Author: #608

With Waikato Champs coming up soon we headed to North King Country to see the new track layout since I last rode here. After such a great ride at Harrisville I had trouble today with finding my rhythm and made some terrible gear/line/braking choices and got pretty frustrated at myself. I had bits that were really good but it wasn’t my best day. At least I got to check out the track and figure out some bike settings for race day. Once racing was done we headed to Tokoroa to watch the last round of the NZ supercross series. I rode in the 65 demo class a couple of years ago in the torrential rain and it was such a good experience. It looked like it would have been way more fun tonight, dry and under lights. I stopped and had a talk with a few of the senior riders and got some tips to help improve my fitness and riding technique. It was a long day but worth it as I also got some new limited edition gear from Crown Kiwi Enterprises delivered trackside, got to ride and then got to chill out of hanging out with mates eating junk food watching more moto. I love my life.

I have been looking forward to being at Harrisville again. It was one of my favourite tracks on my 65s and I had a blast today on my 85. It was a combined Pro 65/8-10 85 gate and from the moment it dropped I was on the pipe. I holeshotted and held lead for all of race 1 which felt really good, I made some mistake but was able to recognise them and improve with each lap. I fumbled my clutch at the start of Race 2 and launched in slow motion but got up front after putting in some work and had some great battles along the way finishing 2nd. Race 3 was epic from beginning to end. Luke #133 and I were pushing each other so hard. We had to take new lines, try different things and get around lappers. It was some awesome battling and some really fast smart riding. He got me fair and square so I went 1-2-2 for 2nd overall for the day. My fitness and strength are improving, I’m learning more about my gears and clutch and I’m really having fun. I’m looking forward to a slid summer of racing now.

Patetonga is the best track for pushing your boundaries. It’s hard and fast when it’s dry. It’s slippery and unpredictable when it’s wet. And this weekend it was all these things. We arrived early so mum could help with sign on and I went and walked the track and it was looking really good. It always looks like it’s too soaked but once the wet has been pushed out of the way in practice the ruts form up and the fun really starts. When I first started riding I hated ruts… probably not the bet things to not want to do with this place as your home track. Practice was sloppy as expected but I still managed third fastest qualifying time. We cleaned all the clay off my bike and got ready for race 1 where I took the inside line in the supercross section and got caught up and finished 4th. Race 2 I told mum at the gates that I was going to holeshot and I did. My start felt so good and I was battling with the top 2 riders for most of the race when I didn’t change down into a corner and lost my speed. I still finished 3rd and knew where I had to sort myself out. Race 3 I had epic battles with my mates. Gonk, Patetonga MX celebrity, was having a great time commentating and although I couldn’t hear him in my helmet there was a lot of cheering for all of us out there. The track was dry and dusty and so different to how the day started and I finished 4th. Today was so much fun. I got to see heaps of people we haven’t seen in ages, I got the holeshot money for Race 2 and I got 4th overall for the day. So excited to be almost back on the podium after some inconsistency while we got me and the bike settled in. I know I ride better when I am having fun and I know I have set myself some huge goals to meet so after this weekend I am going to make sure I have the most fun I can ticking them off my list.

