Jacob911.com

After a week of heavy rain I think everyone in California was looking forward to a weekend in the desert! I knew that it was an important week of training, but come Thursday morning, once the truck was loaded, it was time to have fun and do what I had been working for all month long.

 Ryan and I got up Thursday morning and helped Ed load up the rest of the bikes and gear into the truck. The rain had stopped, but the clouds were still dark, so we knew that it would be an interesting ride out to the desert. To top things off Ryan was towing the new podium that my dad and I had spent all of our time on for the NHHA. I wanted him to charge all of the puddles on the way up, but he felt otherwise.

By the time we made it into Lucerne Valley, parts of the road were completely flooded out, and the motorhome resembled more of a boat then what it really was.  It was almost dark as we crossed the lake bed and the entire thing was full of water. Our intention to ride on Thursday was quickly stopped as the temperature made it almost impossible to breath outside!

Friday

Friday morning, we woke up and set up our pits. Being one of the first riders there was a plus as we got one of the flattest and most level spots to park, but I still had to dig a three foot hole to level out the truck! Tuner, my suspension guy showed up and we all made fun of him for buying a Honda! It was all in good fun but still provided a morning full of one-line jokes.

Ryan and I took off with one of Tuners friends from up north went for a ride, IN THE SNOW, and it was only a matter of time before Ryan had launched his bike about 10 feet in the air, leaving himself scrambling on the ground to avoid being hit. It was pretty funny and even better because he scratched up his new graphics which he had told us he spent hours putting on back at home!  

We got to spend about two hours in what had to be about 6 inches of snow up above Anderson dry lake out in Johnson Valley. The snow was awesome, and it felt like we were riding up on a ski run in Big Bear! Traction in the snow is unlike anything else. One second you have perfect feel of the ground below you, the next its like you have a flat tire or something! This time is what I feel one of the reasons that I was able to do so well the at the race!

Pre-Race

Saturday afternoon, after signing up and giving Ryan a hard time (he is doing the scoring at all NHHA events and is virtually never going to be in our pits again during these things!) Kyle and I went to practice our line on the bomb. It was very fast, and completely dust free, so the start wouldn’t be as important as it normally might be. Still, I took my time and practiced banner drops with Ed to ensure that I would get that first kick start I have gotten so good at.

After the bomb I came back to camp, attended the club meeting and got in bed at what felt like 6 pm. I think it was actually 9, but the wet dirt coupled with good sunny weather meant that I had about 9 hours of bike time- the perfect amount of a warm up for a Desert MC National.

Sunday morning I stuck to my usual routine and had my bike on the line at about 6 AM. My mom had made breakfast, and I came back and ate something with Destry before we would be back to the line. I ran my line a couple more times just so I knew every washout and trail and from there I was in Ryan’s truck trying to stay as warm as possible.

Raceday

As the banner went up, I followed my exact procedure to make sure that my fuel injected KX450 would lite. It is a little bit easier than the carbureted bike, but still requires some attention when starting.  Unfortunately this time my bike just wouldn’t start. It took about 10 kicks and finally the thing started, I felt like I was in dead last place, but there were a few other fast guys who had the same problem.

I just put my head down and tried to pass as many people as fast as I could. At the bomb I was passing people who I normally never pass, including my friend Larry who rides in the Super Senior class, so I knew I needed to get on it.  About mile marker 4 I passed Ryan on the trail and he later told me I was about 15^th at that point.

I sat behind Morgan Crawford for a while, and then eventually made a pass down a rocky downhill. After Morgan, I came up on Cory Graffunder. Cory was on one of Ty’s Huskys and looked like he was having a bit of trouble in the open stuff. He was obviously faster in the tighter stuff, hence his ISDE and endurocross backgrounds, so I knew that once I passed him I needed to fly!

About half way through the loop we got into some crazy snow. Again I had spent some time in this stuff on Friday, so knew pretty well how my bike would react. It was pretty cool and I actually made a couple passes in this stuff! Eventually I came up on Bobby Garrison and Ryan Abbatoye who were having a pretty good battle, and I just bonsaied past both of them in white snow where I could barely see the rocks. I hit a couple of them, but just held on and made the pass.

With a couple miles to go, and as we got close to where the race started,  I knew I needed to turn it on to make it into the pits in a decent position. That is when I made the pass on Dave Pearson and then Colton Udall. Only this time and at the base of a downhill I took one of the hardest falls I have had in a while. With muddy dirt in my mouth, David stopped for me and I just waved him on.

About 2 miles later when I came into the pits I had bars literally almost bent to the ground, and a missing Fastway hand guard shield that came off in the crash. Ed worked on my bike and everyone just kept asking if I was alright. All I really wanted to do was get out ahead of David, and hope to do better on loop two.

Out of my pit David and I were side by side, so I gave him a little break check and we yelled something back and forth to one another. Through the home check and we were off. I knew that David’s back was bothering him, so I basically checked out and figured I might see him later in the loop if he loosened up.

At this point I was running about 8^th, and I really wanted to crack the top 5. In reality I want a podium, but with the start that I had 5^th was more realistic at this point. Right off the bat there was a gnarly uphill and both Underwood and Brenden Ritzman were making their way up it. I decided to do what I do best and finds an alternate way up so that I wasn’t stuck behind them allowing the leaders to slip away.

From this point on I just rode my race and actually caught up to Destry on one of the rocky canyons. He was a couple bike lengths away, but I fell and that allowed him to gap me again. Apparently he later caught Kendall, because as we got to the end of the loop the dust that I thought was Des’s was actually coming from a Honda, Kendall Norman!

I finished the race 5^th overall, and was very happy with that. I couldn’t complain after the horrible start that I had, and everyone who was at the race. The NHHA and actually Josh Morros and Mona- Vie Emv provided $1700 to be given to the top three riders, so a lot of new faces made the trip. I think it was partly the wet dirt, but mainly the money that brought riders out to Round 1.

This is a much better start than I had last year finishing in 20^th, but like I learned last season anything can happen from here out!

I would like to give a big thank you to all of my sponsors who have helped my racing effort for 2010. Kawasaki of Simi Valley, Kawasaki Team Green, Monster Energy, TBT Racing, BRP, FMF, IMS, Fastway, Pro Moto Billet, Rekluse, and of course Off Road Support. Without these guys my racing would not exist, and I am forever grateful of their continued commitment to my career. I know that I will be able to make them happy for 2010.

Other Notes

My dad and the NHHA through Chris/Patty Blais, and the entire Desert MC group did a great job with this weekend’s race. Everything about it was awesome, and the podium at the finish was a great way to celebrate my national finish. I got to speak on the podium afterwards with George Antill who spends a lot of time at the Best in the Desert Events.

Ryan also had a big weekend getting the results finished and posted online on Sunday night. For those of you who don’t race desert, this was a big achievement. There is a lot of work that goes into this, and he was able to do it all in one weekend!

The biggest surprise of the weekend was Tuner from TBT racing. He literally bought a bike on Thursday, put it together Friday night until about 2 AM and then raced it on Sunday. Riding in his first ever D37 desert race, Tuner finished 2^nd overall amateur! We all thought it was pretty awesome, but what was best about this whole thing is that it proves why his riders all do so well at the off road events. Who else has a suspension tuner that can go out there and literally overall a race without ever racing in that kind of terrain. My riding has improved drastically since he took control of my suspension, and between he and Ed I am confident that I can end up on the podium at one of these National events!

See you at the races!

-Jacob911

Jacob911.com