JDay Double Header and Color Changes

The only constant in life is…change. This is probably the single most true statement I can come up with. With that in mind, my race program was sent standing on its head. After 2 years on the blue crew (most recently a pretty great race at the GNCC at Unadilla) I am sooooo pumped to be able to join the orange brigade and rip a 2016 KTM 250 XC for the rest of this season and in 2016. Dad picked the bike up from KTM’s Scott Buxton late Friday night and rolled it into the garage at 10 pm. We set the sag, played with the clickers a little bit and loaded up to hit the JDay Sprint Enduro at Crow Hill MX on Saturday…what better place than that to break in and learn a new bike. I love Sprint Enduros to begin with – they offer such a huge variety of terrain and John Day sure knows how to run them! My plan was to ride a few tests, make adjustments, and just learn.

PC: Art Pepin - www.offroadpaparazzi.com 

The feel of the bike is totally different from my Yamaha, so I had no illusions of doing great things…I hooked up with Damon Rummel (yeah…THE Damon Rummel) who came out of “retirement” and we rode the first few tests together to have some wicked fun. The wild thing was, I felt comfortable on the bike within the first few turns, and started to actually attack the course. The bike just felt so planted, and confidence inspiring, that I decided after the 1st two tests to throw out my plans of just testing and I switched to race mode. The more I pushed the bike the better it handled, and I was able to put in some good special tests. At the end of the day I surprised myself (and everyone else) with a win in the A250 class and a 4thplace overall – I am hooked on the KTM!!!! For Sale: Yamaha YZ250

On Sunday we decided to go back to Crow Hill MX and race the JDay GP. I haven’t done one of these in a while – it’s not really my game right now - and I almost forgot how much fun JDay GP’s really are. Because of the MX track being part of the course this was yet another different environment to test and learn the new KTM. Moto 1 was awesome…

PC: Art Pepin - www.offroadpaparazzi.com

I was able to pull a good start (2nd) thanks to the electric start and chased John Mele for a little bit on the MX track. Once I made the pass I was able to gap him and the rest of the A250 field and I started to ride up into the pro ranks. I ended up winning the 1st moto in A250 and pull and 8th place overall. That’s as good as I have ever done against the JDay pros…
Moto 2 started out ok too, I didn’t get quite the start that I wanted, but was able to push into the top 3 after the 1st lap. Unfortunately I made a few bad line choices while pushing for the lead, one of which really took it to me and sent me cart wheeling down the trail. When I got back on my bike the leaders (Mikey M, and Cody B.) had opened up quite a gap. I was able to close in but did not have enough to get them and had to settle for 3rd, which gave me a 2nd place in A250 behind Cody Baker. I had a blast battling with these guys, it was hard but clean….I loved EVERY second of it and can’t wait to do it again.

As to my switch to orange…I’m not sure what to say other than it is incredible. I can’t wait to get the bike dialed in – the suspension is now at Factory Connection (pumped to be able to work with them) to get re-valved and set up for me. Thank you Brooks Hamilton and KTM USA for accepting me into your support program…I have found even more drive and motivation.

PC: Art Pepin - www.offroadpaparazzi.com

Speaking of changes…you already know that I love to ride and have fun…you also know that I take my training pretty seriously and work with Brendan Sheehan on that. Thanks to that I have been able to overcome my back problems from a previous injury and I am able to ride pretty much pain free. In addition to that I have now switched from Hammer Nutrition to Advocare products, thanks to my buddy Mark Koch from Texas. Just like my new KTM, the stuff works magic.

Next weekend dad and I will head to Pennsylvania to race the GNCC and put the XC through its paces there – I’m thinking this will be another great event to learn more about my new ride.

Unretired Damon Rummel - PC: Cindy Rummel

This is where its time to thank all the companies and people that support me: Brooks “Hollywood” Hamilton and KTM USA, Tim Edelmann at Edelmanns Sales, Factory Connection Suspension, Mike Tosch at Kenda Tires, Roger Cameron at Magical Gogo, Craig Thompson at SRT, JB and Tom L. at FAHQ Racing, EKS Brand Goggles, Amanda and Mike at Fly Racing, Steve at STS Motorsports, FMF Racing, Art Pepin at Offroad Paparazzi, James Curry at Tube Saddle, The Loud Fuel/ Carbon Zero Crew, Paul “The Poacher” Goyette, Brendan Sheehan at Zero4Fitness, of course my mom and dad, my Grand Parents here in the US and in Austria, my sister Haley who is always there to support me. Thanks to Texas mad man and “Mr. Advocare” Mark Koch for the help….glad you got to ride a New England race…next time, bring all your Texas buddies!!!

