WILD PONY / HORSE WEEKEND...IN THE DESERT.

By Brian Butler 9/20/2005

Well, for those 3 loyal fans that have actually been keeping up with my website, I apologize for the lack of content of the summer. Truth be told, I was just really burnt out on motorcycles and everything associated with them. However, when my best pal, Russ, called up and reminded me that he was putting on a race in Nevada in a few weeks, it was just the kick in the butt that I needed to get into gear and realize that riding dirt bikes can be fun, if you don't try so hard!

With that in mind, I called the club to make sure it would be cool to ride with my dad on Saturday for the Family Enduro (Wild Pony) portion of the weekend. They said come...ride...give us money!!! So, with the "ok" to ride both days, I was really looking forward to riding with my Dad in a Family Enduro for the first time in many years.

Saturday morning dawned and I was sure we were lost driving to the race site. Here we were in NEVADA...in the DESERT...following another truck down a DIRT road and something seemed strangely out of place...WHERE WAS THE DUST? In an act of kindness from mother-nature, the course received a thorough watering, making the FAMILY ENDURO one of THE BEST races I have done this year. Picture, wet, soft, roost-able sand...better than ANY prepped motocross track I have ever ridden. Apparently, better than any place my dad has ever ridden either, because he went roosting by me at the 2.9 mile marker despite my waving hands and screaming voice only to burn the first check!!! Good job dad. You hire an ex-district time keeping champ to get you a first place finish and then you don't even follow his lead! Luckily, dad is super fast for an old crusty dude and was able to win his class despite his mental bobble.

The best part was just roosting through the desert with my dad, riding GREAT terrain in PERFECT conditions and hanging out with friends. Kasie Creson and I shared riding position/style tips, I learned that luckily Cody Sperle looks much more in control and calculating on a bike than his speedy and successful father...although he did manage to break his muffler off in the course of the race, I guess you just can't fight the gene pool...

All in all, the Family Enduro turned out to be a great success, and the club did an excellent job putting checks in good locations and using fun speed averages to allow for fun riding and not too much putting along staring at your computer until you get busy and crash into...well there's not much to crash into in the desert! Oh wait, maybe there is, but you have to keep reading to hear more about that one...

SUNDAY MORNING : WILD HORSE

Could we be any luckier? Another brief rain storm left the trails PERFECT for the 2 nd day in a row! Pinch me, I'm in Nevada, in the Desert, and I am in Heaven? Not possible.

A quick look around shows that all the usual suspects are here: National Enduro Rising Star Billy Russell has graced us with his undefeated presence in the D36 Enduro Series. Brian Sperle is coming off an injury but, I never count out this tough as nails ox. Then there is the sickening fast Jordan "Dan-O-Myte" Brandt who can step on ANY motorcycle in ANY terrain and give ANYbody fits. Then there is also a host of other great district people that I haven't seen in a long time due to my GNCC travels.

We are all looking forward to a tough course laid out by the infamous Wild Boar Trail Boss, Russ P. Leaving out his last name helps conceal his identity to some degree so those wishing to deliver bodily harm and hate mail have a harder time locating him...Really, the course wasn't THAT bad, and I think most people would agree that an Enduro SHOULD BE CHALLENGING! If you want to go for a sissy weekend activity, then sign up for your mom's ballroom dance class. If you want to leave your dress at home and race dirt bikes, test your skills, and feel like you got your money's worth, then ride ANY event laid out by Russ, because he has a knack for locating challenging trails no matter where the venue may be! He is the only one I know that can lay out a DESERT enduro and still recommend using STOCK gearing!

In my opinion, this event wasn't as tough as some previous Wild Boar's, but it was still a challenging event none-the-less. The morning section had a brutal rock outcropping canyon that was a bottle neck nightmare. Danomyte told me he CARRIED his KTM200 up the falls and then started the bike with HIS HAND (hmmm, Dan, I wonder where you get that kind of hand strength...?)!!! The guy is tough as nails!

Although, that's nothing, compared to Sperle, who apparently is slightly tougher than barbed wire because he tried to mow a fence down going 40mph on his KTM450 and found out that although a Sperle is tough, a barbwire fence is tougher. His day was done, and we are all happy he escaped with only some cuts and scrapes. Apparently, there is stuff to crash into in the desert. Be careful out there!

In the end, with Sperle out, Brandt giving up a few too many minutes in the 1 st loop bottle-neck canyon, and Billy burning a check ("The first check I've burnt in years!") it looked as though it was my race to loose at gas. For someone only coming to this race for fun, I was suddenly VERY NERVOUS! I was lucky enough to not make any silly mistakes on the last loop and find a creative solution to a troubling problem in one of the canyons and ride on to win by a very narrow margin over Billy and I believe, Jordan in third. Mainly, I was just stoked to be riding with such great riders. Billy and Jordan are riding really well, and I had about as much confidence as a balding, gap-toothed-midget trying to get a date with a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model after the disastrous spring season I spent getting smoked back east. Luckily, in the end, I made the fewest mistakes and rode decent enough to win, which means you'll probably see me at a few more events this Fall looking for some fun.
All in all, I would like to thank Russ and all of WSRA for hosting this enduro. It's a ton of work to put on an event like this and anytime a club does an enduro for the first time, a few mistakes are to be expected. But, overall, I think they did a fantastic job and thanks to some help from the rain, the event turned out to be one of epic proportions!!!

