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Update 2: Back to riding again! It is going very well! My fitness is not as great, but I will continue to improve on
that. The main thing that gets me is that my hands hurt from holding on! Next race will probably be in September sometime! Update: I went to the doctors last Monday, and he said it was my decision whether to get surgery or not. He said it
is definitely torn, but my knee is very stable. What I am going to do is try and ride in about a week, and if a can then I
am going to head back into it just like before. If not, I will get surgery and be off for six months. Hopefully my first couple
rides will go well, and that I will be fine. I am confident I will be. Regionals: So I am pretty sure
if you are reading this by now your have probably already heard what happened, but for those who have not left me tell you
how it went. The first regional was all the way down in Alabama. On Friday Practice, my 250 Mod bike broke. During practice,
I was wide open going up a hill, and it starting loosing power and bogging really bad. I got off the track and it died when
I got to the pits. My dad and Mr. Hayes worked all day on it, and they thought they had it fixed by the afternoon. So, I went
and rode the around the pits, and it seemed ok. Well, I went out on it on Saturday morning practice (racing is two days at
regionals, starting on saturday) and it did the exact same thing. It was unsafe to ride, so I didnt make that class. Now I
am down to 450B stock, mod, fourstroke, and 350B Stock. I ran my first fourstroke race, and that went fine, I qualified in
that with a 10th place. My next race was 450B mod, in which I fell over and my 450 locked up completely. It was done. So now
I was just going to run my 250B stock bike, the only one I had left, in all the rest of my races. Well I ran that 250B Stock
moto, and got through with a 13th. While I was running my 250B mod race that was next, my bike got stuck in 3rd gear. I would
try and downshift, and it would make an awful noise. so I rode that out, and got 13th, but I had no more bikes left. We packed
up on sunday morning, and hit the road home. While
at home, we managed to get two of my bikes working. We rebuilt my 450 practice bike, and we rebuilt my 250 mod bike. So Red
Bud was next weekend, and we headed on up early thursday morning. I ran friday practice with a timing device, and in one practice
I was the fourth fastest kid on the track! I was pumped for saturday, but during morning practice things went from great to
really bad. I came down a hill to a little single jump where I had been launching off the braking bumps, and landing in braking
bumps, like a double. One time I cam down and it was uddy so my bike started to swap from side to side, and it launched sideways
right at the top of the jump. I had to bail off, cause I was sideways and about to pancake the ground. When i planted my feet
in the mud, my left leg twisted really bad. It was so painful I crawled off the track and could not move at all. I got checked
out by the EMT's there, and they said I should have it looked at, but I decided to wait and go to the hospital back at home. When I got home, the doctor had me get an MRI, and they saw
that my left knee's ACL was torn. As of this post I am currently doing physical therapy, getting my knee back to its full
mobility and strength. I only have a slight limp now, compared to when it first happened I could not bend, walk on, or put
any pressure on my knee what so ever. I will update when I go back to the doctors to determine whether I need surgery or not.
If I dont, then its only a couple more weeks of therapy, if I do, its 6 months of not riding. I pray for good news...
5/23/2009 South Fork: The weekend
before regionals, trying to warm up! I ran only two classes this weekend, 250B and Collegeboy. My first 250B moto, i got about
a third place start and worked my way up front pretty quickly. I started to pull a lead, and then I made a mistake and
fell over in the sand. I got up as quickly as possible, and I made my way back into the third position. The second moto went
alot better though, I got a second place start, and stalked the kid infront of me for a couple laps. I made my move and passed
him, and pulled a pretty decent lead by the checkered flag. I went 3-1 which gave me second overall. In Collegeboy, I was
the top finishing B rider in the first moto with a third. There was really not that much going on. The second moto, I got
second, with the leader being pretty far ahead of me. He is an A rider, so its understandable. 3-2 gave me second overall. 5/16/2009 Crow Canyon: Well we traveled up to Ohio inorder to qualify in the Mid East, and I rode my best up there.
