JDay, Greenfield, MA

Win some, lose some
So this weekend I decided to test my ankle and see how it would hold up under race conditions. It has only been 3 weeks since my injury, so I haven’t been able to train much or spend any real time on a dirt bike, what better way to get back into it than to go racing. Dad and I decided to head to the JDay in Greenfield, MA. This was a new course, and we heard there was going to be a killer endurocross extreme section!

I signed up for 2 classes, Junior and 250 A. The junior class is fun for me because I get to be out there with kids my age and my dad is out there running the senior class at the same time, plus I can build my stamina by racing four(4) 30 minute motos instead of only 2. I hit my start pretty well in moto 1, and was in the top 3. I made pretty quick work of the 2 guys in front of me and jumped into the lead by lap 2. Things felt great and my ankle did not bother me one bit. Unfortunately as I was entering the woods on lap 2 my bike started revving really high and I had to pull off with a stuck throttle. I didn’t want to blow the bike up so I nursed it back to the pits, and went to go watch dad tear it up in the old man class!  It looked like he had one heck of a battle going with a couple other old guys.
After that we fixed the throttle (turned out the enrichener  lever cable had jumped out of the throttle body housing, this took exactly 10 seconds to fix) and I went out for my A 250 moto. My start wasn’t good at all, and it was so dusty, I just could not see anything to try and get upfront quickly. This was the exact same situation from 3 weeks ago where I crashed out and got hurt, I decided to play it safe  and back it down a little. I felt off, and my arm pump got really bad. When I hit the extreme section I was in about 12th, but hanging on to the bike was rough. I just could not find a grove, crashed a few times and ended up finishing this ugly moto in 12th or something like that.
I went back to the pits to re-focus, and get ready for my next Junior moto. It just started to rain, so the dust wasn’t going to be an issue, but it was going to be slick. This time I wasn’t going to mess around, I took the hole shot and got pumped and just ran away with it. By lap 4 I had about a 30 second gap, and I maintained that to the end, I finally won a moto. It’s been a long time, and I almost forgot how good it feels. As an added bonus I lapped dad!!! He almost ran me off the course too, man he rides a wide line J.
I went back to the pits to get some food and drinks, my second A 250 moto was up next. I got a mid pack start and worked my way up through the pack. My goal for the A250 class has been to get a top 10, anything beyond that would be an added bonus.  So as we came around into the extreme section for the 1st time I hit all my lines, made no mistakes, and got through it about as good as I could wish for. I looked up at the score board and found myself in 10th. Nice.

I pushed hard for the next 2 laps and got up to 8th place trying to pass for 7th, when I slid out on a left hand turn and tweaked my already busted ankle again. That was the end of the day for me. I just couldn’t put any weight on my foot, never mind ride or shift a dirt bike. I was bummed because I knew I was close and had a chance to mix it up with the top 5, but this one was not to be. So my numbers for the day weren’t that great…4 motos: DNF, 12th, 1st, DNF…I did learn a lot and gained a lot of confidence. I had way more fun racing this weekend than I did in a long time. Now I need to let my ankle heal up, or at least do a better job taping it so I can trust it.

Hopefully I can ride next weekend, the Crow Hill JDay GP is up next and I absolutely love that race…a motocross sand track, and if I remember right, another enduro cross style extreme section…doesn’t get any better than that.

Thanks for all the support to my sponsors Fly Racing, Kenda Tires, X-Brand Goggles, Halls Cycles, Panic Rev, Mom & Dad, My grandparents, and lately Ibuprofen and Tylenol and the ice maker in our fridge

Thanks for reading...

Hunter "Braap" Neuwirth

 

Steele Creek - GNCC

Finally…race season is back! I could not wait to get out and race…even though I haven’t had a lot of seat time on the bike yet this year, I just needed to get on a starting line somewhere! I convinced dad that we should hit the Steele Creek GNCC in Morganton, NC. This worked out awesome, we were going to head down with our truck and trailer but we lucked out and hitched a ride down with  Gerry and Andrew Savage in their nice Class A motor home, with our trailer filled with 4 bikes (tight squeeze) . After 13 hours of comfortable riding in the RV we rolled into Steele Creek with perfect 70 degree weather, the rains cleared out, the dirt looked prime for some good racing.

