Whoa, what a crazy couple of weeks!

Between the launch of V2.0 of Vital MX and the late hours of testing that went into that prior to (and during) the Dealer Expo in Indy, the show itself, then heading to Atlanta for the start of the East Lites series, and a couple days spent at a Champ Factory school with Rick Johnson and Sebastien Tortelli (more on that later), it's been a crazy couple of weeks. There has been little time for sleep, and maybe not as much content as usual, but as things smooth out, that should boost considerably.



So what do you think of the new design, and all the accompanying features? We've been really happy with the response, and though there are still some tweaks to work on, we like this custom-coded version much better than the heavily-modified open source software that we launched the site on. Once again, the credit for implementing the new stuff was our ace programmer, Aaron, who has been pretty much on call 24/7 lately, as we rolled out not only the new VitalMX.com, but new versions of VitalBMX.com and VitalSkate.com as well.



One thing I've been missing over the last couple of weeks is my trusty Canon 70-200mm lens, which suddenly turned not-so-trusty at San Diego, when it abruptly stopped focusing. Maybe that had something to do with being dropped out of my photo vest a couple times. We have new Alpinestars vests that are supplied to all the floor photographers at Supercross events, and this year's design is different than in years past. Unfortunately, I discovered which pockets you can't leave the 70-200 in while crouching down. The good news is, it made an appropriately expensive noise when it hit the ground. The other good news is that Canon's repair service isn't far from my place, and they're exceptional at fixing my gear.



Besides all the other assorted things going on, Racer X's Steve Cox and I have been trying to work out the details of bet between the two of us to see who can lose more weight. Maybe that'll result in few calls from Mike LaRocco Sr. to the Live Nation staff on the floor of some of the Supercross events ("Tell number 14 to move, he's blocking some of the trackside signage"). Among other things, we still need to figure out the actual wager, the time span, and exactly how to judge it.



Earlier I'd mentioned the Champ Factory school. I'm working on a separate story for that, but I do have to say that it's something I wish I'd done years ago. Having guys like Ricky Johnson and Sebastien Tortelli watching what you do, and then telling you what you how to correct what you're doing wrong is exceptional. I definitely have a lot more to say on that topic, but you'll just have to watch for the story next week.



In the meantime, it's time for me to pack for Indy (again, this time for the Supercross), and to start eyeing the event at Daytona. It looks like the treadmill's not slowing down anytime soon.