Personal History
My name is Kyle Tretow and I am a 27 year old mechanical engineer, currently living and riding in the Finger Lakes region of New York. I am new to riding as I first got on a bike just two years ago; however, I am not new to motorsports as I grew up in it through my dad. As a kid I always wanted to go racing because my dad worked in short track oval racing, and even spent a couple years working with the one and only Rick Johnson during his short stint in stock cars. Through him I learned hands on skills to repair race cars, fabricate parts, and how racing on a budget really worked. Unfortunately he was travelling a lot, so the only time I ever spent on a bike was in videos games playing as my heroes Jeremy McGrath and Chad Reed.
In high school and college I got heavily involved in automotive work and late model racing, and ended up working for a NASCAR Truck team as a mechanic and fabricator while earning my engineering degree. After graduating college and moving to New York - away from all my circle track friends - I was convinced by some coworkers to buy a bike and I haven't looked back since.
Outside of work and riding I enjoy photography (primarily motocross and other forms of racing), restoring and riding vintage motorcycles, snowmobiling, and hanging out with my St. Bernard, Olaf.
Riding Goals
My current goal is to come back from a broken leg I suffered at the end of the season last year. It was not a clean break, rather a spiral fracture of both the tibia and fibula so the recovery has been slow, and I now have some permanent hardware in my lower leg.
Once I recover from the leg injury, my hope is to get back to where I was when I got hurt: riding the best I ever have in my short time on the bike and hopefully becoming more competitive on track. Even now with the leg still healing I am in the gym as much as my time and energy level allow trying to maintain the strength I have elsewhere in my body and get my bad leg up to speed. My goal for this season is to be competing for wins in beginner class and hopefully be ready to move up to C class next year.
Competitive Highlights
Being on the bike for only two years, my first year on the bike was more about learning techniques and trying not to get in anyone's way. Year two saw me improve my skill and compete for the first time ever in the annual Can-Am races at Area 51 MX in upstate New York, where I was able to complete all the laps in my motos and didn't finish last; both accomplishments to me as a newbie rider against much younger competition.