A huge shout out to the Pachecos’ – not only did they let me crash in their awesome rig this weekend, they took care of me while dad went home to prep my newly retired YZ for the TEXAS Mafia (Rick Nowlan and Mark Koch) to ride on Sunday.

PC: Cindy Rummel

I do want to acknowledge Bill at CCycle Suspension…just would not be right not to point this out. Bill has been with me since we moved to New England and he has been a huge supporter, and I would like to thank him for that publicly. With changes come different opportunities, this is just one of them.

Thanks for reading!!

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Stateline HS, Hoosick Falls, NY

Time to crank out another blog…

Since I missed writing about the JDay Sprint enduro last week, it is obviously high time that I catch up and write about this weekend’s State Line Hare Scramble in Hoosick Falls, NY.
I promise I’ll keep it short. Since I had just come off a win at the JDay Sprint Enduro, I actually felt pretty confident going into this race, even though this one wasn’t really my game…fast, technically not too exciting, and super dry and dusty.
My Yamaha YZ 250 was prepped, we added foam wherever we could to reduce the dust flow, slapped on a filter skin, and crossed our fingers that the bike would run to the end.

My start was average, but this time it worked out as I was able to sneak around the inside to avoid the 1st turn pile up and grab the lead. This meant that at least for a little while I had clean air and good visibility, so I was able to check out and gap the rest of the field. Once I caught up to the pros (they start 1 minute ahead) I got to slice and dice with them for a while and was able to establish myself somewhere around 5th or 6th overall. I really didn’t have any major issues all day other than that my drink system broke - I had to be careful not to get too dehydrated – and I forgot my glove liners, which meant that my hands got tore up pretty good. I tried to pace myself and after dad told me at the pit stop that I had at least a 3 minute lead I decided to manage the race so I could safely bring it home without major damage. The bike almost didn’t make it…another clogged air filter robbed it of all the power and I barely made it up the final hill to the finish, but in the end it all worked out. I won A250, took top amateur honors, and secured a 6th place over all. I’m happy with that, especially because my mom really wanted one of the cool over all trophies they handed out – looked like a brake disk on a stand, and I was able to get that for her.

 

I’m pumped on my speed right now, things are coming together for the fall season, the bike is working well, I have the suspension figured out, and thanks to Brendan Sheehan I am physically in really good shape and relatively pain free.
Next week we will hit the Hard Knox Hare Scramble in MA, then it’s time to jump back on the GNCC wagon starting with UNA”DILLAAAAAAHHH”…can’t wait.

On another note…super pumped to see my boys (Ben, John, and Josh) tear it up at the ISDE in Slovakia this week…keep pushing!!!! I am with you in spirit!!!!

A huge THANKS to all my sponsors – I know this seems repetitive but you have to understand…I could not do any of this without their help!

Fly Racing, Kenda Tires, SRT Offroad, Magical Gogo, Zero4Fitness, Carbon Zero Fuel, FAHQ Racing, EKSbrand goggles, CCycle Suspension, Poacher27, FMF Racing, The Colin Krenzul Memorial Fund, and of course the best pit crew ever (my sister Haley, mom & Dad), and my grandparents both here, and in Austria.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

It’s been a while that I have done a blog, and even this one is a little bit late due to the travel time and my work schedule. The TKO came up for me out of left field, I wasn’t really expecting to be able to get a spot, but Mike Tosch from Kenda Tires came through in a big way. So we headed down to Tennessee to the Trial Training Center on Thursday night, dad and I drove 18 hours and rolled in sometime on Friday. We got all signed up (Catherine Bedley is the friendliest person ever), settled into our cabin and relaxed the rest of the day, trying to get ready for Saturday – amateur qualifying day. My goals were modest for this event, I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare myself, and I really didn’t have time to bone up on my trials skills. Making it out of the Saturday races healthy, with the bike still rolling and qualifying for Sunday were the only real goals I had, other than that I just wanted to use this weekend to learn and get a better feel for Hard Enduros.
The format for the TKO is pretty simple and really cool….in every race you need to qualify for the next race…if you took too long or finished below the cutoff line as far as the result goes your were knocked out – Tennessee Knock Out.

