2017 NEW YEAR's EVE Reflection Post

What a year...Sitting here having my second Headstock Indian Pale Ale from Nicekl Brook Brewing and feel like i need to just take a step back and reflect.

Last Ride: I believe I am in week four following the feeling of a..."POP" in my left hamstring that occurred after my shakedown ride of the KTM in Limerick Forest. The ride really had to be done. The suspension decided to GRENADE, front AND rear, and needed some TLC. The TLC was provided by SSS tuning in Frankford ON. Joe Skidd is the man! As soon as I got it back, time to see how the bike performed. Loaded it up on a Sunday and off to Limerick Forest where there was a light dusting of snow on all the trails and roads. After about an hour of FUN FUN FUN...I popped out of the trail and was just nonchalantly planting left foot to redirect back into the trail when bike got out from under me and....the sensation I hope to NEVER feel again...*POP* Good news...was close to trailer...picked up bike knowing this may NOT be good and was able to get all loaded and get MOST of gear off(none from below waist), pop tow ALEVE and headed home to assess the physical damange. GREATER NEWS..am sitting here typing after what I thought may have been a much more significant injury and feeling more confident after completing a 5 k brisk walk. Looking up.

Back tracking....

Since the Hammy issue...KTM is now equipped with ice screws from ROYAL DISTRIBUTING (all lugs covered) and have ordered 200 proper GRIP STUDS for the rear. We have legitimate WINTER here and playing has to come with SOME kind of motosport so.....either ice riding or some light trail riding WILL happen. XC skiing will be HEAVY on the itineray for fitness as we have SNOW and LOTS of it.

Recap of 2017: Kinda kicked ass.....First legit season of racing in Vet B and feel I had a chance at the podium in each race except Parry Sound. Have learned that ANYTHING can happen in racing and in hindsite pretty happy with the year. What would I do differently....well...perhaps not drink a NEW energy drink I've never tried before and race a track that I have done dozens of hours of training on thinking the loop would be similar...FreeFLow retribution in 2018 WILL HAPPEN. Easy recap...great experience

2018 GOALS: More FUN, Less structure is the name of the game. Planning events around the KEY one which is the Northeast 24 Hour Enduro. This is the time when I start to go on a tangent about fitness, eating clean...blah blah..blah. Really...Life is short and I dont't PLAY to get PAID so....I will do what I need to do to NOT DIE and make sure I get some running in...some pushups...pullups....core shit...play on the INDO board and certainly get some winter riding in when the weather isn't minus FRICKIN' 30!!!!

So Universe....forecast for 2018? Experience..Plain and simple. Choose the events that are on the calendar that I REALLY enjoyed like RJ's, Anthill, Freeflow and MINI-Pine. THese PLUS the 24 hour are a good base. I will certainly check out a couple others but really want to spend the summer getting the "old guy" out for some casual rides. My father is 70....yeah....its true....and he is enjoying the KTM, as am I, and hope to get some good rides now that he has had a year under his belt. He's ready....who knows...maybe the old guy and I will do some road trips.

2018 Will be GLORIOUS!!!!

First errrrrr waitaminute.....THIRD! WHAT A SEASON

What a season!!! FREEFLOW XC was final race of the Offroad Ontario XC season and it brought with it some drama!! I went into this one feeling as cocky as one could with this being my home track and all...I could link this course in my head an knew every corner, rock and undulation. This, however, proved to be my fatal flaw...

I got the holeshot and just hammered out of the gate leaving my Vet B crew turns behind me going in to the woods. Felt like this could be the day I stood up one or two steps on the podium. Then....it got weird.....I always cut left near the road of the second section where I was supposed to go straight which resulted in cutting out a couple km of trail. The section just before it was slick and I never put another thought into it because that was the corner I've ridden dozens and dozens of times. Brutal.......a stupid error done 6 TIMES!!!!!!!! If only there was someone in FRONT OF ME during one of these laps to show me the err in my ways....The end result could have been worse. This could have been a DNF but once I realized....hmmm...no I don't run faster laps that the fastest PRO...I had to figure it out. A quick scoot out with Robin Brant confirmed the error. I quickly confessed it and the ruling to bump me down to third was gratefully accepted. A DNF would have been catastrophic! I'm pretty sure the guy who was sitting 4th overall in the series would have loved my DNF to enable him to bump into 3rd overall but no go. He'll get his crack at some podiums next year...I'm going to either be bumped or voluntarily move myself into Vet A for next season...First start on the line with a clear path until the fast Novice B's catch me sounds like a good way to go me thinks.

