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I was hoping for a better race this time. At Merwin I couldn't get my usual pace going and didn't finish well. As I was going into this race I knew it would be my last race of this season. I had to the best I could, besides its my home training ground.
I got really good start, about 5th into the first few corners. I tried to pace myself because nine miles is a long way around. Tried to stay close to who ever was in front of me. When I got the gnarly rocks that most have trouble with, I got passed by 741. I didn't know he was behind me. That's what I get for taking the slower easy line. I stayed on his tail for awhile. I must have bobbled somewhere and the 741 was gone.
When I came through scoring I was in 4th. I later passed other guys that I couldn't tell which class they were in. I caught up to the 790 rider and the race was on trying to find away around him. I gave him a fender a couple of times to let him know I was there ready to pass. I didn't get around the 790 until coming into scoring. I saw i was in 2nd place. I pitted for gas early so I wouldn't worry about running out of gas again like last time.

I was running my small tank because bike just handles different with big tank and 2.5 gal. gas.

I let the 790 pass me as I was getting gas. I knew i could catch up later. I later did catch him towards the end. He got hung up on some rocks and I chose the better line. I tried to put some distance between us. I later had to drop off the pace as I would have a front flat. The 790 got me back. I was not having it. I pushed when the trail was not very rocky and slowed down when it was. Didn't think i could catch backup. I did in the last 3/4 of a mile.
I came though scoring shaking my head as I was in 3rd at 1:46.48. I Pulled off the track went to truck to change out front wheels got back on the course and the race is on. I pushed as hard as i could.
I was worried that Flying Rayan had passed me as I was changing wheels. I knew I would never here the end of it.
I happy when I came though scoring and got 4th. It could have been a lot worse. I was not sure if i even needed to take that fourth lap. Completing four laps is better than three.

I just want to say thanks to:
Mark and his team for a really good course layout.
Nick Spooner for the used tires. 18"&21"
Steve Gibbs for the used 52T rear spocket.
This was the first race done on my 18" rear. I ran my spare wheels and tires the first part, only to change out the front near the last.

I'm happy that you were able to end the season on a racing note; flats and all. That's what it's about. Good tale.

See you next year!

Race report, a sweepers view:

Meet Mark for the first time. Very nice guy and he and his gang put a lot of effort into the race and course layout. It was definitely challenging just riding a practice sweep. After a brief discussion before the race I camped out at the first downhill rock garden. I heard the start and it didn't take long for the top guys to get to mile 1. They flew threw the hard section with ease. Not sure what happened to Jayden but his chain derailed at rear sprocket and unfortunately he lost ground quick - helped him get his chain back on on and sent him on his way. As More riders trickled thru the garden, a 500 rider endo'd badly at the top of Hard line. I rushed over to thinking he'd need all the Kings horsemen to put him back together again but thankfully he was ok and just shaken not stirred. Another young girl on a 85 took the hard line and those small wheels just couldn't roll the large boulders and she went down but not too hard. Helped her thru, dusted her off and told her to kick some boys butts and I think she did just that. Helped several others bikes get thru without major incident so I moved to the mile 2 rock climb for a bit. That was interesting - note to self - must hit that area with momentum or you're going down- End note.

With no more riders coming I finished up the sweep. Ran into 700 rider along the way who's 450 kept stalling and he wasn't have too much fun at that point. After helping him on a steep rock hill I totally understand why - It didn't help his front brake lever was totally gone and kicking a 450 on a steep hill with no front brake was simply not something you can practice for. Ran across two more down bikes; bent sprocket and another out of gas. Both made it back eventually.

