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Reed talks about his ride on the emotional rollercoaster.
By: Kit Palmer

Photography By: Kit Palmer
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For Chad Reed, the first half of the 2010 season has be one to forget - at least most of it.Chad Reed

Sitting out nearly the entire Supercross series with a hand injury and then returning for the last few rounds with unspectacular results hasn't been easy for the two-time Supercross and defending outdoor National Motocross Champion - nor has the past couple of weeks, especially.

Recently, Reed and his wife Ellie experienced the birth of their first child, Tate, definitely giving something the Reeds could smile about after what had been a difficult last five months. And just when things were beginning to look up, Reed received terrible news that one of his best friends, fellow Australian Andrew McFarlane, had been killed in a racing accident in his home country. Having had little time to enjoy the arrival of his new son, Reed caught the next flight to Australia to be with McFarlane's wife, Natalie, and attend her husband's funeral. It was a quick trip - he was in Australia for 30 hours and on a plane for more than 35 hours. Reed returned to the States on Tuesday, tired and bleary-eyed, not to mention emotionally drained.

Unfortunately, Reed hasn't had time to rest and recover. After all, he has a National Championship coming up and a number-one plate to defend.

Yes, it's been a crazy time for Reed and, somehow, he has to put everything that has happened behind him and start thinking ahead and racing again. We recently caught up with Reed and chatted with him about the last couple of months and the difficult times he's had to endure.

First of all, how is the hand? Are you physically 100 percent ready to go?

Yes, I'm fine. I feel good and ready to start racing again.

You actually started racing again the last few rounds of the Supercross series, but your results weren't spectacular, nothing like the Chad Reed we know.

To be completely fair to myself and everyone else, I think the last few rounds of Supercross wasn't me, you know. I had my head elsewhere - if I had my choice, I would've stayed at home and prepared for the [outdoors] the way that I need to, but I had to race on the weekends. Ryan [Villopoto] getting hurt definitely put a little more pressure on me having to be there, so I just kind of went through the motions, tried to be safe and just concentrate on the outdoors. I feel completely fine. The injury isn't playing any role at all in any of my riding right now. I feel strong and - our base setting is awesome, this is some of the best I've ever felt on the outdoors.

What are your thoughts going into the first round of the outdoor series?

I'm excited to go racing again, to see where I'm at. I know it's a real long season, and I've had a real hectic last two weeks, so I'm excited to get through this weekend and pretty much take whatever points I can get and enjoy the week off and get ready for Texas. The reality is that's it's been a real hectic two weeks.

Explain a little bit what these last two weeks have been like for you.

It's been such an emotional high and low. To welcome your first child into the word - it's such an amazing feeling - to be excited about that. And then you pack up from the hospital, throw everything in the car, and you drive home about 35 mph. Then you get home, you're all excited, you have your wife and Tate, at home, and 30 minutes later, I get a phone call, and one of your best friends has passed away. It was just a crazy event of emotions.

And then you left for Australia?

I was there 30 hours - landed Monday morning and left Tuesday morning. It was a crazy trip and something I had to do. I loved Andrew and his family, and they played a huge role in our life - Elli unfortunately couldn't go. Tate didn't have a birth certificate, so we couldn't get him a passport fast enough, so I just went to lend my love and support to Natalie. I stayed at the house and tried to get some jobs done there, like move his bike into the house, just a lot of things that she personally wanted done. Michael Byrne and I went down there; it was a good thing to do.

The emotions. I got to let a lot out and got to say good-bye the way I wanted to, now it's come back and race for Andrew and try to get holeshots like he always did and try to make him proud.Reed practicing yesterday at Hangtown.

After all that you have been through the past couple of weeks, how can you stay focused on racing?

I think, any racers will tell you, that when anybody is close to someone and you lose 'em in an accident, at a point, it goes through your head: Why in the hell am I doing this? I don't need to work, I don't need to do this [race], financially, we're set for life, then a couple of days later, you really understand. Especially at the funeral and the service, I really took it all in, and I understood that racing was his life. I was sitting next to his wife, and she's holding his medal when he got second in the World Championship in 2005, I think, and his race jersey. It's just you would think that she wouldn't want anything to do with motorcycles - it took her husband away, and here she is holding on to all of that. Those are the memories that she has and the amazing fun times that they had came all from motorcycle racing. So you switch up your mood a little bit.

I feel like I achieved what I wanted to do and that was to say good-bye, and I felt like I let go some of my hatred against motorcycles a little bit, but it's what I do. It's my life, it's all that I've ever known, and I'm ready to give it all I've got and win this title.

