Return of the 1-2-5
Hands up those of you who need more hours in the day, and days in the week….. Yep, I’ve got my hand up.
Having the Easter weekend off from racing following the GNCC in South Carolina, and being back at home in Florida, I had great thoughts and intentions of doing heaps of riding during this period before the next race but, alas, that didn’t really happen. I got some sessions in but they weren’t exactly quality training time. At least I did get some time in though, unlike a lot of you out there.
We ended having a nice Easter where we spent the majority of the weekend outside re-doing the sprinkler system, laying new sod, and other yard work things. Summer had hit Florida early so I was pretty beat after slaving away in the heat and humidity. The rest of our time at home we just rushed around trying to get everything taken care of that we needed to before it was time to roll out of the neighborhood and hit the road in the motor home for 7 months of touring the USA. Going to try and live the dream for the rest of this year; the dream that most people have to wait until they retire to go do. Hopefully we’ll be able to get some time to stop off and check out some interesting places and tourist destinations along the way in our travels.
Late on the Tuesday night before we left (April 18) my parents flew in from Oz to travel with us on the first 5 weeks of our voyage. Now there’s something to test whether we are going to survive in the confines of the rig. Finally we got the front door locked and hit the road late on the Wednesday night, 12 hours later than what we had hoped. We got as far as 5 miles down the road before we made our first stop, this time at a McDonald’s so as Carrie could get a Sundae. The poor girl was sick, and feeling real crappy after not being able to rest all day (she’s a trooper!), so we needed to get something to sooth her throat that was on fire. Of course the rest of us got one as well just to celebrate that we actually were able to get on the road, and start heading towards my next race, which was round 5 of the GNCC that weekend in Tennessee, 16 hours drive from home.
Friday we spent all day in Chattanooga visiting the Tennessee Aquarium and Ruby Falls. The Aquarium was good, especially the fresh water River Journey tour. Ruby Falls was pretty mad because to get there you need to take a 260 foot elevator ride down into Lookout Mountain, and then you hike half a mile into the mountain through the natural crevices until you finally enter a natural cavern with a 150 foot water fall in it. Impressive!
We didn’t get to the track until lunch time Saturday, once again a little later than what we were hoping for, and unfortunately there wasn’t any time to kick back and relax. Myself and Bart from Powersport Grafx had a bike to build. My 125SX was in pieces and the engine was in the factory semi after spending the week in Ohio getting a freshen up. Many thanks to Shawn for performing the operation and to Boris (see photo below) for his great organizational skills, which are better than his riding style.
Five hours later we had a bike ready to roll. I was looking forward to racing the 125. Why would I want to race the 1-2? Well, it comes down to the fact that I’m a 33 year old with a 53 year old body. Some people have said that I even it out by having the brain of a 13 year old!
Basically my body is giving out on me and it’s getting hard for it to handle the rigors of a three hour race. Despite having had 6 knee reconstructions, and needing another, my biggest problem with my body that’s holding me back from riding fast is my wrists and hands. My left wrist is jacked up from the carpectomy procedure (bone removal) I had to have done a few years ago that has left me with limited strength in my fingers. My right hand goes numb due to a swollen carpal tunnel from having to hang on extra hard to compensate for my left hand. I even had surgery at the end of last year to try to alleviate this problem, but that didn’t help. So, the 125 is the lightest, easiest bike for my body to handle for 3 hours of torture. Plus, there’s something special about the 1-2 that seems to work good for me mentally. Whether it’s the sound, the weight, the less amount of power, or whatever else, I don’t really know what it is but there’s something with that KTM that makes me want to just ride that bike as hard as I can for as long as possible.
Click here for my race report to see how things worked out for me with the 125.
Since the race we have spent a couple of days near the Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky catching up on some things. Last night (Tuesday) I went to the open practice at the Ballance MX park, which is run by the relatives of Bill Balance, the current GNCC Quad racer Champ. It was a pretty nice track so we will have some video footage of it up soon, along with the rest of the tracks we’ve been to so far this year. Don’t give up on us, we will get these video clips up. Today, hopefully, we will get some time to explore some the caves and head back to the Ballance track for some more riding, and then the same tomorrow when Glenn Kearney, who lives about 2 hours away, is going to come over to join us for the day.
Oh yeah, unfortunately we have found that due to our hectic schedule we are going to have to make this Newsletter a bi-weekly event, so we’ll catch you all in a fortnight with more Watts Happening news and the details of the winner of our monthly giveaway for April.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for continuing to cheer me on!
Shane, Carrie, and Eden
Link of the Week!
For those of you who ride KTM, this is a great forum site. With over 30,000 members, you will always find discussions on things you need to know, and even things you don't. Plus, if you don't make it to the races, there is always great first-hand accounts from those who do!
Check it out and sign up-it's free!
Fasst Co. Flexx Handlebars
Without Fasst Flexx handlebars there is no way that I could compete in 3 hour Cross Country events, or go on a decent length trail ride with my mates. My wrist is so shot that it just can’t handle the constant jarring it receives from the shock transmitted through a standard handlebar. The Flexx bars have four different compounds of rubber to choose from, and I use the softest compound, the blue rubber. Apparently I seem to be a bit of a freak because no one else seems to use this color because it is too soft, instead the majority of riders choose the yellow or red compound. These two colors are the middle of the road in cushioning, whilst the white compound is the stiffest. I use the 12 degree bend bar because I like my bars fairly straight, where as some people may feel more comfortable with the extra sweep of the 14 degree bend. Check out their website for more information on how you can make your ride a little less painful so that at the end of the ride you can tip a little something else back!
My Favorite Snap...
This is a photo taken of Eden on the day we left Florida. We were all packing the van and she decided that she was going to protest leaving, so she made sure we weren't going anywhere by crawling underneath the van. I wonder which parent she gets her strong-will from?