Mudder's Day

I haven't gone to a GNCC in two months. I used to fly to them the morning after supercross races, but now I'm 30 and you know, I need more sleep. Maybe I've gone all big time and sold out, or maybe I'm smart enough to know showing up for a few hours on Sunday afternoon isn't really helping anyone.

But I was back at it this weekend in Ohio, and after great weather on Saturday for the ATV race, it rained and rained and rained on Sunday. It was really bad. It wasn't quite the worst I've ever seen, but it was close, and the whole day was almost comical. I've never seen the riders laughing so much before a race. The GNCCers are all well-versed in the "you have to pretend you enjoy it to do well" mantra, and they were all flexing their acting skills. It kind of reminded me of why these races are still cool, because everyone was so relaxed. The GNCC guys don't live in the vacuum like the motocross guys do, so they don't have to worry about every word getting disected and destroyed by fans on the internet and at the events.

Anyway, two controversies hit the pits, and both seemed to confuse everyone a little more, because they're not used to this stuff. First, David Knight writes a column in Cycle News, and in his latest one, he said he was tired of everyone telling him how fast Charlie Mullins is going to be this year, and how Charlie is going to be his main challenger. Knight said he thinks Mullins is actually slower this year, and he thinks the other Suzuki riders will actually be just as good as Mullins in technical races (by the way, in the mudder on Sunday, Mullins smoked a clutch and failed to finish, while the rest of the Suzuki boys went 1-2-3). The last GNCC Racer to host a column in a major U.S. pub was Shane Watts back in his Racer X days, and Watts was pretty good at tearing the guys up. But that was a long time ago, now, so Knight's comments swept through the pits pretty hard.

Second, the race in the mud came down to a controversial finish. Suzuki's Josh Strang led a lot of the race and had a big lead on the last lap. The Australian is only 20-years-old, and he's really figuring this game out after finishing second at the last two races. Now he was a headed for a win, until all of a sudden his teammate Paul Whibley came through the finish ahead of him! Strang wasn't sure where Whibs passed him, and Whibs wasn't sure where he passed Strang. Strang was pissed, but he couldn't really say anything or do anything about it, since Whibley is his teammate.

So both stories will go quietly into history. Knight will write another column, and Strang and Whibley will race another race. And that's all that will happen, because luckily these boys still get to have fun with the races. If something like this happened in Supercross, we'd still be talking about it next year.

fitness

Yesterdays gncc was old school. It was just an old fashioned battle of who trained harder and who could dig deepest. Three hours on sand is bad, and its made even worse when the parts that aren't whooped out are covered in these giant palmettos that feel like riding on conrete blocks. I didn't realize how bad it would be until david knight rolled into the finish with a giant lead. I figured he was cruising to the finish. But the guy was exhausted. Just spent. He told me the problem was that if you went too slow the track was actually harder, so he had to keep pushing. Then I knew the rest of the guys would be in trouble. Sure enough jimmy

fitness

Yesterdays gncc was old school. It was just an old fashioned battle of who trained harder and who could dig deepest. Three hours on sand is bad, and its made even worse when the parts that aren't whooped out are covered in these giant palmettos that feel like riding on conrete blocks. I didn't realize how bad it would be until David Knight rolled into the finish with a giant lead. I figured he was cruising to the finish. But the guy was exhausted. Just spent. He told me the problem was that if you went too slow the track was actually harder, so he had to keep pushing. Then I knew the rest of the guys would be in trouble. Sure enough a huge battle came barreling into the finish next, with Jimmy Jarrett, Garrett Edmisten and Barry Hawk waging war through the final turns. They finished in that order, but Jarrett and Edmisten were totally spent on the podium. Edmisten, in fact, could barely even get up after basically collapsing off of his machine at the finish. Everyone was whooped.

I felt bad for the guys, but it was cool in a way to see a race that really came down to guys just laying it all out there. Whoever was strongest, fittest and dug deepest did best. That's old school.

Japan Finale - Thanks, Keith

The peep holes were this low on the doors in Japan.

This is how American luggage fits into a Japanese cab.

Thank God for a man named Keith Krohn. Keith was placed on this earth just to help the girlfriend and I find the real fun in Japan. Keith is from Colorado, but he got an IT job in the city of Yokohama (which doesn’t even make the tires, apparently) two years ago. Now he’s an American living lost in translation. He doesn’t speak Japanese, he’s really tall and he likes racing dirt bikes. That puts him in the minority. He got up the courage to come to the press room on Saturday and introduce himself to me, Charlie and Rodney. At last, he had found Americans and he was pumped.

