Headed to Loretta's!

Yeah, I know... it's been a while. I've been busy! Riding, racing, and training is a lot of work, not to mention my desk job. Since today's race was rained out, I figured I'd catch you all up. The next best thing to racing is talking about racing! Most of you know the story, so I'll keep it fairly short. The Area Qualifier at Thunder Valley, here at Lakewood, was a mud pit. The racing was over two days and the first day the track was the best I've ever seen it (except for when they prep for the Nationals), but, unfortunately, my classes were the second day and it rained all night the night before AND they forgot to turn off the sprinklers! So, it was muddier than anything I've ever seen. Ruts were footpeg deep, bikes were getting stuck trying to get up the faces of jumps, some even got stuck IN the mud. Carnage everywhere. It was so bad, they shortened the track about mid-morning, and then cut the afternoon program altogether, so it was a single moto format. I was fortunate to get the holeshot in both races. I checked out for the win in the 30+ class (20+ seconds), had the lead in the 40+ class ahead of Matt Tedder (well known MX family out of Surfside, CA), and then stalled the bike on the last lap. The ruts were so deep that every time I tried to start the bike the suspension compressed and the rut would knock the shifter into gear and I would have to reach down and put it in neutral with my hand. I did this 3 or 4 times before getting it started. The good news was that 3rd place was so far back I was able to get going again before he caught up and I ended up taking 2nd. The Regional Qualifier at Freestone County Raceway in Wortham, TX, was a little different. It was a LOT different! The track was fun, the traction was phenomenal... and it was HOT - 101 degrees with a heat index of 110! I've been trainin' my ass off, multiple 30-minute motos with 10 minutes rest in between, etc, and I couldn't believe how much the heat and humidity sapped my energy. I was struggling to hang on after 3 laps! The Regional was a 3-moto format over 2 days (which turned out to be a good thing). I ended up doing 3 motos on Saturday and 3 motos on Sunday. I struggled with starts all day Saturday and found myself battling back from mid-pack (>30 riders/class) to a 2nd place finish in my first 30+ moto, and crashes trying to come through traffic resulted in 15th in my first 40+ moto, and a 14th in my 2nd 30+ moto. Needless to say, I was bummed at the end of the day. I thought I had blown it. I called Matt Karlsen for some guidance on my starts. I had been nailing my starts in the local races, but not here. The traction was SO good, my front end was coming up, so I would have to shut down the throttle and that allowed everyone else to pull ahead. He suggested not packing down the line, to kick the big stuff out, but leave the loose stuff in there and top off the fuel tank before each moto to get a little extra weight up front. That was the perfect solution - on Sunday I got 2 holeshots and 4th out of the first turn in the other moto. That was good enough for 2 2nds in my 40+ motos for 5th overall, and a 6th in my 30+ moto for 6th overall (top 6 go to Loretta's - click link on left side of page to see race results). This was good, but the bummer was that I led all 3 of Sunday's motos for at least a couple of laps. Tedder was able to get around me after a couple of laps in both 40+ motos (and check out... dude's fast!), and I just got tired and made mistakes in the 30+ moto that allowed 4 riders to pass me on the last lap. I was exhausted. Crazy. Meanwhile, I've had a couple of races locally that were okay. I'm still winning the championships in both 25+ and 30+ classes, and I'm in 3rd in the 40+ class. I'll miss a couple of the remaining local races, so hopefully I'll rack up enough points in the races I do make to retain my points lead and bring home a couple of championships. BUT... it's really all about Loretta's...

SNOW!!!

Races cancelled. I shoveled 18" yesterday of wet, heavy, April 18 snow. It was so heavy, it had to be taken out in two layers. So... I turned it into a plyometric strength workout, while my competition was laying around on the couch waiting for it to melt. Quick off the bottom to sling the snow as far into the yard as possible, 8-10 reps, switch hands, 8-10 reps, etc, alternate for 15 minutes, then rest for 2-3 minutes. This for 2 straight hours as I happily turned down my neighbor's offer to use his snow blower, all the while thinking about the long-term goal - Loretta's. My inner layer was soaked with sweat and I was worked by the time I finished. Awesome. Today, my obliques, lats, and shoulders are feeling the effects. Good stuff. I'm headed to the gym in a few for some high intensity moto replication on the rowing machine, stair stepper, and anything else I can get my hands on to dominate. Unfortunately, I'm traveling this week, so won't get to ride before next Saturday's practice for Sunday's race in Sterling. But I will get some gym time. Just waiting for Robb to send me the schedule. Until next week...

