I’d like to first off start this blog entry with a quick note of
how things in our life can change in a blink of an eye. My friend and
editor of this magazine/website Donn Maeda is going through a tuff
time with recent injury of his older brother Ross. While he was
riding a Starwest Ross had a bad crash the left him with a broken back
and a long road ahead of him. We all are praying for Ross and the
whole Maeda family during this tuff time. Unfourtanetly I do know the
road they have ahead of them as my family had to go through the same
thing in 1996 with my older brother crashed on his BMX bike breaking
his neck leaving home paralyised. Scott has regain more then 70% of
his feeling and movement but everyday is a strugle for him. It’s
really hard when your older brother is hurt because in your eyes they
are the best at everything they do and how could this happend to them?
I just wanted to let Ross and the whole Maeda family know we are all
praying for you and what ever the out come there is don’t give up!

Things have been wild for me lately. It just seems like it never
stops. I have been racing a little bit here and there I wish it was
more, but I’m slowly making a transition tobthe next part of racing. I
was lucky enough to be envited to race the X-games and that event is
always a blast. I was the only lites rider to make the Main in the
“run what you brung” style race. Better yet my Jagermeister KTM 250f
holeshoted the heat race and nearly the Main. Not long after this race
the boys got together and decided we would go Support Lawrence Lewis
and Jeremy McGrath in there first annual Powder Mtn MX in Utah. It had
been a Long time since we had a road trip and I was looking forward to
hitting the Road with Jeremy McGrath, Tyler Keefe, Scott Bell, Lars
Linstrom, and Greg Flanigan. We were driving in style with Ryan
Vilopoto lending us his Toyota of Escondido Tundra. The thing was
loaded down bc David Pingree is a princess and wanted to fly up with
another princess Victor Sheldon so we had Pings bike in are truck and
Mc had Victors bike. The weekend was awsome staying a quarter mile
from the start line in 6 bedroom cabin with some of the best guys in
our sport. We all made it out of the Mtn safe and if you are thinking
about going to this race next year I highly recommend it.

Just lately I raced the US open in Las Vegas and had a rough weekend
to say the least. I switched back to a 450 for the first time in 2
years and man the first night I struggled. The second night I was
riding much better and was in qualifying position when I made a bobble
in the whoops ultimately drilled me in to the berm head first. I ended
up seperating my shoulder and was forced to fly to Italy the next day
to do 3 days of testing hurt. I’m on the flight back right now and
I”ll tell you I had to ride around gritting my teeth all day bc my
shoulder hurt so bad. That’s the price you pay when you mess up. When
I race I put my job on the line but it’s a price I’m willing to pay to
get that feeling we all love so much.

To ad to the laundry list of things i have on my plate I have been
doing plenty of riding coaching with two other top notch coaches Jiri
Dostal, and Billy Laninovich. My Buisness Haven sports management is
doing really well and I’m happy to say we are busy helping the next
group of riders become the best riders around. In my racing career I
have done more wrong then right when it comes to training,racing and
sponsors and I hope to help the new kids do the right things in there
career. This doesn’t mean I’m done racing by any stretch it’s just
something I have a passion for. My fiancé Sarah handles the paperwork
while JIri, Billy, Dusty our “personal fitness trainer” and I are in
the trenches making these Athletes perform at there best

To wrap it up I’m excited to say it looks like I will be with KTM for
2 more years doing what I love and do best developing motorcycles. On
a personal note I’m pumped to fly to Australia in 3 weeks for my
wedding. Sarah and I are blessed with great family and friends and
look forward to coming back to the States as the Sleeter’s

