Limestone 100 GNCC

Hello! This weekend, the last weekend of high school, I went to the Limestone 100 GNCC in Indiana. It was just a slight 5 hour drive down there. I didn't really know what I was going to do until Saturday night. It was between going to the Red Bud amateur race, or going to the GNCC.

I raced the 250 B class hoping to beat my finish from last time. My goal was to just not crash! And I almost did it, too! I got a mid-pack start and just tried keeping it on two wheels. I had a couple close calls, but I managed to stay up for the first 2 hours! The only bad thing that happened in the beginning was my camel-bak mouth piece coming off in the start. I just felt water pouring out of there... Luckily, physics was on my side and kept almost enough water in there for the whole race. Yay for physics!

I got kind of unraveled in the last two laps. I fell once in each lap and was just losing my flow. I started cramping up pretty badly. My right leg just wanted to stay! To compensate for that, I just stood up everywhere. The last lap was even worse with my arms, legs, and neck cramping up quite a bit.

I ended up getting 7th out of 14 in my class, which is better than last time! But just like last time, I don't feel so good..

See ya later, alligator! -Greg

Dutch Mx qualifier

Hola! I had a jam-packed weekend and am pretty tired now. I had prom on Friday night, math team state on Saturday, and Dutch Mx Loretta Lynn's area qualifier on Sunday. This is accompanied by a lot of traveling! Total, I've been on the road for about 800 miles from Friday through Sunday.

After watching supercross on tv on saturday night, we left for Dutch Sports Park with Cody VanBuskirk. Cody and I got to sleep the whole way there, of course. Yet for some reason I don't feel bad for our dads. Hehe

I went there because I wanted to qualify for the regional at Red Bud. I tried in the Collegeboy and 450 B modified classes.

Dutch is a sandy and hard pack track. There were a lot of different lines to take, too. I think it's the ideal track for being able to pass people. This fact worked to my disadvantage a little, too.

My Collegeboy motos went all right. In the first moto I got a mid-pack start and rode to an 11th place. On the last lap I did a kind of banzai pass down a straight to get my 11th back! That was the highlight of that race for me. The second moto went very similarly, as I raced to a 12th overall. That was a more difficult class.

My 450 B mod motos went quite a bit better. The first one started with me almost getting the holeshot! I got an awesome jump on the gate and just pinned it. I stayed in second place for a while, but eventually got passed. So I got 5th! The second moto went almost as good, with a 7th. You wouldn't think it, but I got a 4th overall! I'm pumped on that!

Here are several fun facts from the weekend:
-There was lightning and was supposed to be rain (but thankfully didn't!).
-an almost dead bug was on the front of our van.
-a random guy came up to us and talked about his cinco de mayo party.
-the average rut count per turn = 4.
-an unfortunate 65cc kid crashed pretty hard while we were watching. Awwww.
-the best line is the inside line.
-did I mention ruts?
-number of cheeseburgers eaten: 1.5
-the choice of shower was the bike wash station.
-the water was cold. 8|
-number of crashes: 0!
-number of Motos I beat Cody: 1
-number of Motos Cody beat me: 3
-my bike is awesome!
-there were no fun facts beside the bug-almost-dead thing.

Thanks for reading my pointless fun facts! Next weekend: GNCC time!

See ya. -Greg

Byron Trials

Hey everybody! Today I competed in my first observed trials event! It was kind of a last minute decision. And it turned out to be a good one! One of the nice things about trials is that I don't have to get up as early to get there on time. So I got enough sleep and got to the course with perfect timing!

Everybody was really friendly there and the rules were easy to follow. There were 51 riders total with all the classes, which is a big turnout for trials, I guess! Soon my group and I were on our way.

In the first section I dabbed my foot three times going up this tricky hill-turn. It ended up being the most points I got in any single section! There was a line every time we got to a new section, which kind of sucked. But there wasn't anything to do about it, since we had to do all of the sections in order.

I ended up getting through most of the sections without much difficulty. Halfway through the third, and final, time through the sections it started raining. I'm not a weatherman, but any time rain starts hitting the ground means mud! And mud means limited traction, which means foot dabs and crashes! Uh oh. I was kind of getting worried. But I ended up being worried about nothing, since I actually had fewer faults in the muddy conditions! Just call me lucky. Or skilled. *ahem* ;)

Riding the trails out of the woods was also really fun. Just back and forth flowing everywhere! Doing that in the rain got me really muddy, though.

After I finished, I went back to a section and helped clean up everything. Another guy and I ended up cleaning two sections. It seemed like it was harder to get it out of there than riding over it was! But I wasn't complaining.

I ended up getting 3rd place out of 18 guys in the intermediate class. That's with only 9 points. I'm pumped on that! The day was a success!

