Thanks to the invention of YouTube (yes, we're a little slow here at SWSR), we now have a way of sharing some of our videos with everyone. 

Some of them, including the parade lap from Laguna Seca are now posted on our site on the new Videos page under Rides, and a few are making their way into the Road reviews so you can see exactly what we're writing about.  ...and even more are available on YouTube by searching for swsportrider.

ROSSI WINS LAGUNA SECA!

As many of you know, every year we do several trips out to Devil's Highway, and always have a blast.  This year is no exception.  We've already done the first trip which we like to refer to as the "sighting lap", where we check out the road conditions and get an idea what the rest of the year will be like.  Normally, we only go with a couple of people on the sighting lap, but this year our roster included (from left to right) Sean, Brandon, Robert, Sam, Big Matt, Vince, me, and Matt Ashemore who took the picture. 

The road is fairly sandy right now from clearing the snow off from the winter, but a lot of that should wash off as the year goes on.  One noticeable improvement over last year is that where the road had been chip sealed in many places, the little rocks that were left over have started to disappear.  On the New Mexico side of the loop (180) everything looks good.  And of course Route 78 is as great as ever.

Thanks to all who joined us on the first ride.  The next one is tentatively scheduled for June 14.  I will add information to this post about dates and hotel rooms as we get it.

Over the last few weeks (ok, months) several people have asked what's going on with SWSR.   Well, we're still here, and now that we've recovered a little from the burnout of constantly updating the website while trying to have normal careers and lives, there will be some new stuff.  For starters, we'll be reorganizing some of the existing content to make it easier to get to, and updating it with new information wherever we see that it's needed.  George also got his hands on some nifty new 3D mapping software, so over time he will be adding new maps to some of the road descriptions (check out the Mt. Graham description for an example).  And to prevent some of the burnout, we're scaling back on the stories and focusing on more static content such as road reviews and information about bikes, gear, and basic maintenance.  Since the forums seem to be rarely used, we're removing them and instead opening up all of the articles to comments.  We will be happy to post things like announcements of rides or other events right on the front page, just contact one of us!

So if you see us around and have some suggestions for a review or an article you want to see, let us know.  We might even recruit you to do some writing!

Matt, Chelsea, and George