Monday, June 17, 2013

Slippery Wedron.

June 16, 2013

My Little Buddy!

Great Father's Day!



The Logs!
We made the trek south to Wedron IL for round 3 of the District 16 Hare Scramble series. The forecast for the weekend wasn't looking so good because they were calling for rain Saturday night. Wedron had enough rain during the week that the woods were muddy already. Unfortunately the skies opened up Saturday night and soaked the course. Sunday came and it was a very warm and sunny day. The turn out was pretty good considering the weather, but my day didn't go as planned. I had a bad start and had to try and work my way through the pack which ended up not being so easy for me that day. I was trying too hard to get to the front that I was making a lot of mistakes and some of the mistakes where ending up making me fall down in the slippery conditions. I kept trying to push harder and harder, but finally decided to slow down a little and try and salvage the best finish that I could for that day. You don't always have good days and this definitely wasn't one of the my best rides. The race was only 1hr 45min and this is shorter than what we are used to. The extra time helps you when you have to play catch up like I was doing and I just ran out of time to improve my position. I ended the day in 6th overall. Not bad considering my struggles, but not acceptable for my standards. I plan on learning from this and will rebound as I move on to the next race. I would like to thank everyone who helps and supports me: my wife, mom and dad, and especially all my sponsors. You make this all possible. THANKS!!

Remember keep it between the Trees!!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The Loose Moose!

June 9, 2013

We made the drive to the U.P. this last weekend for round six of the National Enduro Series.  This was my second race back from my toe injury (since February at round one in Georgia). My toe is healing really well and I am trying to get movement back in the knuckle that the pin was put through. The weather was looking to be great for the weekend of racing with a slight chance of rain on Sunday. The family enduro was on Saturday. For the last couple of years I have helped out by pulling arrows down after the event and working both checks and road crossings. This year I was asked to help work a check on the second loop. It is a good time to sit out in the woods and see all the smiles from everyone having a great time ridding as a family.  There needs to be more of these types of events. When I was done helping out I went back and got signed up for Sundays race, went through tech, and finished getting everything prepped for race days. I was on row 18 which was a great row. The trail wasn't to beat up but was burnt in well enough to see where we were going in the new sections. The first test was fast and flowing trail. I put in a decent ride and was the third fastest in my class during that test. The next test was a lot tighter; they put us in the woods and kept us there for the most part. I won this test because this is what I like to ride. Test three also had a lot of tight woods and I ended up tying with another rider for first in this section. Test four opened back up and also had a couple of moon rocks in the mix. Test Five had more moon rocks and was more of an open flowing trail.  Then we came to the AA section - test six. This was once again a more technical trail for us to finish up with. It had rocky climbs with a lot of rocky ledges to go up and down. I told myself to be smooth and not make any mistakes and I would do good. I could of gone faster through the rocky parts of this section but my strategy of riding smooth worked better because I won this test. I went through it mistake free and had a great ride. I came out with my best finish yet at a National Enduro = 1st in Open A and 14th Overall.  I would like to thank everyone, all my sponsors, and my family for all their support to make it easier to go racing and to win races. Thanks!!

Remember keep it between the Trees!!

The hardware.
I think I got what it takes!
Wishing Daddy good luck!
First Gas Stop!
End of one of the Tests.

I thought it was my turn for test three!
The Family.