Keith.

Keith did exactly what I did years ago whenever I would meet anyone who knew anything about motocross. Bench racing sessions were rare for me back in the college days, so I had a variety of topics and ideas stored up for the few times I could use them. The JNCC was such a time for Keith, so he let me have it with both barrels, asking questions about GNCC, Ricky Carmichael, injuries in motocross and so much more. It was really fun to talk to the guy, and I had a feeling I was making his day by keeping him in the Americana loop.

That's Koikeda's hand-made full-works one-off YZ450F prototype bike with our luggage just stuffed on top of it. Perhaps you have noticed the new swingarm/linkage?

Keith keeps his Americanism boiling. Everyone else in the JNCC Series runs a minivan with a bike in the back, but Keith drives a Toyota Hi-Lux Surf, which is a 4Runner to us. Keith also mentioned how no one runs Dunlop tires in Japan, as it’s all Bridgestones, and the really cool parts come out in Japan before the US. He said he’s been running a ‘Stone 404 tire here but it’s not even out in the U.S. yet.

I gave Keith as much info on American racing as I could. Soon my new ally would have to return the favor. When I introduced him to Alisa on Sunday, she attacked him for information on downtown Tokyo. We had spent Friday and Saturday night trapped in our hotel in the middle of a forest doing absolutely nothing. If we didn’t get to see something cool in Tokyo we were going to the U.S. Embassy and bombing the place.

Keith told us to visit the neighborhood of Roppongi. He also warned us of “snack bars.” Apparently, Nigerian men will be out on the streets offering deals to go into bars in which a man pays to be accompanied by a beautiful Japanese woman. She is not a prostitute but just someone to serve as his hostess for the evening. The “snack bar” girls are “schooled in the art of conversation” and since it is Great Honor To Be Seen With Beautiful Woman in Japan it all makes sense. Since my girlfriend was interrogating Keith, I felt like I should maybe include her in the action so I asked what the Women in Japan do while the men are visiting snack bars.

“A lot of women just don’t go out,” he said.

Wow.

Snack bar.

Not a snack bar. C'mon guys! Also, note the TV is playing Cool Runnings, one of American favorite movies! About Jamaican men coached by Canadian man to race in Olympics!

We took the bullet train from Sendai to Tokyo on Monday afternoon (we hit 180 mph, which was almost as fast as Dale Jr. can go, only we were in a vehicle that was lighter, and nimbler than his). We cruised around downtown Tokyo for a few hours before meeting Masami Hoshino (JNCC president) for one last dinner at an Italian restaurant (in Tokyo!). Then it was off to the concierge desk to ask about Roppongi. I accidentally slipped back into talking like an American when I asked “We’re looking for a place to drink some beer and hang out.” The concierge coached himself to handle our request, repeating “hang out, hang out, hang out” to himself several times. He gave us a map of Ropongi and a street map to get us to the subway. That’s all we would need.

We could have just hailed a cab to have another non-conversation with a nice driver, but we wanted to experience as much of Tokyo as possible so we went for the subway and guessed our way through since we couldn’t really read anything.

Roppongi looked like our kind of town. After too many nights of nothingness we finally saw neon lights, heard music and felt the vibe that it was okay to stay up late. Everything looked normal, almost like we were back in the U.S. But that whole Lost in Translation thing….

We went to a place called Motown. Actual Motown records hung from the walls and real Motown music played on the speakers. It looked like some bar in anytown USA, but it was completely empty, besides the super-depressed Japanese guy crying in his beer over at one end. The staff consisted of three bar tenders and a host guy who showed us to our seats. Roughly translated, he said “Since every seat is available, you may sit wherever you would like.” Good thing he was there to explain that. Then he stood and waited for the next set of people to come in. It never happened. No one else came. But he still stood there, never leaving his post, never flinching, never deciding talk to his co workers just to pass the time. Behind the bar stood three bar tenders who also didn’t talk to each other, just waiting patiently to serve us if we needed anything. It all looked so American, but it so surely was not. At home, you’re lucky if you can get the bartender’s attention since they’re usually talking to the rest of the staff about who is doing who, how much they hate their job and how mean their girlfriend/boyfriend/dad/mom/boss/teacher/bill collector is.

We roamed the streets and sure enough the Nigerian guys were out hustling the Snack Bars. We decided to try one, and the guy took us up the elevator to the ninth floor—exactly what you’re warned not to do when you’re traveling. We found out that this particular snack bar, at least, was no more than a glorified strip club. No wonder women don’t go out.