It's wild to watch guys/gals take different lines; some with absolute grace and others go full bronco billy. Whatever gets you to the finish line quicker, works for me. It amazing to see how much punishment these bikes and the human body can take 'cause Walters Ranch can certainly dish it out

Thanks all for the race, post race goodies and Gordo for taking care of the worker raffle items. It was fun day

This race started out better than most of my starts as I was running in 4th after the shake out of the first few corners. I believe I was behind the #669 and he bobbled allowing me to pass. Coming into the rocky stair steps, I was on the tail of #624 and chose the hard line while he chose the easier line around the left. Unsuccessful attempt on my part allowing a couple folks get past me (thanks for the workers for tugging my front tire and helping me up the second step!). Shortly after that I overshot a corner and laid her down which let a couple more 600s by me. Frustrated by this point for giving away my better than normal start, I began to bomb the rock gardens that were slowing everyone down and picked off the #600 on an alternate line. I was literally "bronco billy", as Greg C. coined it, with legs and feet all over the place. I caught another couple guys and the one in front got a little sideways and I was able to get around them in the trees. Eventually I caught up to the #624 and was behind him through the creek section and saw #629 pull off just before the sharp left hander after the creek. I followed behind #624 the rest of the first lap and surprisingly ended lap one in 2nd place.

Second lap, I thought I was putting in a good pace but couldn't keep up with the #624. I finally came upon him stuck behind a 400 rider on the tricky uphill just past the 6 mile mark. I went by hooping and hollering!! I was in 1st place...oh crap! I could hear the #624 back on my tail just before the big creek and I attempted to keep the speed up through the water. He came up on my right through the water and taking on his splash toward the end I couldn't see anything but twisted the throttle a little more to keep him at bay. I took the sharp, uphill left hander a little wide so he couldn't pass me on the right and let her rip going on up the hill. Soaked from head to toe and struggling to grip the bike, I was thankful I didn't see the #624 after that point and came through the checkpoint and read that I was the "class leader". That's daunting to read as a first year racer and not lead a race before...

So here I go into lap three. My tires are feeling a bit spongey and I have had tire issues lately, but I knew that I needed to keep pushing the pace. I could feel my body getting tired and my eyes straining due to the water still dripping inside my goggles. I laid the ol' KTM over a few times on this lap, but still made it through the lap in the lead.

Lap four. Tires are definitely on the low side I stop briefly at checkpoint to look them over. Heck with it, I was going for it! Just after the rocky stair step, I took the "hard" route which wasn't really that hard but still managed to spin out near the top. Tirelessly I pick up the bike and touched the throttle, then spun out in the other direction. I am sure the crew working at the stairs heard a couple choice words coming from me! I can remember at least 5 times I bounced between trees and rocks and found myself picking my bike up off the ground and hoping not to hear another engine coming up the trail. #11 blew past me toward the middle of the lap which helped me keep my mind straight and push on down the trail. I was very happy to see mile "ATE" as I knew the course would smooth out soon after that. Finally the finish line came and the board still said I was the class leader!!

Pumped to have my first win, I look down at my tires after stopped and both tires are essentially flat. Luckily the high pressure chamber in the Tubliss held up and protected my rims for the most part. Myself and the bike are battered and bruised, yet excited for the win and the upcoming races!!

Thanks to the all the workers, Mark for setting up a great race, and Letco for giveaways!

What an awesome weekend!

Thanks to everyone that came out to race the Walters and the event sponsors for making it all come together! We got a lot of compliments on the course layout and obstacles. Mark and all of us members of the family have a fun time putting together a course that provides a little change of pace to the familiar FMHSC race courses. I only arrowed a few miles of the course Saturday, but Mark laid out a great course with all of the variety that Walters has to offer. Although the intent is not to make a difficult course, you can't get around Walters without passing a few familiar landmarks that present challenges; And that is part of the fun!

That being said, where was everyone! This was the first race of the year we had attendance less than 100 riders. Was it the single format race, or back-to-back-to-back weened races that scared people off?

Anyway, on to the report!

