A Year in MX 2009

Vehicle

Didn’t have too much planned for today, other than heading off to Columbus to stay with Rup’s other son, Joey in Columbus. Before that though, Tommy wanted to go visit The Flow. Now I’d never heard of this place but apparently it’s the 3rd best Skate/BMX Park in the USA, which sounds pretty damn impressive to me, so I had to check it out. Here’s a quick youtube vid of the place:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6aMlwUVBH4
Tommy and a couple of his friends were all on BMXs and don’t quite have the skill of that guy in the video, but they did some pretty cool stuff – certainly more than I could do.
They all left to go back to Newark while I got dropped off at Joey’s apartment. It’s a nice place, just in shabby neighbourhood.

Wednesday 17th June 2009

Day 49 – I brokeded my nose

After watching some of the Confederations Cup football, I headed off to another swimming pool, this time at the local golf club. Having now mastered my backflip, I attempted a few different dives, including a frontflip that left me winded and bruised.
Later we tried to do a length underwater, however things did quite go as planned. Without goggles, I’m unable to see underwater and as I was swimming along the bottom I couldn’t see the slope of the pool and SMASH, I hammered my nose on the concrete base. It started bleeding quite a bit so I halted my swim before the pool turned red.
It didn’t take long until there was a nicely sized bruise across the bridge of nose and a scrape on my forehead and that combined with the bruising on my chest left me looking like I’d finished a boxing session, rather than a swim.

Tuesday 16th June 2009

Day 48 – Lazy Afternoon

It was nice to wake up in my own bed, in a room without wheels underneath it. So I made the most of it and had a good lie-in. In the afternoon Tommy and I headed off to the local outdoor swimming centre.
This place is made up of 3 pools, a couple of diving boards, 2 flumes and a lazy river. A pretty cool setup and one that gave us hours of entertainment as we worked on our dives and tried our hardest to skim across the water after the steep flume.
Just what I needed after a hard week on the road.

Monday 15th June 2009

Day 47 – Beemer

It was cool to meet up with the Pellett family again after they’ve put me up for the last couple of years. I always have a good time there and it would just be nice to chill and relax, away from Mighty Whitey and the rest of the gang for a few days.
First we had to get back to Newark, Ohio and that would involve taking Rup’s latest acquisition – a BMW 750il. It was his 50th birthday present from his wife and he’s completely in love with it. Morgantown – Newark is about 3hrs so there was plenty of time for Rup to tell me all about the car with it’s heated/massage seats and numerous other gadgets. He was also impressed that I fell asleep in the back seat (Tommy called shotgun) but that really isn’t a big deal as I can fall asleep in any vehicle.
Rest of the day I just chilled at their home, watched some TV and enjoyed the fact that I wouldn’t be doing any long distance driving for at least a week.

Sunday 14th June 2009

Day 46 – England Day

Today was a much better day than yesterday, I got involved in the filming of the ‘National Security’ videos that Vurb have been producing where they find new and ingenious ways of getting past the security guards, this week was Jedi Knights and it is definitely worth watching them all:
Hangtown – ‘JapanFour’
Freestone – Siamese Twins
High Point – Jedi Knights
The racing was good as well because two English riders made it up onto the podium, Tommy Searle got 3rd overall and Steven Clarke was the highest finishing privateer. Both rode really well and it was cool seeing the reception they got from the fans.
With the racing over, all that was left was for the video guys to finish their stuff which seemed to take FOREVER, as we eventually left the track at about 10.00pm. To celebrate our last day together for at least a week (Travis, Ryan and John were flying home, I was going to Ohio) we hit up a Cracker Barrel and had a fun time, harassing one of the waitresses. After this it was time for me to say goodbye as I got dropped off at the Hotel where RupertX was staying. The next time I’d see these guys would be on the 23rd, which is almost a lifetime when you’ve spent almost the last 50 days with them!

Saturday 13th June 2009

Day 45 – Mo-town

Waking up outside of Wes’ old apartment felt pretty good, it meant we were back in Morgantown and back in familiar territory.
It didn’t take us long to reach the High Point track, even if the windy road from the freeway seems to go on forever. To be honest I’m getting less and less excited about these Friday’s before the race. It seems nothing seems to happen, just about 5 riders go out on the track and potter about for 20 minutes.
I also had to go collect Travis from Pittsburgh airport, only to get called back after I’d already driven for 45minutes... that was fun. The only really good bit was getting the run out of the way, even if I was running solo. Wes was busy with the show so I headed out on the track which was in the process of being disc-ed and watered so the ground was nice and soft. I completed the lap in 15:38 so it was the second hardest track behind Glen Helen. We left the track and headed to the RacerX office so the guys could finish the pre-show and we could have showers and get ready for the night’s entertainment. There wasn’t really an official party like year’s past, instead it was more a get-together over drinks and Davey Coomb’s new restaurant/bar. It was a pretty good time, made all the more enjoyable by the fact I met rally legend Ken Block (the guy who does the crazy youtube practice vids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ7R_buZPSo )