Unfortunately there really weren’t any other choices beyond the Snack Bars. They were everywhere and so were the Japanese men in suits checking them out. At one point we saw an Australian guy flying out of a Snack Bar. He had not met Keith Krohn so he didn’t know what he was getting into. “Mate, I went in there and all of these girls were just all over me!” he said.

We decided to try Karaoke next. Again, it’s not even close to Karaoke stateside. Japanese Karaoke isn’t meant for bars. It’s not about having a crowd in front of you or putting on a show. It’s not even about having fun. It’s a real competition in which you go into a booth by yourself, sing to yourself and watch the machine give you a score based on how close you were to the real notes of the real song. It’s no more social than going to the batting cages.

But I couldn’t resist, so I locked myself in a booth and let ‘er rip with Wanted Dead of Alive and Neil Diamond’s B’comin’ to America. The sound system was way off, and even some of the words on the screen didn’t make sense…to me. Can you imagine what the words look like to someone who speaks Japanese? Maybe it is best to do it behind locked doors.

(Scroll to the bottom of this post for exclusive Blogandt video coverage of Kareoke!)

Just when it seemed like all hope was lost, God pulled one more solid for us. A place beckoned us from below street level. A Nigerian guy stood out front but didn’t even harass us, he just let us walk right in. On the inside, this was just a standard bar, but unlike the Motown place, this joint had some action. 90’s dance music jammed through the system and people were dancing. It was lively and it was fun, and soon we were spreading “the Weege dance” to this culture. We stayed there late—past 5 am, because apparently bars never close in Tokyo. By then the subways were open again, so we trudged our way home, tired, hungry and ready to be hungover. We even stopped at McDonald’s on the way back. Hey, we had to get that full Tokyo experience.

Tokyo drift.

The long ride back to hotel.

Karaoke vid: It starts with me singing the Wanted Dead or Alive Guitar Solo, and then it's on to the English.

Japan 11 - Just, uh, watch this

From the archives of Blogandt about three years ago comes this clip--I'm in a Japanese mood nowadays

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_rVs78WV64E

Japan 10 - Techopolis

The Americans.

Japanese seaside town.

Japanese Garden.

The number of apologies I’ve written for not posting on this blog are now rivaling the number of people served at McDonald’s. But this time I have an excuse (also number 1 billion in a series). Once we left the Sugo circuit on Sunday night, I was unable to find the internet anywhere. Not in the rural outskirts of Sendai, not anywhere near the bazillion-dollar bullet-train station, and not anywhere in the metropolitan area of Tokyo, which only happens to hold 35 million people, dwarfing the New York/New Jersey metro count. Last weekend, I did find the internet at three different Panera Bread restaurants on the drive from the GNCC in Crawfordsville, Indiana and Morgantown, West Virginia. As for Japan, I must ask, Where has all the technology gone? Twenty years ago in elementary school, amidst a variety of lessons on how much we as American human children suck at everything—we ate the apple and will now burn in hell for it, we’re dumb, fat, lazy, in dept and play too many video games, etc.—we would hear about this successful utopian experiment called Japan. It was a land that saved billions in military bills since the country wasn’t allowed to have one and instead spent that money on education and technology, and the result was a far superior place to the US. Every few days our teachers would guilt us by explaining that Japanese students go to school for 400 days a year and how our country ranked in the 3000^th percentile in math scores (those numbers actually sounded believable to us since we sucked so badly at math).

Meanwhile Japan Inc. was buying everything and soon you would need a passport to travel into the Tokyo suburb called New York City. It was up to us to stop them and it would begin by just doing that science homework.

Since then, the American kids who spent just 180 days a year in school created this dot com/telecom/Apple/Microsoft wonderland that used to be called the information superhighway, and Japan doesn’t even have the iPhone yet and only discovered Red Bull last year. The only new technology I saw over there was the heated toilet seat, (and I will admit that it’s so cool that it probably made the entire country complacent in the tech department). But basically, America is revolutionizing computer products and Japan is locking down more comfortable ways to sit down and take a you-know-what. All hail to the power of the American slacker—and hence I feel no guilt about not posting here for two days.

Rising sun in the land of it.

Madonna and the Oscar the Grouch

Later the Smiths learned to wax on and off.

