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Well year 2 of Thurman was rougher but still proved to be really fun. The course was a lot of fun and although everyone's wrist/arms/shoulders will really feel this one, I think everyone had a good time. The weather was perfect, dirt was nearly perfect, other than it being dry and dusty in the open.

Short version of a report: The new Husqvarna is a success. Although I need to find a big tank for it asap.

MORE, MORE MORE!!! Come on and let's here it, please! I'm in a stand down mode and didn't make it to Thurman. Please tell me the locals didn't mop the floor with our 1000's class again. I'm nervous because last year they tore up Chris Locke who was almost untouchable last year. With the lowered age class I fear for the worst. Write em up and make me proud!

This was one of my toughest races I have competed in. We left Shawnee around 630 and arrived at the race cite around 9 (it really is not that far of a drive!). We unloaded and went out on a practice lap. The track was nearly the same, but with a newly added AA hill and Jay's Valley. These two obstacles added some technicality to separate the skilled from the pack. I though they were great additions and were appropriately challenging. The one downside of the track was the amount of braking bumps and rough hard-packed ground. It was a true test of good suspension without any rocks.

I lined up on the row between RG10 and JS244 (who are battling for the championship), so I knew that it would be an interesting start. Got a good jump and ended up 6th into the woods behind JS244. I watched as he made a pass and nearly got taken out. I got around the rider that made that mistake. I followed him for most of the first lap until arm pump began to take over. I dropped from 5th to 11th after the second lap. Once it went away, I began to push more. I move back up to 6th and ran there until EZ6 made his way around me. With two huge busted blisters on my left pointing finger I held on with caution. On the last lap, I caught up to TS236 and made a pass. He chased me and passed me on a long open section. I ended up 7th with BL9 finishing right on my tail. I was pleased with my results and had a fun day!

Thanks to my dad for getting me a camelbak on the 4th lap. I somehow lost my bite valve again and lost all of my water for the second straight race.

I hope JS244 gets well soon.

Short and Sweet report.
Hauled Jared and Brad up there (strange seeing that new Husky mixed with with the Lekto bikes).
Tried a practice lap. Yup, it's bumpy, yup ribs hurt.
600 mg of Ibuprophen will make it all ok, right?

Watched Lauren's race. Great run for the birthday girl. Congrats!
Sad to see Chuck Martin's boy banged up (and then spend a night in a non sanctioned hotel).

Lined up for the afternoon show. Starts ahead of the B class look exciting.
Surely, I can do that too. Got a good launch, entered the little pivot turn in second and got drilled from behind. Knocked me into about 3 or 4 others and we made a nice heap and dust cloud. Thanks to whomever that was that was looking back instead of ahead. Texting and driving is illegal in most states, including Iowa.

So, battered and in once piece, I picked my crusty butt up and head off in last.
Bounced around for a lap realizing the ribs were still a bit raw and called that quits.
Enjoyed seeing all the 4's come around me. You're a very polite bunch.

So, peeled off the gear and played photographer and helped pit Jared (kid, get a real camelbak).
Nice ride JT. Cool to see you ripping it up.

Watched some good racing all day.
Macon keeping the fast local on his home turf in sight all day was cool. Impressive pace those guys put out there. Also cool was seeing B-Rad get the "w" on the shiny bike.
Uncool though was the carnage that was Jeremy (thank god you're ok son) and young Hightower getting coo coo too (hope you heal quick young man. I know your dad can fix the bike so don't sweat that) and Looney twisting up his machine.

It was a beautiful day to be out in God's country up there.
Thanks for all who pulled this together again.

My report starts during the week:

Go to Dr. and sweet talk them into giving me lots of shots in my shoulder and back, so that I won't feel the pain from last weekends wreck. (My Dr. really is flat out awesome, even though she doesn't agree with me racing)

Put bike back together, and try to dial in the suspension with whatever is going on with the front fork. (testing it going over the curbs in overland park, LOL, thats all I got to test with where I live)

Practice lap, WOAH braking bumps!

Race time: I felt like I was riding amateur hour, great start (3rd) only to kill it on that first uphill.. half the class goes by me. I crashed at least 10 times, and bike carnage was high.

Clutch Lever - Broke
Shifter Lever - Bent
Chain - kinking and shot
Rear sprocket - missing at least 15 teeth
Rear subframe - tweaked
Muffler - The tire rubbing removed the nice "FMF" badge on it

Oh and BTW... if you have a 2014 KTM SX bike, (that no longer have a kick starter) and you kill it on a hill, the battery is only good for about 7 starts, LOL. Then its time to ROLL her.

Such and amazing place to race. It was awesome to meet the land owner and talk to him, and be able to thank him. I told him my only complaint is that we didn't race there twice a year. LOL. (which really isn't a complaint, and I was joking)

Tried my best to catch 1st place, but just came up 9 seconds short.

Best day ever!
Erik.



