About bad starts, flat tires, stomach cramps, and broken bikes

June 24, 2012 JDay GP, Crowhill 2, Baldwinville, MA


After missing last weekend’s race due to an awesome trip home to Wisconsin to hang with my peeps and spending time on boats, Jet Skis, and bikes, it was time to get into race mode again and head up to Crow Hill, MA for another JDay race (www.jdayoffroad.com). Crow Hill easily qualifies as one of my favorite courses, love the MX track and the trails and extreme section are pretty sweet as well. John Day and his crew changed it up a bit for this one and we ran the MX track and the extreme section backwards, which made it really fun and challenging. I was amped to go rip it up, especially since my grandparents came all the way from Michigan to watch.

Moto 1: Wow…the old me was back. Dead last off the starting line (it took 2 kicks to get the bike started), and into a sharp right hand turn we went. I have been here before, it is the most frustrating part of racing for me…I just can’t seem to get off the line the way I want to. I had my work cut out for me big time. I fell in behind Luke Y, who is one of the top 3 riders in my class – he botched his start as well – so I figured that if I follow him, and stay close, we can get back up to the front. Unfortunately the plan backfired, Luke took a line that was pretty sketchy, and almost crashed, and when I hit the same spot, I went down. The bike ended up in a weird position and it took me way too long to get back up. I found myself in the back of the pack yet again (all of this happened very early in the race). I was pretty mad, and just really wanted to ride well, and show my best side. I worked through the moto, made some good line choices and tried to get back to at least the top 5, so I could have a shot at a podium in the afternoon. The course really was a lot of fun, I turned the fastest lap time (I know…doesn’t mean anything, but it does give me confidence and prove that I have the speed), and ended up in 4^th when it was over. Close enough, I’m still in the hunt. I wasn’t overly excited, but thought I had ridden well enough to feel really good about it. Time to relax and hang with mom, dad, grandma and pops.

Moto 2: I was fired up, amped up, ready to go, and just wanted to get off the start without major glitches…really, is that too much to ask for? The flag dropped, the bike started right away, and we were off…NOT. I don’t know what I was thinking, sometimes I just get caught in the wrong routine (the privilege of a 15 year old), I sat there and made sure my kick starter was put away nicely, while others were already in turn 1. Holy Batman, I found yet another new way to make my racing “wayyyyy” harder than necessary. I know this sounds like many of my other races, but here we go again, head down, back to work. I made it all the way to 5^th place when I started to experience major stomach pains…these were cramps that made my eyes water. I had to back off and switch to trail riding mode, there was nothing in my tank that would let me push. I don’t know what caused it, I ate a lot of water melon and blue berries for lunch, who knows. At this point I just wanted to finish and get off my bike. Standing on the bike was brutal, sitting wasn’t any better, I certainly wasn’t racing anyone at that time. I started to drop back a little, but wouldn’t let myself quit. Then, to top it all off, I got a flat tire, so now I felt like I was in labor and my equipment tried to deliver the baby. As I rolled through the finish line turn into the scoring tent, some bozo (I’m guessing a future Nascar fan) decided to T-bone me hard for 7^th place…nice…REALLY??!? The result of this? A destroyed front end, broken brake caliper and mount, lots of bruises, and a whopping 8^th place in moto 2.

With a 4/8 in my motos I ended up in 5^th  overall and I am now pretty far off 1^st place in the championship, sitting in 3^rd. Missing the next Jday race(see below)  won’t help my cause either, as I have used up my throw away already…now my goal is to finish in the top 3 overall, and bounce up to the A class next year.

I have to find a way to make my races easier on myself…it doesn’t help to turn A level lap times and make C level mistakes to take myself out. I can win any one of these, if only I could get my mental game sorted out.

Next up…a break for almost 3 weeks as I am traveling to Austria (home of the Erzberg Enduro) to visit my cousin and my grandparents…it’s a good thing too as I think dad needs some time to find parts for the bike and rebuild it. When I get back from my trip I am going to work on my starts some more, IF dad can have the bike fixed by then.

BTW, you can leave comments below, I’d love to hear from you! If you have a race blog yourself, let me know the link, I sure would like to read it.

A huge “Thank You” to my sponsors, I truly appreciate the opportunity to represent them: Moose Racing/Part Unlimited (www.mooseracing.com), Kenda Tires (www.kendausa.com), Summit Clothing (www.summitt-clothing.com), Amsoil (www.amsoil.com), and of course mom & dad

 “Braaap”

Hunter “747” Neuwirth