So without the internet to blog on there, I had to wait until now, on a flight from San Francisco to Washington, DC to write on about the trip. The foreigness is still fresh in my mind since the movie Hairspray is playing on the plane’s TV screen and watching a musical without audio is much stranger to see than anything in a foreign country.

The first few days of the trip were actually tantalizingly disappointing for the HSCIED and I. For the racers with us-Charlie, Jason and Rodney-it was okay because they had an athletic competition to compete in and probably didn’t want to spend Friday and Saturday night loaded on saki at a Japanese house party. But Alisa and I did, and the itinerary served up by Mr. Hoshino didn’t accommodate. We were dropped off at our remote resort hotel at 6 p.m. on both nights, and that was it. These would be the only Friday and Saturday nights we would ever spend in Japan, and a city was 30 minutes away, but we would not spend it exploring the country or meeting strange people. On Friday night the gang ordered pepperoni pizza and it ended up having eel and corn on it. That was the height of our excitement. Cab rides were ridiculously expensive, and we didn’t even know where to ask to go even if we got one, or how to get back. No one at the hotel could explain anything in English and our translator—Nobi—had gotten into a car accident and was nowhere to be found or heard.

They have plenty of mountains and forests in Japan.

Rodney and Charlie scout out one of the more extreme sections of Japanese off-road racing.

The HSCGIED and I would have to rally to salvage the experience. We’ve done it before—cramming in a week’s worth of activities into the final 48 hours of a trip—and we were going to have to do it here.

On Sunday night a bus picked the gang up at the track and took us on a long ride to a seaside town that began with the letter H. Probably had I’s and o’s and an sh in the name, too. Our hotel was amazing, and we all dined on a traditional Japanese meal, with different flavors of soup boiling in front of us and a giant pile of raw meat and fish to dump into them. By then Rachel—Charlie’s girlfriend—had been rendered physically unable to eat due to, ironically, lack of nutrient intake throughout the trip. But Charlie was now fully adjusted and ate about 17 pounds of seafood. Or maybe he was hungry after racing for three hours. Raines and I ordered up some saki and now we were rolling: good Japanese food, strong Japanese drink and even some uncomfortable slippers and a hotel collection of Japanese DVDs at our disposal. Still not completely on Japanese time, the HSCGIED and I woke up at 5 am to watch the sun rise from the Land of the Rising Sun. It was amazing. A few hours later we all headed out for sight seeing, taking a tour of Japanese temples and gardens—amazing stuff rooted deep in tradition instead of tech. We checked out of the hotel and headed to the bullet train. Mr. Hoshino stuffed his Subaru Outback with luggage, Rodney and Lori, while Alisa and I got a ride from Takeshi Koikeda, who had joined us at the hotel along with his wife and adorable three-year-old girl. Takeshi gave me and Alisa a ride to the train station and even piled our luggage right on top of his hand-made, full works prototype Yamaha YZ450F. His daughter played happily with her Rodney Smith collectible beanie bear, and by the way they don’t use car seats there, the three-year-old just sat on mom’s lap in the front seat! Takeshi and Mr. Hoshino dropped us off for the bullet train, and then Mr. Hoshino jumped back in his car to he could drive six hours out of his way to Tokyo—just so he could deliver our luggage, pay for our hotel and take us to dinner. He could have easily dumped us off at the train with our luggage, called the hotel with his credit card number and left us on our own for dinner. Instead, he drove six hours not to. What a guy.

He took us to an Italian restaurant (in Tokyo) and when the staff found out famous American motorcycle Champion Rodney Smith was with us, they flipped out and started taking pictures and getting autographs. Then Mr. Hoshino bowed 17,000 times and thanked us even more than that—saying we had honored his family by coming—and then left for his home five hours away, but not before going back to the Italian restaurant to give the staff some Rodney Smith stickers he had on him. You simply can’t get any nicer than this man and his family.

Koikeda was impressed with my chop stick skills.

Raines inspects what we believe is a grave and tea set.

What struck us most about Japan wasn’t technology, or crowdedness or any of the stuff I had learned about in elementary school. I was amazed by the politeness of the people. We were greeted by smiles and bows and attempts at broken English everywhere we went. The cities and towns were immaculately clean and free of trash—yet we couldn’t find trash cans anywhere. Instead, people volunteered to take your trash for you. Get off the bullet train and a man greets you with a trash bag. Enter the National Japan Museam of Modern Art and the woman selling tickets takes your trash and deposits it elsewhere. The country is remarkably quiet. Our hotels were dead quiet, you could hear a pin drop in Sendai and downtown Tokyo at rush hour on Monday was about 1 30^th as loud as New York. The trucks were quiet, horns non existent, motorcycles muffled and conversations muted—it seemed like everyone kept completely to theirselves and didn’t speak loudly in public. In America, people talk, people make trash and people don’t go nearly this far out of their way to help. If we were really to have taken some cues from the Japanese back in elementary school, it would have been on how to be nice to each other instead of how to get better grades in math—but the teachers were too busy being mean to us and we were too busy being mean to each other. Hey, it was elementary school.

