This is how the trip started out!

Stillwell Performance rider Ian Blythe walked into the shop Wednesday morning with a look that told me our upcoming trip to Lake Havasu might be off to a rocky start.

Uh, I had a little problem with my van-it’s kind of stuck in the driveway.  Well, not stuck exactly, more like wedged into the pine trees that lined the drive up to the shop.

In typical March Colorado weather we had received 10 inches of snow the night before, and the snow plow guy was nowhere in sight.  Ian and I jumped in the truck and for the next 45 minutes proceeded to pull, tug, and drag the Blythe mobile back down to the road for another run, this time at the end of a tow rope.

Pitted next to the Factory semi

We finished some last minute bike prep and loaded the KTM into the van, packed the remaining stuff for the weekend and set the alarm for 5AM.

After 14 hours of some of the most boring interstate the west has to offer we pulled into Lake Havasu, AZ site of Round 3 of the WORCS Series.  We pitted next to the KTM factory semi and went to check out the track.

Ian was stoked to race Havasu; he liked the course a bunch last year.  We had spent much of the past two weeks testing suspension in preparation for this event.  The course could best be described as sand, sand and more sand!

2nd on Saturday!

Friday was a practice day and we spent most of it chasing a clutch problem that had the clutch working great to start, but slowly fading away.  We changed the master cylinder and hose and during the last practice it seemed to hold up.

Saturday was qualifier day, the bike was running well and our suspension setup was spot on for the huge sand whoops that made up much of the course.  Ian was entered in the 450A and Open A classes.  The top 12 riders from each race would transfer to the Pro2 main event on Sunday.  The strategy was to qualify in the first race, finish prepping the bike and then soak up some AZ sunshine.

That idea lasted less than one lap when the clutch went south.  Ian wisely pulled out, unsure what had happened and once again we went to work, not knowing at that point exactly what the extent of the damage was.

10AM Sunday morning...

The factory KTM guys were a BIG help to us, WORCS #1 plate holder Mike Brown’s mechanic Andrew Langston (Grant’s uncle) came through with some parts and assistance that got the job finished in time for Ian to line up for his second (and last) chance to qualify.  The slave cylinder seal had gone out and it was the one part we did not have in our truck.  Thanks Andrew!

Ian once again got a good jump, made a couple of passes and had a good, solid race, finishing 2nd overall!  All right, that’s how it’s supposed to work!  We were stoked and loaded up the van for a quick trip to the car wash.

Saturday evening we cleaned up the bike and decided to check the clutch one last time.  Pulling the cover off revealed more broken clutch plates!  AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

Not what you want to see on race morning...

We buttoned it back up and decided to get to the pits early and diagnose the problem.

Sunday AM I headed back over to the KTM semi with the broken parts in hand.  We diagnosed the problem as a bad clutch basket, which means tearing down the clutch and primary cover completely.  Ian was a bit worried, as we did not have a alot of time before he needed to go to staging.  Andrew and Donny from KTM reworked our parts in record time and we once again bolted everything back together.  Those guys were just plain awesome and helped us a bunch!

Ian again got a great start in the final, rounding the first turn in 8th and quickly moving up to 4th halfway through the first lap.  He went to make a pass for 3rd, hit a hole and crashed.  When he got up the only part that was broken was (get this) the clutch hose!!!! $#@*&!  Air got into the system and the clutch was gone-again!  We had decided that unless the wheels would not turn we were going to finish.  Ian ran the entire 2-hour race with no clutch and brought it home in 10th overall.

Ready to go PIN IT!

A good finish considering all of the ups and downs we had been through.  He rode well and has the pace needed to be on the box, we just need some luck!

So, it’s back to riding and training in preparation for the next race in Adelanto, CA next month.

Once again huge thanks to Andrew Langston and Donny from the Factory KTM crew, they were a big help and a class bunch of guys!

See you next month!!!

Ian prepares for the Pro2 start.

