Texas Road Trip

Last weekend was the final round of the RMEC in Matador, Texas. To be totally honest, I was feeling a little bit under-prepared for this one. In the two weeks between our races in Milliken and Texas, I had four wisdom teeth removed, helped Erin through a knee operation, and worked over 100 hours! Erin and I left Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after Erin went under the knife. You may think she's crazy for coming with me, and you might be right, but just remember who we're dealing with. If I left her at home unsupervised, she probably would have wrapped her leg in duct tape and run a marathon. We made a comfy spot in the van for her, put on some country music, and hit the road.

Ten hours later, we found ourselves at the race site. As usual, you have to dedicate at least 2 hours of the afternoon to chatting with your friends that you haven't seen since the last race a couple weeks prior. It was dark before we knew it, and I still hadn't prepped my bike for the race..... We were exhausted and hungry, so we had some dinner and went to the hotel for some much needed rest.

The alarm went off at 5:30 Sunday morning, and we rushed to the race site with plenty of work ahead of us. I still needed to put on my computer, clean a leaky seal, and make some last minute adjustments. Luckily Ray Barnard was signed up on my row, and was counting on pacing off me all day, so he lent a hand in getting everything ready and getting me to the start, ha!

The day went pretty well overall. The test sections were generally short and high speed, and conditions were definitely dry, dusty, and slippery. I made a few small mistakes, but didn't have any big crashes and had a lot of fun. When the scores were finalized I ended up 14th overall. I was happy with my result considering the caliber of riders at the event and my lack of preparation in the prior weeks. I think I finished the season in 8th overall for the RMEC and will be riding in the AA class in 2010 for my fourth consecutive year WOO WOO!! Watch out for number 18A next season, I'll be back better than ever!!

Also note:

-Scott Bright beat me. I am not ok with this and will not let it happen again. He is at least 100 years old and this shouldn't be happening. He just had a faster bike....

-I accidentally left my phone at home. Erin's roomate (Laura Tingle) was checking my messages for me and answered a call from Billy Innis. They struck up a little conversation and now Tingle has a soft spot in her heart for Billy :)

-David Klein sucked on Erin's finger. Gross.

Double Header Weekend!!!

Hi Guys! Thanks for visiting my new blog... I feel so sophisticated!! I'm writing this first post under the influence of some awesome anesthesia. I had my wisdom teeth removed this morning. Although it's not the most fun experience, at least I'll have a little bit of time to catch up with some things I've been wanting to do (one of which is writing this post!).

I had some super fun races last weekend and wanted to share some of the highlights with everybody. The excitement started Friday night when I got back from work and started listing off all of the items on my bike, gear, and body that needed some work before my first 10:00 AM practice at the Denver Endurocross. With Erin's help, I was able to get my bike working and looking good, my gear washed, and my body fueled!

Saturday morning started much like every other race day does- walking around the pits and chatting with every familiar face you see. Trust me, this is no small task. I should schedule at least 1-2 hours on race day for catching up with friends and listening to their crazy stories. I finally made it to sign up, got registered, walked the track, and geared up for my first practice session.

My first practice started at 10:00 AM. This is the third year I've done Endurocross, but I don't practice this type of event enough to ever get comfortable with it. Needless to say, each lap was a bit of a struggle. In my opinion, the two most difficult obstacles on the track were the tractor tires that were stacked on their sides, two deep, that ran diagonally across the track, and the Matrix log section (which still sends chills down my back when I think about it). The Matrix was a series of five logs that were spaced perfectly to make you suffer. You could put this section at the exit of a maximum security prison and nobody would even bother trying to escape.

After it was all said and done, I had ridden 4 practice sessions and 4 qualifier races. I thought that I had barely missed qualifying for the night show "main event" in both of my classes, but I was so worn out that it didn't really bother me, haha. We watched a few pro practice sessions and decided to head home to get everything ready and get some rest for the second-to-last round of the Rocky Mountain Enduro Circuit at Milliken, CO.

We woke up early Sunday and were greeted to rain and near freezing temperatures. Though neither Erin or I were very excited about the weather, we didn't say too much about it and tried to maintain a good attitude about the day of racing ahead of us. The A/B Pro race was held at 9 AM, and to my surprise, the conditions ended up being really good! Although I was a little bit sore and tired from Saturday, I rode a pretty good and consistent race. My test times were good enough for 7th overall, and all of us in the top group were really close (I think I missed 6th by 1 second!!).

Erin started her second enduro ever around 1 PM, and of course I was a little bit nervous! Despite a few "get-offs", she rode great . It's awesome for me to watch her improve every time she gets on the bike. I was a little bit tired but did my best to follow her around the loop. I can't believe how rough the course got by the end of the day. I'm really proud of her for finishing the race, and I'm not sure who had the bigger smile on their face when she crossed the line!

The weekend was super fun, but I can't leave out the names of a few people that helped me out along the way. First, my awesome girlfriend Erin helped me with everything she could, and I really appreciate all the meals, advice, smiles, and positive encouragement that she brought. Alan Stillwell from stillwellperformance.com has also been a huge help. After setting up my suspension a couple weeks ago, we did some testing and got some excellent settings for Milliken. Alan also made me feel like a factory rider at the endurocross, getting my clickers dialed in and making sure everything else was in working order. I also have to thank the guys at Sun Enterprise and KTM for helping me out all season. Without their support I wouldn't even be at the races doing what I love!

My last race of the season is next weekend in Texas, so check back for a race report and some pictures. I'm really excited about some new opportunities for next year, and I'll make sure to keep everybody posted!!!