Saturday morning, knock out race number 1: The course was about 13 miles long, 2 laps, 2 hour cut off and the top 70 would move on. 5 guys started on a row, enduro style, dead engine start. The terrain was awesome….a great mixture of rocks, rock gardens, wicked climbs, and flowy trail. I had a decent start and felt pretty comfortable right away, but at about mile 2 I tagged a tree with my handlebars and took a nasty digger. My bike fell down a ravine and I hit the dirt face first. It was a hard crash…my helmet mouth piece snapped off, my visor broke, and my knee hurt big time. I picked my bike up and rode it out of the ravine when I smelled burning oil. I looked down and saw oil gushing out of the motor…I had put a big hole in the bottom of the case. Unreal…we just drove 18 hours and my race might be over after less than 2 miles. I rode the bike very carefully to see if I could find a way out to get back to the truck, when I saw dad at the bottom of a really gnarly downhill. He looked at the case and said we need to cut out, the bike won’t survive this…back to the truck. You have no idea how disappointed I was, I just could not believe it. By the time we got there dad had figured out a plan and started digging around in his tool box. He pulled out a stick of quick setting epoxy and said: I’ll fix it, you’ll go find oil. We might be able to get you back out there.

By the time I came back from the SRT trailer with oil (Thank you Craig Thompson!!), dad and Cory Graffunder had the hole plugged and were just waiting for the JB weld to cure enough so we could dump oil in the motor. At that point I had lost 15 minutes, but Cory pointed out that I had almost 2 hours to fight my way back in…who knows…might still make it.

On my way back out the last thing I heard was dad shouting something along the lines of “don’t worry about the bike, ride it until it won’t roll anymore”. Uhmmm…ok.

I rode the wheels off that thing…I knew what I had to do and I was having way too much fun to have this day end early. I think I passed something like 60 guys on the 1st lap and kept moving forward. At the end it all worked out, I finished in 28th place or so, which meant I made it to round 2. I was pumped, that was probably one of the better fights I had put up in a long time.

At this time our cabin neighbors from Texas got involved and helped out. This was awesome….these guys were so helpful, I don’t know if dad and I would have been able to complete the bike work in time without them.

One hour later it was time for round 2: This time it was a 1 lap 1 hour race and they would take the top 35 into the next day. They also added a few more “skill sections” to the course to challenge us a little more. All I could hope for was that the JB weld job would hold long enough for me to make it through this awesome race…I had one of my best laps of the weekend. I found a great rhythm, things flowed, and I was having a blast. I finished in 2nd place and made it into the Sunday show as one of the top amateurs.

Yeeeeaaaahhhh!!! As my Texas friends would say.

Time for bike work…new tires, oil change, coolant flush, sprockets, etc….then the amateur awards and then off to dinner to Las Margaritas, the only restaurant in town…their chicken fajitas were the bomb! Thanks for the treat Mark Koch!!!!

Sunday – hot lap time. This was a short 1 lap time trial to determine the starting position for the next knock out race. Again, they added some more skill sections to make it more challenging. Right after the start we had to race through the “play ground” which I rode pretty smoothly (enduro cross section), no major mistakes, and then we set off into the woods to finish the lap and race for a good starting spot.

I turned in the 22nd fastest time…I was happy…this put me with the pros. Back to the truck where dad discovered that the weld had let go and I lost a lot of oil…good thing this was a short race! We (Mark Weeks and the Texas crew) went back to work to fix the hole again when Mark Koch came ripping up the hill on a bicycle with his fist pumping…”I got you a new clutch cover kid!!!”

That man has the gift! …he convinced another Texan to take his cover off his bike and let me run it…if I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now: Yeeeeaaaaahhhh!!!

I was back in business.

On to the 1st knock out race on Sunday…top 25 get to move on. I felt good and seemed to have a decent ride going to about mile 3 when I noticed that I had a flat front tire. Here we go again, more “opportunities” for me to prove my resilience. Dad and I had discussed this….if I had a flat, there was no time to change it…ride it until the wheel won’t move anymore, and then carry it push it, drag it. So I did. I rode this wicked gnarly course on a front flat and made it to the finish, but I didn’t expect to qualify as I could not really push. I came through the finish in 23rd or so, but there were quite a few fast guys still coming in and I figured they would ultimately beat me. Dad watched scoring while I went back to the truck where the Texas boys went to work on the bike. They changed the front wheel, threw in new brake pads and just made sure all was good on the bike. At that time dad came running up the hill fist pumping and telling me that I made it…finished 25th, and that we need to get the bike ready…too late dad…already done. Relax.