Back from Primm Nevada WORCS (at 6:00AM after pulling an all nighter)! Ian rode well in the Pro2 Final, overcoming an almost last place start out of a field of 24 Pros. The race was 2 hours long, he methodically worked his was through the field and with two laps to go was up to 6th. The 5th place rider was within sight, his lap times were good and we were looking solid for a top 5 finish with 30 minutes to go.

There was a gnarly, 5th gear pinned straightaway on the back part of the course that had the riders hitting 60+MPH and Ian hit a hole, swapped out and took a serious digger. When he ran to his bike he discovered the crash had severed the starter wires. On KTM’s there is no kickstarter, so by the time he manually “hotwired” the bike his race was basically over. Ian was credited with a 14^th overall after limping to the finish.

The Stillwell Performance pit crew

On the bright side, his times we very competitive, the suspension setup we used was spot on and the kid is in awesome shape, as he was faster at the end of the race and was moving to the front at a good clip.

We will be headed to Lake Havasu, Arizona at the end of March for the next round. Ian is looking to redeem himself and we will be stoked to be there. Be sure to stop by the Stillwell Performance pit and say hello!

Keep It Pinned!

Alan

Ian Blythe's race bike and the Stillwell Performance box van

4:00AM is waaay early.  My wife Tracey gave me one of those “you guys are nuts” looks and went back to sleep.

A quick peek out the window and yes-snow still on the ground.  A perfect time to get out of Colorado and head west to Primm, NV for Round 2 of the WORCS Series.

The weather report said a storm was hitting the front range of the Rockies overnight.  Stillwell Performance rider Ian Blythe, his dad John and I agreed that Colorado weather forecasts were usually bogus and decided to head out on our original route up Interstate 70 and through the mountains, rather than detour south through Albuquerque, NM.

Ian gets in a pre-race warm up

Ian & I had spent the previous 3 weeks working on settings for the suspension on his KTM 450XC-F and were confident we had a solid setup for the Nevada desert.  With a 4th overall at the season opener in Arizona everyone was stoked to head to Vegas.  We cranked up the Stillwell Performance box van and pointed the thing west.

After some icy roads heading up into the mountains we broke into the sunshine past Vail, CO and had a pretty uneventful drive across the state, into Utah and then off the mountain towards Vegas Baby!

Man, In-N-Out burger was calling me from like 200 miles away!  I found out John had never been to one so a stop for a Double-Double was declared mandatory.

Not your usual race locale!

Well it looks like In-N-Out has a new fan!  After some major grazing we pulled in to Primm, NV and the race site a short time later, got checked into the hotel and headed to the pits to get set up.

The box van was crammed to the top with bikes, parts, and all the other stuff you need to survive at the races.  Practice was scheduled for 7AM so we found a good spot for the van, organized our setup and headed back to the hotel for some sleep after the 14-hour drive.

This morning was cold with a threat of rain.  The course was pure off-road, as the WORCS guy had carved it out of the desert behind the casino and built some spectator friendly viewing areas close to the pits.

Ian gets ready for his qualifier

Practice was pretty much routine, the bike worked well and we made only minor adjustments prior to the Pro qualifier.   WORCS takes the top 12 guys from two qualifiers and these 24 make up in the Pro2 main on Sunday.  It would be important for Ian to get a start and ride strong, as the competition was deep.  After hopping on the spin bike for a warm up we headed to the line.

As the first qualifier was lining up the skies turned grey and the rain started falling.  We had set up goggles with this in mind and Ian was not worried.  The course was churned up, loamy and could handle some moisture.

The flag dropped and Ian got a good jump and rounded the first turn in 3rd.   At the end of the first lap he was running a solid 5th, in very good position to transfer.  He loosened up after the first couple of laps and started to push.  His lap times were getting better, but on the last lap he tucked the front end in a sandy turn and lost one position, and finished 6th out of 40 at the end of the one-hour race.