I knew I was going to have a challenge repeating the previous weekends' performance of a win (seemed like everyone just gifted me the race last weekend by not racing or having bike issues), but that wasn't going to stop me from trying! I lined up next to my Jay Shafe on the far inside of the start. My right leg dropped with the start board and I let the clutch out smoothly as I could, but my timing was off just enough to stall the motor on take-off. Dead last, looking like it could be a difficult day ahead! That's when helping set-up a course really pays off as you know just about every inch of the trail you arrow. By halfway through the first lap I had made my way through the pack up to 4th behind Jared, Brennen, and Grayson with Tyler just behind me. It was fun watching everyone smoothly traverse the lines or bash through sections with little regard for bike and limb.

As we entered lap 2 we made it to the ledges, Jared took the hard line and slammed to the ground, Brennen took the easy line to avoid Jared and also ended up on the ground leaving the doors wide open for Grayson and I to jump ahead. Grayson and I split the two, with him taking the hard and myself taking the easy to come out 1-2 and made a sprint to break away. Grayson lit out like a rocket ship with the lead and I couldn't hang on with him so I tried to settle into a steady pace. Near the end of the lap Jared had caught up to my rear tire and I was squirreling all over the course to keep him behind me. After making a mistake on a quick rocky up-hill I relented to Jared and tried to take up position behind him to watch the rock-hound at work.

Jared is smooth as butter in the rocky sections and I followed him as tight as I could through lap three, gaining and dropping in the various sections that favored him or I. We both fueled at the start of lap 4 and I was prepared to settle in for another session of the ebb and flow we had going on for another lap. As I grabbed my camelback hose for a sip of water on a downhill I heard the rocky chatter of another bike coming up my inside; Collin Wright had entered the fray and made a pass when I was taking a breather! I hadn't even prepared for him to come up on me, but when Jared noticed that something was different in his rear view he found another gear and the two pulled a quick gap on me. That was pretty much the start of the end for me as I fought hard to track them back down, but they weren't having any of it. Near mile 2 of lap 5 I caught a second wind when I saw the backside of Collin who had slowed with some severe hand blisters. I got Collin and, thinking I could gain on Grayson and Jared, I pushed hard. However, the harder I pushed the more mistakes I made. By about mile 5 I had settled back down to a more comfortable pace I knew I could manage till the finish without fear of major error. At mile 6 Brad (who was sweeping) jumped in behind me and we had a little fun going back and forth a bit to the finish. Overall, I can't be upset with a 3rd place!

Great job to everyone involved and those that braved *the toughest course on the FMHSC circuit*!!

I ran a GoPro but will have to get through the video to widdle it down to the fun bits. I'll post it up when complete for anyone that wants to relive the fun!

I've said it for 3 1/2 years but I mean it this time. I am going to start being ready for the race and sitting in a chair completely ready 30 minutes before the next race. I don't know how but time always gets away from me on race day. Sunday at Walters I went outside the camper in my shorts to sit in my chair and put my knee braces, boots, chest protector, neck brace, hydration pac, and all the other gear and looked at the clock and realized it was 11:49.


By the time I am dressed and getting up to the seventh row the third row just takes off. I practice starting my bike when the fourth fifth and six rows go and the bike fires right up every time. The board drops for the seventh row and I kick and nothing. I kicked again and away we go, last again. It's funny because as I pulled up I really had full intentions of letting everyone take off and then just pulling in behind and seeing how I finished but once I was sitting on the line I thought I want to try to get a hole shot. Thankfully I did not. With the pace I was forced to keep I would've had people running over me all day if I'd have been in the front.


Anyway, back to the first quarter mile of the race. From the start to somewhere past the first turn I passed a yellow bike and I'm not sure who was on it and then we made our way up to where the trail cross the fire road and as I twisted the throttle to make a second pass i hit that fire Road and compressed my rear and spit me off the bike for my first of four crashes on the first lap. I rode on a fairly slow and steady pace all day long. The advantage of that is that you get to see the fastest riders in each class. My second crash was when I got to see the four guys in the front of the 10 class battling it out. Todd, Shane, Greg and Jim were hauling. Jim later thanked me for crashing because it forced him to find another line resulting in a pass to put him in 1st. Unlike last weekend at Merwin, I don't remember a single 800 passing me. Quite a difference in an 800s time between Merwin and Walters ranch I guess. Rocks must be difficult for some I'm guessing.