I tried to work out any muscle pains during the short break, re-hydrate, stretch, get something to eat and get ready for the next knock out race…wait…what? I made it into the top 25??? Whoah…I was going to line up with off-road royalty? Who cares that I had been racing for about 6 hours in a day and a half. This was way more than I expected. I rolled to the line, I was on row 5 with Mike Brown, Kyle Redmond, and Wild Wally Palmer. How much better can it get?

Race time: I was a little bit intimidated and didn’t get a good start, and then promptly proceeded to crash in the rock garden, relegating me to the back of my row. That was probably a good thing because now the pressure was off and I was able to get back to just riding and having fun. I actually started to reel these guys in and as we got to the waterfall (I think they also call it the Brownie Hole) I was within a few feet of Kyle. Unfortunately that’s where my lack of trials skills started to show…while these guys were able to maneuver their bikes up this crazy climb within 10 minutes or so, I ended up fighting this climb for a total of 45 minutes. I don’t know how many times I tried, I don’t know how many times I picked my bike up, but I kept pushing. This was a no help zone, so neither the course marshals nor dad or spectators could offer any help other than encouragement and water.

Speaking of the course marshals…these guys were awesome. They talked me through, pointed out lines, and basically gave me a free trials lesson. The spectators kept cheering for me, none of them left, they watched me give it everything I had and sort of “willed” me up there. I’ll never forget that feeling. After 45 minutes I conquered the water fall and rode on to the next few obstacles before my time expired and they pretty much pulled me off the course. I was pumped. I did what I set out to do and then some, and in the process discovered what I want to do with my racing career…hard enduro racing is where it’s at for me. I know what I need to work on, my zaps and splatters need to be refined :) and I need to buy more JB Weld. I met some of the coolest people in Tennessee, the enduro cross pros and their sponsors are awesome and super helpful, Texas guys rock, Seat Time is run by a cool cat that races quite fast, and New England is a great training ground to prepare for an event like this.

There are a lot of thank you’ s needed….I could not have done this without the help of soooooo many people:

The Texas Crew - Mark Koch, Mark Weeks, Steve Collier, Chuck Longhenry,Rick Nowlan, Eric Middough, Brian Pierce from Seat Time 

My awesome sponsors:  Mike Tosch from Kenda Tires, Craig Thompson from SRT, Fly Racing, Magical Gogo, STS Motorsports, EKS Brand Goggles, CCycle Suspension, FAHQ MC, Carbon Zero Fuels, Tube Saddle, Offroad Papparazzi, The Colin Krenzul Memorial Fund, Brendon Sheehan from Zero Fitness, and of course my mom and dad, my sister, and my grand parents.

And if you are still reading...take a few more seconds and share my blog...it really helps, and my sponsors like the exposure.

Thank you Thank you Thank you,

Hunter "747"Neuwirth

2015 Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo - East Coast Style

Downtown Eisenerz

It’s been almost a full year of preparation - it was finally here!   The 21^st annual Erzberg Rodeo held in the little village of Eisenerz, Austria.  I built this up in my head so many times, I trained, I worked on my mental game, I did everything I could think of to be ready for the world’s toughest extreme enduro. It was one of those life events – and I was excited.

Matthias "Hiasi" Walkner and I

My family and I flew in a week early to visit my Grandparents in there new “digs” about 2 ½ hours from Erzberg. My dad is from Austria, so visiting Oma and Opa, my cousins and all my Austrian friends was awesome. This also allowed a few extra days for me to get used to the 7 hour time change before the race and it wouldn’t feel like I was racing in the middle of the night.

On the Tuesday before the race I was lucky enough to get some bike time in at a local mx track called the X-Bowl Arena – an awesome practice track with the mountains as a back drop. The pictures really don’t do it justice…it was unbelievable.

What was even more incredible was that dad and my grandparents hooked this up with none other than former MX3 world champ and current KTM factory rally team rider Matthias “Hiasi” Walkner. He let me ride one of his bikes for a few hours…it was absolutely perfect. If there were ever any doubts that this trip was going to be awesome, at that point I knew this would be insanely good. Thanks “Hiasi” for the hospitality, I will never forget that.

It really is THIS big!