Friday 12th June 2009

Day 44 – JS7 Part II

So even though we had an 1000 miles drive to reach Morgantown in time for press day on Friday, we had to hang around until 1.30pm to film a 30minute interview. Apparently JS doesn’t do stuff before midday, still... it would’ve been nice to have started driving at around 10am.
The drive was the usual affair, we all start off ok then gradually more and more people fall asleep. But we did manage it so that everyone got to drive (even if Ryan only did 89 miles) and other than a thunder/lightning storm in South Carolina and an eventful Wendy’s experience during my shift, I got my 275 miles out of the way.
I think we pulled in at around 4am so we made did it in just under 15 hours which is damn good progress in a motorhome.

Thursday 11th June 2009

Day 43 – JS7

We only had to be at Stewart’s house by midday so we weren’t in that much of a hurry. It took about an hour to get there from Kaelyn’s, but that time flew by as we were all excited to see the Stewart residence.
It didn’t disappoint. As we pulled through the gate, we all noticed the Ferrari sitting outside his garage and then the Supercross track with lights, and then the outdoor track and of course his actual housing, which is split into many separate buildings.
Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take any pictures as Answer were doing their catalogue photo shoot, but when James finally got out on the track, it’s fair to say that he hasn’t lost it.
Instead of me telling you how good he is, here is the video that the guy’s made for Red Bull:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL-Tfyxc-_E
For some reason we had to do the interview with James tomorrow, even though we were there for like 9hrs, this meant we had to hang around. Normally we stay in the motorhome during the week but after such a long day in the sun, we decided a hotel was more appropriate.

Wednesday 10th June 2009

Day 42 – Cliff Jumping

After a good night of sleep and a few phone calls, it was decided we wouldn’t actually be filming Justin Barcia today. I think it was a good decision in the end as it would just add to our already busy workload.
Instead we headed down to Ocala in preparation for the James Stewart shoot, where we met up with Vurb’s Florida member, Kaelyn. She took us out to this local track where there was this big cliff jump.
There were two jumps, one about 30ft up, the other about 60ft... I was the first person to jump, hitting the 30ft one, then Wes one-upped me and nailed the 60. It took awhile but I eventually hit that one as well, with a landing that split my lip and (later on) a fair amount of bruising. Still I didn’t take anywhere near as long as Ryan who took FOREVER to jump and is now suffering from ear problems.
Good times.

Tuesday 9th June 2009

Day 41 – I-10

Our drive started pretty damn early as we had to get to Tallahassee as we were planning on filming Justin Barcia at MTF tomorrow. This was just under 1000 miles so we had to put the pedal down in order to make it.
This didn’t stop us taking a quick detour through New Orleans though, a place I’d not been before. It was interesting to see the diversity between the city centre and the outskirts which still show the remains of the flood damage. I’d certainly like to go back there and spend a bit more time exploring, but as it was, we could only stop for a quick bite of lunch.
The rest of the journey is pretty dull, Wes told me the I-10 wasn’t a great drive, as he was right... all you can see are the line of trees either side of the road, nothing else. Still, we made it into Tallahassee in pretty good time, long enough so that we’d actually get a proper night’s sleep.

Monday 8th June 2009

Day 40 – Home Sweet Home

We eventually finished up all our work by about 2pm and headed north to Denton, where we’d be meeting up with some other Vurb members to discuss future plans. Now Denton is actually about 5 miles from where my whole motocross journey started, as it’s where I brought Mack back in 2007. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to go back to the dealer but it was still cool to get so close to ground zero.

The meeting went really well with both Clint and Adam, we came up with some really cool ideas which will hopefully be implemented in the coming months for both Vurb and Insider. In fact it went so well that we decided to celebrate by hitting up a local lakeside bar. It was a pretty cool venue and we all had a good time, definitely something we needed to do as we’d be on the road for the next week.

Sunday 7th June 2009

Day 39 – Texan Heat

Unfortunately the heat was back today as the racing took place. Just standing around the track taking pics, I could feel the sweat dripping down my back, it was pretty damn disgusting.
The racing was pretty good though (from what I could actually see) as Tommy Searle rode really well, holding off Rattray which is something that never happened last year in the GPs. Max and him also had a pretty good battle in moto 2 so that was exciting, but truly, the track is sooooo bad for viewing. With the racing over, we headed back to the hotel for a night of looking through pics and editing video.