BLOG 6/18/09

Well it’s been a little while since I have wrote due to the fact I haven’t been racing since Glen Helen, but that sure doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. Glen Helen didn’t go as planned due to a mechanical problem the first moto and due to ever tightening budgets there wasn’t a spare motor for me to use. I had to call it a day after 15 min into the first moto. With that being said I decided to sit out Hangtown save some money and really concentrate on testing and enjoying life a little bit. I’m recently engaged and it’s nice to spend a few weekends with my Girl.
Testing has been going great and I’m really liking the progress we are making on certain projects and one of those projects was caught on camera by the press, but that is what makes things great because I’m the only one who really knows what it feels like and why we are testing certain parts. You the General public gets to sit back and make assumptions and wonder what we are doing when you see that Orange box van at the local tracks in southern CA. KTM is always testing and trying new products and that is why you see the growth in the brand the last 5 years. If I can tell you one thing that KTM is not doing they are not pulling the plug on development. They are still improving bikes and it is up to me and a few others to weave through parts to make sure you the consumer have the best bike possible.
Since I have had a few weeks off I have been training like a mad man for no certain reason other then the fact that I love to suffer! My cycling regiment consist of both MTB and road cycling and I try to get 200 miles a week in if I’m not racing. Logan Darien from “DEFT” my trainer Dusty Marvin and I have been having a blast pushing each other to get through those 100 mile days but it’s all worth it in the end. With me training, and testing my company HAVEN SPORTS MANAGEMENT have put together a MX/SX school with coaches Jiri Dostal, Billy Laninovich, and myself to help out those up and coming riders get to the next level. That has been going great and all of the riders are happy with what we can bring to the table. If you would like to get more info on this program you can e-mail me at Mike@Havensportsmanagement.com.
As of right now I’m on a plane heading to Crandon, Wisconsin to do the first ever ramp to ramp step up competition as a halftime show for an off road truck race. They hope to use this in X Games this year, but I guess Brian “Bubbs” Foster, Dave Damengous, and myself will be the crash test dummy’s I have no idea what to expect but all I do know is that I will make more money doing this then I would if I raced 3 Nationals.
Well I made it out of Wisconsin alive but not with out a little road rash. The Step Up demo was a great time but I’m not going to lie it was a little scary how big we were going. Brian Foster and Todd Potter were going to the moon or shall I say over record heights for a step up competition. I was going higher then I should have gone for being on a standard 250f and I’m talking completely Stock! On the first day I was hitting the ramp in 1st and going about 25ft but Potter and foster had me covered by a good 3 ft so the next day I tried second after telling everyone 2nd might bog and sure enough on one of biggest attempts the bike bogged and shot me into the air looped out so bad all I could see was the sky. I somehow managed to stay until I hit the steep incline and I whiskey throttled across the dirt parking lot. I was so lucky it wasn’t worse GEEZE! With everything all said and done I had a great weekend and know what I need to improve on it’s call suspension and some motor work to get after it like the 2 strokes.It was also fun watching to of the greatest MX riders of all time battle in there off road trucks. McGrath and Rick Johnson are bad dudes on 4 wheels that’s for sure! If you haven’t seen the Torc Off Road series make sure you go check it out.

As much as I would rather be out there racing with the best riders in the world I’m just not financially able to be out there. That is why it kills me when I read about top guys not wanting to be out there. American MX is what I live for, the rough tracks, long motos, and the crazy dedicated fans. After I get home from this event. I will have two days to get ready to head north for the infamous Mammoth MX! I love this event for some many reasons. After Mammoth I hope to do Washougal and X-games but who knows if either one will pan out. It’s not my job to race but to develop motorcycles I’m just fortunate enough to be able to do some races here and there. I hope you enjoyed what I have been up to these past couple months.

I went to Mammoth and had a great time but I had some bad luck with mechanicals but all in all I was riding great and ended up 5th in the 450. There isn’t to much to say about the weekend when it comes to racing bc it didn’t go as planned, but damn Mammoth is great in June! Here is a pic of the 450 finish with Tommy Week and the Monster Step up

Vegas and Europe

            The end of the series was finally here and I was on the way to Vegas but it was a hectic day getting ready for the weekend. I was not only racing th SX, but my fiancé Sarah was racing her first Xterra Traithalon at Lake Las Vegas. Sarah had been training every bit as hard as me getting ready for her event so we both were a bit stressed out. We had her family and close friends in town from Australia so we didn?t want to let anyone down.

            We loaded up the truck Thursday night and headed out of town with a full truck and a few extra bags. You see Sunday morning after the race I was flying from Vegas out to Italy to test the 2011 KTM?s . It seems like I was just there and it might feel that way because I was there just a month ago, but there is work to be done so I?m on it! These last few races have been so much easier on me with the help of the Jagermeister KTM team taking care of my bike needs that I don?t think I would have been able to race if they didn?t help. I just had to much on my plate.

            As you know this year I was fortunate enough to sign with One Industries to wear there all new gear line and to help with there development for 2009 and years to come, so say thanks they had a surprise for me and a few other One Industries athletes. When I arrived at the Friday morning at Las Vegas Speedway to mee with Russ Koza and Bob Ketchum my I could see10 supercars including a Lamborgini, Ferari, Porsche, Aston Martin and Mercedes my jaw about hit the floor because I was told here you guys go. Your driving these cars all day. The group of guys at Supercarlife.com were some of the coolest guys I have ever met including Indy car driver Arie Lyendike jr. These guys were the best drivers in the world and they treated us moto guys like we were there equal. The guys that were driving were Billy Laninovich, Nate Adams, Logan Darien, Dan Reardon, and Kevin Windham. I don?t think these guys knew what to expect when out of the gate we were bouncing the cars off the rev limiter, losing traction and riding the bumper of the instructor ass on the first site lap. To be perfectly honest the instructors didn?t even flinch!!!! I could go on and on about this day but to be perfectly honest just got supercarlife.com book a day with them and it I promise you it will be some of the best money you will ever spend. I?m still grinning from it and it?s been a week.