Thursday:  we made our way to the Iron Giant. Even though I was there before, driving up to it this time was different. We got out of the car and stood in “awh” for a minute. I was just taking in the fact that we are actually here and I was going to ride this thing. I can’t put into words how big this place is…mind blown…again! Later that day we met up with my mechanic Teo from the X-Power Bike rental program and my race bike, the 2015 Husqvarna TE 300. Teo is such a good guy that has a lot of experience with the extreme enduros. I was excited to have some guidance on what to do with bike set up, race strategy, etc. Sign up went quite smoothly considering there were over 1500 racers trying to get this done all at once, but, the Red Bull staff had this thing figured out. Once I had my start numbers, transponders, correct accreditations and permissions I could finally jump on the Husky and play around a little bit on it.  I was feeling excited and ready for day 1 of qualifying on Friday.  

Qualifying - start ramp

Friday: I had a real late night on Thursday. I couldn’t get to sleep as I was pretty nervous and anxious to get out there.  That morning I woke up in a little bit of a fog that just didn’t seem to lift all day, but what the heck…time to go. My qualifying spot was in the morning, and if you know anything about weather in the mountains, you’ll know that it can be pretty calm that time of the day. No wind, no breeze, nothing. This meant that it was going to be super dusty on the 12 minute high-speed sprint up the mountain road. Never the less I qualified quite well, but the white out dust destroyed my shot at making the top 100.  I just couldn’t risk crashing out of the race, and hurt myself before Sunday. I was in, that was goal one, the top 100 would have been nice, but I saw what happened to the guys that risked it….not pretty. I finished in 112th.  I knew I could have gone much faster with better visibility, but that’s part of the game. Assess the risk, make a decision, and don’t second guess it. I was happy. Once I was done with the qualifying run, I got to play around in the practice area on some cool hill climbs - awesome!! It gave me the chance to fine tune the bike, learn some of its characteristics and get me ready for the next few days. To give you an idea of the steepness and length of these hills, if you have ever been to Monson, MA and looked at their hill, that’s about a ¼ of the size, and ½ as steep…but enough math.

Hill climb practice - pics don't really show the size of this thing

Saturday:  I got a good rest Friday night and was ready to make up some time in my 2^nd and final qualifying run up the mountain. The conditions were just as bad as on Friday and hardly any of the morning guys improved their previous times. Of course they let the pros go first again and gave them lots of time so they could wait for the dust to settle, but they weren’t so nice to us amateurs. Still, I was able to shave 3 seconds off my time, but that wasn’t enough to move me up into the top 100. Oh well…I qualified for the 3^rd row…good enough. All I needed on Sunday was a start and I would be able to go to work from there.

At this point I am still cleaner than Derek

That afternoon I worked on more bike set up in the practice training area.  I was ready to go for Sunday.  I was healthy and the bike felt perfect! I gave the bike to the mechanics to go through it and mount up new tires for Sunday.

Sunday:  Race day…the minute my eyes opened I was ready to rock and roll.  Nervous?…YES, definitely,  but overall I felt good.   When we got to the course it was heating up quick and there was no chance of rain, so it was going to be HOT and dusty.  I didn’t walk around much in the morning, just relaxed in the shade and got ready to go. 

The surprise of the morning was when Derek Rummel popped into the pit area. It was awesome to have a familiar face out there cheering me on! Derek, who moved from Connecticut to Munich a while ago, made the 4 hour road trip to come and help!!!! 

At 10:30 I went up to the pre race riders meeting where everybody was gathered before we all headed down to the start.  I was by myself from this point on. Mom, dad and Haley had started to hike out into the mountains to the help zones so they could assist if I needed help. I really had no idea what was going on at this riders meeting, we just sat around until 12 o’clock and then followed everyone down to the start.  We got all lined up and the heat was insane. 

Best Crew Ever!!!

We were at the bottom of the quarry – in this bowl - and all the heat was just hovering over us. It was absolutely miserable. Finally things started to get down to crunch time. Carl gave us the 2 minute warning and after that my rough day began… One of the guys next to me pointed out that my axle nut and chain tensioner were lying on the ground.  I was kind of in shock for a second and then put it on hand tight and asked everyone for tools… of course no one had any, so I decided to head back to the XPower trailer (mind you, my row was about to take off), no one was there as they were all somewhere on the course waiting for me in the help zones.  I raced up to the pro pits and went to the Husqvarna factory rig. Thankfully one of the mechanics was there cleaning up and he had the tools to fix my axle. As we were tightening the nut, behind me at the beer tent was the big TV screen showing the race, I saw the first row take off already. I was panicked - I jumped on my bike, said thank you in English and German and raced back down to the start.  When I got back my row was about to take off and a course marshal on the side wouldn’t let me go in (he thought I was late and the penalty was having to go to the very back of the pack. I was beyond pissed. I was mad at my mechanic Teo (he forgot to tighten the nut in the first place, when changing the tires the day before), mad at the marshal, mad at the world, and just extremely frustrated. All the preparation, the training, the effort we all put into this bounced around in my head for a few seconds, everything seemed to come unglued. Then I regained my composure. As my line took off – at the risk of being disqualified - I basically pushed the course marshal out of the way, and totally ignored his flailing arms and shouting and forced my way in to the very back of the line. I was way behind everyone on row 3.