Oregon National Hare Scrambles…

By Brian Butler 6/20/2005

To all my loyal and devout fans out there…I apologize for the tardiness of the posting about this event, however, at the finish of this event I was a bitter boy. You see, I had been planning on a great event in Oregon. I called the club and they had described a highly technical, true “off-road” style race course with miles of single track, technical side and down hills and big up-hills. It sounded like the event I’d been waiting all year for. Unfortunately, since I decided to show up, the rain that seems to follow me to each event I attend decided to take a spring vacation from the east coast and cross the country for the green grassy tundra of Oregon. Despite checking weather.com about 729 times before the trip and quite sure that the race would take place under clear skies with temps in the 70’s, the rain gods tracked me down to Sutherlin, OR.

I wasn’t the only one caught off guard. Many people seemed to have come prepared for sunshine as there was definitely not an abundance of rain coats or umbrellas in the pits. Heck, there weren’t even an abundance of warm clothes. Nolan Irwin came prepared for sun with shorts and flip-flops…as did many others I’m sure. In fact probably everyone walking around in MX boots was probably caught unprepared because MX boots are typically not known for their comfort and daily walk-ability.

The race itself brought me back to my childhood. 3rd grade to be specific. My best friend Mark and I had set up a slip and slide on his front lawn which was sloped steeply down hill in his front yard. In the heat of the summer we proceeded to cool off and have a great time sliding down the magic yellow slide over and over again. Really, the only difference between 3rd grade and today was that the yellow slide was brown and sliding down this slide over and over again did not seem to bring back ANY happy childhood memories. In fact, after about the 200th slide on my butt I was wondering if I could pawn my mud covered YZ to a local bum in exchange for a bottle of whatever was housed inside the paper bag he was undoubtedly grasping in his right hand (or possibly left, if he was left handed…).

Luckily the fun didn’t end there as we got the privilege of a sleepless all night drive back down to Monterey and the added bonus of waking up to a complete ball of genuine Oregon mud covering everything in site. At least it only took a few short HOURS to wash the mud and grass off of my bike. That was great fun.

To all of you brave souls who endured the slop of Oregon and lived to tell about it, I commend you for your grit. The race was truly a unique experience and maybe when I am 70 years old I will look back on this weekend with a twinkle in my eye and consider it even better than my 3rd grade summer….

 

Life of a Pro Racer…

By Brian Butler 5/15/2005

Previously, I talked about the diet of a pro racer and how often includes a significant portion of the “McDonalds” food group. Another component obvious to many but often times overlooked is the “rest” component. I have learned that sleep is not as important a requirement as it used to be. Never being blessed with good lucks, I’ve always relied on extra beauty rest to overcome the difference.

Now, I know many local racers suffer from sleep deprivation when getting around the D36 circuit. The difference on the eastern seaboard is the addition of time zone changes and jet lag…previously 2 of my favorite conditions leading to making me grumpy and feel like crap! Now,  I am still getting smoked by these eastern woods pros on a regular basis, BUT at least now I am getting more adjusted. For example, the jet lagged feeling doesn’t catch up usually until I get back home rather than on the starting line of the race. And I’ve discovered that several companies make “sleeping aids” that allow you to fall asleep regardless of what time your internal, biological clock thinks it may be…however, my dependency on these little blue pills is likely to catch up to me and bite me in the butt at some point I am sure! For now, I’m thankful and considering sending a sponsorship request to Tylenol for the upcoming season…

So, last weeks tip was to begin a diet consisting of pretty much anything that comes from the bottom of the deep fryer or can be ordered by number (I’m fond of #9). This week, I recommend inconsistent sleep patterns to enhance your future performances. Try going to bed at 8pm and getting up at 4am, going to bed at 2am and getting up 4am…make up any pattern you like and be sure to change it up frequently, because consistency of any sort is the type of behavior that could damage your well laid plans for racing domination….

The John Penton GNCC – Millfield OH

By Brian Butler 5/15/2005

Ohio Mud. If you are a true off-road rider and you are from a state other than Ohio, those two words alone should send chills down your spine and strike fear into your senses. Ohio Mud. In off-road circles there is no worse fate to suffer than to head to Ohio for an off-road race only to find out that it is raining. The soil in Ohio consists of clay that becomes more slippery than a girls gone wild video. Add to slip factor a 9 mile rut and you have conditions that no one likes – Unless of course you are from Ohio…

Upon arriving at the race site on Saturday, conditions were grim. My shoes were useless in the slick mud, I should have just brought cross country ski equipment. The mud was so shiny and slick I could see my reflection in it. Great. Is it too late to get an earlier flight home? I really felt bad for Jonathan Davis though. He had to race today. There was some hope that at least the course would dry up a bit for Sunday.

Youth Race:

Due to the deplorable conditions, all of the racing on Saturday was delayed and I believe the official start of the Youth race was triggered by the setting of the sun. Oh well, at least with the sun down, the glare off the shiny mud wouldn’t blind Jonathan...Because the race was so late, they decided to shorten it and run it for about an hour, which was MORE than enough for most of the kids.

The race course itself is run on property owned by Jeff Russell (Yes, THAT Jeff Russell) so it was to no one’s surprise when young Kalib Russell (Jeff’s Son who has probably logged his fair share of miles on the family property…) took commanding control of the race from about the second lap on. Although a bit off the pace in the unfamiliar terrain, Jonathan was enduring the pain and riding well despite conditions that would make most people want to sell their motorcycles and take up something more fun and easier on their body…like swallowing fire. In the end he came through 6th in his class and with a KTM mini bike that probably weighed as much as a 450 thanks to some sticky Ohio mud! In a race like this it is the lessons learned that are the true reward and I’m sure he learned plenty…like if it is raining in Ohio stay inside and play video games!