It was the last qualifier, so there were a lot of fast kids. On Saturday, I had only 250B Stock and 450B Stock to run.in 250B
Stock, my first moto was good. I got a great start, and rode it out for a 7th place finish. The second moto was not so great,
as I was in a qualifying spot for most of the moto. In one corner, I ended up falling over and my bike would not start! Once
I got going, it was too late. 7-26 for 13th overall. In 450B Stock, I again got a great start. I got myself into second place,
and paced myself well. The second moto was ok, I got a bad start and had to work my way through the pack, I only managed to
get 7th, but that was still good enough for me to get 4th overall. On Sunday, I had to run 3 classes, 250B Mod, 450B Mod,
and Fourstroke. I did not do well in my 450 class that day, I was riding my practice bike which is all worn out. I ended up
going 14-11 for 13th overall. :( In 250B Mod though, my bike worked great. The first moto I got a great start, and had some
good battles. I ended up finishing 5th. THe second moto was not that good, but I still finished 10th. That was good enough
for 7th overall. My last race was fourstroke, and there were not that many people in that class that would put me out of the
top 8. In the first race, I got the holeshot, but there were so many A riders that I dropped all the way back to 6th. The
second moto I fell over in the 3rd corner, and ended up just riding around by myself the whole race. I went 6-8 for 6th overall!
That is it for the qualifiers, regionals next! 5/9/2009 Budds Creek: This weekend did not go very well. We only went
up on Sunday morning, and I only got 3 laps of practice on each bike. I ran only 250B and 450B. 250B did not go well at all!
In the first moto I got a decent start, about 5th, and I fell over in some mud. That put me all the way in dead last. So i
got back up, and not a half a lap later I was taking a very off camber turn around two kids, I was on the outside and they
were on the inside. Well they got tangled into eachother, and fell ontop of me as I was going by. I still managed to get up
and get top ten. THe second moto did not go any better, as I got a good start but just just not riding my 350 very well. I
did not fall, and ending up getting 7th overall. In 450B, my first moto went great, I got an excellent start and got the holeshot.
I lead the race from start ro finish! The second moto I was not happy with though, as I messed my start up. I was in second
for the whole race, and on the last lap I fell over in a corner trying to pass the leader. I ended up finishing 4th, but that
was still good enough for 2nd overall. 5/2/2009
Rolling Hills: So this past
weekend, I only needed to qualify in one class, because I did so well down at
Lake Sugar Tree in that SE Area Qualifier. I ran 250 B Stock, because at LST my
bike seized up. I got the job done. In the first moto I had about a 5th
place start, but then as the race wore on I dropped back to 7th.
There were many fast kids there! The second moto I did not get that good a
start, and got passed by a bunch of kids on the first lap. Once I got going, I
made up all those spots to finish 8th. So 7-8 gave me 7th
overall. All I needed was top 8, so now I am in all 5 classes for the regional!
4/26/2009
Tomahawk: This weekend was a non
qualifier weekend, since the qualifier as just here last weekend! Instead it
was a Honda Bucks race, so I was hoping to make some money. I ran 3 classes,
Open B, Four Stroke, and Collegeboy. My Four stroke race did not go well at
all. In the first moto I was on the outside on the start and there was a chain
reaction of people hitting eachother going down the start straight. I was on
the tail end, so I got it the worst and I and 2 other people had a big wreck. I
didn’t finish that race. The second moto was better, but I was tired. I had
motos 6-8-12, so there was no break in between my races! I rode for a solid 7th,
but I had just previously beat guys who finished up front. In Open B, the first
moto I got a third place start and was right behind second. I was all over him
and then on lap 4 (out of 6) be just pulled off. I thought that the checked
flag had flown, so I did a quick look back and then kept racing! I got a solid
second. In the second moto, things were looking great when I got the holeshot.
I was running a solid second after being passed, but then I stalled it, twice
in the same corner! I dropped all the way back to 8th. So 2-8 gave
me 5th overall. Collegeboy was my best race, as both motos I almost
got the holeshot! In the first one, I was passed by an A rider after running
second, and finished third. The next moto however, I beat him! So 3-2 gave me
second overall! I made $125 this weekend, so that’s awesome!
4/18/2009
Tomahawk: Another NE Area
Qualifier, because I am still not guaranteed in three classes. On Friday I was
flying, but for some reason I don’t feel that I rode as well the next two days.
I ran three classes over two days, 250B Stock and Mod, and 450B Stock. None of
my races went well at all. On Saturday, in my first 250B stock qualifier I
finished 7th, there were two divisions so that was really 14th,
which is not good enough. My second moto did not go well, as I stalled the bike
while avoiding a pile up in the first turn. I finished 27th. So 7-27
for 21st overall. In 450B stock, I got a pretty good start but was
pinched inbetween two riders. I lost my balance and fell over infront of
everyone. My bike was completely trashed, and I got ran over really bad.
