. My goal was to get the bike to the next rider exchange point by riding out to the paved highway and taking the penalty for course deviation in order to be able to deliver the bike to Doug who was waiting approximately 85 miles south of my current location. However, I still had to ride down the course a few miles (very painful) before I could catch a dirt road that would take me out to the highway, about six miles out.

When I reached the dirt road I believed was the one I needed there were some American spectators parked at the intersection watching the race. I was relieved to come across them and verified that this road was the road I needed. They confirmed and offered to help by taking me out in the truck but I told them I would just ride out to the road and cruise the pavement as far as possible. I thanked them and continued on for about 500 yds when the motor seized up! Apparently when I slammed into the rock pile so did the bike. It had shaved off the left side cover at the oil filter and was pumping oil out as I tried to ride it out in first gear. Fortunately the American spectators were definitely paying attention, I hadn’t gotten far when they heard my bike quit, and they were quite concerned when I rode off after seeing my left hand. They hopped in their truck, picked me up and loaded the bike in the back.

Away we went, as we discussed the crash one of them was on the radio and phone relaying information to the race officials while lining up assistance. We met the race support crew at the road and they said there was an ambulance on the way. It sounded as if the ambulance was a good hour or more away due to our location. As I sat in the vehicle preparing for the delay I heard the sound of a helicopter approaching. The helicopter came into view and landed near us. It was the SCORE race helicopter and was staffed with a pilot/medical technician and the co-pilot was an American doctor. I could not believe my good fortune! We spoke for a few minutes as the doctor did an evaluation.  He told me the hand was seriously injured but not life threatening and they would transport me back to the clinic in San Felipe instead of waiting for the ambulance. So  instead of waiting for an hour or more and then making the same length return trip which would have been three hours total I was taken by helicopter in about 15 minutes to the small clinic in San Felipe. This was my lucky or unlucky day depending on how you look at it. But at this point I viewed it as lucky because it was now about 45 minutes to an hour since the crash and the pain was starting to really show its ugly face!

We arrived at the little Mexican clinic which was actually much better than I expected. The doctor spoke pretty good English which was great because I speak no Spanish. The nurses spoke only Spanish but we did our best to communicate while they cleaned and dressed my injuries. We had a pretty good time considering the circumstances and we even managed a few laughs along the way. They did a very good job with what I observed to be obviously limited resources. I was given shots for painkillers, antibiotics and local numbing so they could stitch the injury on the palm of my hand. I was starting to wonder if they just liked practicing giving shots!  After cleaning and dressing the hand the doctor explained that the injury was way beyond the capabilities of the clinic and instructed me to head for a hospital as soon as possible. He mentioned hospitals in Mexicali or Ensenada and I just nodded in agreement. There was NO WAY IN HELL I was going to check into a hospital unless it was in the USA! My wife, Cheryl, finally got enough information on my location and had caught up to me at the clinic. So she tossed me into the van, stopped to pick up our belongings where we were staying and headed for the border crossing at Los Algodones while handing me a couple of pain pills along the way. She said she was giving me the pain pills because she didn’t want to listen to me whine. So I guess the pain pills were really for her!

We made it to the border crossing about 4pm then waited in line luckily for only about an hour. About 5pm we pulled into the emergency room at the hospital in Yuma, Arizona. One look at my hand and I was pushed to the front of the line then immediately into a stall and seen by a doctor that echoed the Mexican doctors evaluation. They were not equipped to handle such a serious injury and he would begin a search to find a qualified reconstructive hand specialist. He found one in Phoenix, Arizona and told us he would make arrangements. It was now about 10pm and we figured here we go again and we would be driving the rest of the night. Since I was now under an American doctor’s care he made arrangements for a medical flight. Wow, I have never had a helicopter and a plane ride in the same day and hope never to again! But at least I was now at what should be my last stop in the conga line of clinics and hospitals.  This had been one of the longest days of my life since I had crashed at 7 am Friday morning and it was now 1 am on Saturday when I was finally admitted and placed in a hospital room to await surgery.

I spent all day Saturday, at about a level 9 on the pain scale whenever the drugs were not working at their peak, waiting for surgery. I finally made it into surgery sometime around 10 pm Saturday night. I met the doctor, Dr Schaub, before going under and was very relieved by his personality, professionalism and his bed side manor. But it had now been 27 hours since I had injured myself and I was more than ready! Sunday morning rolled around and I got paroled just before noon. Cheryl loaded me into the van one more time and headed for the barn! I have been in the recuperation and rehab mode ever since. It has taken much longer than we first thought. I had anticipated a couple of months to be back on the bike but with a couple of unexpected setbacks it has turned into a real test of my patience.

However, I am trying to remember that when I lose the race, I should not lose the lesson. I am thankful for my blessings because it was the same day at the same event that Kurt Caselli tragically lost his life.  Godspeed Kurt.

#33

“Live by choice, not by chance”