-Greg

Plainview Hare Scramble

Hola amigos! Today I was at the Plainview Hare Scramble, ran by WFO Promotions. It's a five hour drive down there from my house, so we left Saturday afternoon, after some sick mountain biking with Alec Denecke!

We arrived at about midnight, which seems to always be the worst time to arrive anywhere. Everything looks haunted and unstable at that time of day. There's a wooden bridge there that looks so old, but we didn't crash through it, so I guess it's fine.

It rained a little overnight, but I wasn't really worried. I thought the track would be fine by the time I got out there.

There I was, lined up with the other AA class riders, waiting for the rifle shot. Yes, I entered the AA class, hoping to win some $$$ back. As you will read, some circumstances prevented that from happening.

The start went ok. I think I was midpack, or a little toward the back. I wasn't getting dropped too bad, so I was happy! Well, happy until a little bit after the start. Ha. I crashed into a tree and pretty much ruined my front fender. And I hit my thigh pretty good in that crash (it still hurts to walk).

I got going from that and had another mishap on the first lap. I lost control and went into a bunch of smaller trees. Somehow I had one tree stuck between my front fender and wheel, and another tree stuck between my rear fender and wheel. It took me a while to get out of that one... Tugging and pulling.

And I couldn't just end the first lap without crashing another time! Ha.

Second lap: mindset of a new man. I now know the track. But not really.. I got to a creek crossing that was pretty deep in the middle. And where do you think I went? Yep, into the middle. I got stuck so bad. It felt impossible to get out. I pulled my bike up into a wheelie and tried pulling to the side with all my body weight. No cigar.

I could just leave the bike in a permanent wheelie at that time. Somehow I got the rear wheel free! Man, I didn't want to get stuck anymore. My hopes of an ok finishing position were out the window.

I got through the third lap without any major problems, so I was pumped on that! The fourth lap went almost as good, if it wouldn't have been for a tree rooted hill. I was stuck there for a little bit with another guy nearby stuck as well. When I got free I felt bad for leaving the other guy. Oh well.

So I finished 12th out of 14. Somehow two people had more mishaps than me!

The drive out of there was way more pleasant in the daylight. We drove through a town that had a brick road, so that was pretty cool.

Man, hare scramble's aren't that easy. But the fun part is finishing! Or is it the ride? Both. If you don't crash too much, that is.

See ya! -Greg

Brodhead

Check out this video I did at Brodhead!  There's a little bit of Cody VanBuskirk in there, too.  Enjoy!

Helmet cams from Byron and Mount Carroll

Hey everybody!  These are some of the recent helmet cams I've done.


^ This one's from my 450 B race at Byron.  Check out the start from the inside!


^ This one's from riding at MC Motopark with Norman Madiberg.  We tried some different mounting options and angles.  No music to this one.  I tried to just keep it simple riding.  Enjoy!

-Greg

Nuclear Series Round 1

Hey everybody and Brandon! I had a great Easter Subday at Byron today, with some solid results and fun trials riding. Originally I wasn't planning on going racing this weekend, but last night my dad got the idea to go see what would happen. It ended up being a good decision.

We got to the track right as the rider's meeting was starting. Perfect timing! I was wearing my 100% hat, you know, representin'. :P it felt weird cause I never wear hats usually.

All right, time for some race action. After the slick practice, I was in the first moto of the day. 14-24. Running the #1 again. Solid start with my beautiful 450 (I love that bike). I just put in solid laps and was trying to pass some A class guy. 4th place.

After that race I had some time 'til the next one. So what do you think I did? I broke out the trials bike and hopped some logs! :) Byron has a bunch of cool stuff to ride on with a trials bike. Yeahhhhhhh!

After all that fun, it was time for my 450 B moto. I had a bad gate pick. But I somehow got the gate all the way on the inside. I like that gate at Byron! Good jump, leading into the turn. Cody VanBuskirk swept around the outside and got the holeshot right in front of me. The rest of the moto went in that exact same order. So I got 2nd.

The second 14-24 moto was right up after the 450 B one. I picked that awesome inside gate again. Holeshot!! Boom, more solid laps, getting pressured a lot on the last lap by Cody Williams. But nope! I won! I was pumped with that. 2nd overall in 14-24!

Guess what gate I chose in the last 450 B moto. Yeppppp, the one allllll the way on the inside. The crooked perfectness gate. Unfortunately I didn't get the holeshot. BUT, I made some passes in the second turn and got into third. I was going for the pass on second place, but the guy squeezed me off in a slick turn. That's how it ended, too. With me in 3rd and Derek Whitcomb right behind me. I was happy with another 2nd overall!

Well, that was my day. Good ol' local Mx. Who knows, maybe I'll go to the trials competition there in a few weeks??

See ya- Greg