Overall it was a good qualifying race.  The bike worked well, we will be changing some suspension settings for the main as the course will be much rougher than this morning.  There are a couple of 5th gear wide open straights that will be very choppy and keeping the bike in contact with the ground and hooked will be very important.

Tomorrow at noon the Pro 1 and Pro2 main events go off the line.  The Pro’s run for 2 hours and will have a fuel pit during the race.  Weather is supposed to be clear and in the 60’s with sunny skies.  Stay tuned to find out if Ian can put the Stillwell Performance KTM on the box!

Number plates from recent KTM championships. Pretty cool, eh?

I’m sitting in a Panera Bread in Los Angeles killing time with Wattsy before our redeye flight back to Charlotte. It’s been a pretty wild week out here in California, but I’m really ready to go home! I’ve been kind of scarce on updates throughout the week as we’ve been going pretty much WFO the whole time and there hasn’t been a lot of opportunity to spend time on the web. I’ll try and give you all a rundown on what it’s like to spend 4 days in California with Shane Watts.

When Wattsy asked if I wanted to go to California with him to shoot for his next installment of his DirtWise series, I of course jumped at the chance. I wasn’t too sure what I was getting myself into, but free trips to California don’t come around too often, and given the awful weather in NC lately any reason is a good reason to go somewhere warmer!

I met Shane at his house at 5:30am on Thursday and we headed for the airport. The next thing I knew we were in LA, picking up our Dodge Ram rental truck and heading to the KTM race headquarters to get the 2010 KTM 150XC Wattsy would be riding and eventually racing at the Hare and Hound.

My borrowed 2002 MSR gear matched the borrowed 2001 KTM 520 pretty well!

As soon as we got to the KTM shop, I saw my old buddy Donny Macan the KTM GNCC team semi driver, and he took me on a tour of the race shop as Wattsy discussed business with a few KTM execs. The shop was so, so, so freaking cool. Mechanics were hard at work on bikes for PJ Larsen (who is filling in for the injured Tommy Searle), Kurt Caselli, David Pearson, Cory Buttrick, and Russell Bobbitt. I can’t imagine that there’s another factory race shop in the USA that has their supercross and off-road guys all in the same building, right next to each other getting worked on. It’s cool to see a factory that puts off-road up on the level it deserves to be.

I won’t bore you with too many details, and will try and fill the rest in with photos. But basically we spent the next two days riding and filming on some of the coolest and unique terrain I’ve ever seen in my life. We hit up Beaumont three times — where I proceeded to tumble down a steep hill on a borrowed KTM 520 with all of my camera gear on my back, and then nearly huck myself off a 300ft cliff when my front wheel washed out on me. After that we headed to the high desert around Victorville and did some riding and filming out there as well. For an East Coast guy, it was quite the change in scenery and conditions and I definitely had an awesome time. With the recent rains they’ve had out here, the conditions were absolutely prime and I’m glad I got to ride in California in what is the best the state has to offer all year.

Trails for as far as the eye can see. Epic.

Oh, and how could I forget, Wattsy hadn’t made arrangements for a place to stay before we got out here, which totally freaked me out. I’m a total plan ahead kind of guy and Wattsy is a make plans at the exact time their needed kind of guy, but it all worked out! That basically sums up the whole trip, we’ve been flying by the seat of our pants, but it has been pretty cool. Shane had a basic idea on what we need to film for the video, and we got it done, plus some fun stuff on the side. Oh, and I didn’t have to sleep in the back of the pickup, which is awesome!

I’ll end this post here, and try and write some more about the Hare & Hound race in another post

Getting ready to roost!

It was literally freezing when we got to the track!

Well, it’s our last day in Japan and I’ve finally been able to get on the internet to post another update. You wouldn’t think in a country as technologically advanced as Japan you’d have such a hard time getting internet access! We’re in a gorgeous hotel in downtown Tokyo, with a nightly rate somewhere around $200 that doesn’t have wifi. Crazy, ay? I’ll take a step back a couple of days and go over what went down at the race on Sunday.