We hung out all day Saturday watching the many 4-wheeler classes duke it out and got a chance to inspect the course a little bit.  Andrew and I mountain biked some of trail and it was pretty wet red clay which was pretty slick, I was just hoping it would dry up some more for the race on Sunday.

On Saturday night I had spaghetti with Andrew Delong and his whole family.  The Delong family is one of the nicest race families I have met. I had a great time talking with them and can’t thank them enough for everything!  On top of all that Andrew hooked me up with one of his jerseys that he signed for me…HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me J…..oh yeah…race day was my birthday too…never thought I’d be spending it at a GNCC race. Anyway…moving on to race day. Dad decided to go out for the morning race…he felt the need to beat himself up a little, so I was sort of on pit duty, but he didn’t need anything anyways. When he came back he was grinning ear to ear, telling me how awesome the course was. I could not wait.
I went down to the starting line, picked my spot and then just hung out and waited until race time. Dad showed up and we joked around for a while, he threatened to get the entire line to sing happy birthday to me…didn’t happen…thank goodness, that would have been wicked embarrassing. It was so cool to see Mat Herrington and Joe Barr from Wisconsin at the starting line, Mat helped me quite a bit a while back and he and Joe are doing the entire series in the XC2 class, I hope they find their groove and kick some butt!

Race Time: A 250 Lites started in the 3^rd row, XC1 Pro was 1^st as always, the XC2 pro, and then us…I got pretty fired up, 1^st race of the season, 1^st ever A class GNCC race for me, 1^st time being in one of the front rows, 1^st time racing in NC. I tried my best to stay relaxed on the line, but I’m not going to lie… Being in the A class on a national level gets a little intimidating, but then you think to yourself, “I deserve to be up here,” and it helps calm the nerves…here we go. My bike started as planned (I used the e-start), the mad dash began. I got a decent jump at the start and hit the first 2 turns somewhere mid pack. When we got to the first hill where lots of classes got all bunched up, we all made it through pretty clean and started to spread out a little bit. I settled in, found a nice rhythm, and things started to flow pretty good. I wanted to push hard in the 1^st lap to see if I could hang with the guys up front, that was a tall order. I saw Craig Delong at some point (aside from me he is probably the only other 16 year old in this class), I really wanted to stay close, but I also knew that this was my 1^st time out this season and I needed to figure out a way to ride for 3 hours, plus, he’s just really really fast.
I decided to settle down and just really focus on consistent, smooth laps. Remember when I told you about how dad said the course was awesome? He was right…the uphills were really steep and long, but the traction was actually really good, the downhills were pretty beat up and rutted up from the morning race, but still big fun. They routed us through the river under a pretty low bridge and then through a culvert pipe, no biggie, just something different. I had a decent 1^st lap, no show stoppers, but on the exit of a nasty mud pit, I got tipped over by another dude on a husky (so it’s ok)! My left hand was hurting pretty bad. It turns out my new gloves must have gotten wet and bunched up and my hand developed some nasty blisters…the glove was white originally, it is now red….As the race went on it got harder and harder for me to hang on to the bike with my hand, especially on down hills.