            Friday night Sarah and I went to the Mini Moto for an hour or so but we left early because Sarah and I had to be at Lake Las Vegas at 5:30 am for her to be ready for her 6:30 start time. The gun went off and Sarah charged into the water where she was able to catch more then half the men who started 3 minutes ahead of her in the 1,100 meter swim. She came out of the water in 2^nd overall out over 100 women. She then got on Mountain bike and this was her weak link because she had just got her new Cannondale just 3 weeks earlier so there wasn?t much time for her to prepare on the bike. She finished the 9 mile bike in 6^th and quickly got out onto the run course where she dropped only one position to win her age group and finish 7^th overall! Pretty damn impressive if you ask me. It took her just 2:45 to complete and we quickly hopped in the car headed to Sam Boyd stadium where she dropped me off to try and top what she just accomplished.

            The track looked great with bigger triples and massive whoops! I was pumped coming off the best finish of the year at Salt Lake I really wanted to be in this Main Event. Practice went well and my times were 15^th fastest in my group. The joke around the pits was a typical hey Sleetdawg what got into the test guys ass? The thing is I?m having fun and my life has no unneeded stress. I was in the first heat race I didn?t get the greatest of starts coming in 16^th and rode my ass of all the way to 10^th. I was one spot from making the Main. The good thing is that I pretty much got 10^th in a West Coast Main Event the bad thing is I was going to a stacked LCQ. The gate dropped for the LCQ and I was in 4^th going Oh No how did you just blow this start you have the fastest bike out here and this what you get? I had a great battle with Durham and Michael Hall and was just shy from making the main but overall I was happy to get out of there healthy and safe. Remember I had to fly out to Italy the next morning to do my day job. I want to thank the whole entire KTM squad for a great SX season! I had a blast had some ups and downs but I accomplished some of my goals. These guys played a huge part in this year? Scott Youngstrand, Ryan Ragland, Lieghton Rice, Kurt Nicol of KTM, Danny Paladino , MDK, Jagermeister,One Industries, Jeremey Degen, Doug Shapinsky from Bridgestone, Alpinestar, Maxima, Spy, Tagger designs, Renthal, FMF, Skull Candy, Truth clothing, Vans, and Project 7,

            Sunday morning I awoke not to pumped knowing I was going to be traveling 24hrs before I arrived in Italy to then get 6hrs of sleep and ride the very next day. This test was similar to the last test. We were getting some refinement out of some great projects that KTM has put together for 2011. I?m really pumped with the stuff we have at the moment and I could go on and on about the test this past week but if you read my earlier blog about testing in Italy it?s almost word for word the same thing besides we went to Arco, Italy instead of Asti, Italy on the final day. Arco is a rocky hard pack track with a view to die for all around you but I was happy to finish up three hard day and had back to Munich, Germany.

            Right now my plane is on it?s approach into Ontario airport where I?m going to have to PIN it home take a quick shower and so I can get my good friend Ryan Morais?s wedding. It?s about time him and Hannah tied the knot. Congrats you two may God Bless you with a great marriage. I hope you guys enjoyed a wild week from the crash test dummy many call Sleetdawg? 