Most helpful was the concierge at our Tokyo Hotel. He told Alisa and I how to get to Rupungi, a great place to, as he managed to get out in his broken English: “hang out.”

Soon our ugly Americaness would take control of this metropolis of 35 million people. Stay tuned.

More Photo!!!!!

Racer X in Japan!

30 Second Card Girl.

Charlie on the what we were calling the "EnduroCross" section. They basically took a tractor and dug big trenches into the motcross track. Koikeda tripled through the craters, Charlie found this hot line along the top.

A proud Rodney Smith accepts thanks from the Japanese fans.

Japenese bottlenecks look just like American ones.

Hot Rod grabbed the big check--100,000 Yen (okay, that's only $1000 but some older gentleman came over to me and said "In Japan, 100,000 is big bucks")

Jason escapes a bottle neck.

Takeshi had the home field advantage in so far as he knew which spectators would provide the most traction.

Raines, on the comeback #100, grabs the holeshot.

Japan 8 - Mullins Wins!

The AAGP is history, and Charlie Mullins is the winner. 'Ole Hot Rod completely took control of the race right from the start and checked out. Jason Raines made a mistake early and feel behind Rodney Smith, but he passed Rodney on the motocross track and headed out after Charlie. No dice. In his first race ever on a Suzuki, Mullins was unstoppable, pulling out a lead of over one minute and holding it to the end. Raines eventually came under attack from Takeshi Koikeda, the '05 All-Japan MX Champion, who had driven Jason from the air port to the track. Well, that favor was about to come back to haunt him, because they battled hard through the final laps before Takeshi pulled out the runner-up spot, with Raines third and Rodney fourth.

The biggest question is "how in the hell can they hold a cross country race in Japan? Do they have any room at all?" Well, they really do, at least in this area of the country. The woods out here are beautiful, actually and there was enough room to fit four miles of track. That's 1/3rd of a GNCC course, but it was very GNCC like in the trails.

The fans were very happy to see the American racers--in fact everyone here is so darned happy it makes me wonder if they all go home at 9 pm and slam to door to begin a chorus of cursing and crying. How can they be this up beat all the time? All weekend we've just gotten hi's and thank you's and smiles from every single person here. And not even at the track--the place is very happy. Heck, even the construction workers in Sendai looked clean and happy, and the road blocks they were setting up were aqua and had funny cartoon characters on them.

It makes for a very fun place to come visit and an even more fun place to race--I think Charlie, Rodney and Jason are very happy to have been invited to represent the GNCC Series over here.

Japan 7 - Opening Ceremonies

They're not kidding when they say that the JNCC Series has taken the GNCC format. The announcer cranked the music up at 7 am this morning and welcomed everyone to the AAGP just like GNCC mic man Rodney Tomblin does in the U.S.

There will be a 8 am race dubbed the "Fun Race" which is for beginners and also includes buddy classes, with riders switching off during the event. That will run for 90 minutes. The main AAGP runs at 11 am, and it's a three-hour event just like a GNCC in the U.S. Pros or AA riders start on the front two rows of the Sugo Motocross track start line, but Rodney, Charlie and Jason will start on row three--call it home field advantage for the Japanese riders.

The Fun Race is about to begin so I will run down there and shoot some photos. Stay tuned.

Japan 6 - School's Out

American Ninjas.

Charlie Mullins' first day on a Suzuki.

Rodney Smith!!!! Climb Hill!!! RM250!!!!!

Jason watches a rider and then tries to figure out how to explain how to turn better without being able to explain anything.

The annual AAGP riding school is complete and once again not a single student learned anything--after all the teachers don't speak the language. Basically, the afternoon was spent watching Rodney, Jason and Charlie make stuff look good and easy, and the watch the Japanese riders attack it and crash. Jason tried valiantly to explain things--but no one could come up with the translation for "precise" in Japan, ironic for a country which makes those high quality Toyotas--and then the school just became a "hang out with the stars" program. I don't think the Japanese riders learned much, but they will forever tell their friends they got to spend the afternoon with the "American Top Guns of GNCC." At least, that's what it says on the T-shirts they have here.

