CMJ RACEWAY

June 30, 2013

AA Line

Taking the lead

We are back in action after a weekend off in Hixton WI. We arrived at CMJ Raceway Friday night. Saturday morning I set out and walked the course. Chris asked me to check the course out and make sure everything was marked and ready for Sunday. Since the trail was drying out a touch we decided to add a little more trail for the afternoon race. The trail was still pretty slippery Saturday but with the wind it was soaking it up slowly. By Sunday the trail was looking like it was going to be awesome and it was great on Sunday. There were eight AA riders for the afternoon race. Riders came from Minnesota and Illinois as well as our normal local riders and this made a very competitive class. When the gun fired I got a little anxious and touched the throttle to quick and snubbed my bike. I hit the electric start button and it fired right away, but I was sixth going into the woods. I tried to make my way to the front as quickly as I could and tried to relax and ride hard. By the third lap I got around Pete and took the lead. Was goal was to ride hard and smooth and not make any big mistakes. Nate was right behind me and we just started to pull away from the rest of the field. We pushed each other pretty hard if we race each other and that usually results in some fast lap times. Lap eight I had to stop for gas and Nate got around me. I knew he still had to stop too but I didn't know when. Nate ended up stopping the next lap and I was able to close right back up on his rear tire. I knew it would be a dog fight to the end if we didn't make any mistakes. But my day got cut short when we caught a lapper next to the interstate. Nate was able to get by clean and as I was wheeling a ditch the lapper pulled back in the trail without looking back and I ran right into his tire and that sent me ping ponging through the trees. I was able to get back up fairly quick but it was to much of a gap to recover from. I was happy with my ride up until that point but that is racing; lappers can hurt you or help you. I came across the finish line in second place. I would like to thank my family for all the help they do and especially all my sponsors you guys are what keep me going week after week. Thanks for all your help!!

Remember keep it between the trees!

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!!

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.

Getting everyone up to speed.

 May 19 2013

It has been awhile since I have been on here and I have been busy healing and getting ready to get back on my bike. My toe has been making good progress. I was cleared to go back to my normal activities (which aren't real normal unless your like me and race dirt bikes through the trees) from my doctor the Thursday before round two of our district series. I was up in the air weather I should ride or not; it all depended on how I felt the day of the race. I was working out as much as I could the entire time I was off the bike, but not to the extent that I would have liked. About two hours before the start of my race I made the call to go ahead and race. I was mentally ready more than physically probably, but that's all I needed.
I started my first race back with an awful start. It was not what I wanted to happen at all. I was almost the last one off the line because my bike didn't start right away. I guess I was a little rusty on the start and I really didn't want to be in the back and have to race to the front because I didn't know how my conditioning would be or how my toe would feel. I was able to make it to the front of the pack on the first lap and I put my head down to ride my own race. I got a nice lead early on and rode smooth with no mistakes. At the end I had a 5 minute lead and took the win. It felt good to be back on my bike and racing again.
I would like to thank all my sponsors for sticking with me through the injury and I will continue to train and ride hard to keep you on the top spot of the podium. I would also like to thank my family- without them I wouldn't be able to do what I do week in and week out.
Remember keep it between the trees!!

On the Gas to catch everyone!

pictures courtesy of Brian Mullane

Injury update.

Well I'm going on the start of my fourth week and so far everything seems to be going well.  I go for my next doctor visit Thursday and hoping they remove  the pin like they were talking about.  That way I can start putting pressure on my foot and start walking around.  I'm not a person who likes to sit around and watch tv so this is really driving me crazy not being able to do my normal everyday activities.  I really want to get back to my training and ridding but I'm not going to push it just waiting for the doctors go ahead and I'll be working my butt off to get back to where I was before the injury. This isn't going to slow me down just a bump in the road to over come and learn from.  So I will keep everyone up to date on my progress.  See you soon at the races.

NO FROZEN GROUND!!

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

READY FOR THE SEASON!!

Here are a few pictures of my new race bike and last years race bike.  They are all ready for the season to start.  We will be kicking the season off soon as we are headed down south for 10 days to get some riding in and to head to our first race in Georgia. I am really excited to get the year going and would again like to thank everyone who is helping me this season.  Hopefully we will not see any of this white stuff when we get to South Carolina where we plan on practicing.