They say defending your title is harder than winning it in the first place, is that true?

I love having the number-one on [my bike], and I'm excited to keep it and keep it red as well. It's a long season; it's hard. You have to be in it to win it, and I've got some fierce competition. It's going to be a tough season, but I think I can win this thing.

Last year at this time, you had pretty much just decided to race the outdoors, this year, you knew it all along. Do you feel better prepared this year than last year?

Last year I totally came in behind the eight ball. Probably the hardest thing last year was that I had a teammate [Mike Alessi] that was winning races and going for the championship, he was all happy, and I wasn't necessarily comfortable. We weren't close on settings or the way we rode the bikes, so, it wasn't like I could lean on him for settings or for anything like that. From my experience with Kawie and riding with Ryan Villopoto, we are really close to settings, so he had a great base from last year. Basically the first bike I rode for the outdoor this year was unbelievable - it's kind of hard pick it apart, because it was really solid and strong, so that helps a lot. Just a tweak here and there a little bit. I think I'm coming in with a full head of steam; I'm rested from my time off from Supercross and just really motivated.

Many people still question your desire or ability to race outdoors, saying that all you care about is Supercross. Do you enjoy the outdoors?

I really do like outdoors and I enjoy it. People still question whether I can do it at a winning level, and I'm excited to prove some people wrong.

Accident proves golf carts and motorcycles don't mix
Saturday, 22 May 2010 | Written by Asia | Print | E-mail

There are a variety of dangers motorcycle enthusiasts have to look out for while enjoying the not-so-open road such as inattentive drivers, road debris and even large animals in rural areas.

It seems golf carts can officially be added to that list.

According to news reports from Grafton, Illinois a 56 year old man has been charged with improper use of a golf cart which tragically put a biker in the hospital. The accident occurred on Wednesday between Ronald E. Hinote who was behind the electric wheel and Joseph J. Haufe Jr., 58 riding a 1995 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

It appears Hinote turned into the path of the motorcycle while driving the golf cart on public roads. The collision sent Haufe sliding 20 feet along the road and then airborne for 24 feet.

The rider went airborne after striking a ditch. The motorcycle itself reportedly slid for six feet before stopping. Haufe, who was not wearing a helmet suffered serious injuries and taken to a local hospital.

The driver, Hinote, was charged with improper use of a golf cart on a highway following the accident.

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Do We Care Anymore?

While Sr. and Jr. put on their all-business all-the-time faces Mikey flashes his trademark easy-going grin.
They're back! Not two months after TLC pulled the plug on American Chopper, the TV station is now planning to film a new series that pits the competing motorcycle shops of Orange County Choppers, run by Senior, against Paul Jr.'s new bike-building enterprise.
‘They’re back.’ Just like the house destroying ghosts in the movie Poltergeist, the antics of the dysfunctional motorcycle-building Teutul clan will soon be back on the air. According to Orange County Choppers official website, TLC is preparing to bring back American Chopper in a new show entitled American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior. The site states that “Orange County Choppers are amped up and ready to roll!”

American Chopper redux will feature both Senior’s current OCC enterprise and Junior’s fledgling bike shop as competing businesses. Paul Jr. left the show with bad blood between him and his father and started up his own company, Paul Jr. Designs. Originally Paulie separated himself from building custom motorcycles, opting to lend his keen eye for design to companies like Coleman for whom he created the Coleman RoadTrip Grill. But now he’s getting back into the moto industry and has opened up his own business across from the original OCC shop in Rock Tavern, NY.

The conflict within the family has spilled into court. The two are currently fighting over the date to be used to decide the value of the Orange County Choppers enterprise at the time Paul Jr. left the family business for buy-out purposes. Paul Jr. owns a 20% share of the business while Senior has the rights to the remaining 80%. The case is pending trial before the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Orange.

American Chopper’s hiatus was short-lived. TLC canceled the show in early February of this year. American Chopper debuted in September 2002 on the Discovery Channel until TLC took over broadcasting in 2007. Filming for the new series is said to begin next week with the first episode projected to air in August.

Media hype states that the two haven’t talked in a year, a truth that only the Teutuls know for sure. But Paul Jr. stated in a report in the New York Post that he was “hopeful for reconciliation.” We’ll wager the show’s producers hope that doesn’t happen any time soon because interest in the show hinges on capitalizing on the familial dispute and the tempestuous relationship between fat