 |
| All ready for the first ride!! |
 |
| Practicing at Palmetto MX Facility. |
Our trip started off on Friday night as we headed out for Travelers Rest, SC. We had a 16 hour drive a head of us but we wanted to pound the miles to get down there as fast as we could so we could ride a little on Saturday and then all day Sunday for sure. They were calling for a wet week that we would be down there. Our trip down went really good. Dad and I switched driving every time we had to get gas so we could each get some sleep. Like usual dad got stuck driving through the mountains and I got to sleep. We arrived in Travelers Rest around 9:30 Saturday morning. We stopped and got fuel for the bikes and headed to the Farm which we were able to get two good days of riding in. Sunday night mother nature opened up the skies and the rain started. We ended up getting rained out at the Farm so we turned to our back up plan. We loaded up the trailer and headed towards Columbia, SC. About 20 minutes south east of Columbia was our destination. I called Lonnie the owner of Palmetto MX on our way and told him we were coming since he is not open on the week days. He is great at letting out of town riders come and train or ride if they're on vacation during the week. He is a great guy and has an awesome facility. We rode there for four days and had perfect conditions. The place is really sandy and since it rained almost every night it packed the sand and made riding awesome. I got alot of good seat time and suspension testing done in those couple of days. We finished prepping the race bike Friday morning and loaded up again for our two and a half our drive to Greensboro, GA.
We arrived Friday afternoon at the pit area of the race and got everything set up for the weekend. I was really excited to get the season going. I felt really good on the bike and everything seemed to be where it needed to be. My fitness is great and my new bike is awesome and couldn't wait to race it.
Sunday morning came around and it was freezing cold like being back home- when we woke up it was only 28 degrees out. When I left the line for the start of the race it was a high of 30, but they were calling for a high in the mid-40's for the day. My first test went ok and I was a little tight through most of the section just because it was so cold and hard to get warmed up. It was a little greasy in spots but not to bad. Then we had a 14 mile road ride to get to the next section which everyone was dreading. Get sweated up and then have to ride 14 miles in 30 degree weather, Brr. I would like to thank Malissa and Betty, for bringing my coat and warm gloves to the out check for me.
The second test went better for me because I was a little loser and ready to try and put the hammer down. After the second test I was sitting in second. The third and fourth test were going to be tighter so I was excited for that but in the third test I did have one little costly mistake- I got caught in a vine when I blew a corner and had to get untangled. Not a huge mistake but big enough. Still sitting in second I was just trying to minimize my mistakes and be smooth. Then my day went bad. I was almost done with the fourth test when we came out of the woods and into more of a cleared woods that shacaned through some little patches of trees. I came around one bigger tree and that's when my day came to an abrupt halt. I don't really know what happened but when I came around the tree on my right I got back on the gas and started drifting towards a smaller tree on my left and I thought I was going to clear it so I never really let off the gas or hit the brakes. Somehow I ended up catching the tree with my foot peg and bark buster and it sent me over the bars. I ran back to my bike and when I picked it up and put my left foot down to start the bike I knew that something wasn't right with my left foot because it really hurt. I rode to the out check and luckily it was all roads back to gas. When I got to the truck we took my boot and sock off. I found out what was wrong. I had smashed my big toe and it took my nail off and also had three cuts from the impact. One on the bottom of the toe, the side, and a nasty one behind the nail bed. I had to quite the race which was very frustrating since I was doing really well. We took the road back to the trailer and loaded up and went to the Emergency Room in GA. They did x-rays and my toe was shattered. They told me to see an Orthopedic Surgeon when we get home. Not what I wanted to hear. We hammered the miles home and went straight to a 9:30 appointment in Green Bay. I was scheduled for surgery that night at 5. Everything went good and now we are set back 4-8 weeks depending on how it heals.
I would like to thank everyone for their support and to let them know that this is only a minor set back and definitely makes me want to come back even stronger and get back to where I belong wining races. I will keep everyone up-to-date on my progress and be back on the bike soon.
Remember "Keep it between the Trees" I think I need to start listening to my self ... HA HA!
JD