The next exciting racing I got to see was about 1/2 way through my second lap when Macon and Austin come thundering by me. Man those four strokes sound good when they are making power. Grayson caught me soon after, he was on rails. I thought about following him for a while to see what he does to be so smooth but I wasn't able to take much in in the second and a half that I could see him.


As I said, I knew I was not in the running at this race so I took advantage of being able to ride at a slower pace and stopped and had conversations every chance I got. The first one was at the end of the long creek where I found Tony Toman and I Hope Bruno watching people fly through the creek. After a short conversation and letting several of the A riders go through at that point I was on my way again. The next chit chat stop happened right before going through scoring at the end of my second lap where I found the Shafer clan hanging out. I stopped and talked to Mark and Jonette for a bit as Mark fiddled with my handlebars making sure the flying squirrel was in pristine racing condition. After leaving them I realized there was still 35 minutes of the race left so I would be forced to take a 3rd lap. Tara wrapped my wrist before the race and it felt pretty good the 1st two laps but by the time the 3rd lap came around I was ready to quit but I'm no quitter so I just slowed down a little more. It's funny because as I was riding I did have the thought of wondering if I could faul a plug because I was running at such low RPM all day.


I'll bring this ramble to a close by simply saying that the Shafer/Stretz Clan did a fantastic job and they have one of the cutest raffle ticket girls on the series.

736 (Oops!) 1001 Rocket Ship Race Report!

Well, I have been fighting what turned out to be jetting problems for several weeks and just have not had much time to work on my bike. It has been running like crap (as well as me) for the last few races. However, the Rocket Ship was dialed in Sunday and was about ready to go int to orbit on the start! I just cant figure out when these dang Vet 40 riders got so fast?

Best I can tell I went in to the woods 4th or 5th. Got there late so i didn't have time for a practice lap. So for the first lap I really just wanted to get around in one piece and figure out my lines. I felt pretty good and the course was marked awesome so I started to get in to a nice rhythm.

At the first rock garden Greg C was flagging riders down to warn them and I am sure glad he did. I'm certain I would have been toast if he hadn't. Got thru there no problem then got to the first easy/hard rock climb. By that time I had caught Jim Pressly but I went easy and he went hard. I bobbled just a little bit and I never saw him again.

Cant remember where I caught Shane but he obviously was not having his best day at Walters and I was able to get around him. We stayed together for a while but I think Shane was missing his 2 stroke and I was able to put some distance between us.

When I got to the first big creek entrance I went for my back brake and it was completely gone! Was able to get whoa-ed up and made it in to the creek. As soon as I did my brake came bake and I new I needed to take a little better care of it. Didn't have another problem but felt good every time I made it to the creek because I knew I had another lap left in my brakes.

Got to the last stretch just before scoring and had someone on my fender. Turns out it was Schupp and he didn't mess around getting passed me. Went thru scoring in 5th and that is where I finished.

got passed by a couple 800s and a couple of 900s who all did a great job. 822 Sornson passed me just as we started our 3rd lap and I was able to run with her for most of it. She was setting a great pace and I stuck with her until Grayson went down in front of us. I didn't have any Vet 40s around so I stopped to make sure Grayson got back on his bike. Man those kids are tough, and fast too. It was kind of cool getting passed by them because they just freaking fly. And they don't need much room.

Long and the short of it is top 5 finish was what I had hoped for and I got 5th. Course was awesome. Weather was perfect. Kudos to the Shafer/Stretz crew for such good work. And I would especially like to thank the sweepers. Sweeping Walters can be tough and these guys did a great job. Best part was they always seemed to be right where they needed to be. Good job.

