UPS AND DOWNS OF MY 91 HOUR ROAD TRIP

I had planned a 91 hour road trip over the last few weeks that included a dirt bike summer camp, my niece’s birthday party, lots of riding, and nationals.  The trip did not go as planned…….

PART 1:  MotoPro Graphics worked around the clock to get our moto van wrapped.  It turned out really cool.  Throughout our trip I got a lot of thumbs up and people and had a lot of conversations with many different people at each stop we made.

PART 2:  I first set out to Missouri for the Boom Diggity dirt bike summer camp.  We drove 27 hours to Missouri and signed in for the best summer camp ever!

We broke off into small groups and went to stations.  Each station had a different trainer that would give us a drill and tips as we rode.

 

We worked on turns, starts, jumps, and interviews.  They had a little bit of everything.

After we were done riding, they had a pit bike track, oset track, a huge waterslide and swimming pond, and dodge ball.

 

The only bad thing was that a storm came in and ended camp early.  We got so much rain that everything flooded and the party had to stop before planned.

It was time to get back into the moto van and drive another 15 hours to South Carolina to live and train at South Of The Boarder MX.

South of the Border is the coolest place.  It is a huge “little mexico theme” place with rides, pee-wee golf, reptile museum, arcades, restaurants, hotel, campground…….

and in the back of everything is motocross tracks!

Everyone that is there to practice motocross stays in the back rooms on the facility.  We ride our bikes around the place and go from our rooms right to the tracks.  After practice we would go swimming together, out to eat, ride bikes, and some of my friends would go fishing.

When I first got to SOBMX it had rained a lot and the tracks were really muddy.  It was really different to ride in the heat, the humidity, and the muddy tracks.  I took a little bit to get adjusted and then I was getting more used to everything.

On the weekend we drove an hour to North Carolina to visit my sister and her family.  I played with my niece Lola and we celebrated my niece Vivian’s first birthday.

A few days we had so much rain that we couldn’t ride the tracks at SOB and we had to drive down the road to a sand track.

My neighbors at SOBMX was some of my friends I have raced with before, some new friends that I have never met before and some pros…… Cooper Webb, Aaron Plessinger, Jimmy Deceits.  They would come to SOBMX and practice all week and then fly out to the races each weekend.  It was cool to live next door to my Yamaha teammates and to watch them practice.

Things were going great and I was getting used to the weather and the tracks and feeling really good about my training until……

I broke my Tib/Fib.  I had to be transferred to a bigger hospital, they set my leg for the night and the next day I went into surgery.

They kept me at McLeod hospital for several days and everyone was so nice.  The people in the hospital where awesome, you know we race motocross to meet girls……nurses!

Then I was able to be released and travel back home….. 42 hours straight home so I can go to my local doctor to check my leg.

First I went back to SOBMX to say goodbye to everyone.

This is a picture of everyone at the camp and the three trainers that helped us everyday.

Of course I had to say goodbye to Cooper Webb and get my cast signed.

After 42 hours of driving back home, I got to my doctor’s appointment.  He took my cast off and I was able to see my leg for the first time since my surgery.

I was more upset that I would be missing Nationals for the first time in 4 years than I was hurting.  I was making sure I did everything I needed to do well at Nationals this year and bring home a win for all my sponsors and I didn’t have the result I was expecting.  I will heal up and be ready for the next big event!

 

LORETTA LYNN NATIONALS RACE

Thanks to the help from my Grandpa and my Uncle Mike, my parents got our new moto van all ready for our trip to Tennessee.

The trip was so long….I played on the computer, watched movies, and slept until we finally arrived.

The blue crew, Yamaha family were all honored on the banner and we all got special Loretta Lynn shirts and got together for a team dinner and photo

In the Yamaha tent they have a banner and guess who’s picture was on it…….ME!!!

Acerbis had new plastics shipped to us on the road and before we got to the track Dad had my new graphics on and my bikes looked so awesome.  When we got to the track we got our A+ Loretta Lynn sticker for being in school and on the honor roll and put them on my bike.

Just before we got to Loretta’s my Mom took me on what she called “an adventure” at the hotel and I got poison oak.  It started on my arms, went down to my hands, on my legs, back and feet.  Everyday I raced and got hot and sweaty I got more and more spots.  It was so itchy and bad……no fun!

It was time to gear up and get on the track…. We had two 15 minute practice sessions, then I had a total of 6 races (3 races in 85 9-11 stock and 3 races in 85 9-11 mod)

The weather was SO HOT.  The humidity was the worst it has ever been there for the first few days of racing.  Just standing outside everyone’s clothes were wet.  The first day of racing did not go well and I had bad starts and went down a few times trying to race back to the front.  When I finished my second race of the day they had a garden hose under the top 10 tent and when we came off the track we got to cool down with water.

With my first race was really bad, I had a bad start and fell three times and finished in 27th place.  After that all five of my other races I finished under the top 10 tent and one race I finished third and made it onto the podium.  My buddy Wes Kain was announcing….. (Remember last year when Wes interviewed my race win at the Cal Classic race and I stood on the bike stand because my Dad had to get my bike ready for my next race- read here  Cal Classic 04.15.14 ) When I came up to talk to him he grabbed a gas can and told me to stand on it so we can see eye to eye because that was our thing.  He is so funny!

Racing was awesome.  I had six 20 minute motos (3 moto format for each class) and I was able to finish up the week with a 9th place and a 3rd place

I had a lot of my sponsors at the track supporting me.

YAMAHA and THOUSAND OAKS POWERSPORTS- 2X PROMOTIONS – FLY GEAR

FMF – 51 FIFTY ENERGY DRINK – PR2 SUSPENSION

VON ZIPPER GOGGLES – WAVERLY KFC – EVANS

I even had Malcom Stewart under the tent with me.

…and of course my Mom and Dad!

Awards ceremony was awesome and instead of getting top three swords, we got top three shields…..I used my shield from this year and my sword from last year and I am ready for battle!

Then 2,000 miles back home and back to practice for the next race!