Ask Ping!
Friday, April 6, 2012 | 9:25 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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PrintPing,
Watching the Houston SX tonight I couldn't believe how poorly Barcia handled himself. Obviously I can't imagine how bad it sucks to have a SX win snatched away like that, but you would've thought he was a little baby who had his bottle taken away. I know these guys have big money contracts but could you imagine acting like that much of a dick at work and not getting fired? We always hear how the pro circuit program helps groom these kids into respectable young men. Has FC Honda consciously taken the opposite approach by showing you can win even with disrespectful punks sporting porn staches? Or is it just an unfortunate coincidence that Larocco has two kids in his camp that, without the advent of motocross, would have likely attended their respective towns alternative centers prior to dropping out and likely make no otherwise useful contribution to society?
Here come the waterworks
I read interviews from both riders this week and watched the footage a few times trying to get a sense of what happened on that last lap in Houston. Vincent was still racing for a top ten with Kyle Peters when Barcia came up behind him. Moments like this test a rider’s race craft and Barcia screwed this one up. He had a huge lead on Roczen and could have followed Vincent and Peters to the finish line with plenty of room to spare on Roczen. When he pushed his way past he crossed lines up on Vincent and took him out, tangling their bikes up in the process. The way Justin acted during the five minutes following that incident was embarrassing. He roosted Roczen after the finish and then blasted Dr. Bodnar and Eddie Casillas from the Asterisk crew during his expletive-filled rant where Vincent was being assessed. His behavior was inexcusable.
I understand why he was upset. There are a lot of hours, heart and soul that go into a season like he’s having. It can be difficult to control your emotions when you’re heart rate is maxed out and you have adrenaline and testosterone pumping through your veins like raw sewage through the Mexico City Public Water System. But part of being a professional is reigning yourself in when you want to run your bike full throttle into a wall and punch the first person you see. Justin seemed sincerely remorseful after the fact so hopefully he learned from this.
You make a joke about Justin being a baby but the bottom line is that these are just kids we are watching. Most of these 250 riders can’t walk into a bar and order a drink that doesn’t have a cherry in it. We need to remember that they are learning as they go with thousands of eyes and cameras on them the whole time. I like to piss and moan about things a lot but in the case of these younger guys lets just remember what jackasses we were when we were their age. How would you have done with a camera in your face 24/7?
PING
Hey Ping,
After just watching another awesome Supercross from Houston and a little interview with Blake Baggett, I noticed quite a resemblance between BB and the Banjo Boy from Deliverance. I did a little research but no DNA testing.
Is it just me? Maybe I just hit my head one to many times comin up short on that triple? Please help shed some light on this. I don't mean any disrespect whatsoever to such a talented rider. If Blake's banjo skills are anywhere close to his riding skills he has something to fall back on after his racing days are done
Marc T
156
Dear Marc,
I can’t imagine Blake would feel disrespected by you comparing his physical appearance to the inbred and mentally retarded banjo-playing boy from Deliverance. What’s to get upset about? Still, at first glance there are a couple similarities. If you squint it almost looks like Banjo Boy’s face is dirty from just finishing up a national moto. I’ll check Blake’s locker for banjo strings. In the meantime, the next time he finishes in the top three run over to the podium and see if you can get him to squeal like a pig.
PING
Mr. Ping,
I just picked up an old dirt bike for my grandson (his first one). It's an old yellow one with the off road tires. As you can probably tell, I don't know a lot about dirt bikes and motorcross so I need advice. I have an old friend that gave us some of his old leathers and gear so my grandson will be safe when doing "pop-a-wheelies" and stuff. Nice guy with a lot of trophies from racing in the 70's and 80's. But the one thing he didn't give us was a jockstrap and cup to protect, well, you know... the "family legacy.” I remember back to my childhood days sometimes my feet would slip off the pedals of my banana bike, mostly on rainy days, and the only thing keeping my knees from scraping the ground was the nutcracker metal crossbar of the frame. It still hurts thinking about it. Now, I know that dirt bikes don't have that kind of frame but I want to keep my grandson safe. I say he should keep, well, you know… the family legacy safe, he said he just wants to ride "freestyle.” His father, my son, thinks were both nuts. What do you recommend? It's in your hands.