We always knew coming back for Taupo’s MX Fest was going to be a big challenge and especially going into a class of 35+ riders, heaps of who are strong competitors with less than three weeks of ride time on a new bike. I said this was going to be my first ride back when I was on the gas at the hospital in July and I made that goal. My starts were really good and it was much easier getting to, and around holeshot corner, on bigger wheels. I was a bit unsure of myself in the sand so I wasn’t pushing as hard as I could have and I was dragging the brake around the sweeping corners worrying about being hit in Race 1. 5 laps in though I was feeling good and was clearing the step up and throwing the bike around a lot more. I had a bike issue in Race 2 and DNFed but after Dad fixing things up I was back on for Race 3. I finished 16-DNF-17 which I was so disappointed in as I was expecting heaps more from myself but after a good talk with my crew I am ok. Not happy with the result but ok with it. Even with not meeting my goal of a Top 10 finish I had a good weekend away. I took part of the Bell Dirt Sprints on Friday night which was great fun… drop the clutch and fly down a dirt drag strip, hairpin turn and then fly back. I got knocked out early but really want to dirt drags again. Then on Saturday night after racing we watched the SpeedCross which is a supercross on a speedway track and on Sunday we went back to the track to watch the seniors day. There were a couple of riders in MX2 I paid a lot of attention to as they didn’t use their brakes to corner in the sand, just gears and smooth power and corner speed in soft dirt is where I really need to improve. On clay I am fine as I know the ruts won’t crumble underneath me. Now to keep on working on my fitness and my technique.

Apart from a bit of fun riding last weekend at Mercer for Kawasaki Demo Day this was my first time back on the track since mid July. It was a long 103 days of no moto and I had some cool adventures. Because mum had already booked flights and accommodation for Aussie Juniors we still went over and had a holiday and watched a couple of days of racing. When we came back my move to 85s was made official with selling my KTMs and going green. I’m now on a KX85 after doing some test riding of different brands before I busted myself up and I liked the Kawasaki the best. I feel really comfortable and stable on it and trusting my bike has really helped get me back into racing.
I was excited and a bit nervous to be back at Awakaponga… every SummerCross here so far I have had spectacular crashes and done damage to my bikes so coming here today was like a new beginning on a new bike. After practice the nerves were gone and with each lap I started getting faster and jumping again. Having so much time off my bike and not being able to do much PT my strength and endurance are a lot less than what it used to be. I know it will take a lot of work to get back to my pre-crash levels of fitness and confidence but I am really motivated to do what it takes. I was riding in the 85 A class today which we found out after is the older 85 group so I had some solid competition for my first race day back and it felt really good.

About three weeks ago I had a pretty spectacular crash at Tokoroa while training. I was working on a section of the track and once I was happy with my line choices I decided to hit it faster and went bounce, bounce, bounce, splat. Unfortunately I cross rutted on landing and high sided and was sent flying into the ground where I broke my humerus. This is the bone that goes from your elbow to your shoulder and I broke it right at the top where it goes into the shoulder joint.  I picked myself up off the ground and walked back to the ute where Dad checked me over and then decided to take me to Tokoroa Hospital. I thought I had dislocated my shoulder because it made a big pop on impact but x-rays showed a break and due to where the break is I didn’t have to have surgery. I have six weeks in a special sling, and fortnightly x-rays, while my bones mend and then I will be able to get back on the bike and work myself back up to track riding strength as long as I don’t bash my shoulder during my healing time – if I don’t rest it and take it easy I will be out for longer. Even after a few weeks I can see the loss of muscle and strength in my arm and because I have had to be careful not to bump my shoulder I haven’t been able to do anything physical. We have had to cancel my plans to ride in Adelaide at the Junior Nationals as 3 weeks after doctors clearance is not enough time to get back to the level of fitness I was while I was training so even though this does suck I have decided to change my big goal from AJMX 2019 to AJMX 2020 which will be in Rockhampton, Qld. They are in July next year so I have 12 months to recover and get myself prepared.  Just having a bit of an unexpected break now until I get back to smashing all my goals I have set in the near future and way down the track. Onwards and upwards.