Race #3

I had a good couple of days at the gym last week. What? A good COUPLE of days?! Well... I actually got to ride! Twice! Wednesday, I went to the track where Sunday's race was, and our office was closed for Good Friday, so I had a 3-hour session with Matt at Thunder Valley. Just what the doctor ordered and what I've been missing - seat time. After a warm-up moto on Wednesday, Robb prescribed three 15-minute motos with only 5 minutes of rest in between. It was rough (avg HR 168... high of 185!... for the 46 total minutes of ride time) and my lap times got progressively slower toward the end of each moto, but I haven't run 15 minute motos yet this season, so it was good. Thunder Valley on Friday was jacked up. It was dry in sections and muddy in others with footpeg-deep ruts. I did a few laps before Matt and my buddy, Alex, got there and I just wasn't having fun. The track was sketchy and the variability in certain sections made it dangerous. Because of the conditions, Matt, Alex, and I worked on ruts. With what ended up being a pretty muddy track on Sunday, it was a good thing we did. I had a lot more confidence in the deep ruts, particularly in long straight sections, when I left the track Friday afternoon than I've ever had, and I was very confident, both physically and technically, going into the weekend. It was on. The forecast for Sunday was 40-60% chance of showers with a high of 51 degrees. Not exactly ideal, but the meteorologists around here haven't gotten it right, yet, this spring, so I was hopeful. Well, they got it partly right - it rained, but not until after the morning program and only for about an hour. Fortunately, I had a late schedule this week, so I stayed dry. The track, however, didn't. At least in the afternoon. Deep ruts formed in the morning, but the track was otherwise awesome. My 40+ moto was first, and again, the only fast guy there was my new nemesis, #77. He got the holeshot, but I was on him and stayed with him. I noticed in the first two laps a couple of sections where I had a faster line, so I closed the gap, but just couldn't get past him. BUT, I knew I had the speed for him and couldn't wait for moto 2. My 25+ class was next. Once again, I got a bad start... which ended up being the story of the day... but I got out front quickly and got the win. The 30+ class had a similar beginning and ending, and I got another win. Moto 1: 2nd, 1st, 1st. Great start to the day. At the break, the rain started and the track was slick and sloppy in sections, and there was a slight delay so they shortened each of the afternoon races by one lap. In moto 2 in the 40+ class I found myself playing catch up once again. I was 5th coming out of the first turn, but made short work of the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place riders. By this time, however, #77 had pulled a pretty good gap, but was still in sight. I started to reel him in... and then it happened. About half way through the last lap, coming into one of the sloppy corners, I lost concentration and stalled the bike. By the time I got it started again I gave up two spots and ended up 4th for 3rd overall. Frustrating to lose because of a stupid mistake, but I know I have speed for #77. In the 25+ class... did I mention I got bad starts all day? Well, this time EVERYONE beat me to the first corner, so I let everyone go wide and I cut inside and found myself in 2nd place going into the second corner. Nice! I'm on the first place rider and just biding my time waiting for the right opportunity and it happened - I stalled the bike AGAIN! IN THE EXACT SAME PLACE!! AND ON THE LAST LAP!!! This time, however, I was able to start the bike before the 3rd place rider caught me, and held on to 2nd place for 2nd overall. DAMMIT! In the 30+ class, what happened? Yeah, I got a bad start... but somehow found myself in 2nd place going into the 2nd turn. Coming into the corner... where I had previously stalled the bike... I saw the 1st place rider going for the second rut out and I had been railing the inside line, so I took it. He was still about a half a bike length ahead of me going over the next jump, but I was going for the inside line again coming into the next corner and was going to push him out. He decided to do the same thing, dove inside, I hit the brakes, bumped him, got cross-rutted, gassed it to get out of the ruts, got squirrely... AND STALLED THE BIKE!!! I lost a couple of spots, but was able to get them back by the end of the race for 2nd, and 2nd overall. UGH!! Lesson learned here - patience. I knew I had more speed than this guy, so I should have waited to pass, but I lost my head. And lost the race. The good news is I still have a decent lead in the points standing, but I'll miss this weekend's race and give up some points to do a "practice" race at Thunder Valley to prepare for the Area Qualifier there on May 9/10. Remember, it's all about Loretta's.

Rest Day

It's snowing again and I'm over it! We got in March and are still getting in early April the winter we never had. We need the moisture, but I need to ride! The good news is today is my official "rest day" per this week's training schedule. After recovering Monday from Sunday's race, I endured four straight days of Robb kicking my ass in the gym... remotely from sunny Florida! Bastard. So, I'm actually enjoying the break today. Going back to last Sunday, it was tough. After ANOTHER storm dumped 6+ inches of snow the Thursday before, the track was super muddy. I went out for practice on Saturday and got in about 6 laps before I decided I'd had enough. I accumulated probably 60-70 extra pounds of the Berthoud clay on my bike, which took me 37 minutes and $22 to remove at the car wash. Ridiculous. When I left the track, however, the maintenance crew was removing the top layer of mud with front-end loaders and plowing the rest of it in with the dry stuff underneath. It was looking like Sunday was going to be nice. Sunday morning practice was cold and the mud was still frozen, so it was hard to tell what the track would be like as things warmed up. My schedule was early, which is generally good at this track, as it tends to get dry, hard packed, and slick as the day progresses. My first race was my first ride in the 40+A (expert) class. The top 3 riders in this class are faster than me (temporarily), but I'm not quite sure how much faster. Unfortunately, 2 of the 3 fastest guys weren't there, so I would have to wait to find out. I got the holeshot (that's first to the first turn, for those not hip to the motocross lingo) and actually led for a couple of laps before getting out of "the" rut and into the deep muck, which sucked all of my momentum and allowed #77 to pass me. He then pulled away and I finished 2nd. My second race of the day was the 25+ intermediate class. I got the holeshot again, but this time rode away to a win. My third race was the 30+ intermediate class. I got a bad start and was 5th out of the first turn, which is where I ended up. Because of the mud, the track was very one-lined making it difficult to pass. I knew starts would be critical all day and I blew it. In the afternoon, the track was cut in nicely, but still offered only a few opportunities to pass. In moto 2 of the 40+ class, #77 got the holeshot. I hung with him and almost passed him on the 1st lap, but had nothin' else for him and he pulled away to about an 8 second lead by the end of the race. I have some work to do here. I holeshot moto 2 of the 25+ class and rode away with another win for 1st overall, and holeshot the 30+ moto and took the win, which, combined with a 5th, was good for 2nd overall. Overall, so to speak, not a bad day with a 1st and two 2nds. Today? It's still snowing! I guess I'll relax, watch the Shell Houston Open golf tournament, and hope the track is not too muddy tomorrow. BRRRRUUUUUUUUP!!