The course had developed really big breaking bumps, it was almost like riding town a stair case with each step being 3 foot tall.  For those of you who have hit your hand on an oven top, that was how my left hand felt for 3 hours.  I went into “management mode”…no way was I going to quit, but I had to find a way to last the full 3 hours. When I pitted, I didn’t take new gloves, I was worried that taking the old ones off might rip things open even more. I topped off my drink system, dad gave me some electrolytes, fueled up the bike, and back out I went. I had 2 or 3 little tip overs during the rest of the race, but over all I rode pretty well. My lap times really didn’t look all that good, but that’s ok I had flashes of good riding and I now know that I can last 3 hours. When I got the pit board from dad telling me I had about 35 minutes left I tried to dig and see if I could make another push, but my hands just wouldn’t hold up, so I focused on trying to finish. I was ok with my ride, 16^th wasn’t what I set out to get, but this does put me right in the middle of the pack, and I know I have a lot more in me already. By the end of the season I really hope to be able to pull a top 10.

I do realize that I need to train harder…3 hours of racing is considerably longer than what I am used to at this point. Now that the weather is turning, I’ll be able to get some seat time in, on the dirt bike as well as on the mountain bike. Boy I wish I could ride year round…

We got hooked up with some Hammer nutritional products from Dr. Eric at the Active Health Clinic in Michigan to try and help me with my stomach issues (looong story – not important). I followed the directions as per Doc and dad, and it seems like it worked, I had no stomach issues what so ever - all day, and that’s a really big relief for me.
Thanks to all my sponsors...Kenda Tires, Fly Racing, Leo Vince, EKS Brand goggles, Halls Cycles, mom & dad, my grandparents

What's new in my world...

Well, it is winter and I don’t get to spend much time at all on my dirt bike, so I’m trying to keep myself busy with a bunch of other stuff.

2013 racing season is just around the corner, and I want to make sure I’m physically ready to go. I am still working on getting my back as strong as it was before, never thought that last year’s injury would hang with me for so long. Lesson learned….no more back breaking J

I’ve been skiing quite a bit and am spending quite some time on my snow skate, I’ve also been riding a little bit of BMX with good friends of mine, but all of that really just keeps my mind occupied and distracts me from constantly thinking about how much I want to ride my dirt bike and get back to racing.

I am working very hard in the gym….err…nah…we don’t use a gym. Dad put together a training program for me that requires rocks, a bench, some logs, a snow covered hill, a bunch of other stuff you won’t find in the gym; I provide my blood, sweat, and (t)ears. It’s been awesome. I currently train after school, 4 days on, then 1 day off…boy do I like my off day. My back has not acted up at all since we started this program – if anything it has gotten stronger than before my injury.

The bike is going to get some attention over the next few weeks as well. Some suspension work is in order, the engine will get a full exam, and we’ll pretty it up so it will look awesome and represent my sponsors well. Speaking of sponsors, I have been fortunate to get hooked up with Fly Racing as my gear sponsor for next season, Kenda tires will again provide the traction, Leo Vince will handle my exhaust gases J, Engine Ice will cool my engine, and Panic Rev will keep me safe.

I am so fired up for the next season…bring it!!!!!!!!!!!

Braaap!!!

Hunter "747" Neuwirth

NECC New England Cross Country Series Hare Scramble in Union, CT

This race kind of just popped up on our schedule last week…we thought we had concluded our racing season when dad heard about this event…sounded like a good way to get one more race in and as an added bonus, it was held in Union, which is 10 minutes from my house, so travel wasn’t an issue. I also had a little extra motivation going for this one, as so far, every time I raced at Union, I ended up taking a trip to the hospital, and I really wanted to break that curse.

I signed up for the open A class for this 2 hour plus race and I figured I could outwork everyone and put myself in a good position towards the end of the race.

Dad picked a pretty good spot at the starting line for me, all I needed to do is commit to “stay on it” through the 1^st right hander and things should be ok. The flag dropped, the bike started and the bumping and fighting for position began. I ended up wheeling the first few feet (more traction than I expected), and in the process I was able to get my elbow on top of the guy next to me, being able to push his elbow down and run him wide. I stayed tough through turn one and two (yup – you heard right) and ended up in 3^rd place going into the woods. The bike ran awesome, I felt great and we fought hard, trying to out-ride each other. In the process we caught up to a few of the AA guys – our pace was nuts…I passed for 2^nd place coming into the scoring tent for the 1^st time, my confidence skyrocketed (if that’s even a word) – I love riding A class!!! Tough racing – yes, stupid racing – no!

