MtnBikeRiders.com

Now that The Moe has all this time on his hands because he does not have to train to race, he has found his new calling:

Inspirational Mountain Biker

It all came to me after last week’s ride. One of our riding buddies stated that he wouldn’t have ridden if it wasn’t because The Moe was there. At the same time, another buddy of ours confessed that he convinced his wife to ride with us because The Moe was going to ride.

“Where is that darn shuttle????”

What caused all of these riders to be inspired to ride with The Moe? It is all because of his trademarked pace: SlowMoetion. They knew that they didn’t have to worry about blasting down a hill yelling “Rider Up” “Rider Up” while going the opposite direction. They knew that the pace will not cause them to vomit or get cramps. They knew that they will not run out of water because they wouldn’t break a sweat. They also knew that there was a high possibility that The Moe would take a shortcut so he could go eat before the restaurant closed.

“mmm, I’m glad that The Moe took that shorcut!”

Yes folks, that IS inspiration. Think about it.. what are your chances of being a bad ass rider like Tinker Juarez? or Steve Peat? or Sabrina Joyner? However, being like The Moe is easy… grab your bike, hop on and ride and if your buddies give you crap for waiting for you at the top of the hill, just tell them “I was a DH racer at one point, I shuttled”

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It could always be worse. Every time you’re injured, broken, bruised, scarred; you have to remind yourself that things could be worse. Injuries are an inherent risk of any action sport and you have to understand and accept these risks before partaking. When (if) you do go down and you are laid up for months on end then you will obviously be thinking “What if?” There’s no shame in that, we learn from our mistakes so we don’t make them again. It’s when we think “If I could go back,” that we start wasting our time. Obviously there’s not a time machine waiting for you next to your hospital bed. It’s time to move forward.

People aren’t invincible but it does take a lot to keep one off a bike for more than a few months. Broken limbs happen often and heal quick. Someone with ligament damage can pay the bills for any physical therapist for months or years, but still, that person can get back on a bike within months. Neck protectors, helmets and back armor are so advanced these days that paralyzing injuries are hard to come by. Team racer, Wes Castro came back from one of the toughest injuries (a broken hip) within one race season. The point here is that if you are determined, get to physical therapy and get back in shape. Hair of the dog that bit you usually is the best remedy for me.

Sure, not being able to ride puts a damper on things but there are always hidden benefits to being injured. I broke my foot in a couple places while dirtbiking in Utah a few weeks ago and solving life’s little nuances has actually been pretty fun. Crutches are solid source of entertainment and innovation themselves. Being injured has given me a lot more time to focus on school, video editing, and a plethora of other things that have been backing up. Every time i get injured I learn a lot about myself in term of how fragile (or durable) I am and in terms of pain tolerances. Transportation has been an interesting challenge because my truck is a manual, but my girlfriend has not only been a great chauffeur but she lent me her scooter to get around on.

This whole experience hasn’t hindered me one bit. I have since forgiven my dirtbike and am ready to focus on getting back in shape to finish out this race season and get started on the next one. Anyone out there who is discouraged just needs to look ahead. Make good on what you have right now and look at how you can improve yourself in the future. If your injury was an eye opener and you feel that these kinds of sports are no longer for you then there is no shame in that. If you want to continue, then accept the risks and don’t regret the consequences.

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Priscilla and I were chatting with each other while we were at work and she told me that she used a recent picture I uploaded onto my Facebook account as her desktop background. She sends me a screen shot…

There’s a story behind all this…but if you’re friends with me on FB, you would have understood.

Anyhow, Priscilla then asks me whats on my desktop…I show her this screen shot.

HAHAHAHA!

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not that I am promoting this or anything like it…

A financial manager for wealthy clients will not face felony charges for a hit-and-run because it could jeopardize his job, prosecutors said Thursday.

Martin Joel Erzinger, 52, faces two misdemeanor traffic charges stemming from a July 3 incident when he allegedly hit bicyclist Dr. Steven Milo from behind then sped away, according to court documents.

A must read article from the Vail Daily in Vail, Colorado.

Its not even a question of if Erzinger hit Milo. Erzinger is “willing to take responsibility and pay restitution“. The issue at hand is that District Attorney Hurlbert is dropping the felony charge and instead, Erzinger will face two misdemeanor traffic charges.

“Felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger’s profession, and that entered into it,” Hurlbert said. “When you’re talking about restitution, you don’t want to take away his ability to pay.”

WHAT!?!?! Felony convictions will have serious implications for ANY job.

EDIT: Some closure to this: http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20101109/COLUMNS/101109774/1026&parentprofile=1058

Mark Hulbert explains the Plea Deal:
Over the weekend, I have received over 1,000 e-mails from all over the country regarding the Erzinger case. Because of that I feel the need to explain why I am offering the plea bargain proposed in the Erzinger case. Either through the bent of the Vail Daily article or my own inartful comments, I feel that the reason for the plea bargain was not properly conveyed.

First, let me say that from the start I feel for Dr. Milo and sincerely hope that he has a complete and speedy recovery from his injuries. So, why did I offer two misdemeanors on such a serious case?

Despite what is implied in the Vail Daily, Dr. Milo never asked me to plead Mr. Erzinger to a felony. Dr. Milo asked that I plead Mr. Erzinger to a felony deferred judgment and sentence. What this means is that Mr. Erzinger would plead to a felony leaving the scene of an accident and the judgment would be set aside. In either two or four years, as long as Mr. Erzinger met certain conditions, the case would drop off his record and he would be allowed to seal this case. Since there was no alcohol or drugs involved, the only conditions I could legally ask for were that he pay restitution and stay out of trouble. Given that he had a clean history, Mr. Erzinger would essentially have been able to write a check and the case would then be dismissed. On top of that, while Dr. Milo was still probably recovering from his injuries, Mr. Erzinger would be able to say that he had no criminal history and even deny that anything had happened. That is not something I could stomach.

I therefore offered Mr. Erzinger plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and careless driving causing serious bodily injury. This means that for the rest of his life, Mr. Erzinger will have on his record that he carelessly drove, caused another human being serious bodily injury and left the scene. He will lose his driver’s license, face potential jail time as determined by the judge and still have to pay restitution, which as I said in the Vail Daily is important to us, but not an overriding objective in the plea.. Obviously there is a benefit to Mr. Erzinger on taking the misdemeanors — he keeps his job. If he were to plea to the deferred he may or may not lose his job, but either way, as mentioned above, in a couple of years he would be able to tell any prospective employer that he had no criminal history.

There has been much made about Mr. Erzinger’s wealth. That is of no concern to me other than as it pertains to restitution to Dr. Milo. I have not asked Mr. Erzinger for any money either to myself or to the district attorney’s office and he has not offered. Both of us understand that would be highly illegal.

Finally, I appreciate the constructive comments I have received. And even if I have not responded, I have read every single one of them. If after reading this, you still feel that I am wrong for the plea bargain, I take full responsibility and welcome any constructive comments. But be forewarned, that there is not much I can change at this point. I made the plea offer months ago and the defense has accepted. This means that even if I wanted to change the plea offer, I could not. The only person that can reject it at this point is the judge. Again, I welcome any constructive comments in this case.

Mark Hurlbert, District Attorney

Fifth Judicial District

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