Sunday AM Race:

The racing on Sunday looked to be a bit better than the previous night. The sun was out and the morning racers were doing a good job of beating the course in and drying the course out a bit. The highlight of the morning race was the return to action of National Tough Girl Heather Wilson, who fought through pain and limited movement in her still healing shoulder to persevere for a well earned win. That’s one determined girl.

Sunday PM Race:

When we headed down for the start of the afternoon race, I knew it was going to be a long day when I could barely ride down the start straight to the line without falling over. Yup, the mud was a tad on the tricky side. This was going to be a long day. As the green flag waived and we got underway the whole back was instantly sponsored by the same gear company who made some trendy looking “brown” gear that was a bit heavier and definitely uglier than my normal SHIFT uniform. I was hoping for a bad start so I could watch the carnage unfold, but I got of the line pretty good and made my way into the woods about mid pack. That’s where the real fun was.

Under the trees, where the sun wouldn’t be able to penetrate the forest, the conditions were nasty, remotely similar to an ice rink that had been flooded by a sewer treatment plant. Slippery, gooey, messy, and we got to play in it for 3 hours!!! Yeeeeeesssss!!!!

My race can be easily summed up as paddling my way from one mud filled rut, to a water filled rut, to another rut, to a bog, to more mud and…well you get the idea. The strange part was that at some point, I started riding decently and was ALMOST – dare I say it? Having f-u-n? Hmmm, better make a mental therapy appointment upon my arrival to California.

In the end I came to what is without a doubt my most brilliant conclusion yet…and it is this: If you see me in the future just call me Brian “Gaylord Focker” Butler and know that I am the only one on the planet (with the exception of Gaylord’s father) who could possibly be proud enough to covet a 9th place finisher ribbon. In the end I finished 10th 250 A and I would have gladly taken a ribbon for my efforts. However, as DiNero says in the Meet the Fockers “I didn’t know they made 9th place ribbons!” apparently the GNCC crew does not either because I once again came home with little to show. Oh well, that’s why I call it the Grand National Cill your Confidence series…

 

Diet of a professional Athlete….

By Brian Butler 5/8/2005

From time to time, I think my loyal following of fans will enjoy a helpful hint or two about the insights of being a professional racer. Not that I am a professional racer, but I have been observing quite a few of them lately. The first subject to conquer is diet.

I remember a good friend and ridiculously talented bicycle rider of mine telling me that he always used to show up to the start of the expert class just as he was finishing up his fuel for the event…an egg McMuffin, courtesy of McDonalds. I always thought it was an attempt at humor however, now I realize it is true.

The truth of the matter is this: If you want to be a professional athlete, get used to eating garbage. When you are on the road and traveling from town to town the last thing you likely will have is the luxury of excess money for nice meals or a selection of fine restaurants. However, there is a Golden Arches located on just about every street corner of America, and they have a dollar menu. Convenient and cheap. Perfect!

On my last trip I ate so many consecutive meals at McDonalds that I considered investing in the company and watching my profits soar. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Hmmm, good. Sometimes, it’s good to branch out and hit a Taco Bell, Carls Jr. (aka: Hardees back east), Foster Freeze, etc. After all of these meals that I thought were polluting my body, I began to notice certain things…like many top racers eat this crap! I can’t even recount all the top racers I’ve seen at Mickey D’s, but many of them are top 20 guys.

I figure if you eat perfectly healthy all the time you are doing your body more harm than good. When you are finally FORCED to eat at one of these grease pits then your body goes into shock and your weekend is shot. However, if you are accustomed to the occasional Double Big Mac with bacon, double cheese, extra onions, gallon of coke, and 5 gallon bucket of fries, then you can just keep up-shifting while the health-nuts are vomiting out the passenger window.

So, I say eat at your local fast food restaurant with pride. Hell, isn’t the Golden Arches one of the biggest sponsors of the Olympics and many of the athletes therein? If they can set World and Olympic records on a Super Sized #4, then why can’t I? Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s getting close to lunch time and I don’t want to have to wait too long in the drive through line…

Union, South Carolina – Big Buck GNCC

By Brian Butler 4/20/2005

The trip back to Charlotte is becoming more familiar with each passing week. Fly into Atlanta, land in terminal A, go to terminal B grab a quick bite to eat before the last short leg of the flight, before finishing up in Charlotte. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary until about 2am. After all of the flying, I understand why when professional athletes are always asked about the worst part of their jobs they almost all unanimously answer the “Travel.” Between inconveniencing friends and family for rides to and from the airport, to dodging sick, rude, and flat CRAZY people in the airports and on the plane, and then waiting for multiple days for your ears to clear, it’s no wonder the travel aspect is dreaded.

Back to Friday night at 2am. After going to bed with a pleasant migraine headache that made me want to drive a sharpened tire iron through the soft tissue of my inner ear lobe, I realized I was about to have another problem. Apparently, the Chinese combo plate I had for dinner was not in complete agreement with my system either. Great. I thought I had avoided the all important “No Entry PLUS Buffet” rule, so I figured I was safe. Well, I think the Chinese buffet ignored another classic, yet important rule…COOK THE CHICKEN BEFORE YOU SERVE IT TO CUSTOMERS!!! I wanted them all to DIE…very slowly and painfully. From about 2:30am to 6am I wore out the carpet between my bed and the toilet, slept in the bathroom and made several prayers and contributions to the porcelain God…

When I woke up in the morning I felt like I had been up doing sit ups all night. No wonder all those Bulemick chicks have such tight stomachs! After going to the store to find some Migraine medicine and taking about 3x’s the recommended dosage I was beginning to feel better.