Sincerely, J. Holmes
Definitely wear a cup playing soccer
Thanks for coming here for a little motocross guidance, old-timer. In case you didn’t catch that it’s motocross with only one “R”. Step one to getting involved in this fantastic sport is getting a good bike and the yellow ones with off-road tires are terrific. Well done, grandpa. If I know you, and I think I do, I’ll bet you haggled him down to a fraction of his asking price. I love hearing the stories of the good old days back in nineteen o’ nine when you and Betty Lou rode your banana bikes around and then went and watched a “talkie” where you bought her a soda and tried to get to second base during the show. Great stuff. You’ll have to share more some other time. Anyway, let’s see if we can clear up some of your protective gear confusion. In motocross we seem to ignore protection for our wedding tackle. I don’t know why, to be honest, but the twig and berries aren’t even considered despite the fact that rocks and dirt are constantly being hurled in their general direction. Start with a helmet, chest protector, pants, jersey, gloves goggles and boots. If your social security check is coming in on time maybe even pop for a neck brace. Now, about this freestyle business…just so you know, that sport has very little to do with motocross. Yes, they ride motocross bikes but that’s about where the similarities end. Try to imagine the way hockey players think of ice dancers: Sure, they’re both on skates but the outfits and showmanship counts more than kicking ass and scoring goals. Do little Skippy a favor and steer him towards a track instead of a dirt ramp if you can. Welcome to the sport, J. Holmes. Hopefully I’ll run into your grandson and his new yellow bike at a track sometime.
PING
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That might be the problem with Barcia.He might have a little to much testosterone pumping through his veins.Maybe the ama should test him for that.He seems to have the classic signs of roid rage.Real high temper tantrum and then emotional crying are sure signs of that.
I don't think that Ping caught the connection of J Holmes and protecting the family jewels.John Holmes the big 70's pornstar .Thats where Barcia got his inspiration to grow that nutduster that he's running.
"You make a joke about Justin being a baby but the bottom line is that these are just kids we are watching. Most of these 250 riders can’t walk into a bar and order a drink that doesn’t have a cherry in it."
Great stuff. Perfect example of why I love your column, Ping.
Hahahaha!!! That Mark T guy hit the nail on the head.That was funny stuff.
Freestyler/ice dancer reference is spot on. Think about it.....they dress up and decorate them selves to appeal to the audience, then they do "tricks" to win the approval of judges! All we need now if for some free-styler to pull a TRIPLE-SOW-COW on a mx bike!! lol
J. Holmes, Thats good ! Handlebar dragger, that was some funny stuff too dude. Anyone remember the tanks on early TM/RM's the steel ones. I'd come off the track with a new dent in the top of those every once in a while, but never felt it. It was weird and I wasn't alone. We'd wonder about that Bench Racing sometimes. I think the early CR's were even worse. Testosterone must be a mental block or something, Good read Ping!
"Vincent was still racing for a top ten with Kyle Peters when Barcia came up behind him. Moments like this test a rider’s race craft and Barcia screwed this one up. He had a huge lead on Roczen and could have followed Vincent and Peters to the finish line with plenty of room to spare on Roczen. When he pushed his way past he crossed lines up on Vincent and took him out, tangling their bikes up in the process. The way Justin acted during the five minutes following that incident was embarrassing. He roosted Roczen after the finish and then blasted Dr. Bodnar and Eddie Casillas from the Asterisk crew during his expletive-filled rant where Vincent was being assessed. His behavior was inexcusable."
. Thats how I see it too. Glad to see You say it Ping!!
"testosterone pumping through your veins like raw sewage through the Mexico City Public Water System."
