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James James Meinert
Heavy Equipment Mechanic

Well, I was born in 1957 and raised in the great state of Wisconsin by two of the best parents anyone could wish for, whom I don't see as much as I should. At age 23 I left the hometown for parts unknown and have been somewhat of a nomad ever since. After a couple of years of wandering around, I settled in Boulder, Colorado in 1982, where I pursued my dream of competing in the world of motorcycle road racing. I was fortunate enough to hook up with a really good super bike pilot named Ricky Orlando. I am too slow to compete at the national expert level, but with his riding talents and my mechanical abilities we were able to score a number of class championships and compete across the US and even some foreign venues during the next ten to twelve years. While doing this I met some other racers that were coming to the "ice" during the off-season and decided to give it a try back in 1993. Well, the life style sort of grew on me and here I am with almost five years of "ice time" under my belt spent working mostly for Science Support at the Mechanical Equipment Center. I'm happy to be a part of this traverse and even though it was never one of my dreams, it sort of fits in with the rest of my life. I think it will be hard work and fun at the same time to get out into the last frontier. Sure beats the corporate suit world of lies and deceit.