Category: 2016

Today we headed out to Larbert Road early before the heat to get rid of the boredom we keep complaining to Mum about. There’s a massive property out near Braidswood, with a sand quarry on it and for a small fee the owner is happy to let mxer’s ride all over his land. There are sand tracks, bush loops, farm tracks, random berms and whoops and ruts so it’s a great place to have a good time and practice for all terrains. My coach, John Prutti, says that we have to do three types of riding – race, practice and fun. Today was for fun… after I had done some clutch and gear work on my 65 and fine tuning my donuts.

Today was my last coaching session of 2016 which means it’s almost time for Santa to visit and only 2 more coachings to go until my bikes get stripped down and packaged up for our move to NZ. I have really liked being trained by John, he’s taught me lots of stuff about my bike, my technique and myself. I’ve even started having a crack at his massive jumps as my confidence grows. Today we spent a couple of hours learning about weight distribution. We jumped, scrubbed, and did heaps of circles. I’m going to try talk John into flying to NZ a few times year so he can still be my school holiday coach.

When I got my first bike we were told about Mini Fundays by Sydney City Motorcycles in Campbelltown.  It was held once a month at Appin for kids to learn to ride and practice new skills so we became club members and I went to three Sunday Fundays before we moved to Canberra. They were always fun, we would do an obstacle course in the big paddock and put it all to use on the junior tracks. Sometimes there were only 20 kids and other times there were 50 but every month the same parents would come and set up and give us their time and experience. Mum and Dad were so impressed by these days and the improvements in my riding and my big sisters confidence that they became involved in the Mini Fundays and we would drive up to Sydney for the weekend, see my big sister, catch up with friends and have a ride day. Yesterday was the last Funday for 2016 and for us. 60 kids and their grown ups turned out for the end of year activities – we got to track ride, trail ride,  we had fun with water bombs, Santa visited and gave out lolly bags and there was an award presentation. Thank you to the club and all the wonderful parents involved, it’s been great.

Yesterday was the last round of the ACT race calendar and my first go at a Div 2 race. I was a bit nervous before the races as some of the kids in the class were so much bigger and faster than me. The track was super muddy and lumpy and I had to start at the gates but I completed all 4 races, getting better each time. When I got too nervous my race mates, who I train with, gave me advice and made me feel better. My coach, John Prutti, was racing too and I got to watch him – he is a really good rider and one day I’m going to race him.

Wow. I am a little speechless and I usually make a lot of noise. Because we are moving to NZ and there’s going to be so many changes Dad thought he’d surprise me with a boys weekend. We went to Sydney and saw Aus-X Open on Saturday night and then spent Sunday at the track in Appin riding with my friend Jace. In NZ the ages for riding are different and I will have to move up to a 65cc bike at 8 years old instead of 9, so Dad brought me a KTM 65 so I can get used to it while racing Mini Motocross. It’s so cool. I have had to promise to listen to mum and do all my jobs at home otherwise dad will sell everything with me included!

The racing at Young today was awesome! I got some really good starts and am getting much better with my body positions. In race 4 I had a really good stack and went from the lead to last but we got extra ride time while everyone packed up and organised presentation stuff so I got back to the lead again. We’ve all agreed that this is my last Nippers race and the last round for the season in ACT will be my first try at Div 2.

It’s the school holidays and I’m still learning. Today I started coaching with John Prutti and it was really good. I’m doing it with a few other kids I know from the track. We weren’t listening to John so he made us do push ups so we put our ears on and trained. Each week I am going to learn something new and I have to practice at home. Dad has built me a jump and Mum won’t park her car in the way anymore so I can ride around in circles and get my technique right.

Today it looked like the race day was going to be cancelled at ACTMCC as it started to rain while everyone was arriving and unpacking. Luckily the rain was light so we had a wet and muddy track to play on. There  were only a couple of Nippers on the track today because of the weather and Dad has talked to me about going up to Div 2 so I have more people to race against. I think I may need some more coaching before I go up. Some of those kids are so much bigger and faster than I am.

This weekend we went up to my old club at Appin to check out their junior race day. We were organised and unpacked and ready to race but it wasn’t my day. On the start line at race one my bike stopped and dad spent ages problem solving to find out it was my clutch. Clutch was fixed and spark plug replaced so I went for a quick ride out of the pits to check it was ok when we got told off for riding in the wrong area and disqualified from the days races. Dad was so annoyed but thats the rules so instead of racing we spent the day at the main tracks and had a nice day of social riding. I like Appin, it has lots of tracks for juniors so if I need to work on something I can do it without being run over by 85s on the big track. Mum and Dad have decided they will definitely listen to the riders brief instructions next time so I don’t miss out again.

This morning at 5am we all got in the car (Mum, Dad, me and my baby sister) and went to Young for Round 4. I’m going to try and get to as many race days as I can this year since the ACT track is not open regularly and our backyard isn’t big enough to really ride in. I like the Young track, it is always well groomed and the guys who run the club are really helpful. I raced Nippers again and rode really well. I got some great air on the table tops and nailed the woops. Pretty stoked that I got a trophy and a podium finish.