Coming into Seattle I’m really excited knowing that I’m riding really well with some help of Muscle Milk KTM rider Justin Brayton who has been pushing me around the test track extra hard while he is preparing for his return to the lites bike. My trainer Dusty Marvin has my fitness better then ever so things are looking up. Besides racing, testing, and training, life has been really busy lately tying to get Haven Sports Management up and running, If you didn’t know Haven Sports Management is a buisness my girlfriend and I have been working really hard to get going the last few months and I’m excited to say Sarah is doing a great job handling the Athletes. You see Sarah is the younger sister of Australian SX/MX champ and Geico Powersports rider Daniel Reardon so she has been around the motocross industry her whole life and knows what it takes to be get to the top! What Sarah does is builds itinerary packets for all action sport Atletes for there events so
 there is no question when there flight is, where there staying, what the track/course looks like. It’s a great thing she has developed and to get in contact with us about Haven you can go to Havensportsmanagement.com…. Enough with the plugs it’s time to go racing and as I fly up to Seattle it’s raining so I’m sure the track is covered and tommorow will go as planned with the typical rutty transitions and gravely turns Seattle is Famous for. After arriving in Seattle to see clearing sky’s I was picked up by the editor and chief of this website/magazine Donn Maeda. You see Transworld and Donn finacially helped me get to the races this weekend. This In it’s own is a huge wieght off my chest because I’m not starting the weekend behind financially. Once Donn and I checked in tp the Hotel we cruised around downtown to find more same sex marriage supporters and fixed wheeled emo bike riders then I have ever seen in my life! Arriving to the track Saturday it
 was cool to see my bike under the Factory truck as I’m filling in for some injured Jagermeister MDK riders. When we walked out on to the track for the track walk it was like I was walking in an elementary schools sand box. They have new dirt this year and it was pure sand!!! Walking the track is always fun at Seattle you get to find bricks, glass, nails and anything from the roadside mixed in the dirt. Watching the first two practices go it was obvious that the track was going to be like a dry mud race and not your typical SX. After the first practice I knew that I had to change up a few lines and ride the track more like an outdoor track then a SX. The track was so rutted and soft I honestly have never rode a Sx track like it, honestly it was pretty fun but sketchy. Practice ended up going pretty well and I was happy with my set up. I knew that I needed a start to make it easy on myself and that sure isn’t what happened. I lined up on the 2nd gate from
 the inside and knowing I needed the jump and in fact I got a great jump but the fact that I was on the bottom of a pile up 50 yards later sure didn’t help my cause! I got up quick and tried to do some serious damage control, but I could only manage  a 13th which doesn’t cut it!! The LCQ was going to be stacked considering Justin Brayton didn’t make it out of the heat due to the same pile up that I was in. On the start I missed my shift a bit and that landed me a 9th place start so it was time to do pull my head out of my ass and go forward. I charged hard but I could only manage a 3rd which takes you straight to the podium for the walk of shame and to collect the Asterisk mobile medical unit gas card.  Dr. Bodnar pays this himself and he is a great friend of mine so he would like me to miss the Main so he could give me some extra cash. You might be wondering why he would be stoked to present me with a check and not be in the Main? This is why right
 here! I made more money last night not making the Main and getting the 250 dollar Gas card then I would have getting 10th in the Main. The money isn’t the point it’s the fact that There selling out stadiums every weekend entries cost more money every year and to make the night show in the lites class you get 300 dollars. To get last in the Main you get 330 dollars and tenth is 500 and I made 550 for not making the Main. Something is wrong with that picture of you ask me? I lnow the wconomy is Bad ,but make the purse somethibgvavroder can call some descent mpney. All in all the weekend was good I have my health I rode the best I could I made a few dollars so life isn’t that the bad! Next week is a new week an I have to put this one behind me.  I want to thank: My Girlfriend Sarah for standing behind me and deqlingvwith my hectic schedule my mechanic/brother Scott

KTM North America, Jagermeister, MDK, One Industries, Alpinestars, SPY, FMF, Renthal, Maxima,  Bridgestone, Project 7, Truth, Vans, Tageer Designs, Skull Candy, Cannondale bikes, Ogio, Asterisk, Muscle Milk.

So The West Coast SX series is less then two weeks away and I just got back on the SX track yesterday for the first time since San Diego. Just because I haven’t been racing SX doesn’t mean I haven’t been extremely busy. I have been testing for the outdoors, 2011 production, Supermoto and racing select Mountain bike races on this break but it felt really good to get back on the SX track. My speed might be a tad off but more important my timing was there, so in the next week and a half I will be pounding the SX laps.

The series has been very exciting on the east with Reed taking back the points lead, J-Law nearly winning a Superross class race and Pourcel wrapping up a lites championship early but in my opinion the East lites class is extremely soft past the top 4 guys. You have a bunch of rookies out there going for it compared to the West coast guys. On the other hand the Supercross class is stronger then it has ever been. I’d like to give a quick Thank you to all the people who have purchased a Sleeter team shirt from me because the profit I made from those shirts paid for my mechanics and my flights to Salt Lake City. It’s tough running a privateer program and having some people buying a few shirts from you doesn’t sound like a big deal but it ads up.

