Rider Updates
Jun 9 2013
2nd race of the season at Yahoi in Aomori Prefecture. Had a huge turnout this weekend. 39 riders for our class. Had to break up the class so we had 5min qualifying heats. I got a good start, 3rd into the 1st corner and falling to 4th by turn 4. Another rider washed out in front of me in turn 4 and in my best attempt not to run him over, I too washed out and got trapped under my bike and his somehow. by the time I got up and got the bike started, I had dropped to 20th place and everyone had a good 10 second head start on me. Pushed as hard as I could to make it back to the top 10 only to make it to 15th with 10th in my sites. If only it was a 10 min qualifier I could've made it no problem. Ended up racing in the B heat main event for no points for the series. After another excellent start in the main event I sat third going back into turn 4 right behind a friend of mine Mark Drennen. I went wide on the turn because I prefer that line allowing Mark to take the inside when out of nowhere another rider split the uprights cutting me off on the outside. I locked up trying not to t-bone him and in the process stalled the bike. "still getting used to a 4-stroke, maybe I should buy a Rekluse clutch" By the time I got started again I was in 20th place AGAIN. I grabbed a hand full of throttle and made quick work of the majority of the riders finishing 5th. Although I didn't get any Championship points, I learned a lot about my actual abilities. I learned that I can ride much faster, carrying more speed into the corners, accelerating faster leaving the corners and what I can handle in the rutted straights. I also got a lot of passing practice in. All in all it was a great race. Can't wait until our next race at Aomori City on 7 July.
May 12 2013
1st race of the Aomori Cup Championship was yesterday. It rained all day Saturday and the beginning of yesterday morning making for one of the muddiest races I've ever been in. But the sun came out between practice and the 1st moto. The track dried out a little bit before the final race, but the bottom of the hill was still a wet sloppy mess. My friend James Granger took 1st in both moto's and Terry Swartz took 2nd. I ended up taking two 7th place finishes out of 19 racers. Not too bad for my first time racing in over 10 years. Looking forward to our next race at Yayoi in June.
Apr 28 2013
Went out to Towada yesterday to practice. First real practice of the season because of my shoulder. Felt pretty good but got arm pump pretty quickly. I feel confident that with next weeks practice I should have no problems finishing in the top 5 for our first race on 12 May as long as I can keep from stalling the bike in the corners. Still not completely used to riding the 4 stroke yet.
Apr 4 2013
I sold my 05 YZ450F to a friend that wants to just do some trail riding. I found an 04 CRF250R that has just had the entire engine overhauled by Jun. He's a Japanese local national that owns his own repair shop. I feel confident with this bike for this season. Jun used to do all of the major maintenance on my bikes the last time I was stationed here in the 01-02 season. I'm still on profile for a torn rotator. I took a pretty hard digger on my last snowboarding trip. My profile expires on the 18th of April and the first race of the season is the 2nd weekend in May. I can't wait to get back on the bike and get ready for the new season. More to come.