Photo!!!!!!

This is about the coolest race hauler I've ever seen.

On the right is Takeshi Koikeda, the '05 All-Japan MX Champion. He will be racing this weekend.

Japanese Garden: Horsepower Hill, Japanese style.

Needs more cow tongue: The team spread in the Suzuki pits featured sushi.

No prerunning: This is your typical bike carrier in Japan.

Nothing Lost in Translation: The JNCC track markers are very similar to the GNCC markers.

The JNCC Poster, featuring the American boys, made it to this guy's van.

Jason Raines brought his own bars. He needed a taller bend.

Charlie (left) and Rodney scope the Suzuki pits.

The gang at dinner on night one. Clockwise: Lori Smith, Rodney Smith, the HSCGIED, Me, Rachel, Charlie, Mr. Masami Masami Hoshino, President of JNCC.

Japan 4 - Needs More Cow Tongue

After Rodney and Charlie checked out the track yesterday on the DR-Z 125s, we then headed to lunch in downtown Sendai, which is the closest city to the Sugo track. On the way we saw a big billboard for this place, staring Stefan Everts (this is the same track that hosts the World MX GP in Japan each year).

Sendai is a nice town, amazingly clean and organized, feels very safe, but we ran into trouble at lunch when we stopped at a place that serves “only cow tongue.” Needless to say we moved on. Then at night back at the hotel, our crew was looking for relief from the Japanese food, so they ordered pizza. It came delivered to the hotel just like it would in the US, however, it completely sucked. We’ve now come to the conclusion that good Japanese food is better than bad American food. Well, at least that’s the way Rodney and Charlie’s crew sees it. Alisa and I will eat and like anything over here—hey even the cow tongue just looked like any other piece of beef.

Jason Raines finally showed up last night at about midnight. He left a day later so he could take his little girl trick or treating, and then he didn’t have a flight from Tokyo to Sendai. 2005 Japanese National MX Champion Takeshi Koikeda picked him up at the airport and they drove seven hours to Sendai. Takeshi is a cool guy—I met him when we both stayed at Jim Holley’s house a few winters ago. He’s racing this race and Jason may beat him. Who else would drive their comp seven hours to the track? Jason told me that Takeshi’s two-year-old baby also stayed quiet on the entire seven-hour drive. Japanese babies have discipline!

It was back to the track this morning so the riders can dial in their bikes and also teach a riding school, which should be a 99 out of 100 on the unintentional comedy scale (they have to teach through an interpretor, except he got into a car accident this morning and won’t get in until later this afternoon. The ridiculousness of this all is already beginning…). Jason had a shiny YZ250F waiting for him, and Charlie and Rodney had to draw straws on which of two Suzukis to ride—an RM 250 or an RM-Z250. Yes, this will be Charlie’s debut race on a yellow bike. Oddly, they decided to flip a coin on it and Charlie ended up with the four-stroke—the same bike Rodney had been racing all year, and yet Charlie will race the two-stroke next year. I think they should have switched it up, especially since Rodney hasn’t ridden an RM 250 in two years, anyway.

Each rider got numbers to put on their bike, and they threw on their handlebars and headed to the motocross track to make sure everything works. In fashion true to their character, Jason is taking things much more seriously, bolting on his own bars, looking for his Yamaha mechanic and shipping over tires and moose tubes for the race. Rodney and Charlie are just gonna’ run what they have—Charlie’s RM-Z 250 doesn’t even have hand guards!

I’ll be back to write about the riding school later. But first, I’ll post some photos here. Stay tuned.

Japan 3 - Showers Expected

At this point we’ll be able to handle anything out here. After last night’s “shower gate” there surely can be no culture shocks left that our system can’t brace itself for. Let me explain now that I have more time (right now we’re in the Media Center at the Sugo Circuit in Japan while Rodney and Charlie scout the course on DR-Z125s). On the wall stood a bunch of mobile shower heads, beneath was a bench and a bucket, and in front of it all was a big dish which held a bottle of shampoo, soap and conditioner. Easy. But next to it all was a giant hot spring—essentially a natural hot tub, I guess—and none of us can figure out what the role of that tub is. Do you get in there naked and hang out (pardon the pun) after taking a shower? Well, Charlie and I took our showers last night (at separate times of course) and decided when in Rome, so I jumped in there and enjoyed the rejuvenating powers of the hot water (I guess) for a few minutes. Seriously, the water was so hot I was afraid I’d be out of commission for a few days, and since I brought my girlfriend here…. Okay, suffice to say it was odd and the one other Japanese guy who was in there with me made sure to immediately cover himself with a towel as soon as he got out of the hot tub. Hey, maybe he was intimidated by the American.