Check this out here is a problem I ran into for Seattle, One Industries normally takes my bike to the races but with the World Mini Grand Prix the same weekend as Seattle One Industries takes there rig to World Mini to support the kids, so this meant I had to find somebody to take my bike up to Seattle. I assumed everything was a go with the arrangements I made with a fellow racer until early this week he dropped the ball on me that he was not going to attend the last three races and he was going to concentrate for the Nationals. I was like OH MAN!! I was stressed out to say the least because Donn had already booked my flight and Hotel for Seattle and I cant let my sponsors down so I had was on the phone texting, calling when I got a call from MDK to ride out of the Jagermiester truck at Seattle. This is such a huge breath of fresh air for me seeing that I work for KTM all week and I know all the mechanics and Team managers that it’s an easy thing to do with low pressure. I will ride my bike with Jager graphics and plan putting in some solid laps for them in Seattle. 

Well I hope to see get some dry weather in Seattle next weekend along with a top 10. Now wouldn’t that be great! Which is more likely a top 10 from me or no rain in Seattle you make the call! lol…

DAY 1: My boss Ryan and I arrived in Italy on Sunday after two layovers and 24 hrs of travel. We immediately got lost leaving the airport but quickly got back on track to drive 2 more hours to Montovan. We ate some good Italian service station food and went to bed for the night, seeing as we were going to have an early morning getting on the bike at 8 am.

DAY 2: I actually got some good sleep and headed downstairs to eat breakfast; or would you call it bread and meat? Breakfast over here is something else. We got in the car and followed the caravan of KTM sprinters for 2 hours to the first track and it was OK? It had quite a few tabletops ranging in all sizes and wasn?t prepped from the weekend which is good for testing. It took a bit to remember the track and the other test riders were pretty dialed, as it looked like they had been here before. Everts is amazingly smooth and a real nice guy. It was cool to burn some laps with him right away. It was a long day we finished riding at 6pm and drove 2 more hours to the City of Asti for day 3.

DAY 3: We got to sleep in a bit today seeing Stefan wanted some extra sleep so we didn?t start riding until 9am thanks Stefan ?. The Asti track us to be a GP track and I have been here before. If anybody has ever been to Carlsbad raceway it is very similar and I loved Carlsbad for some reason! The track was unbelievably rough with acceleration bumps everywhere so getting right out there wasn?t the most fun but the fast lay out with tons of elevation makes it worth it. We tested all day and I?m still at the track right now while the technicians discuss the plan for tomorrow and it is nearly 7pm. It?s been a long day but we are making progress on what we are working on, so that is always a good thing. I?m looking forward to some good Italian pasta tonight. I?m extremely tired after two long days and all of this travel. I have one more full day of riding then a four drive to Malon before I fly home Thursday.

DAY 4: Today has been going pretty well with testing and we are making improvements even with the extremely hard conditions. The track is on the side of a hill with tons of elevation changes and is like a typical GP track with big down hill jumps and acceleration bumps all the way across the track. We go out for no more then 5 laps at a time each time we put are leg over the bike. You sit and wait for the rotation to come back to you hoping you can tell a difference in what they did. I see some of the comments about how sweet this is and it really is but it isn?t that fun when it comes to riding because its not on your own terms, it is fun because I have dug ditches for a living and riding your dirt bike and making a better bike for me to race and for you to buy is the best part about it. If I want to have fun I don?t go test I go out riding with the boys. I?ll tell you what guys it is my 8th time to Europe and it makes this trash talking that guys do on internet in the States about how poorly prepped all of the tracks are just seem silly after you ride over. The tracks are so hard packed and rough. It makes you really appreciate how good we have it in the states. This is why you see these guys coming from the GPs and being so close to the front of the pack. They want to be where we are and we should realize that more but I guess that is just the nature of the beast.

In closing, the trip is nearly done; just traveling to get back home now. It was a very good trip and I look forward to seeing the finished product for the consumers to buy and the Factory guys to race. But my work isn?t even close to done. I will test this same equipment in the States in two weeks on our soil and tracks to make sure we are all on the same page. KTM has a great group of guys in motorsport and R&D and this week we had to work together to accomplish goals for the future. This potentially could be my last year doing my job due to our economy but I sure hope not. Well, I hope you enjoyed this little trip to Italy with me because I?m worked!!!

Saturday: travel from San Diego, lay over in Atlanta, and Paris arriving in Italy 24 hrs later.
Sunday:  Arrive in Milan drive 2hrs to Hotel 9pm Sleep
Monday: Travel 2hrs to a track. Ride from 9am-6pm travel 3 hrs to new hotel eat dinner shower sleep
Tuesday: arrive at track ride from 9am-7pm, travel 3 hrs to a new hotel eat sleep.
Wednesday: Drive 2hrs to new track ride from 9am-4pm, drive 4hrs back to Milan
Thursday: wake up at 5am drive to the airport. Fly out at 9am. Arrive in San Diego 20hrs later with a gear bag of dirty and stinky gear.