.LMFAO!!!
Fred beat me to it. I think Ping missed the J. Holmes connection too. He got the wool pulled over his eyes. In Montana, they call that 'date night'.
Ping,
Barcia acted exceptionally unprofessional. To make excuses for him using the bar analogy gives is BS. There are NO excuses for his actions after the crash. Why did you try to temper it with the paragraph about "I understand why?" Barcia is lucky that Roczen and the rest he sprayed didn't have him arrested for battery. Didn't you train to be a paramedic or something like that? How would you take being attacked while you were trying to help someone?
While i can muster up some sympathy for barcia, i will say that i did a lot of dumbass shit when i was his age, but luckily for me, i wasn't famous and didn't have cameras on me 24/7. For now barcia should just let his riding do the talking and let some time pass. i still think he's a great rider and can't what to see him move up to the 450s next year.
has nothing to do with age ... I saw Mike Kiedrowski ...ghost his bike into the Back of ..Mike Larocco , and they were both adults , saw Rc cry , before ,as well , Its adrenaline from racing ... It can happen at any age
Barcia acted unprofessional blah, blah, blah, who cares.
Most racers are so boring, so homogenous, and so insipid, that watching and listening puts me in a catatonic state in a few seconds.
Barcia hates to lose and let the world know it. I say great.
some of you guys need to find a new sport to watch ,... Like chess or tiara toddlers , quit your wining people, its adrenaline charged racing .. If you cant stand the Heat ...well you know .. geeesh
Good point Ping. Back when I was racing I raced with Mickey Dymond and although his riding maturity was way ahead of his age he was just a little boy that was expected to act like an adult. Although I was hard on Barcia in previous post, he just needs a chance to grow up. This is not a slam on Barcia it is just a fact. Justin if you read these post I am sorry for my comments.
IMO Baggett looks just like Mr.Macky of South Park.MMMMKKAAAYYYY?
Yes! Barcia acted irrational and a little childish. He displayed some bad sportsmanship as well. However, no one seems to want to give him credit for taking responsibility for it. He did apologize when he was being interviewed by Erin right after the race and admitted he was wrong and seemed a little upset with his own behavior. According to other articles he also praised the Asterisk folks for taking good care of the riders and apologized to them for his behavior as well. From what I saw he seemed very sincere about it. He was also fined $5000 bucks. Hopefully he and Vincent patched things up as well. For all the haters though..... that is just not enough. Someone on here called for his pro license to be pulled. REALLY! I'm sure all the people on here calling for his head have never lost their cool before....ever. It happened, he apologized and took responsibility for his outburst. What else needs to be said. I wonder were people calling for Bob Hannah and Kent Howerton to be stripped of their pro licenses when they were running into each other on purpose back in the day. Hell No! That just made the racing more exciting to watch.
You can find much worse behavior in other major sports like football, basketball & hockey where fist fights and brawls happen on a fairly regular basis in comparison. And, by much older, mature and higher paid athletes.
Get over it people!
I'll tell you one thing. If Barcia would of been injured or could not continue to race and lost 25 points because of it. We would of been all over the lapper. Your being lapped get the ef out of the way. You want to train harder and take more chances like the front runners then you can challenge them. Until then I don't want to hear about racing for 12th place.
It's interesting to read the Barcia opinions, slammin', understanding, etc, etc.
But I'm curious why he wasn't at least placed on probation until the end of the season? He has obviously done this temper tantrum before and I'm sure the $5000 fine doesn't mean much to him. Or how about taking Houston's race points away? Bar-banging is one thing, interferring with the medics is something else.
And yes, he does seem remorseful for his actions, but I think his future actions on the track will speak louder than his words. Yes, he is still a kid, but kids need consquences for their actions.
the "family legacy"..."It's in your hands". Sincerely, J. Holmes.
I don’t think Ping wants that responsibility!