There was also some other room and some other pool, of which I never could figure out what they were for.

At night we all struggled our way through to get some sleep, since we went to bed at what was about 9 am back home. We forced it and eventually got up as late as we possibly could, 6 am, and went on a hike around the facility. We took turns sliding down this massive kids slide down a mountain, and then hiked some trails. At 9 am a taxi showed up to take us to Sugo, and here we are now, with the boys out taking some laps and me nerding out in the Media Center. More in a bit.

Japan 2

We made it! Landed in Tokyo, hopped on a plane to Sendai and checked in at the Montana Resort, which appears to be some big family resort with slides, pools, tennis courts, hiking trails and the like. It is really fun on the outside but very Japanese on the inside. Some in our group tried to stay American and ordered spaghetti for dinner, but Alisa and I went all out: she ordered the rib steak and I ordered shrimp curry. It was really good, actually, and we thought we had it made.

Then they showed us the rooms. Just flat foam on the floor--lots of blankets and pillows but no bed. And the showers are community showers, like going to the gym. You don]t get a shower in your room. Charlie, Rodney and I strategically went at seperate times because we do not need to know each other that well.

We have to go-bus comes to get us at 9 am. Supposedly we will have a translator today so this should start making sense...

Japan Ichban (Number 1)

I gave the Japanese woman at the register a blank stare within my pause. I had gone into sticker shock when the cash register displayed the price of a simple serving of sushi. $17.87 for sushi, a bottle of water and a bottle of tea? However, I was already deep within her trap. I had ordered without checking the prices—the first error a traveler can make—and now, by the time I had learned the actual price, I couldn’t really negotiate because the woman at the register barely spoke English. The Hottest Smartest Coolest Girls I’ve Ever Dated (HSCGIED) was already back at our little table eating noodles and vegetables, so I could have just done without the $17.87 sushi and split that meal with her (hey, I paid for that one, too). But I was trapped. I couldn’t communicate with the woman and decided that since this was a semi-vacation and you only live once, I should just suck it up and enjoy the $17.87 frequent flyer miles I would collect from putting the purchase on my US Airways Visa Card.
We were at the food court at the San Francisco International Air Port. Purchasing sushi in the last American city I will see for a week had thrown me for a loop. This actual trip to Japan, to cover the final round of the Japan National Cross Country Series (Yup, JNCC) could prove much trickier. The race and the trip are guaranteed hits. The fine folks at the JNCC Series are reaching out to the GNCC people (Racer Productions, who I work for) to send three America-based racers to the final round of their series, the AAGP in Sugo. This exchange program has been happening in some form for years. Scott Summers and Randy Hawkins have raced here plenty of times, but now this event is a part of a more formal partnership between JNCC and GNCC (man, you have to see the big poster the Japanese produced last year with one of their guys shaking hands with Rita, with the caption “JNCC and GNCC!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
After that caption, there’s a bunch of Japanese text. And hearin lies the trouble. The races is going to go well. The JNCC has invited Charlie Mullins, Rodney Smith and Jason Raines to race, They have provided bikes and mechanics. The fans are pumped, even super pumped, on seeing the Yanks in action. And it’s my job to cover all of this, to let America know just how internationally recognized the stars of the GNCC Series are (do you know that last month we signed a contract to air the GNCC races on TV in 55 countries? One of them being KAZIKSTAN??) Yes, this series has grown very big, with racers from all over competing in it and fans from around the world wanting to see them.
Originally we wanted to send David Knight over, because a simple photo of him towering over people in downtown Tokyo would have basically sold the whole program, and my job would have been easy. But Knighter had a commitment to race elsewhere already. We now have Hot Rod Mullins, Raines and Rodney, which is awesome, but in order for me to track this week properly, I need to communicate with the world, and I’m not sure if I can.
Can I get the internet over there? Can I plug my computer into a wall outlet? Can I find a place to buy an adaptor if I can’t? Will I even be able to speak to anyone (me without talking is like Samson without hair).
We’ll see. For now I’m just going to study the exchange rate so I can figure out how much I’m paying for sushi. Hopefully it will go smoother than buying it in the U.S..