Upon arriving at the race, I found the box van where James and Johnny were waiting for the youth race and Danomite was sleeping from his crappy red eye flight…where he had to suffer through a middle seat and another showing of Liminey Snickets. Delta needs to broaden their movie selection.

The race course itself looked cool! A nice WIDE start on a grass track before going into the woods then a pretty rough and technical course with a few creek jumps, some STUPID mud bogs, and plenty of roots looming to show you the quickest way to the ground.

Saturday evening the youth race was competitive! Jonathan has a bit more competition out here coming from a few riders like Cory B and Kalib Russell. The three of them seamed to engage in a race long battle that saw Kalib emerge victoriously. Johnny led for a bit but a mistake allowed Kalib to slip back by. After the race Johnny said he was having a hard time finding his groove and riding a bit tense, so a second place finish considering the circumstances was pretty good. The next morning he followed the performance up with a win against the same kids in the Big Wheel race. Redemption!

The afternoon’s main event was looking good with clear sky’s and comfortable temperatures. As the Pro race took off with its usual fury, Danomite seemed to get a decent start, but my good friend and sometimes D36 racer (when he’s in town) Nate Kanney got taken out in the second corner and was the last to leave. That always makes for a long day, especially when a GNCC starts off as a long day to begin with!

I got a decent start in the 250 A class and was pretty happy with the way things were going until about 4 miles in when we came to the first UNMARKED creek jump. Hmm, I wonder why everyone is going over that way? About the time I finished that thought and looked in front of me again, I was endoing off a 10 foot cliff. Cool. What a DORK!!! As I picked myself and bike up out of the creek, I watched the Cody Calkins and Matusek lead the 200A line by. Well, I guess my start would still be good if I was racing the 200 class! Now, it was my turn to start a longday…

Fortunately, I was having way too much fun on the Black Beast. I really like my Yamaha and the latest “GNCC Formula” that Joe at Faultline Suspension came up with is smoother than a Napolean Dynomite pick up line! What bumps? Coming around each lap I was slowly but surely working my way up. I was fortunate enough to ride with some great riders at this event. I tried to follow Chris Gault around when he passed me and it worked for a while before he finally pulled away, but it was fun riding with a good east coast rider than just crashing into the roots and rocks by myself. While leading the little 4-stroke A class, Chris ended up stuck in a mud bog in this AWESOME grassy meadow that was perfect on the first lap and them morphed into a hideous bike eating demon for later laps. Chris fought back from third after digging his bike out and nearly won still. It was a great effort on his part.

I on the other hand would have no such luck. On the first few laps my bike was running like a vintage lawn mower. I just figured I got some bad gas. However, later I found out it was really the process of my head gasket deteriorating away. Heading out for the final lap I made a quick stop in the pits and my bike wouldn’t restart. Without water and a diagnosis by Danomite and James of the blown head gasket, my day was done and I was really disappointed. 

Danomite also had a tough day. After running up front with guys like Scott Summers and just outside of the top 10 his gnarly headache from the day before returned. On this rough course, you definitely needed your head about you or it could be very dangerous. So Dan decided to ride another day and take lessons learned for this event forward.

All in all, the event was great, I feel like I am progressively getting better at each event (even though results may argue against that feeling!!!). I would definitely like to give a huge thanks to my family, girlfriend, traveling buddies, and all the “pointers” out on the course. Without their help, I would not be here, or I would be stuck in a mud bog, or I would still be wondering what in the hell was wrong with my bike! Hopefully, next week I will have better news to report! –Brian #811

Public Service Announcement: Calling Chris Zito!

For the arm wrestling champion that is apparently too good to answer his cell phone! For anyone who sees Chris, tell him to use the earnings from the National arm wrestling tour to hire a secretary to answer his phone and return calls for him. After not hearing from him for two weeks and not seeing him in South Carolina, I am worried that he may have been kidnapped and sold in an underground Asian market looking for strong, skinny guys in tight wranglers. I hear there is a high demand for those types. If you have seen Chris, tell him to call me so that I can be sure my hero is still alive. Thank you for listentening.

 

Welcome to the BB811.com PIT BOARD!

Weekend at Disneyland!

By Brian Butler 4/10/2005

Have you ever been to Disneyland (or really any amusement park for that matter) when it was a beautiful day and there was no one in line for the rides? You can’t believe your luck, so you run from ride to ride hoping to get in as many rides as possible before the “crowd” shows up? All the while in a state of pure excitement and adrenaline rush because you can’t believe your luck that you are able to have this much fun?

That feeling pretty much describes the ride I had a Hollister Hills on Saturday with my dad and friend Brad-#800-Johnson. After 2 days of rain, the park was wet, the trails had been groomed (Read: ripped deep!) the park was surprisingly NOT busy (Strange for a weekend) and we had full tanks of gas!!! All the necessary ingredients were in place to bake up an epic ride!  And ride we did! Just like Disneyland, we couldn’t ride the trails fast enough to get to the next one!

Even better was the fact that I riding with good people just having fun. Sometimes racing can wear you down and you forget why you ride. On a day like today, battling with Brad and my dad for supreme “king of the fire-road” rights was more fun that should be legally allowed! Brad and I engaged in some heated battles of dicing that were WAY too much fun. And my dad, what can I say about him, other than when he is in front, he is NOT letting you by without a fight!