Just another hill

The one thing that I wanted to avoid happened. It was a complete white out. Think of it as a snow storm where you can’t see your hand in front of your eyes. The carnage was incredible, words cannot describe it.  I did everything I could; I pushed to the very end until they pulled me off the course.  The bottlenecks were simply insane, there was no way around all the riders. It was like 200 bikes playing follow the leader with no room to pass, but I just had to keep going. It really wasn’t much of a race at that point, just plain survival and trying to find lines that weren’t blocked by downed bikes. I was faster and better than most of the guys stuck in front of me, but there was nothing I could do. I think you get a hint of how frustrating this really was.  About 10 minutes into the race I hit my first BIG bottleneck at one of the huge sand hills. Complete STOP. The climb itself really wasn’t bad but coming from the back there where about 60 bikes stuck on it with another 80 all at the bottom trying to get a run at it. It was a “luck” thing at this point either you got a clear line or you didn’t and whenever you had a clear line it was gone within a second as 10 other guys thought the same thing you did.  After I finally got a run at it I made it and continued on.  Next was some nice single track that was the best goat trail I have ever ridden…EVER.  Yes, there was a lot of stop and go, stop and go due to people in front of me but the trails were so fun it was hard not to smile.  After the first few check points it got a little bit technical with some river beds that were rather rocky.

The helpers were awesome!

That was the slowest section I got to ride due to the bottlenecks and people stuck EVERYWHERE. I worked through it – frankly, that’s my jam anyways…the nastier the more I like it. I was able to make a few good passes in the faster stuff, really trying to get around as many riders as I could before entering the next obstacle.  Long frustrating story short…end result…checkpoint 7. (They stopped me there even though I had time left, but a tragic spectator accident prevented the continuation to the next section). Not anywhere near what I could have done, but I had a blast and I made the best of the situation. I mean….I was at the legendary Erzberg rodeo! I fought hard each day; luck just wasn’t on my side this year.   It’s a part of racing, I’m not happy about it but I am dealing with it. I don’t know of any champion that hasn’t dealt with adversity before, so my future looks bright. I can’t wait to go back. Project Erzberg 2016 begins.  This year was a learning experience, if it was easy everybody would do it.  I’m going to get another shot at this thing and I’m going to rock it.

......!

Thank you to all that made this possible. To my moto family all over the country – I can’t begin to express my gratitude, your support, both mentally and financially means the world to me.

To my sponsors, thank you for all you do. I know sponsorship dollars are tight – especially for amateurs, so this means even more.

Fly Racing, Kenda Tires, Magical Gogo, FAHQ Racing, EKS Brand Goggles, SRT Offroad, Panic Rev Ministries, Carbon Zero, Renthal, Offroadpaparazzi, FMF Racing, Tubesaddle, JDay Offroad, Netra, Gary Krenzul

Thank you to my family – my grandparents in Austria and my grandparents here in the US - without them this would have never happened. Thank you to my mom, my sister, and my dad…simply the best crew ever!!!!!!

Thanks for reading and supporting me...see you at the races!!!

Hunter "747" Neuwirth

My Sister, Opa and I after the race

Catra/Netra Black Fly Hare Scramble, Fish House, NY

After missing my blog assignment from last week’s race at Eastford, CT, its time I cranked one out again from this weekend race.

PC- Leanne Dutlinger

Unfortunately as it worked out with the schedule, this week’s NETRA race in Fish House, NY fell on the same day as the JDay River Rush GP….a bummer because I would really like to run both series. We decided to go to New York as that one is a better preparation race for Erzberg, coming up in 2 weeks. Two plus hours of pounding nasty NETRA trail…what could be better than that? I’ve had some pretty good NETRA races so far this season, winning my class in the 1st two events, so I wanted to continue this trend. We made a few small changes to my bike set up again, hoping to get closer to “perfection”….who knows, by the end of the season we might be there.