@Motomickey Anyone that even talks about having a racer arrested at a motocross race should be hung on site and their family should be banned for life!! I have seen that happen before and it was the most pathetic thing I have ever witnessed at the track. Let me guess, your a lawyer! Mickey I think you might have a better time at Disneyland.These people who come to a race and somebody puts a hard pass on them and they want to have them arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, make me want to puke!!
Excuse me for noticeing, but it appears the difference between Ping and Handlebardragger is ping, by his own addmission, has "a stick and berries" while the handleberdragger is worried abount pinchin' his in his knee brace!!! lol Hate to say it Ping, but he's got ya on this one. Stick-and-berries? a new one to me. Hope your wife is the "outdoors" type.
@ BillC - you're one funny guy. Glad to see you agree with anyone that agrees with you. lol
Motomickey must live in a fantasy at Disneyland.
Handlebardragger needs change his handle to J Holmes if he is concerned about getting his wedding tackle tangled in his knee braces.
About this Barcia thing - since none us on this thread influence what the AMA does, or does not, do to him (or any other rider), can we PLEASE let this go now. The haters have hated, the fans have cut slack, and the wanna be lawyers have argued for legal action. The horse is officially dead.
To quote Carlsbad - "Party's over folks, nothing to see here, move along."
@ everyone! I just logged on to check for update @motomikey or what ever you are maybe you should take up knitting NO that has shart points, try puzzles but you might swallow them? Have you ever raced or do you just do it on the net? In case you dont understand this is a very violent sport maybe you should not try to understand it. WE are not riding Vespas here , although there is nothing wrong with Vespa's. gee can I call you an idiot here???? Hope I dont get bumped of Racer X??
Back in '76 when I started racing I wore a cup all the time. Six inches of travel will do that to you. A year or two later I figured I didnt need it anymore. HA! As it turns out I developed a unique riding style that put my tender bits into very precarious positions. I never realized how hard my cup had been working! Thats one moto I remember to this day!
Forget Barcia, anyone remember Windham killing DV! Pretty sure that one knocked out the internet for a few days! Now THAT was a take out!!
@ CR400AF iif you are as old as you say you are and raced up in Dist 22,17 and 18 you should know me? I used to work ad B & J Cycles in Keokuk Iowa and IOWA is the acronym for -Idiots Out Wandering Around- No offence meant but I have met them all. With all due respect ther were a lot of good people in Iowa and diist 22 was alway tough.Iowa City M/c put on some good races as did Tipton. Burlinton had the first Supercrosses or arenacros's that I can remember and the Bulintion Valley Duster put on some really tough Cross Country's Did yo race in the ice cross country in 74?
Barcia was leading and in front off the lapper . He has EVERY right to use the ENTIRE TRACK from one tuff block to the other at any speed he choses ...its the lappers "responsibility" to use caution.. Period. what he did after is wore out discussion wise. @cr500af I see you figured out billc's path of least resistance.
@xxktm - was racing my brothers 400 Maico one weekend back in '79 and pulled the holeshot (I was 16 and all of 140 lbs). I got rammed from behind in the first corner by someone that had no prayer of making the first corner and I hit the tank so hard I dented the tank. Wished I had a cup that day.
@welker - We probably didn't cross paths as I was a transplant to the midwest and lived in KC from '94 - '06. Raced a little MX in and around eastern KS, southern IA (Lamoni), and western MO. Really enjoyed the ARMHA track in Moberly. Also raced some hare scrambles in the area occasionally.
@BILLC, I noticed on you ONLY posted the part you agreed with, what about the part when Ping said he was just a kid and lets not forget that, and how he had his heart and soul going into the season and all that.. How come you didnt copy that?? We all know why, "YOu hate Barcia"" You are as big a child as Barcia sometimes. And you hated people who used to do those same things when you were Stewarts mouthpiece, defending all thing s Stewart.. Hypocrite..