All in all it was a perfect day of riding dirt bikes and I highly recommend a day in the dirt with your pals whenever you need a little perspective put back into your riding!

Shasta Dam Grand Prix Update

Unfortunately, my insert tubes didn’t arrive in time for me to go to Shasta. And having ridden up there with tubes in the past, I didn’t see the need for close to 15 hours of driving only to end up with 2 flat tires. Sooo, while I wasn’t there, I did talk to a local ground hog that gave me completely UNOFFICIAL race info from yesterday:

The ground hog’s account was that Craig Wesner rode to victory over a hard charging Patrick Garrahan and Alex Gragg. For the first 2 laps it looked like it would be a good day for the KTM squad as Brian Sperle was leading Jordan “Danomyte” Brandt. But, it was not to be as Danomyte lost his rear brake and I understand that Sperle lost his transmission. That left the other guys to battle it out for the win in perfect conditions. (Although, I gotta think that with the rain, the creek crossings had to be a bit deep!).

Props to all the guys that through their hat into the ring for a day of competition!

 

“Brian, what are you riding?”

By Brian Butler 4/2/2005

Well, some of you may know that I thought I could be a Suzuki superstar this year. Lured by numerous magazine “shoot-out” wins as well as a lucrative contingency plan, I found a great screaming yellow zonker to buy and snatched it up. Shortly after investing a number of seemingly endless nights in the garage and trying to learn how to ride the beast, I was not exactly happy to find out that I SUCK on the Suzuki. It’s a great bike and given enough time, I’m sure I could figure out how to ride it, but like Michael Jackson drawn to an innocent young boy, I found myself longing for my tried and true blue machines. So, I found myself a used YZ250 (Hey, I’m racing on a budget here!) that I have appropriately named the black beast (due to it’s black powder coated frame and hubs) and loaded it up on a bus bound for the Eastern sea board. With only a few days to set it up, I wasn’t worried due to my familiarity with the bike. I must give huge thanks to Joe at Faultline Suspension. He put in some serious late nights with me to get the suspension dialed in using his new secret “East Coast Woods Recipe”. So that’s the story with the bikes for now. If anyone needs a great RM250, just let me know because it’s ready for someone who can handle all that power and great handling!

Hope for skinny guys everywhere!

By Brian Butler 4/4/2005

Before we left for the Steele Creek GNCC in North Carolina I had already heard the unimaginable…Chris Zito, all 150 pounds of him had beaten Brian Sperle at an arm wrestling bout! Needless to say, I was impressed since Sperle’s arms are about as big as Chris’s legs. Well, while in North Carolina (and with no prospects of racing this weekend) I set up another challenge between Chris and Jordan “Danomyte” Brandt. The initial confrontation took place on a tool box and despite sketchy conditions, Chris overtook the double district Champion in a tough earned victory. Later that night, we new a rematch was in order on a more stable platform. However, it didn’t matter. Much like Juha can win in a variety of terrain, Chris proved his arm wrestling capabilities are apt regardless of the environment. This time after defeat, Danomyte quickly stated, “Dude, of course you won, I’M REALLY A LEFTY!!!” Unfortunately for Danomyte Chris is also capable left handed and hammered down another victory to make him the unofficial, undisputed arm wrestling champion of D36 AND North Carolina…and a pillar of hope for skinny guys everywhere!

“The GNCC that  wasn’t to be…yet”

By Brian Butler 4/4/2005

What do you get when you mix the forest of Morganton, North Carolina with 70mph winds on the Sunday morning of a GNCC? Well, on April 3 we thought we were getting a late April fools joke when GNCC Queen of operations Rita Coombs announced that the event had been rescheduled due to EXTREMELY WINDY CONDITIONS, making the forest unsafe for all inhabitants. However, this was no joke. The wind had already toppled numerous trees, wreaked havoc with EZ ups, as well as the supposedly securely fastened awnings of the factory rigs as the Kawasaki guys lost their awning. Oh well, there, goes $40k….Spectators were warned NOT to walk through wooded areas and to stay in the open fields and due to downed power lines, the morning race was postponed for over 2 hours before the announcement was made to postpone the event 3 weeks.

While Sunday’s events were postponed, there was still a very competitive Youth race that took place Saturday evening in conditions that made the Hollister National look like a dust race. Not really, but it was VERY muddy and the quads had beat the dog snot out of the track. Still, never to be intimidated, Jonathan Davis (JD) pulled out all the stops…or more accurately, ended up having to pull his bike out of some deep mud! The race was really more of a survival fest than race. JD had a mistake in a mud bog that let all his competitors use his bike for traction, further burying the bike deep in the mud and entangled in trees. Great. However, he dug the bike out and fought from WAY back to still end up 4th. Which, considering that ALL of the fast kids from the first round of the youth race had bad luck, means that JD is still in the points lead for the series! Way to go Johnny for sticking it out and never giving up!

After the terrible weather of Saturday and the wind of Sunday the race definitely turned into a series of unfortunate events for many people who had spent so much money and time traveling to the race. At first our group had assumed we had traveled the farthest for the event, but in the airport, I learned from Rodney Smith that 10 riders had traveled from another country to participate in this one event! As difficult as it was to swallow, the decision was probably the best one to be made at the time. In a highly litigious society, if a tree had fallen on a racer or spectator, it could have effectively ruined the entire GNCC series so perhaps a bit of caution was the best decision to be made at the time.

