Ask Ping!
Friday, November 19, 2010 | 9:30 AM
ODI dates back to the 1980’s as the leader in grip manufacturing. Focusing primarily on the bmx and mountain bike industries through the 90’s and early 2000’s, ODI re-entered the motocross scene when they developed the patented lock-on grip system that eliminates wire and glue. Continuing to advance the way riders hold on to their bikes, ODI has worked closely with the teams they support such as Troy Lee Designs to create the product that is now being used by some of the top teams in the industry.
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PrintDear Ping:
I just read where Pastrana is going to Nascar. I think that is GREAT! It will be good for Nascar and better for Travis as I always thought he was nearing his 9th life with all the Nitro Circus stunts. Question is, how long will it take before he tries to backflip his car during a race?
George
If you ain't first, you're last. Thumbs up Ricky Bobby!
Dear George,
I don’t think Travis is going to flip his car but he will most certainly be flipped off in his car. I believe that will happen the very first time he’s on a track with some of the older, more experienced drivers. I do not doubt Travis’ abilities; he can do just about anything he puts his mind to. I just think that his stomp-on-the-throttle-and-see-what-happens technique is going to bring him face-to-face with the fencing around the track in a hurry. Of course, once he throws a big thumbs-up out the window and trots through the pits making friends with everybody he’ll be as big in that sport as he is in the motocross world. I’m stoked for him, personally. I’m just wouldn’t sit in any of the bottom rows at the exit of a corner when he’s racing.
PING
Ping,
First off I feel I need to stroke your.....ego? That seems to get me a better shot at getting a reply. I don't really need to make the mag but a response with merit would help. So, for the second damned time I will ask you....What the frick happened to Paul Carpenter? I am a NY native and have been pretty involved with the racing scene. From what I hear he has taken to re-selling mx bikes and has taken a job with the local "Town Highway Department"...I can appreciate his willingness to find a job that has great bennies and the odds of not being wrapped in plaster for 8-10 weeks a year are much better mowing the roadsides and strategically placing "Caution When Slippery" road signs. But correct me if I am wrong (and I am sure you will) he had the skills to be at least a top 5 kind of guy from what I am seeing lately. Shed some light on this will ya?
PS: Knowing your sense of humor, I would really like to break your balls and call you a ho-ho chasin’, bike breakin', washed up MX'er. But I truly enjoy your view, rants and bluntness to most if not all the stupid fu*#s that you reply to. You're a class act, you have made a mark within the industry and traveling with a pretty fast New Yorker by the name of Bruce Stratton (shameless plug) to the nationals for many summers I can appreciate what you have accomplished on the track in your career. Well done, shorty! Don't tear me up too bad for spelling, punctuation and whatever else you can find or I am gonna swipe a finger full of pooh across your stethoscope or whatever else that you will be carrying in your fag bag when you become a ....what is it you're gonna be again? A nurse?
Take care buddy and hope to hear from you shitbird.
Wow. Thanks for the passive/aggressive mind-humping there. One minute you are calling me a wuss that needs written hugs to get through the day, then you compliment me and then you sign off with an insult and some name-calling. I’m not sure what to think so I’m just going to answer your question. And don’t think that the reason I answered this email is because you "stroked my ego," because I engage in a pretty aggressive daily affirmation program, ala Stewart Smalley, which takes care of those needs.
Paul Carpenter made a good run at it. He was talented, fast and a genuinely nice guy. But this sport doesn’t pay you for any of those things. He was one of the top privateer riders his last few seasons but by the time you pay for all the travel, entries, bikes, parts, etc. you pretty much blow through that massive wad of purse money you earned (last part said with heavy sarcasm and an eye-roll). There are only a handful of rides available and if, for one reason or another, you don’t get one then it’s difficult to continue. Paul made a tough decision that you are going to be seeing more and more riders make in the next few years: He moved on. You can only chase the dream so long and if you can’t make ends meet or the fire goes out it is time to do something else. I’m not sure what he’s doing now but from your description he is working for the local government’s highway department. For a guy who spent his whole young life on the road there is probably something nice about just putting some roots down and working 9 to 5 like the rest of the world. I hope Paul’s happy and doing well.
Thanks for the letter, pal, and now go screw yourself. (I’m kidding?)
PING
Ping,
How much free time do you have on your hands to come up with all of these random pictures and what do you search in Google? I mean, how bored were you and what were you searching when you found the Pillsbury Doughboy picture from last week?
Marcus #83
Dear Marcus,
PING
Got a question for Ping? Email him at [email protected]. Want to buy his awesome DVD and become a better rider? Check out www.motocross101.com.
