Whitmore. What’s in a name? Like most people I am proud of my family and our name, and I have always liked it. But you would be surprised how many different nicknames you can get from a last name and how easy a target I have been most of my life.

It started when I was younger and people would call me “WHITEmore.” At first I think people just mispronounced it, but now I think they say it because of my non-interest in tanning. Besides the one man who likes to call me “witless” most everyone else just puts any old word in front of the word “more” and voila, instant nickname for me. I have heard Wantmore, Getmore, Winmore (my personal favorite) and most recently Skidmore. They don’t even really have to make sense.

Then there’s the game that kids play where they switch around the first letters of your first and last names, go ahead and try it, it’s pretty funny. Unless you’re me and your name is Warah Shitmore! Almost every brand I have ever ridden for has threatened to make that misprint on my jerseys.

Speaking of jerseys, they haven’t always been my friend either. A long time ago before I was cool enough to have pre-printed name and numbers on my jersey, I had every letter ironed on separately. As they sometimes do, the letters started coming off one at a time every time it went through the dryer. One jersey in particular lost the W, O and the R leaving only H, I, T, M, and E. Hit me, that’s just what you want on your back when you are racing!

This year though I made a new discovery about my name with the help of my Leatt brace. I never noticed it before because I always wore a chest protector, but when I raced my first GP this year they wouldn’t let me wear it over my jersey, but underneath. After the race I was looking at pictures and saw one of me jumping from behind. My eyes immediately went to my name. The I, T, and M were being covered by my brace, leaving W H on one side and O R E on the other! Now, this is only funny because it’s not true. Besides, it’s important to have a sense of humor about yourself, and nobody makes fun of me better than I do. I think it’s so funny that I wanted to share it with everyone; maybe I just like being teased?

Even after all of the trouble it has given me I still love my name and wouldn’t change it for anything…Well, except to that of the lucky man who gets to marry me someday. I’m just hoping that whoever he is he has an easier name, like maybe Emig or Depp… Hahaha, okay, I am really hoping here!

Happy Halloween! Now I know I am too old for Halloween, though I really don’t think its fair, just because you get older doesn’t mean you don’t like free candy. And dressing up is always fun. Of course I always liked dressing others up more than myself. When I was younger I would always dress my little brother up in my dresses, I so badly wanted a little sister. Now that he is older and capable of kicking my butt I had to find a new victim to torture.

Now it’s my poor dogs turn. Last year Frankie sported a nice set of wings and greeted trick or treaters as a fairy. The year before he had a little puppy gi and went as a karate dog. This year I had to do something to top it. I guess I got my inspiration from everyone who ever meets Frankie for the first time. With his large stature and black and white markings everyone says he looks more like a cow than a dog.

So I figured just give him some udders, horns and a cowbell, throw on some boots and a hat and we will make a great pair, easy as that. Hahahahaha! Not so much! Its not easy getting a dog that size to do anything he doesn’t want to, and he really freaked out when I was trying to figure out how to attach the udders (eventually tying the blown up rubber glove to a string and wrapping it around him. I refused to tape or staple it like my brothers suggested). After much excitement and some doggy treats I finally got him to settle down and pose for a few pictures. His horns didn’t really want to stay on and his udders were flapping but I think you get the idea.

 And yes I realize I am strange and that during the off season I have way too much time on my hands. It’s funny during the season when I live out of a suitcase for months I can’t wait to come home and relax for a few weeks. But after a couple of weeks I am ready to go on my next adventure. And I am pretty sure poor Frankie is ready for me to leave too.

Happy Halloween!

As a racer, racing isn’t my only job description. It would be nice if all I had to do was ride and train all day but there is more to it, especially this time of year when most of my time is spent trying to line up sponsors for the next season. Other duties include media appearances, always smiling and talking to fans and of course obligations to sponsors like photo shoots, autograph sessions, and dealer shows. For the most part I enjoy every aspect of my job (except for maybe sponsor hunting); in no way will I ever reach a point where I am too good for all the other stuff. I think it’s all so neat to be a part of.

With that said there are some things that are less neat than others. It’s obvious that I am new to the KTM family because when I was recently invited to the KTM dealer show at RedBud I thought this might be one of the less neat parts of my job. All I heard ahead of time was I had to stamp peoples tickets while they got to ride one of my favorite tracks. Didn’t exactly sound like my idea of fun, but boy was I wrong!

The first day before the dealers showed up we got to ride and break in all of the bikes. Flying in the night before from a GP in Holland, I missed the 9:00 a.m. riders meeting where they specified that the moto bikes were supposed to stay on the moto track and the trail bikes on the grass track. Right off I unknowingly broke the rules when I jumped on a cross country 530 and took it on the moto track, doubling Larocco’s Leap on the first lap. I quickly realized it wasn’t built for that kind of riding, but with Ronnie Renner trash talking before we went out, telling me one of his new goals in life was to take me out then turn back around and yell at me to go back to the pits and make him a sandwich, I couldn’t just pull off. (Don’t worry ladies; this is just a long running joke. Ronnie is actually a huge fan of women racers, and since he is so petite he is often mistaken for one.)

That night I roomed with my long-time friend and the woman in charge of the event, Christy LaCurelle, as well as KTM’s other female rider, four time WORCS champion Maria Forsberg. Trying to be funny we tried prank calling one of the riders rooms pretending I was the front desk inquiring about an adult film that was charged to his room. The joke was on me though when instead of connecting me to my friend they connected me to KTM’s sales manager! The next day I was creeped out when an older man asked me to watch a movie with him, and then mortified when I realized it was the same guy from the phone. Luckily Mr. Bright has a much better sense of humor when he is awake than in the middle of the night.