Of course the crappy part of the deal was that almost at the moment the decision was made to postpone the event, the wind began to wane and subside. As we loaded the box van we managed to have a bit of fun. Jordan “Danomyte” Brandt had started what HE thought was a fun game of “Hide and Go Seek” with Chris Zito’s bike which included pushing the Mach 1 YZ to various hiding spots in the pits (Like the KTM pits, behind other box vans, etc…). Chris ultimately had his revenge in an arm wrestling bout which can be read about under the “PitBoard” section of BB811.com.

Once loaded up, Chris and I were fortunate enough to get a rental car sponsored by Shannon to take to the airport. Hoping that we might make a flight out on Sunday night, our attempts turned out to be in vain, as we ended up just missing the last departing bird to Cali. Looks like we would be sharing a hotel room with Danomyte and his baby sitter Joe Gomes. The first hotel we stopped at, Danomyte had booked ahead of time and it was, um, let’s just say it was sub-standard. It smelled like a group dedicated to the advancement of “Chain Smokers Across America” had held a convention in the room and the bathtub took about 45min to drain after Danomyte showered. When we asked for our money back, the hotel manager refused. When we asked for a different room, he said we had “already used the facilities” and therefore were bound to hold this room. However, he would be happy to return with some drain cleaner.

I don’t know what he brought back, but I do know that when I glanced at it, I saw a skull and crossbones on the container. Great. Luckily, Joe had enough sense to get us the hell out of there and into an establishment aimed at housing people instead of farm animals. At least we know where NOT to stay in 3 weeks when we return for the re-scheduled round.

Although we didn’t get to participate in a shot gun start in Morganton, we did get up to quite a start Monday morning for our return flight. Sunday night we had agreed to get up at 4:15am to make our “6:00am” flight. After setting our alarms and me going to bed I thought we there would be no problems. Well, the first problem is to NEVER be the first one to sleep! Danomyte made several unsuccessful pillow fight attempts and then stacked chairs and pillows on me just as I was drifting off to sleep. Perfect. One of the “doublemint” twins strikes AGAIN!!!

Only a few short hours later we were awaken in a swirl of haste and confusion. Somehow the alarm clock had not gone off. Hmm, interesting. Danomyte had set his cell and I thought I set the bedside clock, but evidently a time warp had sabotaged both of our efforts. It was now 5:30 and we had about half an hour to return rental cars and get on the plane. I had declared the night before “How busy can the Charlotte airport be”, well as we were standing in a L-O-N-G security line we found out…Dan tried bribing the ticket girl to give us “cuts” in the line and she did not appear overly amused. So we took our place among the other hamsters and about that time Joe pulled out our tickets and realized we had PLENTY of time! The tin can didn’t leave until 6:THIRTY!!! YEEEES, there is a god, and for the second trip I have proven that I have absolutely NO ability to read travel itineraries. But, at least this time my error was on the better side of the clock!

Overall, while the trip was a disappointment in terms of Sunday’s race, once again, the group that was there managed to have a great time and will no doubt come back to NC even more prepared in 3 weeks! Special thanks on this trip go out to GNCC fast guy Nathan Kanney and Meteoroligist Mark (Who has questionable forecasting skills), the whole D36 crew and especially Chris “King of the Skinny Guys” Zito for having enough patience to travel with me on this trip.

 

GNCC Rounds 2 & 3

Well, it has been nearly one week since arriving back from our east coast road trip that included racing the Orange Crush and General GNCC’s in Florida and Georgia, respectively. At this point, I’m back to sleeping on a fairly regular basis and the blisters on my hands that had almost recovered have all opened back up as a result of the local District XC at Hollister on Sunday. All my whining aside, the trip was epic and although there is no way I can possibly capture all of the great times and tragic heartbreaks endured throughout the trip, here is a brief recap of events occurring to five racers, and three awesome support people between March 3rd and March 17th of 2005…

March 3:

Eddie, Dan Melvin, Jordan Brandt, and I meet in the rain to finish loading the box van for the cross country road trip. Eddie already had picked up Jonathan Davis’ and Kasie Creson’s bikes so now all we had to do was load up 3 bikes and what would collectively become known as “Brian’s Abyss of Sh..errr…Stuff”. What can I say, I’m high maintenance and I like to pack for every situation…At the last minute I had arranged a 1 way plane ticket, so I would miss the drive out, but be part of the drive back when Jordan would be flying home.

March 3-5:

Lots of driving and movie watching. Apparently the guys enjoyed the “inspirational” video selection that was sent along to keep them awake for 45 hours.

March 6:

Call from the Dan’s (For those of you that don’t know, Jordan also goes by “Dan”) soon to be known as the “doublemint twins” (as well as a host of other nicknames I will get to later…) In their sleep deprived state they were arguing over who got to take Eddie’s street bike to pick me up at the airport. “Uh, news flash, I’m not getting on the back of a street bike with either one of you goons!” After numerous hang ups and call backs questioning my manhood and guts, I turned my phone off for the evening and pretty much figured I would get a rental car and save my body for the races.

