Idaho Thunder Mountain Motocross Series Final Round, 13 August, 2011

This past Saturday was the Final Round of the Idaho Thunder Mountain Motocross Series at OMC (Owyhee Motorcycle Club). This Thunder Mountain Series was outstanding! We traveled from OMC to, Idaho Falls, Salmon, Preston and Rupert. We had the opportunity to battle other riders from the EIMA and the RMX Series, this included riders from Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. We endured all Mother Nature had to offer throughout the series and the cool thing is that we did it as a Team, the Project Filter Team in support of and Fighting the Fight for a Tobacco Free Idaho!

I won the over Thirty and the over Forty Vet class championships for the series! I would like to Thank Project Filter for their sponsorship and for affording me this opportunity to represent a great cause. My Project Filter backed KX450 allowed me to charge through the various tracks and conditions without any problems. I would like to thank Carls Cycle Sales for their support for me and for the Project Filter Team. Thank You to Pro Moto Billet for giving us the opportunity to run your products, they are awesome. Thank You to all of the Project Filter Motocross Team fans, being tobacco free makes you part of the team and we appreciate your support.

I would also like to thank my family, my wife Ann, Nate, Emily, Lindsay, Elyssa and Mallory for all their support. They come out to the races, battle the elements, cheer me on, help me set up, tear down, sweep my gates and help to show their support for Project Filter too. They make it Fun and that’s what it’s all about. I’ve always said, “Motocross is a family sport”. That family includes your immediate, your team and your extended family which is all of the great people that you see weekend after weekend hanging out in the dust and dirt together and enjoying this great sport we call Motocross.

Next week Dani and I are headed to Couer D’ Alene for arenacross, I still have two more rounds of the WIMS, the Big Nasty and the grand finale, “Idaho Supercross”.

See Ya at the Races!

Idaho Thunder Mountain Motocross Series Round #5, Rupert, Idaho 15, 16, 17 July, 2011

Round five of the series was held at the Minadoka Fair Grounds in Rupert Idaho. The Rupert Motocross track is located at the hometown fair grounds and inside of the horse racing track. It is a great facility and definitely has a hometown feel. This setting fits Motocross perfectly because that is what we are all about; family friendly fun.

The Rupert track is very busy; it offers jumps, bumps, off camber corners, ruts and definitely keeps you on your toes. I’ll be honest, I struggle with this one, I did the last time I was here and this weekend proved to be no different for me.

Saturday was a tough day for the Project Filter Team, it seemed as though we were all a little off our mark. I managed to pull off a third place finish in my over 40 class. In the over thirties I ran mid pack the first moto and had a hard get off in the second that shut me down for an entire lap. Normally my Project Filter KX450 shoots me to the front of the pack but I got a terrible start in the second moto. As I rounded the first turn, mid pack, I spotted an opening right up the center; I grabbed a fist full of throttle and shot through it which set me in about third place. What I failed to remember was the huge ruts that had developed going into the next turn. I found myself completely cross rutted and before I could correct it I hit the ground, hard. It took the breath out of me and once I finally realized what had happened I could see that my bike was on top of me. The 450 becomes pretty heavy in that situation so I welcomed the help of a nearby flagger to get it off of me. I got myself resituated and took off to finish the moto. I ended up with a mid pack over all finish for the day.

I was pretty sore on Sunday from the crash and I’ll have to admit a little leery of the ruts but I managed to hold it together for another third place finish in the over 40’s and again mid pack in the over thirties.
On a positive note, Rupert had the pleasure of a surprise visit from AMA Pro Racer, Cole Siebler #171. Cole is tobacco free and proudly flies the Project Filter logo on his bikes. Cole rode all three Pro classes for the day and won all six motos that he contested. It was awesome to watch him maneuver the track with a blistering speed as he made it look almost effortless.

This was one of those weekends that causes you to regroup. I’m headed back to the drawing board to take a look at what went wrong and figure out how to make it better! Thank You to Project Filter for providing us the opportunity to represent and to support an outstanding program.

There’s just one more round to go for the Idaho Thunder Mountain Series. The last Round is in Boise at Owyhee Motorcycle Club, 13 August, 2011.

See Ya There!