We all met in the lobby at 6am to head to the track. Usually getting up at 5am to get ready to leave at 6 would seem insane, but everyone was still pretty messed up from the jet lag and time change and we were all up without alarm clocks well before our time to leave. We made it to the track, and it was about -2° and the entire pits that were mud the day before, were frozen dirt. There was frost all over the track, and all over the bikes of the racers who had camped out at the track. The hotel bus dropped us of at the track, so we didn’t have a vehicle to stay in to stay warm so we huddled around a couple of portable heaters under the KTM team tent. To be honest, pretty much everyone was absolutely miserable and cold, but we could see the sun coming over the mountains and knew that we’d get warmed up eventually.

Me and my Fantic Caballero 200

I was racing the morning race on a Fantic Caballero 200cc 4-Stroke that the race promoter, Masami Hoshino, had lined up for me. The bike looked pretty nice, but I was a bit worried about how much power the 200cc engine would have. Regardless, I was really just looking to have a good time and as long as the bike would make it around the track I would be fine. I lined up on the 2nd starting row, not exactly sure what class I was in, and got ready to race. The morning race in the JNCCs is live engine, with your left hand on your helmet. No one could tell me how long the delay was between rows, so I was a bit unsure how my start would go. The front row took off, and it wasn’t more than 10 seconds later our row was off. I got pretty much the worst holeshot ever, but was lined up on the inside and able to work my way inside a lot of the pack. The track was pretty slick since the track was frozen, and there were riders going every which way. I had a few close calls, but was having a pretty good time. The Fantic was doing okay, it didn’t have much power, but was able to get me around the track and a lot of the slower riders. I came through the first lap 1st in my class and the 5th bike on the track. I had a few close calls, a couple of crashes, that resulted in a broken front brake lever and a fading rear brake which made navigating the hilly track kind of interesting! After 6 laps and a little over an hour of racing in, the clutch started fading and eventually quit working, leaving me stranded out on the track. A nice Japanese guy helped me push my bike back, and I thanked him by giving him my pair of Scott goggles.

Kailub Russell leading the AAGP JNCC

By the time the afternoon race was ready to go, the track had thawed out completely and started to get a bit sloppy. The sun was still out and the wind was picking up so it looked like it would eventually start to tack up. Josh Strang and Kailub Russell would be starting on the front row racing the pro class, and Randy Hawkins was starting on the 2nd row racing an age group class. The JNCCs always start with a parade of the top pro riders, and Kailub and Josh got huge cheers, especially from Josh’s long wheelie along the outside of the first turn.

In the past, the JNCC pro race started with a live engine start as my morning race did. But, after coming to the first GNCC round of 2009 in Florida, Masami decided to change to a dead engine start to match the American series. Strang and Russell are pretty good at the dead engine start and I had kind of picked them to holeshot and start to check out immediately. But, a few Japanese riders had something to say about that and got a great jump as Masami waved the Japanese flag signaling the start of the race. It didn’t take long for Russell and Strang to move their way into the lead as 3 turns in and they were in the first and second place positions.

Josh Strang rode well but a front brake problem took him out of the battle for the lead.

At only 6 miles in length, the JNCC track was short in comparison to the typical 12-mile GNCC track, but by the 3rd mile the two American riders had already pulled out a 1-minute gap. Off-road legend and recent AMA Hall of Fame inductee Randy Hawkins had worked his way into a 5th place spot on the track, and seemed to be having an awesome time as he was waving to his many fans as he picked off riders and made his way around the race course. Hawkins had raced in Japan 9-times prior to this trip and has a huge following here, and it was obvious by the cheers he was getting.

