Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/330779
CN III VOICES L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R "… I move for his license to be revoked indefinitely." The Navelgate In response to a writer's letter last week regarding page 10 of Issue 22 and the apparent missing belly button on the pictured trophy girl, I think I've found an answer to your problem, David. Based on my limited understanding of human anatomy, the belly button may in fact not be missing, but rather hiding directly under the knot in her shirt, in the lower mid- dle portion of her torso... where all human navels are located. Nick Livers East Hazel Crest, IL The Navelgate II I'm writing to assure reader David Kelly ("No Navel?," Voices, Issue 23, June 10) that the lovely young woman in the June 3/page 10 FMF ad does in fact have a navel. If one looks at page 48 of the June 3 issue, it's easy to see that this cheerful trophy girl (I assume that's why she's there) has a navel that has merely been improbably obscured by the tie of her Daisy Duke-ish top. This combined with shorts that are riding astonish- ingly low gives the illusion that aliens have been at work or that someone's been inappropriately busy with Photoshop. Please as- sure Mr. Kelly that so far as Cycle News goes, the Monster Energy girls are safe. Louis Nastro Via the Internet The Simoncelli Effect Michael Scott (In The Paddock, Issue #23, June 10) seems to want to have it both ways - it's sad and overdone to have the Simoncelli family show up at the races but good that the memory of his death causes the officials to rein in current riders who make dangerous moves. I was fortunate enough to visit the Marco Simoncelli Museum in Rimini the week after the recent Mugello GP. It's an extraordinary place. The family clearly takes some comfort in keeping his memory alive. His father came through while I was there and shook my hand when I tried to say something about what a fine man his son had been. I was quite moved. 'Mawkish' is the last word I would use to describe it. Chip Colwell Bryn Mawr, PA The Simoncelli Effect II Reading your latest editorial by Michael Scott convincingly shows that his writing is far more wreck- less than the riders on track that he writes about. So while we are passing judgment from our armchairs, I move for his license to be revoked indefinitely. Stephen Hagberg Houston, TX Carruthers Wrong, AMA Pro Right I believe Mr. Brent Meeker (Voices, Issue 23, June 10th) is spot-on in his assessment of the risk/reward ratio of racing motor- cycles in the rain. One reason there are only six road races on the 2014 AMA schedule is because David McGrath - Senior Director of Competition, has visited and inspected numerous tracks who were clamoring for an AMA event (often in the company of the series top superbike pilots) and nixed AMA attendance because it was felt the track would be unnecessarily sketchy in the event of a wet race. It wouldn't be appropriate to name tracks that were tried and fell short in terms of maximum safety, but we all remember Matt Mladin's boycott several years ago at a mid-west venue. The only error I noted in Mr. Meeker's letter was his reference to: "I agree with Paul [Carruthers] that they could have red flagged the race and let everyone change to rain tires". The race was red flagged for that very reason and restarted as a "wet race" not by caprice but by the letter of the rulebook. If certain riders and team manag- ers rolled the dice and went out a second time still on slicks instead of choosing intermedi- ates or rains after watching the pending storm rolling-in on Weather Tracker Radar, that was their error and no one can blame the weather Gods or AMA Pro for their decision to go backout on slicks. Unless, of course, someone is suggesting that races should be red-flagged over and over anytime there is the slightest deviation in weather conditions to allow changing to a more compat- ible tire for a lap or two. Let's not lose track of the fact that we're all big boys and girls here... Rene Laprevotte Diamond Springs, CA Letters to the editor can be sent to voices@cyclenews.com. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Letters should not exceed 150 words and are subject to editing. Anonymous letters won't be considered for publication and each letter should contain the writer's name, address and daytime phone number… Editor P16