Saturday 6th June 2009

Day 38 – Freestone Olympics

If I was brutally honest, Freestone was the round I was least looking forward to, in terms of watching motocross. It’s not that I hate the track or anything, it’s just for me, there is nothing really that stands out as being awesome. With that being said, I was looking forward to running a lap of this track.
By the time press day was over, it was still hot, but not as blisteringly hot as was last year. It would be Wes and me running the lap and we had both decided that we’d actually be racing this lap. At Hangtown we faked a tie, but with this track being so flat we figured we’d be able to actually race this one properly.
The pace started off slow but gradually we got quicker and quicker with Wes leading the way. I was staying a couple of yards behind, hoping that he’d start tiring, but that never happened. Instead, by the time we reached the final whoop straight, we were both flat out sprinting! Now I’m calling it a photo-finish and from the footage we took, nothing disproves it – my chest DEFINITELY crosses the line at the same time as his.

Friday 5th June 2009

Day 37 – A Short Day

Andrew Short’s ranch is awesome! And Andrew himself is a top guy. We spent most of the day filming and taking pictures at his track which runs in and out some trees and alongside a river. A perfect venue to practice motocross.
Vurb has since produced a short video of our day there, which can be found at http://www.insider.vurbmoto.com With Short’s out of the way, we headed up to Waco where we stayed the night at another one of the Vurb Family. Not official family, but one of the many people who help us out when we attend races.

Thursday 4th June 2009

Day 36 – On the road again

We couldn’t really hang around after the hike, so by the time tomorrow swung around, we were already in New Mexico (thanks to the rest of the team for driving).
A few long hours later we were in Texas, where it was decided we’d finally change the oil in Mighty Whitey. We wanted to do it in Yorba Linda but never got around to it so we really didn’t know how long it’d been since the last one. After we found a garage big enough, we sat around for an hour while the mechanics got to work. When they finished, they let us know what they’d done – remove a bird’s nest from the air filter, clean the dirtiest generator he’d ever seen and one of the worst looking engines. $120 didn’t really seem enough for such a job...
We still had to reach Austin, TX though as we had a shoot with Andrew Short the next day. This meant us driving until about 3am so we weren’t exactly on top form when the time came to meet him.

Wednesday 3rd June 2009

Day 35 – Helluva Hike

Even though I wasn’t driving, I still only managed roughly 1hr of sleep, not exactly great preparation for probably the hardest physical feat I’d ever attempted. It would be 25 miles in total, with the final 12, all up hill. Crazy stuff!
We set off at 6am in shorts and t-shits with the temperature just 44F, we were freezing cold, but knew that later in the day it would be CRAZY hot. As we left the North Rim trail-head, we were joined by about 10 other hikers, and it was at this stage when we realised how unprofessional we looked. Wes was wearing swimming shorts, I had my Leeds football shirt, but we had both purchased big cheap hats from Walmart.
There was daylight as we left, but the sun wasn’t showing, so we set off at a pretty good pace, realising that we had to get as much distance covered while it was still relatively cool. Downhill was a little hard on the knees but we were still feeling pretty good as we reached the flat ground. It also helped that there were a couple of campgrounds for us to rest and fill up with water. Another thing I’d read about was to completely drench your t-shirt and then wear it, so that your core body temperature drops – it works, but the first few seconds are harsh! However when the temperature reaches a blistering 112F, every little helps.
The only time we really had a break was at the 13 mile mark, just before the Colorado River, and the location of the biggest camp in the Canyon. We bought a bagel, had a few of our other snacks and tried to prepare ourselves mentally for the remainder of the journey.
First off, let me say that we knew it would be tough, we were under no illusions that these final 12 miles would be incredibly difficult but even so... it was definitely the most tiring thing I've ever attempted. We tried singing in order to take our minds off our knees, we took pretty frequent breaks, but each time it was harder and harder to get up again. Eventually 10hrs and 52 minutes after we set off from the North Rim, we reached the South Rim. It was actually a pretty good time considering how inexperienced both Wes and myself are at hiking, and how unprofessional we looked. As we made our way to the motorhome, my knees were aching but overall I felt good, happy in the knowledge that I'd just done something only 0.01% of the population will ever accomplish.