PS: I got a lot of good photos of random people, I will post them up.

PSS: Those sink hole were NO joke. I feel in the one next to the lawn mower (if you saw it, you know what I am talking about) and ya... woah.

thanks for the heads up on the sink whole next to the lawn mower that's why we put the mower their and all the tape . if you hit that whole you went for a good ride . our goal next year is to run backwards and change all the lines were it is getting rutted up . maybe we will have to build some snow fence by the lawn mower , but remember riders meeting stay between the arrows lol thanks jerad Thurman promoter

Challenging landscape and really fun hill climbs!! 769 Ryan Salmans hit that ditch in front of me by the push mower pretty hard!! I had fun so I won't complain about running the last lap and a half on a flat front (I wanted to be able to say I finished!!). Now is where my rant starts!! I was a little shocked to see a guy out running the course on a white Suzuki with yellow fenders wearing nothing but jeans and a cut off T-shirt. But there is no explanation for why on my third lap as I was going from a fast open area into a steep downhill left I would find that same jack@$$ COMING UP the hill!!! WHY are there random people with NO safety gear, much less a helmet riding BACKWARDS on the track during a race!?!?!? Rant over. Hopefully no one has to have the same experience in the future!

AM: Woke up, hopped in the car, fell asleep listening to a church sermon while Jeremy drove.

Practice lap: Rode with my dad, husband and a couple of the fast guys. Tried to avoid all of the ravines. Tried out the right-side AA hill- made it.

Pre-race: Super nervous, could barely eat, trying hard to convince myself to race.

Race: Lined up with a big row, bike shot off and thought I was going to be first into the turn. Unfortunately ended up top 5 into the second turn. Tried to hold onto my position through the first lap. Came around about lap 5 and found Jacob Martin on the trail with his helmet off and someone helping him. Thank you to whoever stopped to help him! I raced off to find the first sweep rider I could find. I found a few right before the A/B split section and yelled out the information regarding Jacob. They got to him and by the last lap he was on a stretcher and being taken out. I came in on the last lap in 2nd place- happy but worried at the same time. Turns out Jacob is doing much better and even has his sense of humor back!

2nd race: Helped my husband, brother, brother-in-law, and dad get ready to the race. Watched as everyone took off in a cloud of dust. I didn't realize until later that my dad was in a freak accident in the first turn. Sounds like someone was being overly aggressive and knocked him down (seriously? he is already injured!) Cheered on my friends and family and found my dad after the first lap, sore and upset. We helped Jared get a new camel back (really Jared? haha). I realized after two laps that Jeremy hadn't come by at all. I began to get worried when I heard someone was out on the track injured. It wasn't until after I wandered around the track looking for him and made it back to the trailer that it was Jeremy. He had blacked out and split open his chin!

Thank you to everyone who helped us pack up our things. We got to the St. Mary's hospital in Nebraska City around 5:00. They stitched up his chin and took a CT scan. The CT scan was clear with no brain bleeds and we were sent on our way home. We finally made it home around 11 PM, unloaded the trailer and finally went to bed.

Thank you to the EMT and Carley for checking Jeremy out after the race. I know he is disappointed about his results but I am so glad he is okay!

as for the race worker who wore jeans and a cut of shirt and no helmet , I can tell you it was not one of our workers all the workers are close friends and he was not one of them next time please tell some if you have a chance and we will fix it , with all the action going on we try are best to keep all spectators going slow and staying out of the way , i found another guy doing some stupid stuff and got him stopped. thanks for the heads up we will watch closer next year those are the type of people that can screw it up for everyone else . jerad Thurman promoter

Well Shredder the locals made us look bad this year. I think the winner ran a 87%.

I was really looking forward to this race being race of the year last year but that was a rough SOB. My arm pump started right after the first good down hill with all the breaking bumps and it ended up being slippery down there so the was my first lay down of the race. Even on the start my bike hit right off but there was some really aggressive old men out there. Talking about old men Tom and I battled for a couple of laps back and forth and I took a wrong line and he went around me for the last time and that was the last I seen of him. Good job Tom 1035, I also liked the new colors on that suzuki. Way to fit in. lol. Later in the race I came up on some fellas having trouble with a hill and they messed up my forward motion and thanks to the guy that helped me up the rest of the way, so down I go and being late in the race when you go down it takes what ever you have left in the tank to pick up the bike and get going again. I stopped at the top of the hill took a breather and fixed a strap on my boot and watched Tom's buddy go by and help give him some catch up points. Tom needs to buy you a beer for that one.

All in all it was a great day to race. I am the points leader now. Thanks goes out to Shedders wife for not wanting him in some kind of a sling to go on vacation this week. LOL

My son 227 Aaron JoRay kicked some but this weekend with a nice first place in the A class. Feeling pretty proud of my little guy.

See you all in Mirwin on Sunday.

1027 out
Dad to 227