Luckily I was wearing knee braces, because as I was laying on the ground, my
right leg got hooked on a bike and got wrenched out to the side of me, my ankle
was almost touching my helmet, yet my knee was bending sideways. That is not
the normal way your knee is supposed to bend. That hurt extremely bad, but I
think I will make an easy recovery. So that moto DNF, the next moto I got a bad
start and finished 10th. I think I finished about 20th
overall. My class on Sunday didn’t go good either. What basically ended up
happening was I didn’t ride well in the first moto, about 11th. In
the second moto I went down on the first lap and somehow a kids throttle cables
got stuck in my rear brake lever, so that took a whole lap to get undone. Then
since my brake was all bent up, I thought my bike was blowing up again cause it
was dying in the air because the rear brakes were trying to lock the tire up. I
pulled off and got a DNF. Looks that that will be it for the NE, maybe my luck
will change when we got Mid East!
4/11/2009
Rolling Hills: North Carolina
State
Championships! And I was trying to make some Honda Bucks! I ran three classes,
since I still do not have any 250s that work, I had to run 450B, Four Stroke,
and Collegeboy. The day did not start off well. My first race was Collegeboy,
and I had a big wreck on the first lap. I went to scrub the finish line jump,
laying my bike over sideways going off the face, and letting the tires slide
off as well. Well my back tire slide into a kicker, and it kicked me right over
the bars. I cleared the jump by an easy 20 feet! So I finished that race, but
not in a good spot. In my first moto in Collegeboy, I rode a great race and
finished second! In Open B, my first moto didn’t go well. I got about a third
place start, and was right behind the two kids in front. Well one of them went
over in front of me, and I had no where to go so they kind of high sided me. The
bike and I were fine, yet it would not start! I kicked it the whole moto,
nothing. We finally pushed it back, thinking yet another bike is messed up.
Turns out that the kill switch was stuck on! Once we got that squared away, we
saw that my pipe was really messed up. Mr. Tickle (owner of triangle cycles)
told us that it would run, but make my bike run a lot hotter then normal, so we
elected to only run the second four stroke race. In that one I passed for
second on the last corner, and so I nailed down a second overall! I think that
made $100!
3/28/2009
Action Town:
This past weekend I elected to run only two classes, 250B and 450B. It was not
a qualifier, so there was no pressure. My 450B races went great, as I got the
holeshot, and walked away from the class. I went a solid 1-1 for, you guessed
it, 1st overall! In 250B, my first moto went great, I didn’t get the
holeshot, but I worked my way to the front and pulled a lead by the end of the
race. In the second moto, things did not go as planned. After the start, I went
to brake into the next corner when all of a sudden I didn’t have any front
brakes! I hit the guy in front of me by accident, and that really bent my front
rotar up, so now there was no chance of having front brakes. I took a couple
laps for me to figure out how to ride with no brakes (the rear brake doesn’t do
much) and once I did, I caught back up to the leader and passed him. On the
last lap, with like a 7 second lead, I was going up the face of a small jump
when all of a sudden my bike died. Almost like I stalled it, or hit the kill
switch. It was so sudden. I still had enough momentum to make it over the jump,
but the bike was dead. I kicked and kicked, but nothing. So 1-DNF. Turns out
that bike blew up too, some thing about the rod bearings in the crank shaft
tightening up.
3/21/2009
Lake Sugar
Tree: The first South East Area Qualifier! I need top 8 in order to be
guaranteed to the regional. On Saturday I ran two classes, 250 B stock and 450
B stock. Lets just get the bad out of the way and talk about my 250B race. I
did not get a good start in the first moto, but I was running pretty good and
working my way up through the pack. I accidentally jumped on a massive boulder,
because I went over a jump that I couldn’t see the landing, and it turns out
there was a giant boulder there. I didn’t think anything of it, and I kept
riding. About the third lap, I fell over, and my bike started to make strange
noises. It ended up locking up, but luckily I got it into neutral before it
did! That boulder had punched a hole in the bottom of my engine, and I rode
that whole race with not engine oil! OOOPS. So that race was done. In 450B, my
first moto went fairly well. I got a third place finish, as I stalled it when I
got passed for second. We were so far ahead though that it didn’t matter. The
second moto I could not catch those two that were in front of me, and again,
got a third place finish. That gave me 3rd overall. Sunday was also
a good day, as I qualified in all three classes. In 250B Modified, I was not as
comfortable on that bike as I am on my other ones, since I rarely get to ride
it. The first moto I finished 7th, and the second moto I finished 7th.