PC - Leanne Dutlinger

My start was decent (not great but good enough). After a few turns I jumped out to the lead, only to wash out over some hidden roots and got passed by my buddy Layne Dutlinger. I finally figured it out and was able to stay upright, get around Layne, and check out.

I found a decent rhythm and had a 1 minute gap by lap 2. The course was actually quite fast and flowy, but the shadows made for pretty bad visibility in the woods considering how fast we were going. I think I had enough close calls to last me an entire season. Dad pulled me in for fuel after lap 4. My sister helped with the pit stop as usual, she’s getting quite good at that. Dad fueled me up and as I left the pits he told me that 2nd place was closing in on me and I needed to sprint for a few laps. So I did…I put in 2 sprint laps, and was able to increase my lead to a little over 2 minutes, and in the process, move up in the overall ranking. I pushed to the end, though I have to say, by the last lap my hands were gone and I was happy to see the checkered flag. I ended up winning my class - A250, and earned the A High Point top amateur trophy, overall I finished in 5th place. I’m pumped with this result, and while I realize that I still need to improve to be able to run with the top pros in New England, I feel like I am closing the gap.

PC - Tammy Neuwirth

As far as racing goes, this is it for me…while I will ride a lot over the next 2 weeks, I am done racing until the Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo. We are flying out on the 30th, visit with my grandparents and then head to Eisenerz in the Austrian state/province of Styria – Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home state - where I will get to meet my race bike for the 1st time…a 2015 Husqvarna TE 300. We’ll spend a little bit of time setting it up for me and then its “balls to the wall” to get through qualifying. Wish me luck!!!

PC - Tammy Neuwirth

If you would like to contribute to my overseas race fund, you can still do that here: www.gofundme.com/747to Erzberg We can still use your support!!!!

Hey...keep reading...you're not done!!!!

As always, a huge thank you and shout out to my awesome sponsors!!! Like them, visit them, share them, buy from them!!!!

Fly Racing, Kenda Tires, Magical Gogo, EKS Brand goggles, Carbon Zero (Scott Keller's reforestation program is really cool - I will write about that soon), SRT Offroad, Panic Rev Ministries, Renthal, offroadpaparazzi, www.fmfracing.com, www.tubesaddle.com, www.ccycle.com, mom & dad and my sister, and my grandparents here and in Austria.

A huge shout out to Brendan Sheehan…he has taken over my fitness program from my dad, its been nothing short of awesome!!!

Thank you all for reading! The next blog will hopefully be a cool report about my trip to the Red Bull Rodeo in Austria....I am so stoked to go!!!!

Keep the rubber side down!!!

Hunter "747" Neuwirth

PC - Wolfgang Neuwirth

Double Header Weekend – long weekend, short report:

PC - Tori Desmond

We had another super busy weekend, as we decided to hit the JDay Sprint Enduro at Crow Hill on Saturday, and the NETRA Hare Scramble at the Tuxedo Ridge Ski Resort in New York.

PC - Art Pepin, www.offroadpaparazzi.com

The Sprint Enduro was a new format for me. It really was a lot of fun, but my riding was off the mark. I decided to run the Magical Clapper YZ 125, and struggled with it all day. It’s just not set up for that kind of racing, but we wanted to save the YZ 250 for the next day. With the exception of the sand cross test, I never felt good on the bike and just used the race as a practice day, logging seat time. I pushed, but could not find a rhythm, I fought but couldn’t really get it done.I ended up somewhere around 20th overall…not horrible, but not anywhere near acceptable to me. By the end of the day I was already thinking about Sunday, and how I was going to redeem myself…sooo…

PC- Leanne Dutlinger

Sunday was good. The Tuxedo Ridge Ski resort is a pretty gnarly place to race. Very rocky with lots of elevation changes, and since it was a NETRA event, it was going to be at least 2 hours long. All of this was right up my alley.
Go time. I got a good start, and by the time we hit the woods I was able to jump into the lead. After a little bit of a battle with a couple of guys I was able to check out and build a good gap. The bike felt pretty good, and I knew the longer this race went on, the better it would get for me. When I came in for fuel after 4 laps, dad told me I had a 1.5 minute gap on second, and I was running in 6th overall. This fired me up. I wanted more. Forget the class win, I was in it to fight for the overall. 2 laps later dad showed me the pit board – 3rd overall with 2 laps left. Sweet!!! I decided to crank it up another notch, no reason to hold back. The bike ran unbelievably well, and other than a few blisters, physically I felt like I was getting stronger with every lap. I pushed to the very end, and got rewarded, winning A250 as well as high point A, and I was able to fight all the way up to 2nd place over all behind Jacob Heins.