And dont deny it, you defended Stewart everytime, NO MATTER WHAT..
stand by for the BillC onslought... lol
I never had one of the old Suzuki TMs but can remember that almost all of them had nut dents in the aluminum gas tanks! Those bikes should have had a disclaimer telling you to always wear a helmet and a CUP at all times. Those old TMs didn't handle too well back then.
well done Mr. Pingree. It was quite refreshing reading this week, and not seeing a response from you with a smart- a undertone, or insult for that matter. I really enjoy all your contributions to mx/sx, but it does get to be annoying when you gotta go all "smart- a" and give back some kind of sarcastic response. Again, very nice change, and was alot more enjoyable to read! Sure would be nice to see a pattern develop here...
Well, well, well.
I seem to remember a lot of these Barcia worshippers on previous threads telling us how Barcia wasn't a crybaby - how he could dish it out as well as he takes it, blah, blah, blah. Even Ping himself points out that the crash was Barcia's fault, and there was no excuse for his little b*tch temper tantrum afterwards.
Another punk-*ss display from Barcia, just like in Bercy. So Barcia fans need to shut their mouths about Barcia's behaviour on and off the track. Class dismissed.
TWK1...Its ONLY a freaking race, not war, a race nothing else. Obviously you don't seem to understand that. Assaulting a medic, or anyone at a track is unacceptable, just as in attack/pass etc that is meant to injure anyone else. Like anyone who has raced for more than a few years than they haven't, I have had my fair share of bumps and bruises with other riders, and those things take care of them selves on the track, not at the risk of others off the track. When it comes to throwing blows - no where is motocross racing cage fighting. As far as hung on site, really? That's a real healthy outlook on life? The sport is dangerous enough as it is, we don't need idiots with out of control tempers making it worse. How many hours have you spent in ER in last year or so with friends/relatives/yourself due to crashing in just a regular race? Let the racing speak for itself, off the track BS is just that.
@motomickey I think what Barcia did after the flag was wrong, he should have been DQ'd. Anyone who thinks that calling the police and having a racer arrested for assault at a motocross race is in the wrong sport! Thats you! You might try checkers or something even safer like spelling bees. How anyone that has raced motocross could think calling the police over a hard pass or as you call it a attack/pass is not welcome at any track. The roost that Barcia did to the Dr. and Vincent did nothing but get the Dr. shoes dirty, still wrong but nothing at a motocross race warrents calling the Police. Please go away, SX/MX doesn't need people like you.
TWK1 you need to get back into your homeschool class. I commented on the events after the race, not during it. Nor did I write "call the police and have Barcia arrested" I wrote he was lucky he wasn't arested (been to a race lately at a stadium? They have police and security already there) Learn to read. As for going away, been racing mx for 30 plus years, I ain't stopping until I can't ride, you on the other hand, if it bothers you so much...your problem not mine.......
@ motomickey I should go back to home school! arested!! you are clueless. Anyone who thinks solving a racing incident by getting the police involved at a motocross race is not welcome, and I can assure you that everyone on this site feels the same way. pass/attack Are you kidding me! Go away, your not wanted here. Disneyland is a perfect place for someone named M I C K E Y....
Nut dented, TM's & RM's (the TM was a 400 btw) but never considered a cup, cant imagine riding w. that pup. Also made a ass of myself big time once at chicken Lic's. RM250C2 had the 57th catastrophic failure while leading a 2nd moto. I lost it in front of I dunno how many, threw it down, kicked picked it up threw it down, the whole schmel, ran over my gas can and tool box leaving in my truck as well, didnt even tiedown the POS, threw her in jumped in the dodge, and fkd up even more stuff :).
@motomickey STFU man, you are on a track full of dirt and you get sprayed with a little dirt oh man lets sue somebody! if he did a burn out on his leg i might agree with you but what you are crying about is comparable to being in a swimming pool and getting mad because you got splashed with water , i got roosted several times at the track today on diferent occasions I guess i should have called the cops right? go watch sychronized swimming