After the
disappointment of Hot Springs we bailed out on that place mid
Tuesday morning because we had to be 6 hours east in Nashville
by 5pm to pick up my mate "Skyler" from Cali, who was coming out
for a week. Halfway there we spotted two dogs wandering between
the lanes of Interstate 40 so, due to the soft spot in Carrie's
heart, we had to stop and perform the rescue. A quick call to
Animal Services had us dropping the dogs off to them at the next
gas station, 10 miles down the road. Carrie had a good vibe
about the deed she'd done, until the ranger told her that the
mutts were covered in mange. Nice! We didn't get to the airport
until 8pm, and eventually to our final destination of
Chattanooga at midnight.
Wednesday we
met up with another Pro GNCC racer, Cole Calkins, and had a plan
of doing heaps of riding at a couple of locations. First off, we
went to a nice little 5 minute woods loop on the property of
Mark Evans, where we railed for a few hours, and then it was off
to the other side of town to ride on a great private moto track
that the Gaddis family have. It wasn't until 8pm that we got
back to the big W parking lot where we had left the motorhome.
By the time we ate and got everything sorted it was 12 a.m. and
time for bed.
Thursday we
started off with a 6 hour drive up to Morganton, N.C. to ride at
Chad's track again, which is actually not far from where the
GNCC is held. The moto track that he has there is probably the
best backyard track I've ever been to. It's got a great flow, up
and down with plenty of rhythm section jumps, and some of the
best soil possible. You just can't help but want to put in a
heap of laps there, which is exactly what I did that arvo.
Friday we
were back out at Chad's, and this time we met Pro GNCC racer
Nathan Kanney and 250A rider Jesse Robinson. Jesse has been
killing it here lately, scoring the top amateur placing at the
last few GNCC's. At the GNCC in N.C. he even scored 10th overall. The kid is flying. We spent a few hours out on the 5
mile woods loop totally shredding it. Once we were done with
Chad's we went back into town and met up with the girls for a
late lunch, then hooked the van to the motorhome for the two
hour drive down Interstate 26 for Round 4 of the GNCC in Cross
Anchor, South Carolina. For the previous few days we had been
having some probs with the motorhome where the water pump was
tripping out the 12 volt electrical system. That meant no
lights, water, or hot water in that case, for a shower. We were
smelling pretty ripe by that stage so we dumped the big rig at
the track and cruised into town in the van for a weekend at the
hotel. It felt great to get a shower! By now it was late, I was
starving, and the only thing open was Waffle House. Burger and a
double helping of hash browns thanks.
Saturday we
went to the track for a full day of bike prepping. All three of
the bikes I had on board were in desperate need of a wash and
some TLC. At the first round of the GNCC, when I broke my clutch
bracket during the race, I had a few choice words with the
management of the KTM Factory team about the kind of support
they were prepared to give me at the races. Basically it came
down to a misunderstanding on the matter, so now that we have it
cleared up my race program is running smoother than ever before.
Thus, I was able wheel my bikes over to the factory semi and
give them a rub-a-dub-tub. I handed Bart Hayes from Powersport
Grafx, who helps me with  the
preparation of my race bike and running the pits on race day, a
nice clean 200XC and he went to town on it whilst I cleaned up
the other 200XC and the 125SX. The 125 motor was in need of some
serious love so it was getting sent back to KTM HQ for a full
over haul. Thankfully Shawn, one of the Factory team
technicians, didn't have much going on so he offered to remove
the 125 engine for me. What a Champ!!! Basically, all day was
spent just working on bikes, shooting the breeze with whoever
strolled by, and just relaxing and re-grouping after the hectic
previous few days. A little rain on Saturday morning was
definitely going to help with the extremely dry conditions we
were experiencing at the race venue.
Sunday
dawned a perfect day and I was feeling good. All of this recent
riding had me starting to feel strong on the bike again. I began
the day with an hour of pedaling the first four miles of the
course and it didnât seem as dusty as it would turn out later.
Then it was back to the pits to finish off preparations and to
do the autograph signing session.
Click here for GNCC Round 4 Race Report
After the
race we quickly packed up because we were keen to start the 8
hour drive back home to Orlando, if for no other reason than to
have a shower. Even though it was 2am when we finally got here
it was so nice just to walk in and be home after 3 hectic weeks
on the road. During this time at home, we will be able to fine
tune what we will and won't need for our major 7 month trip on
the road that starts next week.
Monday was
just spent unloading, cleaning, re-organizing, and more of that
kind of stuff. Don't forget cutting the grass as well. Now that
I have the Easter weekend off, I'll be able to spend the next
week and a half doing a heap more riding and working on getting
the rest of the content for my website and the online store up
and running.
Thanks for
your support!
Shane,
Carrie, and Eden
Link of the Week!
www.motocrosstracks.com
Looking for a new place to ride? I just found this site and it's killer! You can enter the state, kind of riding (mX, peewee, mountain bike, etc.) and voila-you're set to roost!
Product Highlight
No-Toil Air Filters - www.notoil.com
You know, there are those times in life when you regret not trying something out earlier in life,  because it's only once you start using the certain thing that you actually realize what you have been missing out on, and how much easy it makes your life. Well, No-Toil's air filters and cleaning system fall into that category. For 20 years I have spent hours cleaning filters by hand but that's now a thing of the past. With No-Toil’s bio-degradable oil all you need to do is throw the dirty filters into the washing maching with a cup of the cleaning powder, and a little washing detergent, and your filters will come out virtually cleaner than new. I was a little skeptical as to whether it was safe for the washing machine and would some kind of oily residue, but we've had no problems like that at all with our casual clothes being affected in any way following a batch of filters.
I think probably the best way to go about getting yourself fully prepped with airfilters is to buy four of No-Toil's inexpensive pre-oiled "Ready Race" filters, use them until they're all dirty and then wack them in the washer. Once the filters have dried it's only five minutes to oil them and you're all ready for a few weeks of good clean roosting.
My Favorite Photo...
Now this is some serious monkey butt! Glad it isn't mine!!
Click here for more classic pics!
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