PODIUM BABY!!!! 3rd Cochranes XC

I had nerves festering all week up to this event....in hindsite....I'm thinking it was the aticipation of crushing my best finish of the year :) The quick and dirty is this..The top two guys showed up and knew there was only one other spot for the taking. A few new faces on the line and having never ridden Cochranes I decided to just ride smooth. As the saying goes..Smooth is Fast and Fast is Smooth. There were some glimmers of greatness in this race. Bike was handling a bit odd. The front forks need some looking into and not quite sure if it is stiction or something else going on but they were pretty stiff. All in all the course was DREAM LIKE with cake like conditions and some nice changes in vertical.

I recall getting off of the line....OK...I wasn't really motivated to grab the holes shot when I knew the fast two guys were just going to pass me anyway but did get surprised by rider #649 when he got in front of me on the second turn. This made me focus a bit as he had beaten me on Day 1 of Walton and I beat him on Day 2 of Walton....my podium was in threat. Not entirely sure why he let me pass later in the second lap but I took it and never looked back.

Not really much to comment on. Bike is running like a firebreathing MONSTAH ever since I cut some big ole holes in my airbox. Look forward to checking my plug. 53 hrs on this beast and it looks like I am having my first issue I need to deal with....have had to top up the rad after this race as well as my last ride...can't see where i am loosing coolant. May just leave it to the experts!

Day after...Feeling more fatigued and sore than any other event from this year. Testament to this guy givin'r I guess. One more race to go next weekend to seal up 3rd with a potential for 2nd....

Hmmmm.....3rd overall with 2 to go....GIDDY UP

Place Number Name Class Events Mfg Work Points Total RJ P Sound Anthill Wingham Walton 1 Walton 2
1 621B Scherk, Chris VET B 5 KTM 120 1 1 1 1 3
2 635 Heslinga, Justin VET B 5 KTM 99 13 2 2 2 1
3 646 Bragdon, John VET B 6 HUS 97 4 8 7 4 5 4
4 605 MacDonald, Derrick VET B 6 KTM 93 6 4 8 5 6 5
5 617 Toneguzzo, Michael VET B 5 KTM 84 5 2 6 3 10
6 649 wilton, james VET B 5 KTM 69 11 9 6 4 7
7 675 Flegg, Kevin VET B 5 KTM 60 12 11 7 7 8
8 627 Kowalchuk, Bryan VET B 4 HUS 49 7 7 12 9
9 660 McDonald, Thomas VET B 2 KTM 41 1 5
10 652 Teerink, Phil VET B 3 YAM 39 10 8 6
11 612 DOBROWOLSKI, DON VET B 2 KTM 38 3 4
11 602 Crawford, Jim VET B 2 KTM 38 2 5
13 671 Weersink, Jeff VET B 2 KTM 33 8 3
14 600 Reynolds, Allan VET B 3 YAM 24 15 11 13
15 542 hughes, johnathan VET B 1 22 2
16 619 middleton, morgan VET B 1 20 3
16 607 Wigdorski, Robert VET B 1 KTM 20 3
18 610 Girndt, Norm VET B 1 KTM 15 6
19 641 Lett, Tim VET B 1 HUS 12 9
19 694B Taylor, Jeff VET B 1 KTM 12 9
21 638 Billings, Ron VET B 1 11 10
21 677 Stewart, Terry VET B 1 KTM 11 10
23 219X Porter, Eric VET B 1 7 14
24 639 Oldham, Allen VET B 1 5 16

WALTON 2-DAY XC

WOW....pretty glad I don't have to drive 4-5 hours for the last 2 event of this OO XC season. The drive to participate in this years Walton 2-day was certainly worth it but I have to admit....after 2 laps in on day one....I was questioning it.