Somehow I ended up losing a bolt on my left front hand guard, not sure if it was lose from the beginning or something happened while banging bars at the start, but this would cause a major issue. The hand guard came loose and dangled on the right side of the handle bar, somehow catching the front brake line and completely ripping it out of the master cylinder. When I pulled the front brake lever in, all that happened was brake fluid squirted out…no more front brake. Then on a right turn the guard wedged itself right under the handle bar so I could not turn right at all and I blew a turn…this isn’t good. I found a way to get back to the pits where dad and Mr. Savage (the dad of  Andrew Savage, a riding buddy) frantically worked on the bike to remove anything that was dangling and in the way…it took a few minutes, no one expected me to come in this early in the race, so nothing was really ready. I was a little worried about riding without a front brake on this course, after all, it is wicked technical and some of the down hills just get really sketchy when you know you can’t really slow down. Anyway, they finished the work on the bike and sent me back out.

Dad said something along the lines of “who needs brakes anyways”, and Mr. Savage just smiled and said "do what you can kid". Alright…off I went, I think I was back in 6^th place when I went through scoring again. Here is the cool part…not having a front brake made me ride faster than I thought I could in some of the nasty stuff. Yes, there were a few spots on the course where I thought I was going to crash test my gear, but it all worked out pretty good. I got smoother and smoother and at about lap 4 I caught back up to the guys in 5^th and 4^th place. I pushed hard and made a couple of passes – probably had my eyes closed on one of them…it was a little bit  like trying to fit a truck through the drive in at the bank at full speed, but it worked out.

I started to gap 5^th place when I went past pit row again and dad gave me the “pit next lap” sign. I needed fuel. So I rode as hard as I could to make sure I had enough time to pit and not lose 4^th place. It worked out pretty good, this time dad had everything ready, except…I forgot that I didn’t have a front brake and mowed down my entire pit crew like they were bowling pins…S-T-R-I-K-E. My sister got it the worst…she was going to hand me fresh goggles, instead she got tire tracks up her legs and a nice bruise – sorry sis. Dad lost a pair of jeans in the process…my foot peg hooked his rear pocket and ripped them wide open…uhm…

Anyway, overall, once they all got back up, fueling went smoothly, and I went back out. I was back in 5^th, but not far behind 4^th place. I think I passed the guy for 4^th place in one of the many mud holes, I really don’t remember.

When I went past the pits again dad got his revenge (not on purpose – I know J) on me for taking everyone out in the pits earlier ….he gave me the last lap sign…so I went all out. I sprinted as hard as I could, crashed pretty hard once, but over all I think I had my fasted lap when I rolled through the finish expecting the checkered flag, and all I saw was the white flag…REALLY?! C’mon…I gotta do one more? Alright….I gathered what little strength I had left to pound out another lap…my hands were pretty numb at that point, my back started to hurt pretty bad, and I had to force myself to stay focused. Sprinting was out of the question, I really just wanted maintain my position and stay smooth, without any more incidents or crashes. After 2 hours and 20 minutes I rolled through the finish, in 4^th place. I am totally happy with this result, Union didn’t get the best of me this time!! The bike was a mess after the race…how it ran as well as it did is beyond me. I snapped the starter cable, ripped out the fuel sensor cables, packed mud all around the throttle assembly, bent some stuff, broke some plastics, etc….you get the picture. The Husky didn’t let me down!!!! What an awesome bike.

This really was the last race of the season for us, time to rebuild the bike and get it ready for the next season. Thank you to my sponsors – Roxane at Moose Racing, Mike at Kenda Tires, EKS Brand goggles, Panic Rev, Halls Husqvarna, Summit Clothing, Amsoil, mom & dad, my sis and my grandparents.