March 7:

Thankfully James Davis let Eddie borrow his rental car to pick me up. No goons on street bikes anywhere…oh wait, its bike week, there are goons on street bikes EVERYWHERE, but none that I HAVE to get on. We get to the race site in the dark. However, once my pupils dilate to the conditions, I notice an abnormal amount of stickers on my bike. Hmmm, guess the Dan’s didn’t like my comments about their street bike handling skills…Well, I certainly like stickers, but even I wouldn’t put 207 stickers on my bike. Needless to say, after a full day of travel, I wasn’t super stoked on the “beautification” of my RM. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem in the morning after a night of great sleep though…

Night of great sleep did I say? That night while James, Jonathan and Kasie went back to their hotel. I stayed at a high school girl’s slumber party! It was great, except for the fact that the girls looked strangely like 2 men. BUT, they talked for hours into the night, so I was sure it must have been a slumber party. I would love to go into the details of the ramblings, but I already had to live it once and would like to skip living it again. As an added bonus the GNCC guys have a generator that makes my dads 1972CZ250 look like a poster bike for the sound crusade. Well, you really don’t need to sleep the night before a GNCC anyway…

March 8: The Orange Crush

The Orange Crush is here! So this is what Florida looks like in the day. Hmmmm, pretty sandy. In defense of the sticker hounds, they did help out tremendously by taking my tires over to Maxxis and having new rubber put on for the event. Thanks Girls!...I mean guys.

The morning race saw Jonathan rule the bigwheel class. He pretty much led from the start and continued to put a hurt on the class lap after lap…He also put the hurt on a bunch of big bike riders by garnering a 10th place overall finish! He literally passed HUNDREDS of riders!

Kasie jumped out to a decent start and came around just outside of the top fiver in her class. The tough part for Kasie and Jonathan was that the whoops were about as big as there bikes! Kasie battled through what was a very physically demanding course to a respectable 10th place finish in women’s class.

Unfortunately, the event also saw the very uncharacteristic fall of nationally acclaimed fast girl Heather Wilson who suffered a shoulder injury that will put her out for a few rounds of the series. (As of the writing of this article, she is well on the road to recovery. Don’t be surprised if this resilient girl can still add another GNCC championship to her overflowing trophy room…)

As for the afternoon race, I will suffice to say that if I ever have to go back to Florida again, it will be too soon. Having been off of crutches for only a few days before the race, I knew this would be a toughie. However, by the second straight of three foot deep sand whoops laced with palmetto roots and stumps I thought that if there was a hell, I was in it.

The course was brutal; a genuine “whoop field” taking casualties without remorse. Dan Melvin’s clutch went out forcing him into an early retirement for the day. Jordan Brandt got up there and showed the pro’s a thing or two before succumbing to the brutal course as well. I rode around smashing my tender ankle through whoops thinking that this had to be the worst possible thing ever attempted on a motorcycle. When Doug Henry came around to lap me I don’t think I have ever been so happy. 1 less lap! At the end of the day, I ended up finishing 8th in the 250 A class and 43 overall on what several GNCC regulars described as the most brutal GNCC of all time.

After the race I lied in a pool of my own drool, dehydrated, hungry, cramped to the point where ANY movement hurt, and with blisters on my hands the size of Texas. Hmmm, this is supposed to be fun right? Well, at least I hear that’s how Doug Henry was after the race, too. Oh wait, he won. Maybe his agony was a little easier to swallow with a cool new GNCC OVERALL VICTORY trophy to add to his multitude of other accomplishments. After watching Henry race by me for the win, all the while beating seasoned GNCC regulars, I don’t know how anyone who wasn’t already a Doug Henry fan can’t be now. That guy is all heart.

March 9:
Well into the midnight hours our girl’s slumber party was really going strong. After all, 1am in Florida is only 10pm back home right? Who needs sleep anyway! Later that morning we found the crapiest car wash in the whole state of Florida (which I already described as hideous anyway!). The car wash had as much water pressure as your grandmother’s watering can. Frustrated with the whole situation the only thing that could top it off was a nice downpour of rain. Too bad the bikes were loaded, because the “rain pressure” was much stronger than the hose at the car wash. With little to do in the rain, we all decided to hit the road for Georgia.

During the drive we were able to call a Suzuki shop and have parts shipped to a hotel in Georgia to fix Dan Melvin’s RM125 as well as find a nice little dining establishment in the state of Georgia. Steak Dinner. Buffet. Nothing on the menu over $12 bucks. SCORE! We all ate like pigs! After cleaning the place out and tormenting the poor waitress we were on our way to the hotel. After a slight mis-calculation we arrived and were ready for bed.

Armed with ear plugs and a handful of Tylenol PM, I hit the bed like a ton of bricks! I slept so deep in fact that I didn’t even notice poor Eddie who had wore out the carpet between the bed and the bathroom. Hmmm, maybe that Steak house didn’t have the highest quality cuisine...

March 10:
Eddie is definitely not well! Come to find out, he ordered an entrée and the buffet. Everyone else ordered just one or the other. Hmmm, the lesson for this road trip is NEVER order an entrée AND the buffet!

While Eddie is upstairs wishing he had never been born, everyone else was in the parking lot working on bikes, cleaning gear and having a great time…until we discovered that Kasie had ripped the pipe off of her bike by way of breaking the manifold on the cylinder. That girl rides hard! It’s a good thing someone invented “overnight” delivery, because thus far, between Dan and Kasie, we have been at the mercy of the brown santa clause.

Jordan and Jonathan raced around the parking lot on bicycles and ended up engaged in a heated “who can skid the farthest” contest. Well, try as Jonathan might, the poor kid didn’t stand a chance against the former BMX pro. I’ve never seen legs move so fast in my life as Jordan’s on that BMX bike…well maybe except for Eddies’ on the way to the bathroom! Jordan skidded into another county and was easily declared the winner for the day.

That night we all watched the fabled Napoleon Dynamite and I have decided that they made a tremendous casting flaw. Jordan Brandt IS Napoleon Dynamite. The movie would have been 100 times better with him in it.

