End of the Summer, beginning of a new one?

It's August and the NDMA motocross season is a wrap! The season came to a premature end, compared to years past, but it may be a good thing.

It hasn't been that often that I could go into the first week of school without busting my ass to get ready for the last few rounds of the series, while trying to get settled into school. Lets face it: Starting classes each year is a hassle, and no matter what grade you'll be heading into, there are a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up as you get rolling into the new semester.

On the flip side, I find myself wondering what some of the dedicated NDMA points chasers are going to do now that they've either; wrapped up the title in their class, or fell just short of they summer-long goal. There are numerous races else-where in our area but once you get into the habbit of exclusively racing the NDMA series, making the jaunt to another race run by a foreign governing body can be a daunting idea. This is why I always encourage people to try going for a series championship, but then spread their schedule out to do as many different races as possible. It loosens you up as a rider and when you do go somewhere else-ie: a Loretta Lynn qualifier, Ponca or Millville-you don't ride like a complete goon becaues you're too tense from the new environment. You know how to ride your dirt bike, so do it.

As the end-of-the summer doldrums set in, it's also very hard to motivate yourself, as a rider, when you're heading to the same track that you've seen numerous times already that season. Hopefully for next year, the NDMA series can pick up a few new-or old-quality tracks that not only will help to keep the racing fresh, but will help to further advance the North Dakota racing scene as a whole.

So, if you've caught the underlying drift of the latter part of this blog, then you already know what I'm thinking. But, I'll say it to make things clear. North Dakota needs to re-unify the racers, racetracks and promoters under one racing series, the NDMA, for the betterment of the sport. The folks at MonDak had a noble idea when starting their own series that would keep things closer to home for them but, with continuous reports of very low race attendance, and some very negative reviews on track preparation-as well as the loss of one of their most coveted courses-I believe it's time to get us all under one roof once again. Bringing the two organizations back together would not only increase race attendance and overall event quality, but would also show who the true champions of the area are, rather than giving a championship a 'regional series' feel.

That's the thought for now, and there is a long list of concerns and details that would be brought up in a discussion about this topic, but the initial step is joining all of the races in the state under the state's premier motocross racing organization.

Socials eh?

This weekend at the Morden national, I found myself in a tattered old gymnasium sipping bottom of the barrel booze from a plastic cup that I was very careful not to put too much pressure on, it may have crushed under my immense strength. You're probably asking yourself why I was in a gymnasium while at a pro national motocross race.

Well, I was conned into going there. At first the word was that this "event" was a yearly thing where all of the moto guys got together during the national so, naturally, I was in. When we pulled into this joint I was slapped with a $9.40 cover charge, $10 Canadian, and thrown into one of the most awkward situations I've found myself in to date. Apparently, when Canadians get married they have a large gathering before the wedding where they sell booze, raffle tickets and more booze. The tricky part for an unsuspecting yank like myself is when someone says, "Hey do you want to go to a social?" Dirty trick, I know. It turns out that these "Socials" are all the rage in Canada and, I'm about 68% positive that the entire town of Morden showed up as well as half of the motocross pits. Lets not forget that the legal drinking age in Manitoba is also 18, which almost guarantees a certain degree of hilarity ensuing.

Rusty Dean and I ended up slamming a good deal of 88 brand whiskey and really enjoying this entirely new experience in the great white north. Also, when you order a drink you get the aforementioned cup with only liquor in it, and then you add your own mixer. Another fun fact that was a little odd the first few times I strolled up to the lunch line/Bar counter.

When we first arrived at this old arena, I wasn't too pumped to spend the evening with Aunt May, second removed from the bride's roommate, but it turned out to be an epic event. There were trendy Canadian single girls everywhere and it was overall a killer time. Who knew that a pre-reception for two complete strangers would end up being blog worthy.

BK's brain is single

Hello everyone.
Just a friendly reminder that my buddy Brandon Kruger is currently single and ready to mingle. Brandon is a Sagittarius, brown haired, meat eater who has a knack for writing love songs and strolling down the beach. His boy-band-like smile will make you melt in his arms and, the rumor around the women's locker room is that he's silky smooth when he hits the sheets.
If you're interested in meeting or chatting it up with BK, feel free to contact his agent, me, for an application.
745

WT #4

During one of the very first Grass Roots work sessions in the basement that we half jokingly called “the office,” BK and I decided that I would do a monthly installment where I could rant and rave about whatever I wanted and we’d call it Whiskey Throttle. Whiskey Throttle is a term I probably heard for the first time while hanging around the Barnesy Racing trailer back when Yamaha’s were pink and Kawasaki was just thinking about putting a purple tank on their bikes. Monte Barnes was telling me in his very deliberate and all knowing voice how Kris had wadded up during his last ride and he used the term “Whiskey Throttle.” Naturally, not wanting to look like the kid who didn’t know what Whiskey Throttle meant, I just played along and gave a bucktoothed smile. I remember wondering for days what Monte really meant by the term until I finally heard one of the Barnes boys use it for themselves. That was when I started to develop my own personal understanding of the term Whiskey Throttle.

Here it is, after several requests, the explanation of the term Whiskey Throttle, as used in an everyday moto conversation according to the Fisky Racing Dictionary.

Whiskey Throttle- is when a rider comes barreling into a section of terrain and temporarily or fully loses control of their motorcycle. Some examples can include; pinning it through the biggest set of sand whoops you can find and doing the biggest back and forth swaps you can imagine only to save it by, ironically, pinning it. Also, attempting your first bubba scrub and forgetting the second half of the maneuver where you need to bring the bike back to its upright and straight position, causing your to land sideways swap back and forth several times before being launched onto your hind parts at the base of the jump. This usually happens in front a crowd of riders you were hoping to impress or if you’re lucky, in front of some hot coeds who you’ll be able to convince that what you did was a normal and everyday experience for a motocrosser. To put it the most basic way that I can, Whiskey Throttle really relates to the sound made by your bike when you desperately pin the throttle and everyone can here the “RAAP, RAAP, RAAP!” sound made either right before an amazing save or a film worthy get off.

Whiskey Throttle the column name is really the work of part time NDMA motocross announcer Nick Hulberg. Nick and I played hockey together when we were in high school and when I approached him to do the official announcing for the Ruthville motocross race he became an instant hit. Nick’s energy and play by play announcing style was a breath of fresh air at the races and it wasn’t long until he started giving nicknames, literally, to some of his favorite riders. “Righteous Reidman” was one of his favorites and apparently, in the middle of a heated 125 A battle between myself and another rider, he started yelling “Whiskey Fisky” into the mic. People started asking me immediately if I had a wild side that involved Mr. Jack Daniels or Jim Beam but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. At the time I’m pretty positive that most Minot State University freshmen were sailing with the Captain, but don’t quote me on that. Nick just liked saying Whiskey Fisky so I ended up stuck with it whenever he took over the announcing duties at the races. When it came time to figure out what to call my monthly column in Grass Roots it was an easy decision. A big thank you goes to Monte Barnes and Nick Hulberg for unknowingly helping to create what we now know as “Whiskey Throttle, a Grass Roots column by Justin Fisk.” Could you imagine it by another name? How about Lutafisk? It just wouldn’t be the same.

The start

Hello everyone and welcome to the Whiskey Throttle blog space. Writing my Whiskey Throttle column for each issue of Grass Roots is something that I really enjoy and wish that I could do more often. So, here we are. In this little space called the Internet, I can be a bit more "loose cannonish" and just do a quick post if I want to, or talk about something that has been on my mind for a while. I have about a million other things going on right now but what's one more?
Whiskey