There was nothing exciting about it, I just rode my race and qualified. In Four
Stroke, that was another solid race. In the first moto I finished an easy
third, without any trouble what so ever. The second moto, same thing, I rode an
easy third behind the two A riders that were in front of me. That gave me 3rd
overall! Yay. 450B was by far my best races, as I got the holeshot in the first
moto and lead the race start to finish! The next moto, me and a kid named Tyler
Reynolds had probably the best race I have ever ran. He got the hole shot, and
we battled it out all 6 laps. I was all over him, but could never quite seem to
make a pass that stuck. It was a really fun race, and I ended up passing him on
the last straight away before the finish line! It was sooo fun though, it
really didn’t matter to me who won, because it was just for qualifying. So I
went 1-1 in the race, for 1st overall! That wraps up a great weekend
(besides the 250 stock bike blowing up).
3/7/2009
Elizabeth City:
The first NE Area Qualifier of the year! And really the first one out of all
the regions, so there were tons of fast kids! I am trying to qualify in 250B
stock and mod, 450B stock and mod, and four stroke for the Regionals which are
in May. Saturday did not start off as planned. My 450B stock motos did not go
well. In the first moto, I went down in a corner because my front tire slide
out on the inside of a deep rut. I finished about 17th. The second
moto did go well, and I finished 4th place. However, I got hit on
the first lap and knocked off the track. The rule is to enter back on at the
next safest spot, and that is what I did. The referee thought that I blatantly
cut the track, and docked me 5 spots. I would have had a 9th overall,
because I finished 4th in that moto, but instead I finished 13th
overall. O well. My 250B motos didn’t go well either. I ended up falling on the
first lap of the race, as there was a major pile up and when I tried to ride
over a kids bike it knocked me off balance and I fell. I did not finish well in
that race, but I made up for it in the next moto. I honestly don’t remember
what I got, but I know I finished 11th overall. That’s not too
shabby. Sunday’s races went better, but not my 250B Mod race! In both races, I
got a good start, and there is a spot on the track that bottles up really bad.
Somehow with my luck I went down in the spot both times on the start of each
race, and both times my bike wouldn’t start. Those races were blown. In my 450B
mod race, I fell over on the first lap of the first moto. That put me around 15th.
The second moto went great however, and overall I got an 8th place!
My final race was Four Stroke, and I took home a third in each moto of that
races. There was nothing special about if, just got good starts and kept it on
two wheels. I got third overall. Now I know what to expect from the qualifiers
coming up!
2/7/2009
Elizabeth City:
OK! Finally back to racing again after my nasty accident at the Winter
Olympics. Just in case you havent heard, I got hit in the air over a 70 foot
triple and fell from like twenty feet up right onto my hip. That took osme time
to heal but I am good now. This past weekend I was motos 1 - 3 - and 5! Ouch!
back to back to back. My fist moto was 250B, and I did not get that great of a
start. I was able to work my way through the field though, and took home a
solid second. The second moto did not go as well however, and I stalled my bike
and could not get that thing started. By the time I got going I was about two
laps down in a four lap race, so I just rode it out. In 450B, My first moto was
going great. I got a good start and was in second. I caught the leader, and on
about the fifth lap I messed up and swapped out going over a tiny double. When
I crashed, I immediately looked behind me to see if anyone was coming becuase
it was a blind jump. Sure enough, someone was already in the air flying straight
at me, and I had to literally dive out of the way inorder not to get landed on.
I went over and got my bike going and finished tenth. The second moto went
great, and I got about a 4th place start and worked my way up to the leader. He
bobbled, and I capitalized, and it was my race from there. So I went 10-1 for
4th overall. My final race of the day was Collegeboy, and those two races did
not go well. My first moto I fell over twice, got real bad sand in my eyes and
could not see, and ot lapped. The second moto was going really good at first. I
was in 4th, and I caught the same kid the I passed for the lead in the 450B
class, but he was so tired I knew I could get around him. I got right on him
and then he brake checked me and sent my gut into the handlebars becuase I hit
him, and I stalled my bike. He did a look back at me and just kept going, while
I sat there trying to kick my bike. I dont know what place I finished, becuase
it was not any good! Overall, I have been told that I was riding very fast and
very well this past weekend, so I hope I can keep it up!
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