Tokyo Calling

Just doesn't have the same ring as London, does it? Anyway real quick update here as we hop on the plane out of Chicago, to get on another in San Francisco, to land in Tokyo and then get on another plane to Sendai, which is closer to where they are holding the race. Yes, apparently they really have woods and stuff in Japan!

If I can get on the internet out there this will be the best week of blogging ever. If not, well, we can then say the USA has Japan beat on technology!

What a Champion

Big news: Tomorrow night (Tuesday) I'm leaving to go to Japan (yes, JAPAN!) to cover this weekend's final round of the JNCC Series (that's Japan National Cross Country). Charlie Mullins, Rodney Smith and Jason Raines have been invited to race, and yours truly will be there with a lap top and a camera to cover it all. It's kind of old-school to me, not having to do any announcing and instead just being a reporter, but lucky for me I don't speak the language. So I get to enjoy this.

So I'm rushing around getting ready today, and I get an IM that I didn't have time to answer regarding David Knight. The big man is now the GNCC Champion. What we have learned here in the never-ending Knight versus Juha battle is that they're both able to win the GNCC title, so there's just more of a dead heat there. But this year has really shown everyone the difference between the two men, and I'm sure the fans, KTM and the competition sees that.

Who is better. I have no idea. I've said again that Knight is more of the Stewart and Juha more the Carmichael, with Knight perhaps possessing more total jaw-dropping skills and Juha having a more robotic absolutely no nonsense unstoppable sense like Carmichael. On his best day, Stewart may beat RC and Knight might beat Juha, but for a whole season it seems like the consistency of the other would win out (it has for RC. For Juha, we'll never know).

Anyway, another key difference came out in the IM session. Knight has had troubles this year with his mechanic that led to some issues with his bike. He's not kept that secret and has no worries, mate, about telling people about it. He hasn't trashed the old mechanic or the team, but he hasn't kept the dirty laundry behind closed doors (I just paired up two awesome cliches there).

So does that make Knight cool or is he a jerk? Should he reward KTM by saying "everything is awesome I love these guys?" or should he have spoken his mind, and instead said "listen if you don't give me a mechanic up to my standards I'm going to let the public know, so give me what I want!"

Which is the better way to do it? Like Knight versus Juha, we'll never know.

Shaken not Stirred

I'm one tired and dirty reporter/announcer after this weekend's big GNCC finale. Once we get back into Morgantown this afternoon I'll post about it--but for now sell your stock in the Panera Bread chain of restaurants because we've stolen their free internet twice in the last 12 hours (in two different states, no less) just to write stuff like this.

And check out www.gnccracing.com if you want more GNCC scoop.

Grove City

In olden days, I used to drive up to Grove City Pennsylvania once a week to do the announcing for the GNCC TV shows. Grove City is home of Gear Racewear, Mototees and the Gear Media and Marketing, which produces the shows. After making the 120 mile drive each week for the last two years, this season we set up a recording studio at the Racer office in Morgantown so I can voice the shows there. It saves tons of time for me--I download the show, do the voice work and then FTP the audio file back over. Much better.

There are a few big projects that require me to come up here, though. Today, for example, myself and Rodney Tomblin are announcing the Loretta Lynn's DVD, so we have to be here since it's a two-man show. And you know what today is? Wednesday.

Every Wednesday here in Grove City they hold a bible study session. I guess it's something some of the employees decided to do, they keep the faith burning with some talks during their Wednesday lunch hour. That's all well and good, except it seems like whenever I do have to come up here to do TV, it happens to be on a Wednesday afternoon. And the scenario, as was repeated once again today, goes like this:

Bible Study Group is out in the conference room listening to some enlightening, inspiring CD. I'm in the room next to them, screaming my lungs out about another GNCC battle-"And now Borich is back in front of Ballance!!!! David Knight has taken over the leeeeeeeeaaaaad!!!!!!! UNBELIEVABLE COME FROM BEHIND EFFORT FROM BARRY HAWK!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And out in the conference room, while trying to listen to "peace on earth and good will to men" they are just bombarded with "Oh my GOD WHAT A BATTLE BETWEEN THESE TWO!!!!! THIS IS ALL OUT WAR!!!!!"

While listening to "do unto others as you would do unto yourself" they're also hearing "KNIGHT DOES NOT CARE WHAT ANYONE THINKS HE IS OUT THERE TO TAKE THIS CHAMPIONSHIP AWAY FROM MULLINS!!!!!"

Then when it's all over I come back over into the conference room and eat some of the pizza the study group ordered.