Rider Updates
Sep 27 2007
Another hot september weekend in Texas. I just put on the big tank, so pitting was not an issue at this track. I could go without stopping and losing precious seconds to the other riders in the race. The track was good. The dirt was nice, but big braking and acceleration bumps were forming everywhere on the track. One o'clock eventually came around on Sunday afternoon and it was time to race.
The flagger dropped the flag and I gave it all I had off the line. It was a funny start at this race, we were lined up at the base of a groomed hill and it flattened out quickly at the top. This resulted in jumping as you reaced the top of the hill. It was fun but kind of wierd, probably because I had never done anything like it before. I really enjoyed it though, mainly because I pulled a pretty sick holeshot. The 80 minute race was on.
The first four riders instantly pulled away from the rest of the pack. This was not because it was dusty, there was no dust on the track. All I know is that it felt like I was going fast, so I guess I was. I led the first three laps, slowly pulling away from 2nd-4th. At the start of the fourth lap though, I got a little pumped up and slowed down. Second caught me and got by me. I wasn't ready to quit there though. I followed him for the next half lap and then he messed up and I got by for the lead again. Another guy had moved into second place and was charging hard. He got by me after a near death pass. He pulled away a little bit, so I concentrated on staying consistent. I caught back up to him and passed him. The only problem was that the guy that had been in third began charging hard. He got by me and I was in second yet again. I stayed with him for the remainder of the race, or at least until the last lap. I had gotten big blisters on my thumbs and they killed! The checkered flag was thrown and I ended up 15-20 seconds off of first. We finished 4 minutes ahead of third and like 6 minutes ahead of fourth. It was a good ra
Sep 24 2007
I just got back from Washington after watching the MX of Nations. It was quite simply awesome! There were tons of people, I stayed in the same spot the whole day on Sunday, I couldn't move. I had about one square foot of space to myself. The crowd was awsome, the race was awsome, and D.C. is awesome! I had a great time seeing all the different riders. The only thing that I thought was a little wierd was that just about any American motocross B rider could have beat those guys from Greece. I thought they would have some better riders than that. But, all in all it was an event that I will never forget. Great job America!
Aug 25 2007
Another hot weekend was upon us in TX. I don't know exactly what the highs of the weekend were, but the sun was scorching hot if you dared go into it. I wasn't about to let the heat stop me from putting a good race together this weekend.
The track was Rock hard. It was like riding on slick concrete with marbles all over it. It was all you could do to not lay it over in the corners. The ground was also not very forgiving if you happened to land on it. I took a spill in the Saturday practice and It felt like I had just dove into the shallow end of a pool with no water in it. Luckily I had on my trusty helmet to protect me. I went home Sat. night and put on a "newer" old rear tire because the one that was on there was like a street tire. The knobbies were gone.
Since the race was close I got to hang out at home for most of the morning on Sunday. I only arrived at the track a couple hours before my race and set my mind to winning. I knew it was going to be a difficult one. I had my normal competition like Cameron Ishmael there and then I had ex-supercross PRO Charlie Bogard signed up to race. The siren sounded for the PRO/Expert race and I got down to the line. There was a little room left on the inside line, so I squeezed myself in there right next to Charlie Bogard. The flag dropped and I got a pretty good jump, we got to the first turn and Bogard swung out wide so I went inside. We were all slippin around until we got in to the woods. I was 3rd with Ishmael right in front of me and Bogard right behind me.
I got around Ishmael in the woods and sat right behind first for about a mile. He took a corner wide and I cut inside of him for the lead. I led the race for most of the first lap and then I got a little pumped up. Ishmael caught back up and passed me going into another woods section, so I was seated second going through the scoring chute. I was 5 seconds behind the leader and it seemed that he was slowly pulling away. Bogard was about te
Aug 11 2007
I arrived at the start line, ready for a good race. I felt good, there were 15 PROs gathered at the line waiting to draw a number for gate selection. I had always seemed to draw a bad number in the previous rounds, but not today. Today I wanted that no. 1 pick. I drew my little piece of paper out of the hat and opened it... It read "15".
With last gate pick way on the outside, I was determined to charge right across the inside and block everyone. The flag dropped and I went for it, I got about half way across the field before I got t-boned. The start had a sharpright to a sudden left s-turn, so when I was t-boned I was pushed off the track, missing the s-turn. I didn't want to cheat so I stopped. I sat on the side of the track for about 5 sec. and watched guys go by. I then got on the track and pinned it thinking I did the right thing. I got on the track in either 7th or 8th position.
After the first 4-mile lap, I had worked myself up to 5th. I was right on 2nd-4th, we were all together. I came around the last corner to the scoring chute and sitting there was the "black flag". I was being stopped for my "track cutting" that I thought I had fixed myself. They held me there for 45 sec. to a minute. All I could do was sit and watch my competition go by and pull away. They let me go and I think I was in 10th place. I put on a full charge and pushed to work my way back up. After three or four laps, I had worked my way back up to 5th place. This 5th was not the same as the last 5th though, 4th place was still about 45 seconds ahead of me, and 1st - 3rd were gone. I could see 4th place on some switch backs and knew I was gaining ground on him. I thought for sure that I would at least catch him by the end of the race.
While I was pushing to catch 4th, I had forgotten one thing. I had to pit for gas. My lack of an oversized tank causes me to pit while others keep riding. I stopped to pit and lost another 25 seconds to 4th place. I pushed for the la