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Pastrana will bring some excitment to Nascar. But I would think with the commitment involved and the money it takes to get into that sport and be compettitive, I hope he takes it very seriously. He will not go out there and win easily. I think he has the skills it takes to race, lets just hope he has some luck too. It seems to take alot of that to win at that sport sometimes.
As a Central NY resident I followed Paul Carpenter pretty close, he had a pretty decent career if you ask me. Winning in Canada might not be winning in the USA, but being a National Champ in any country is impressive IMHO... Maybe he just had enough as Ping said, and enjoys his 9-5.... ... ...The REAL District 6 great disappearing act was from a talented kid named John Schneider .... if anyone could tell me what happened to that kid, that would be a miracle....super talented kid that turned pro and disappeared....
Does anyone know? ......Seriously since I brought it up does anyone remember a kid named John Schneider? He was a kid I saw often at Englcrapown, Hurricane Hills, Broome Tioga and other "District 6" tracks... He had one of the most impressive 125cc rides I ever saw in the pro qualifiers at Broome-Tioga one year at the Nats as a 16 year old... I believe he rode for RRP at the time ....He would probably be in his early 30s today... But the kid was national level talent as a teen, and then nothing... There has always been speculation that he got hurt, but no one has ever been able to answer the questions....
"Paul Carpenter made a good run at it. He was talented, fast and a genuinely nice guy. But this sport doesn’t pay you for any of those things."...... what about Nick Wey?
John Schneider? Didn't he play Bo Duke in the Dukes of Ha**ard? I think he sings country music now.
I predict Travis will indeed do a backflip in his stock car, the same way us mere mortals have done a backflip, no-footer, or nac-nac on our motorcycles.......BY ACCIDENT!!
why did my 2 z's get turned into *'s?
Don't hate on Nick Wey. Yes he is a good guy, funny, great rider. Will he win a championship? No, but in case you hav'nt noticed the economy. The teams have decided to put quality guys out there that are consistant and keep there bikes out racing, and stay with in thier budget. Those who did'nt get the memo are out of a job. ( Reed, and the to crafty frenchmen among others)
I too would like to know what happened to John Schneider. I was a LOT of the races he used to be at and he was a cool kid. He was always faster than me and a few years younger, so thankfully I never had to race him, lol. But we'd hangout in the pits sometimes and he taught me how to prejump the gnarly lip that always formed at the top of gravity cavity at unadilla amateur days. I"ve always wondered what happened to him.
@pcwrench. I wasn't hating on Nick Wey. Merely stating a racer can indeed make a living having some attributes and not possessing others. He's a marketing machine. A good one without making it so obnoxious ala Andrew Short and his vids of riding a bike, trying on sponsor clothes. going to the mall, clipping his toenails, a tweet about his blog about the new Facebook....
for those of you looking for john schneider, found this in a forum from 5/15/09 on Vital Mx's site..."Schneider was riding at a track behind this dudes house down in Estell Manor with Charles Sherby a couple of months ago". Hope that helps...couldn't find anything else..
Was nt John schneider an old actor from dukes of ha**ard? LOL! I agree with yamalink, ping said being nice, funny and fast does nt cut it? Wey is that dude! He s fast guess not fast enough for ti-lube to resign him LOL!
@yamalink: What is so obnoxious about Andrew Short? I'm sure you've exaggerated his web exploits a bit, but more importantly, you don't have to see ANY of them unless you purposely go to his site. So don't go! Personally, I'm kind of busy for all that, so I stick to the MX "news," and he comes off quite well there, IMO. We should all be so "obnoxious." On the subject of Paul Carpenter, how old is he? Seems like he's been around for awhile. Like Ping said, he gave it a good run. As a NYer myself, I always pulled for him to do well.
Well said, sef...
Ping, time for a request to the think tank for some John Schneider photos. Since this as good a place to ask as any.....RacerX has no mention of Eyvind Boyesen's passing?
BKR, you are truly the bearer of sad news. I suggest a moment of silence, followed by a loud BURRAAPP! for the man who pretty much invented the powerband. RIP, Eyvind.
Turner97 - - - Thanks... it's at least good to know the kid is still alive if that info is true.... It was always so strange the way the kid vanished. His family was big time into it, they had their own custom van with his logos etc... so it was not about money running out while trying to make it. He went from top ranked amateur to one of the top young pros to watch, to....nothing.... and not for any reason I've still learned today... It was not like he tried and could not cut it.... I can recall his first pro Nat at Broome, in the 125cc qualifier he fell in the first turn, and then proceeded to put in one of the most amazing rides I've seen to this day to come from behind... here was this rookie smoking every local pro trying to make the big show... it was one of those rides that people who saw it still talk about...