March 11:

Durhamtown Plantation Riding Park. $20 bucks and you are in to ride some awesome trails, MX track and more. The Kawi guys, KTM and a few other privateers were out there setting up there bikes, so we knew we were in the right place. After taking off by myself and getting lost, I regrouped with everyone and they took me on a trail that they found. Probably one of the BEST SINGLE TRACK trails of all time! It went for miles through the woods and we all railed through the trees in what can only be described as the most fun part of the trip for me! Having ridden behind everyone, I can tell you that Dan Brandt (AKA: “Dan-o-might!”) is a truly gifted rider. Dan Melvin kept his RM125 decked though the forest and the future is definitely bright for young Jonathan and Kasie. These two kids had their little KTM’s pinned to the moon and were never more behind than the blink of an eye! In fact, often times I was just trying to keep up with them! Luckily, Kasie offered me some great riding advice and I was able to match the pace much better!

On another bright note, Eddie is up and walking around rather comfortably today!

March 12:

Ahhhh, amazing what ear plugs and a bottle of sleeping pills can do for you…Today it’s off to the track. The main event for our crew today is watching JP (Jonathan, unless you ask Dan Melvin, then just call him JC…) put on a riding clinic in the youth event. The last race of the day, JP had some stiff competition from other riders and a rather unrelenting mudbog. However, he persevered through it all and came away with a dramatic victory over 2nd place Kalib…uh, well whatever his last name was. He lost to JP, so we don’t care. Really, Jonathan’s race was just awesome. After getting stuck, he fought his way up each lap until the last one where he crossed the finish line in his fairly familiar number one position. To see him on the podium with his overall trophy was REALLY COOL!

Tonight, I had a plan. Drug the Dan’s! They accepted my offer of Tylenol PM, so that I didn’t have to grind them up in their dinner. We were all happily sleeping in the 10 o’clock hour for the first (and probably) only time on the trip. Oh, and by the way, Dan Melvin is a lightweight. Don’t let his tough-guy exterior fool you. After 2 of the little blue pills he was drooling, slurring his words and off to count some sheep like I have never seen!

March 13: THE GENERAL

Race Day. Nervous. The highest attended GNCC in history. There were people everywhere! Luckily, for the youth race all those people didn’t affect JP and Kasie. They both roosted through the mud, roots, ruts, and bogs just fine! JP went on to another victory a few short hours after his previous victory. Kasie did an outstanding job and, with a little assistance from the Dan’s, made quick work of a huge bike swallowing mud hole. Kasie ended up 4th in the women’s class showing that you don’t need a big bike to do well. You just need a big heart.

The afternoon’s main event got underway and I was sitting on the line stressing about the two doubles on the MX track. To jump or not to jump, that is the question. I had seen JP do the first one and thought I could do it. The second one was a bit more of a step up, and JP told me he cleared it on the last few laps of his morning race, so I was thinking roll it on the first lap and jump it after that. Dan Melvin seemed really focused on doing well and Jordan Brandt was his normally cool self. Confident and ready to race.

I got the best possible start one could hope for…after kicking my bike 3 times. Just about dead last. YES! I don’t want it to be too easy. Heck, 3 hours of racing isn’t enough, let’s at least make it challenging! Off into the woods and I was getting railed in the roots and ruts. Ok, this is pissing me off now! A mile in and we get to the MX track. I just got railed by rednecks, so now it’s time for some payback. I didn’t even hesitate, I was so mad about my start, I jumped over 3 people on the first jump, passed a boat load more on the track and did the second double just because I was scared/mad still! Off the track and back into some genuine east coast woods…uh, can we go back to the MX track again?

After 3 hours, I once again assumed my post GNCC position. Drool, cramps, the whole 9 yards. While I lay in a daze, I learned that Dan Melvin was sneaky and got a GREAT start! He was running top three through the woods when a SPECTATOR RAN IN FRONT OF HIM! Dan hit the spectator, ended up upside down in a creek with a drown out bike and no hope of finishing. It was tragic to see his great start come to an end like that. The spectator ended up with a broken shoulder which I am sure was no where near as painful as the pain Dan was feeling in not being able to continue to the race with his comrades.

Jordan “Napolean Dan-o-mite” was up and running towards the front again, but the brutal course and deteriorating KTM got the best of him. With a rod knock that would vibrate him numb, he was left with no option but to park the rattling beast before it gave way on the track. Again, tough luck for our district boys.

After all of the good-bye’s Jordan, James, Shannon, Kasie, and Jonathan loaded up and headed for the Atlanta airport while me, Dan, and Eddie got ready to make the drive home…

If you’ve actually read this far, then I congratulate you for YOUR tenacity. There really isn’t a whole lot more to add other than on the drive home we had a nice little stop in New Mexico due to an uncharacteristic winter storm that closed down HWY40 for almost 24 hours. All the way home we reflected on lessons learned and how we could have done things differently.

Eddie and I concluded that despite the problems, the overall trip was a success and we were glad to have made it! There were many other little quirks that happened and I definitely did not praise the help and hard work of Ed Diaz, James Davis, and Shannon Creson enough. Without their incredible efforts there is no way this trip would have been as successful. They were truly the glue that held the racers together. Many thanks to them as well as best wishes to my new friends gained on the trip.

There comes a point where once you have raced for so long in a certain area that you almost stop making friends because you have such a big circle already. I am glad to say that as a result of this trip I have a few new friends who I value very much! Thanks to everyone who went on this trip, it was a great experience that I will always remember!

Oh and I almost forgot, every story has to have a moral. And the moral of this story is don’t forget:

NEVER order BOTH the buffet AND the entry!