2013 is just around the corner, sponsors are pretty much lined up (new gear for 2013!!), training starts now.

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving and an even greater Christmas!

Thanks for taking interest in my progress!

“Braaap”

Hunter “747” Neuwirth



wireless front brake...?



JDay Season Finale - Retro Style - Central Village, CT

Saturday was the last race of the 2012 JDay series at Central Village, CT. John decided to call for a retro weekend, so riders busted out some really cool old gear.

I called pops to see if he could help, he came through…sent me one of his old jerseys from “Champion” …a Husky dealer from way back in Michigan. I thought it looked pretty awesome and it did match my Moose pants well. Fortunately mom came to this race with her camera in hand…



See where I get my smile from?


This was also my very first A class race – I entered the A250 class. Dad decided to mount up a new tire for me, awesome! Before the start I was pretty nervous…after all…I was going to play with the BIG boys. My goal was simple…ride as best as I know how and work as hard as possible…results didn’t matter at all, I figured if things go right I could maybe crack the top 10 or 15 or so.

Moto 1: When the flag went up things got busy…my bike started right away, but I froze a little…I was a little intimidated. Once we got around the first turn I realized that while towards the back of the pack, I was actually not in a bad spot and started to gain on some of the guys in front of me. This gave me a little more confidence and I started to feel like I belong here. The course consisted of quite a bit of moto (a really fun track), a grass track section with a bunch of sweeping turns, a sandy uphill with a weird step in the middle that through your rhythm off pretty good, and a fun woods section with a nasty downhill. Pretty soon I worked myself in to the top 10 and started to flow pretty good. I made a few good passes, got passed a few times, all in all had a great time racing and really didn’t feel any pressure. Unfortunately when battling with another racer in one of the sweepers, the wind blew the course ribbon right into me and it wrapped itself around my rear brake - red ribbon...yay...Santa came early!!!…I lost braking for about a lap or two and went down a couple of times, giving up my top ten spot. By the time the moto was over, I had pretty bad arm pump from wrestling the bike without rear brakes, but managed to finish 13^th…not bad for my first A class moto. 

Moto 2: This time I felt much more relaxed at the starting line, I wasn’t nearly as intimidated as I was in moto 1. The flag went up and I actually got a good start! I was mid pack and feeling great! The A class guys race hard, much harder than what I’m used to, but they race clean, and most of all, they don’t pull stupid moves. You can really trust these guys as far as their line choices and abilities go. I loved it and got more and more confident. At one point I had worked my way up to 7^th place, and I was still moving forward. Apparently I was just really hard on my front brake, as I cooked it and lost front braking power. This was a little tricky, I needed to let the brake cool off but didn’t want to slow down. I figured out a brilliant way to do that….crash J. I laid the Husky down in a flat corner and fell back to 12^th place, the good part?…the brakes came back a little bit. I pushed hard and got back up to 8^th place, ultimately giving me a 10^th place over all. I’m really quite happy with this result, this motivates me to train and work even harder! My goal for next year is pretty clear, I want to establish myself as an A class rider and be competitive in this class.

This was a great way to close out this season…and what a season it was. I have experienced quite a bit this year. From getting used to New England dirt/rocks, ripping it up and doing well, dealing with mechanical issues, scary injuries that sidelined me for quite  a while…all things that I guess are best described as the highs and lows and the rush racing provides to me that most people probably don’t understand.

I was fortunate to have some great sponsors this year and hope they know how much I appreciate their help! Thank you to Moose Racing for the awesome gear and parts help, Kenda Tires for giving me awesome traction, Summit Clothing for the cool shirts and shades, Panic Rev - the man above,…of course a huge Thank You to mom and dad for supporting me the way they do. Thanks to the Rummels for letting me train and ride at their farm! Huge Thanks to my Grandparents!!! A shout out to Pete “Speedy” Laubmeier – he’s helped me get my head straight, JD Friebel – another great resource and mentor for me, and the rest of the Wisconsin crew.