Day1
Brought my Pops with me for the companionship and the experience. Always happy to have him tag along to keep things interesting :) First day was super slick but tacked up as the event carried on. No real battles. Just trying to stay upright and get some laps in. Finished 4th and satisfied.

Day2
It's like that game of golf...you just need that ONE DRIVE to keep you coming back to the teebox. What a pleasure!!! I was waiting to get to a section of the re-routed course that I would mentally mark as "the spot to get through" and look forward to the remainder of the lap and course but....it was ALL FREAKIN GREAT!! Super fast and traction for DAAAAYYYYSSSSS. I became posessed for the last 4 laps and made some passes. Not entirely sure how I was beating the lap times of the dude that shows up and gets a first place every freaking time. I'm actually a little suspicious...if I were a paranoid guy....I would think the top two guys were in cohorts to rig the overall standings WHICH i am holding onto 3rd btw.

Another oddity...the "third place" guy on day one ran slow laps for 6 of 8 recorded and two laps were clearly errors or course jumps...oh well...my fault for trusting and not checking and the guy not OWNING up to the error..THis was fixed by the coordinator

Not much more to say other than bike ran like it was manic and I enjoyed the traction that was challenging me to control the throttle in map 1.

Next two events are near me and technically....one of these is my "home turf". Now....if I can just get out and ride between now and then...we be laughin all the way to an overall poldium unless unexpected things happen.

Gully Mor XC Vet B 4th place

WHAT A RACE!!! Feeling a taad groggy from yesterday's race and 5 hours of travel to get back from Gully Mor XC but well worth it for the experience!

Temperature and humidity were high, as per the norm with these events so far this year, and the 8.6 km track and trail were freaky fast. Nothing that would beat ya up and loads of space for passing. Managed to get the hole shot (that's 2 out of 4 this year ;) and held first place going into the "woods" again. Managed to frustrate the pack behind me just before getting into the woods because I forgot I was wearing my GOPRO and hadn't turned it on hahahahaha...I was passed almost immediately after that by the guy who eventually came in second place. Trails were just so much fun to ride that I was in my seat vs standing for about 90% of the race! The second area where I was passed came when I got hung up behind this maniac who enters these events on an old school CR 500! It happend so quick. First place dude and 3rd place dude passed me and I never saw them again.

Held 4th place for the remainder of the 8 total laps.

Timing tent through the transition.......so.......I pass through after first lap and it is placing me in third. Thought...huh...that's cool...let's see how this plays out and kept a steady pace for the next lap and then see SECOND PLACE?!?!?!? Thinking WTF...did one of the fast guys DNF?? Unfortunately, for the rest of the race it was showing me as second place when in reality I came in 4th. There was some troubleshoot with two racer's transponders. Oh well.....at least I got to "Feel" what it would have thought to get second hahahah. I would't have done a single thing differently...actually...waitaminute...this is my new thought.

I will get a pretty decent groove in these races and come across a rider that is riding pretty smooth as well. My mistake here that can definitely help me make up time is that, instead of pacing and sitting on their rear, I should pass these riders...when difference between 4th and 1st is a few minutes...this is what I would need to do to get closer to podium.

My next thoughts....I believe I am 3rd overall in series points now from 4th. The next event is located in the same region a.k.a MONSTER drive to/from. I have neglected the family to enter these 4 events this summer now and I am heavily weighing in on whether it's worth my time to attend the next one or pass and participate in the last two events that are close to home....thoughts to ponder....

Pre Gullymor XC thoughts

This coming Sunday will be the Gullymor XC course which looks freaky FAST from the you tube clips that I have been watching. It seems like someone from a purely MOTO background has designed the XC course and I LIKEY!!!!!

I am hoping for a MUD FREE event to really capitalize on my strength of riding the dry. Choosing to avoid riding mud has really put me at a disadvantage in mindset everytime I come across a race with slippery and technical conditions. Hoping it all comes together this time. It's a long drive and yet another full weekend committment to participate in these events and looking forward to one of my best showings yet. Better than 4th will put me on the box.......bike, body and mind are ready. Already prepping mindset for muddy conditions in the event that this happens but....40% chance of rain tomorrow morning and then all butterflies and rainbows through till raceday :) If there is any event I can contend for a podium it's THIS and FREEFLOW so....time to pony up!!!!