The main day our instructions were as said before: stand at the entrance of the track and stamp each dealers card. They wanted everyone to have an equal chance to ride every bike there. Also working the same station as me was Mike Brown, Justin Brayton, Ronnie Renner, Mat Rebeaud and Maria. It only took about a half an hour for everyones A.D.D. to kick in and we got bored. That’s when Ronnie announced “wheelie power hour” and after stamping their cards we told them they had to do a wheelie out of the gate. Watching them almost loop out kept us entertained and somehow a kiss from one of the girls was offered as the award for the winner. We all got a good laugh when Mat with his adorable accent pronounced it “wiener.” My second awkward moment of the day came while explaining to one man that if he rode the best wheelie he’d be the “wiener” of a kiss from Maria or I and he shook his head no and said, “I’d rather have one from him,” while looking at Mike Brown… Awkward. I guess when straight men want to kiss you, that’s when you know you have reached ultimate stardom.  

With so many athletes, not just motocrossers but off-roaders as well, and we were all dying to get on the track for the FMF/KTM dealershow team race. Each pro rider was paired up with four dealers/KTM employees. The bikes were picked on a first come first serve basis and when nothing was left but the 150 two stroke (I have forgotten how to ride two strokes) I was glad that the President of KTM, Jon-Erik, was on our team. Magically our bike of choice, a 250 SXF, was available. Because of my competitiveness though my enthusiasm soon faded when I remembered that the first time Jon-Erik ever heard of me was when I passed him years ago at a track in Michigan, I was on an 80cc.

The race started off dead engine, and the person starting had to take off their right boot and put it in a pile on the first straightaway. They then had to race to their boots, put it on run back to their bike and take off. After one lap they had to switch off, only first they had to switch off a pair of boxer shorts they had on over their gear. Each rider does one lap. First team to complete five laps is the “wiener.” Jon-Erik being a runner was nominated to start (plus I didn’t want to get my socks dirty). After cutting the middle out of our boxer’s making them more like a boxer skirt (no one here was against cheating, I think it was actually encouraged), we were ready to win!

Continue on to part 2.

Continued from "KTM Dealer Day Part 1"

Now, I always thought I was too competitive, but I soon realized why Mike Brown is a champion; he will do anything to win! Excited that Jon-Erik and his runners legs were first to the boots, Mike pushed him over when he got there, making it back to his bike first. Well the race was pretty much over then, on top of cheating by being better than everyone else, he then performed the fastest pit stops in the history of team races! After his turn he stood in “pit lane” and when one guy would come in he would rip the boxers off his team mate and then let the next guy step into them while he pulled them up. I half expected him to pick the guy up and put him on the bike. I stood in awe at his determination to win, and was happy I never had to line up next to this guy. My own team didn’t do so bad, 5th out of 13 teams. Considering the amount of talent that was on the other teams I would almost be happy with it, except KTM’s factory quad rider Adam McGill, who I had been picking on for the last two days, who doesn’t even know how to ride without training wheels, beat us finishing second! My fingers are now burning, after having to type that awful confession.

Possibly even more embarrassing to admit is Maria and I made our way down to the quad track and actually spun a few laps on them. I have never ridden a race quad before and other than a small triumph of doing a 20 foot long double, I felt compelled to thank my father. I thanked him for buying me a dirt bike all those years ago and not a quad. If it had been the other way around I am pretty sure I would have quit a week later and would now be a teacher somewhere with a lot fewer scars on my body.

Feeling I had to redeem myself I next went to the street bike course where I got to ride a Super Duke. Although I have had my license since I was 17, I don’t get to ride street much – not because I don’t love it though. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I think it has to be one of the most freeing feelings there is (besides skydiving). When I retire I imagine I will do a lot more of it, and can even picture myself at 60, my husband and I all decked out in leather, him on the back, my long braids blowing in his face…

Okay back to reality. By the end of the day I had ridden just about every bike KTM offers. At the top of the list were the Super Duke and the 450. There’s just something nice about not having to shift or even use the clutch. The only thing left was the 50cc race. Unfortunately I got stuck with a bike right after a 300 pound guy who can’t even set his own alarm rode it. These bikes are rockets with little kids on them, but my career was short lived when the clutch overheated, due to the prior trauma of a heavy load. Again quad guy tried taking the credit for his victory over me, but since I was in second when my bike quit and he was in second to last I let him think what he wanted.

The day ended with Mat and Ronnie putting on a freestyle show during dinner and then a live band. Before I knew it Ronnie and Jon-Erik were up there singing with the band.

I have ridden for a couple other companies and I have never even attended a dealer show before nor have I known the president of any other company to be so much fun or have such a great voice. We were told we weren’t allowed to take pictures or video, but he never told me I couldn’t blog about it, so I think I’m safe. Surprisingly, Ronnie, on top of just being entertaining, can sing as well. The only downfall was when I somehow got pulled up on stage during a Beastie Boys song. I might be multi-talented but singing is not one of those talents.

Being that we were at RedBud, the night ended with an elaborate fireworks show. I felt sorry for the neighbors but it was worth it for the good time that everyone was having. I have to admit I didn’t expect to have so much fun, but like I said, I am new to KTM. So if you own a dealership, or want to own a dealership I would suggest selling KTMs. If the great bikes, and the amazing people at KTM aren’t enough reason, then being able to attend this dealer show every year should be.  So hurry up, and I will see you there next year, ready to take revenge on the 50cc race.