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...
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