Tuesday 2nd June 2009

Day 34 – Change of Scenery

Yosemite was somewhere I’d always wanted to visit, and even though I’d seen so much, other people would always tell me that I should’ve gone here. Today, I’d set the record straight.
Basically Yosemite is an awesome place, you really have to go (how annoying is it when people say that?) but I've put a few pictures up so if you aren’t able to make the trip, take a look here: http://ayearinmx.com/09/images/photos/20090601_Yosemite
With Yosemite ticked off the bucket list, we headed south to another National Park – Death Valley. I don’t think there are two more diverse parks in the US as Death Valley is just filled with absolutely NOTHING. It’s just a desert with a road going through it. Probably the most interesting thing was seeing how high the thermometer would go (104.4F). Still, I am glad I've been there, especially as I was able to catch a glimpse of a UFO on the way in. It might just have been a low-flying military plane but it was still a weird sight.
On a side note, I experienced the first rain of the trip before we reached Death Valley. 34 days without rain... not bad. Unfortunately that wasn’t the end of the driving as we still had to reach the Grand Canyon North Rim by early morning as me and Wes planned to do the (near) impossible – walk across the Grand Canyon.

Monday 1st June 2009

Day 33 – Pre-drive Prep

In the morning we had breakfast in what looked like a nice restaurant, however looks were most definitely deceiving in this case as although there was a lot of food, it tasted BAD.
After the disgusting breakfast we hung around in the hotel lobby finishing up our work, we had to get it done today because we had over 2000 miles to go in order to Texas, with a couple of scenic diversions along the way.
Before that we took the time to go visit Travis’ Aunt and Uncle who lived in the Sacramento area. They had an awesome house in a lovely estate, which actually had permanent ‘golf cart lanes’. Who wouldn’t want to live in a place that has golf courses that close?
We couldn’t spend too much time there as tomorrow we wanted to drive through Yosemite National Park. This meant a 3hr drive to get as near to the entrance as possible, so we could drive through in the morning.

Sunday 31st May 2009

Day 32 – Round 2

Well the one-man show didn’t quite happen as Villopoto crashed and re-injured a knee so he’s out for the year, this left Alessi with a 1-1* so he definitely looks like the man to beat. The 250s remain as exciting as ever with Pourcel taking the overall but some awesome racing going on throughout the pack.
After the long day, we headed back to the hotel to continue our work. Thankfully our writing/photography side of things finishes a lot earlier than the video so I actually managed some sleep.

* A flagging incident robbed Josh Grant

Saturday 30th May 2009

Day 31 – J-Law Wins!

After GH last week, none of us were really sure how press day would work at Hangtown. In the end, just 8 riders took to the track for a brief 20 minute session.
After my run, which I completed in just under 12 minutes, a much more interesting event took place – the pitbike national. Usually these are pretty boring affairs, but when Jason Lawrence makes an appearance, things tend to ‘happen’. He certainly entertained the fans as he managed a 2-1 but this would be the longest time he’d spend on the actual track.
After the racing myself and John Parkinson headed off to get some food at the Spaghetti Factory, we joined by a few others ranging from racers, to clothing reps, nutritionists and other media. It was fun evening just chatting about motocross stuff. Thankfully each weekend we had hotels booked so to sleep in a comfy bed was a pleasant change.

Friday 29th May 2009

Day 30 – Launch Day

Today was a big day for Vurb as we were finally launching our latest idea – Insider. Found here: http://www.insider.vurbmoto.com we wanted to create a member-only section of Vurb that would hold all our best and most unique content. It would eventually would be pay-per-view, but we decided that with the content we are able to produce, it’d be a small price to pay.
Unfortunately today was also the day when we left Yorba Linda and headed out to begin our epic road-trip. From here we’d end up hitting all 48 mainland States as well as visiting some of the most spectacular areas of America. Obviously we’d watch a few motocross races in between.
We intended to leave mid-morning to avoid most of the traffic, but the Insider launch delayed us so we left mid-afternoon instead... this meant we hit some so of the notorious LA traffic which delayed us considerably. I think it ended up taking about 10 hours to get to Sacramento when it should’ve only been 6.

That night we stayed in a Walmart car park, in a pretty dodgy area. Good times.

Thursday 28th May 2009

Day 29 – More Insider

Another day just flat out getting stuff ready for Insider’s launch.

Wednesday 27th May 2009

Day 28 – Frying Away

Unfortunately today we were saying goodbye to one of our members as Brent was flying back home. He had a wedding to attend on the weekend so wouldn’t be back with us until after High Point.
We were all damn busy with Insider so Brent leaving made things harder, but we’d struggle on without him.
On the way back from the airport, me and Wes went to a local Fry’s electronics store. I’d never been before but I’d definitely like to go again, with about $100,000. A lot of cool stuff there that I’d love to be able to afford.

Tuesday 26th May 2009

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