2013 is just around the corner…we’ll probably run a few of the winter JDay’s in preparation for the next season and hopefully we can start 2013 out with a bang. 

Thanks for reading and taking interest in my progress

Braap

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Monson, MA JDay 9/23/12

GP Race Day – Jday…this one took place at Monson, MA. Yes, that’s the same Monson where they have the famous hill climb events. I heard rumors that John would include part of the hill climb into the course as the extreme section…that’s a new one for me as I have never been on an actual hill climb hill. This also marked the 1^st time I would enter in the 250 B class, one of the tougher classes out there as most are turning lap times that would put them mid pack in AA. My goal for this weekend was to get a top 10 in my class and a top 15 overall. Ambitious, I know, but hey…it’s time to step up. As usual, dad handled bike prep and sign up, only this time he had to prep 2 bikes as he decided to shake off the cobwebs and race too…this was going to be fun J

Moto 1: The flag dropped and off we went…I kind of blew the start as I thought my bike wasn’t running when it really was, so I found myself towards the back of the pack going into the first few turns….bummer….and these guys are fast and hard to pass. The first lap was uneventful really, I made a few moves and learned the track, when going through scoring for the first time I think I was in 15^th or something like that. The hill climb was cool, glad they added that as it added a nice challenge. Laps 2 and 3 were pretty good, I hammered hard and worked my way up to 8^th place and I was still chipping away at the guys in front of me. The bike worked awesome…Bill from CCycle took the time in the morning to help me set it up…2 words….DA BOMB!!! Anyway…on the 4^th lap I clipped a tree hard, the full impact was taken by my left shoulder….that one hurt and knocked me back a bit…I found myself back in 14^th…not as planned. Once I got my wind back I tried to just stay smooth and see if I could get back in the top 10 for this moto…not quite…I ended up 12^th. I looked at the lap times afterwards, and figured that a top 5 should be doable for me in the 2^nd moto…I had the speed, just needed a start.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySiZS_farYo&feature=youtu.be

Moto2 (see the video): Just as in moto 1, dad just came in from his race and had some 1^st hand track knowledge. The hill has been giving people troubles, dad knew the hot line and let me know. It was kind of funny, because when he was talking to me he was wheezing pretty bad…I think he got beat up pretty good J

Anyway…I actually got a good start in moto 2. Found myself in the top 10 or so and felt great. My shoulder hurt pretty bad when I was sitting at the line, but once we “hit it” that all went away…amazing what adrenaline does to you. When we came through scoring the first time I was in 8^th. Good. That’s a starting point. Dad’s hot lines worked. The old man was right (He kept telling me to “ride the edge”  - good call…it was pretty smooth “out there”. I got into a great battle with 2 other guys and ultimately was able to wear them down to put myself in 6^th place with one lap to go. I wasn’t sure how far ahead 5^th was, but I figured I’ll try and catch whoever I can, and I did. I made the pass for 5^th, though that one didn’t come easy as that battle lasted almost to the end until I was finally able to gap the guy on the home stretch. End result for moto 2 was 5^th and I was on the wheel of 4^th place. Good race, I gave it everything I had and am really quite happy with that.

The Husky is working better and better for me, I am adjusting pretty well to the 4 stroke power. The fun meter was pegged on high this weekend (dad said it went up to 11 – whatever that means)…oh, almost forgot…with a 12^th in moto1 and a 5^th in moto2 I ended up 8^th in my class and 10^th over all. While there is definitely room for improvement, this does bump me up to the A class - training resumes Tuesday J…and as a foot note in small print – dad ended up 3^rd in his “old man class”…

As always, Thank You to my awesome sponsors – Moose Racing, Kenda Tires, Panic Rev, Summit Clothing, my entire family!

RIP Great Grandma B…have you with me always 9-23-12

 “Braap”

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Unadilla GNCC - tennnn seconds!!!!!!