Thanks to the the Vet 40s for welcoming me back. Is there any chance you guys could slow down though?

Had such a great time spectating this race. Collin had kinda peaked in B class and then started racing other venues. So I was surprised this year as he had gotten faster. I attribute part of that to refusing to get beat by Jadan's little brother, Grayson. So this was his first race in A class. Back racing against Jared again, from Jrs to A class.

So his start was about 5th. He said the first lap wasn't bad, but the leaders were getting away and he was 4th. He kept pushing thinking this pace is tough, but I can run with these guys. At the end of lap 3, he could see the leaders fueling. That's all it took was to get close enough to see them.

He said the difference in pace from B to A class was as simple as not ever coasting. If you aren't braking you have to be on the gas.

Anyway, 4th lap Collin put his head down and started trading places with Jared, Jeremy and Grayson. Collin loved drag racing down the creek. He said it was cool to feel the 300 pull the front wheel out of the water. He had tough passes on both Jared and Jeremy and came in just 2 mins. before 2:00. Out he went with the lead, but returned to the truck 10 mins later off the trail. He had crashed because he couldn't hold the bars any longer. He said his shoulder hurt, but he forgot about that when he saw the skin missing from his hands that had blistered and peeled. Scott Henion didn't help by telling him that's the worst blisters. I've ever seen.

Both Jared and Jeremy told Collin he had surprised each of them by passing because neither saw or heard him coming. Thanks to Quiet Core and running two gears high. That's why he only burns half a tank of fuel.

A little redemption as the last time he raced there he left in a helicopter.

I want to thank Mark, Dan and the landowners for a great course and venue.

Really bummed I had to miss the race! I'll be at Thurman though which is cool as I always have to miss the normal date of the race for work.

Where to begin with this one. It was an eventful weekend to say the least. Never have a planned out, set-up, and raced a course in my life. My dad and I spent many weekend trips to Walter's Ranch scoping out different trails and identifying new ones. A long Saturday was filled with arrowing, lopping, and grooming. Sunday was an exciting action packed race. I am getting tired just reminiscing about all of it.

One thing I learned from the weekend was how difficult it is to get a whole course to tie together and flow well. Finding different trails and cutting in new sections is tough enough, but to make sure things make sense and piece together naturally is a skill I am yet to master. I give big props to Dan on being able to do this week-in and week-out. My dad and I were excited to be able to include some creek sections we have never raced before, I just hope the course proved to be challenging enough to test everyone's skills.

Onto race day. I lined up on the far inside in hopes of being able to get a good jump and swing wide to seal the hole-shot. Luckily that is exactly what happened. I led the first lap without any mistakes and as I crossed scoring I looked back to see that most of my class followed suite... it was going to be a close race. The 2nd lap at the ledges proved to be troublesome for me. Taking a little tumble it set me back to 5th place. By the end of that lap I had made 3 passes and found myself back to 2nd just to find out that the #20 had opened a nice gap on all of us. Charging hard with #244 and #277 on my heels we passed and battled for a few more laps. At the end of the 4th lap, we came across #20 picking himself up from a nasty spill... at that moment #277 and I knew the race was wide open now. Going out for the final and 5th lap, it was #277, me, and #20 all within 10 seconds of each other. I was lucky enough to make a pass for the lead at about the 3 mile mark and I never looked back (#277 had some nasty blisters to deal with and #20 settled into a cruising pace). It was a great feeling when I rolled through scoring for the final time in 1st place in A and 6th OA.

In the end, I had a great time racing with such a competitive group. My dad and I are thankful for those who helped us set up the course, sweep, and score. We are also thankful for those who came out and raced on such a beautiful day. We are looking forward to doing it again next year!

Attached below is some go-pro footage of #244 and I battling through the A class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egiylh7xLas