It was an interesting morning in Taupo with heavy fog at the track which delayed the start of racing. Once it cleared a little we went out for practice and it was the first time I have ridden in fog like this before. I thought it would be really hard to ride in because you couldn’t see much of anything from the sidelines but when you were on the track you were able to see where you were going and what was coming up in front of you. I rode ok in the first 65 race but couldn’t find my groove in with the 85s, came together with another rider and ended up on my butt in the dirt. I had a gear change, had a good talk with dad and went out with a better plan of attack and races 2 and 3 in both classes were heaps better. I was almost clearing the massive ‘centerpoint’ jump by the end of the day and I’m starting to feel much more comfortable on the bike we are taking to Aussie. I went 3-3-2 out of 25 riders for third overall in Pro65 and 28-12-8 out of 42 riders in the 8-11 85s. Because my main focus this season is to be competitive in Adelaide I am riding at random club days, learning to turn up ready to ride not knowing what the track layout or conditions may be and making the best of it so I won’t have a very large club series trophy haul this year but will hopefully have a result I can be proud of from AJMX. My fitness is really good and I’m able to do 7 motos on a Sunday after riding two tracks on Saturday without running out of energy. My mental strength and resilience is improving too as I’m not letting a bad ride ruin my whole day, my communication with my team (Mum and Dad) is getting better and even my teachers are saying this is having a positive effect on my schoolwork too. There’s now less than 90 days to go until we are on a plane and I’m starting to get excited for the next school holidays.

 

Since we skipped Mercer last weekend in favour of family time away from motocross we headed to Cambridge this morning for something different. I haven’t ridden here for a while and the track looked great, it’s been made wider in some areas and the super soggy parts that didn’t drain well look like they have been fixed up. We got through practice and half of race 1 before the rain came and with each ride the track got deeper and so slippery. Even though this was a really hard day – physically and mentally – I completed every race in Pro65 and 8-12 85s, I even won one of the Pro65 races which felt really good. 2-1-3 for second overall in the 65s and 9-5-3 for fifth overall in the 85s. I got stuck in the mud, rode into the drain (which was full of water), and had goggle issues but I pushed myself and my little wheels to the limit knowing that the 10 minute race would be over soon and while I love riding I was so glad when today was over. I’m glad I have people around me who have taught me how to see the silver lining in these not very positive days because it keeps me level and gives me new things to focus on at training to become a better well rounded rider. Today I learnt that if this is what Europe is like I need to get a goggle guy!!

South Waikato MCC used to hold an annual Queens Birthday one day event in time gone by and this year they decided to bring it back to see how support it’d have. It was a good day. Only 3 degrees as we set up which was a bit hard on the fingers and because there had been so much rain leading up to today there were some big cold puddles around the track. Tokoroa’s track team had done a great job of prep and layout. The 65s were riding the standard track with the whoops and the 85s to 450s were riding s lightly different track with a new step up instead of the whoops. I was riding in 65 and 85 classes again today so got to try out both tracks, I preferred the whoops because the step up was a little bit big to clear on my little wheels so I kept bouncing over it. I went 1-1-2 for first overall in the 9-11 65s and 5-7-5 for fifth overall in the 8-11 85s. I was pretty happy getting up on the top step of the podium today, I have been putting so much effort into my training that it felt good to get this reward.

Last year we stayed the night in Taupo before race day so we didn’t have such an early start but this weekend we decided to road trip from home at 4am and this was probably not Mum and Dad’s best idea. We encountered thick fog at the end of the driveway which didn’t lift until we got to the turn off to the track. I was double classing again today for more track time and started with the second fastest qualifying time in the Pro65 and went 3-1 in my races. The 85 class had some tough competition and my starts were off so I was getting on to the track near the back. The gates I chose didn’t have the best line to the corner and with full gates I was backing off before holeshot corner as I wasn’t confident that I wouldn’t get run over. I finished 10th and 13th out of 25+ so there is room for improvement in a lot of places. Taupo always has huge numbers because so many riders like it here. It’s central for north and south families, we catch up with friends from far away and there’s at least 4 different tracks they run here so each club day is different. I only did 2 of 3 races in each class today as Dad was needed elsewhere this afternoon but it was still 6 rides in a competitive track environment and it gives me a good gauge of how I am progressing. I still have my sights set on Aussie Junior Nationals in September and I’m working every day on and off the bike to meet this goal.