After quite a while off the bike due to some injuries sustained in a practice crash (broken ribs and a cracked L1 vertebrae) I finally got cleared by the doc to get back on the bike again. I had a few days of practice time on my new ride and felt pretty comfortable on the new Husky TXC 250, and most importantly, my back felt strong enough to give it a shot. We decided to hit the GNCC race at Unadilla, NY. I signed up for the B 4-stroke lites class, which would run in the afternoon with the pro 3 hour race. I can’t tell you how happy I was to be able to ride again. Conditions for this race were going to be awesome -  a sunny day with a light breeze to blow the dust away. Dad handled the bike prep and sign up duties (it took him over 3 hours), all I had to do was ride and have fun. I had no expectations as far as results go…I was really just trying to test my back and learn a little more about my bike and…as it turns out…my endurance. 

The start: Tennnnn Seconds…and up went the flag and we were off. The TXC has e-start and kick start, we decided to use the e-start button in neutral, and just slam the bike in gear as soon as it fires. The off camber starting would have made it a little bit too tough for me to kick it, so this seemed to be the best solution. It worked. I got a good jump and went into the right hand turn one in the top 5. In turn 2 there was a bit of a jam as the guy in the lead crashed, I found my way around it pretty well and went into the woods in 6^th place. Things felt great, I had a blast. I made a few passes before we got to the nasty slick rail road tracks where many people were stuck. I kept pushing, got stuck a few times myself but no big deal, and still felt great. The course was sooo much fun…lots of line choices, plenty of technical sections, yet plenty of room to pass. Barry Hawk sure knows how to lay them out. They added a few new sections to our race, one of them was “The River”. We had to ride up the river for the length of about a football field. The water was freezing cold, and in some sections as deep as the tires are tall. When going through it at speed, I actually think I through a wake as big as a Ski Nautique would…where is a wake board when you need one? Awesome. People were struggling everywhere, I actually did pretty good through there and was still hanging with the leaders of my class. The other major obstacle turned out to be a mud hole that would swallow bikes hole. Even some of the pros were stuck and had to get winched out. Lucky for me, I picked the only “good” line and really didn’t have a problem, but I felt bad for the guys that were stuck and out of the race.

The incident: As things go in offroad racing, there is always an “incident”. Here is mine: Somehow I must have bumped the kill switch on my bike and moved it to the “off” position. The bike stopped and would not restart. Think of it as stepping on the gas in your car, but the key is in the off position. I did not realize the switch was “off”. I ultimately decided to leave my bike and walk out to get help…quite frustrating. I talked to an official, he told me they would send a quad to give me a tow eventually. So I walked back to my bike to wait. When I got back to the bike, I saw some of the guys in my class come through again, so at that point I was down a lap. I picked my bike up and sat on it, thinking the tow guys would show up soon, when I realized my mistake….aarrrrggghhh….I was pretty mad at myself…hit the button, and the bike started right up. Oh well…let the fun continue. I rode as hard as I could, pitted a few times, crashed a few times (once right in front of Kailub Russel’s mom – she said K crashed in the same spot), got stuck in the mud, forgot to drink on a regular basis…and while totally dehydrated, I did manage to finish in 12^th place. Granted, I could have done better, and probably should have, but over all I am pleased with the way I rode and handled adversity. Fact is that I finished a 3 hour race after being off the bike for a while.

Yes my back hurt pretty badly when I got done, but it held up. This gives me loads of confidence forthe upcoming races, I feel good and am going to continue with my current training to get strong again. The Husky really worked well – can’t blame the bike for my error – I love the 4 stroke power. 

Thank You to my sponsors – Moose Racing, Kenda Tires, Panic Rev, Summit Clothing

Thank You to the Rummels for all the help – the pasta on Saturday night was awesome and I had fun camping next to you!!!

Thank You Nani and pops for your help and mom and dad for letting me continue to do this.

Next Up: JDay GP race next Sunday in Monson, MA

Braaaap,

Hunter “747” Neuwirth