Things are coming together just in time for my big trip to the Erzberg Rodeo in Austria…my training is starting to pay off, physically I think I am just about ready, I am gaining more and more confidence on the bike, my sprint speed is getting better thanks to the JDay GP series (it forces me to hammer down right from the start), and the NETRA racing tests my stamina and mental readiness, not to mention my rock riding.

PC - Leanne Dutlinger

I’d like to give a huge shout out to John Day for starting a sprint enduro series. It’s big fun, and I will definitely hit another one. Another shout out to the Tri State MC club for hosting the NETRA Hare Scramble. This was our 2nd time there, and being able to race at a ski resort is simply awesome.

Dylan McRitchie (the toughest dude I know), I hope you heal up fast, you need to be out there so I can learn from you!!!

If you are interested in my Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo trip at the end of this month and would like to help, please visit my fund raising page at www.gofundme.com/747toErzberg

As always, a huge thank you and shout out to my awesome sponsors!!! Like them, visit them, share them, buy from them!!!!
Fly Racing, Kenda Tires, Magical Gogo, EKS Brand goggles, Carbon Zero (more on that to follow), SRT Offroad, Panic Rev Ministries, Renthal, offroadpaparazzi, www.fmfracing.com, mom & dad and my sister, my grandparents…

Still here? Allright!!!!! Take another 5 seconds and share my blog...seriously...it helps!

Thanks for reading. Keep the rubber side down!!!!

Hunter "747" Neuwirth

JDay GP Round 2 - Crow Hill

I whipped up a short blog this week…there is just not enough time in the day. I started my new job at LEGO as a model builder, so between work, training, and finishing up school I just don’t have enough time…I have to sleep some time…

Yesterday was the 2nd round of the JDay GP series, hosted at the Crow Hill MX compound in MA. That place scares me. It is primarily a moto track with some woods, and the moto track is fast…as in fast!!! There hasn’t been an event there yet where someone I know didn’t get hurt badly, and I just could not get that type of thinking out of my head. The start is wicked fast, no real turn to slow things down, and always good for major pile ups. I think I just talked myself in a little bit of a funk that day and I’m really just glad I got out of there without any major injuries…I got lucky, I crashed plenty, but was able to “escape”.

My results were soso…

Pro 125 was tough…In the first moto I ended up 12th…we made a suspension change that totally back fired (mainly because of a math error – converting inches to millimeters - by my otherwise “superb” mechanic), it felt like I was on a pogo stick in moto 1. Fortunately Bill from CCycle suspension was there to straighten things out between moto 1 and moto 2 and I could at least break the top 10 in moto 2 (I ended up 9th). Overall my result was not satisfying…11th.

A250 was ok as far as my result goes, but I left a lot on the table. I totally blew my start in moto 1, it took me 3 kicks to get the bike started and I had to come from dead last. I was able to work all the way up to 2nd place, that was probably my best moto of the day and I felt relatively comfortable.

My 2nd A250 moto didn’t go that well. While I did get the start, I could not find a real rhythm. I was in 2nd for a long time, but then started to make stupid mistakes.

When I stalled my bike in the extreme section, I lost 2nd place, and one lap later I got together with Anthony Federico in a good crash and lost 3rdplace too. I hurt my wrist pretty badly in the process, but think it will be ok, I can already put pressure on it again and should be good to go for next weekend. With a 2nd and a 4th I ended up in 3rd overall in A250, really not a bad result, but I know I could have done better.

As a wise man said - “Live to race another day”.

I am excited for the next few Jday GP rounds as we finally get to leave the MX tracks and go into the woods in a few weeks.

This weekend I will hit the new Sprint Enduro for the first time on Saturday, we'll see how that goes, and then if I am still in one piece we will head up to New York for the 1st NETRA Hare Scramble at the Tuxedo Ridge ski resort...a busy weekend ahead - BRING IT!!!!

Thank you to my awesome sponsors for their support. I am so pumped to have you all behind me.
Fly Racing, Kenda Tires, Magical Gogo, EKS Brand goggles, Carbon Zero (more on that to follow soon), SRT Offroad, Panic Rev Ministries, Renthal, offroadpaparazzi, www.fmfracing.com, mom & dad and my sister, my grandparents…

Thanks for reading. Keep the rubber side down!!!!

Hunter "747" Neuwirth