Strang and Russell continued to pull out to a massive lead, swapping positions seemingly every few turns. The two riders are friends and they definitely looked like they were enjoying riding with each other on the Japanese track. After an hour into the race, disaster struck for Strang as something damaged his front brake line and he was forced to make an extended pit stop to replace the front brake line. Russell had pulled out to a pretty sizable lead and looked comfortable out front, taking some pretty creative lines up and down the very steep sections of the race course. Strang put the hammer down for a few laps and was trying to reel in the XC2 Pro Lites champion, but after having to pit for fuel, Josh realized that barring a major problem for Kailub, he wouldn’t be able to catch him and started to slow the pace. After the race Strang would say he was getting pretty cold and didn’t feel like pushing the pace was really worth it given the size of Kailub’s lead.

The huge problem ended up striking Russell, as on the very last lap his chain was kicked off as he went up the largest and steepest hill on the course. Thankfully his mechanic, David “Hollywood” Cripe hadn’t left the pits and was able to borrow some tools from a Japanese mechanic (He had already packed up their pit area) and get the chain back on. Russell and Cripe had made it through 13 GNCC rounds without a mechanical malfunction which shows Hollywood’s skill as a mechanic, and his ability to get Russell back on the track without losing a position is another testament to that skill.

At the race’s end, Strang came through in 2nd place, Japanese rider Takeshi Koikeda was 3rd and Randy Hawkins made his way to 4th overall–not bad for a guy who hadn’t ridden a bike since last January!

After the race we stuck around for quite some time at the track for the multiple podiums the JNCC’s have. The Japanese are definitely big on making the races into a show. Kailub, Josh, and Randy signed a lot of autographs and took tons of pictures with the fans who stayed for quite some time in the cold for their chance to get a photo and poster from the American racers.

Okay, that’s enough for now! We’re going to try and get in a bit of last-minute sightseeing in Tokyo before we head to the airport. I’ll post some more updates from the trip and more photos from the race when we get back. Thanks for reading!

Final Results:
1. Kailub Russell
2. Josh Strang
3. Takeshi Koikeda
4. Randy Hawkins
5. Chitoshi Sawaki
6. Yasuke Kondo
7. Masami Ishii
8. Masahiro Kobayashi
9. Taichi Tanaka
10. Iwao Hakata

In Tokyo we met JNCC president Masami Hoshino and Kailub’s mechanic David “Hollywood” Cripe as well as Randy Hawkins and his wife Kathy. Since our flight was so late, we would be driving into the early morning hours instead of the night, and were also forced to stay at a smaller hotel as the resort we had reservations at would be closed by the time we got there.

At 2am we made it to our hotel, and everyone hit the sack. We were up early for breakfast, then headed to the Cheese Nuts Park race facility to check out the track. After that, we headed for a sushi lunch, then a tour of a Japanese castle and a saki factory. We’re now all settled in at our hotel and full from a 5-course dinner and about to hit the sack. Tomorrow we get to practice for a couple of hours on a shortened version of the race track. Stay tuned for more updates and riding photos tomorrow as we’ll meet up with Josh Strang and his crew at the track.

A few of years ago former GNCC photographer Ray Gundy and I talked for a long time about how the off-road racing world was in dire need of a website devoted strictly to it. Unfortunately, Ray ended up suffering a freak back injury during a crazy rough plane landing and had to give up shooting photos at the GNCCs. He turned over all of his photo clients to me, and I gave up on my budding GNCC racing career (4th overall in 4 Stroke C Lites in 2006!!) to become a full-time photo guy.

Here we are 3 years later and I hardly shoot photos anymore, I produce a TV show instead of doing graphic design which I went to school for, and I’ve taken the leap of trying to make a go at this website idea. I hope that you are digging what we’ve got going on here, and that if you have any ideas or suggestions that you’ll pass them along.

I’m not too sure where I’m going with this post! We’re sitting here in the hotel in St. Clairsville, Ohio and I kind of just felt like writing. I guess the gist of it is, I hope you’re liking the site, and I hope you keep coming back. I’d love to hear from you all! Thanks to Google Analytics I know that there’s a few of you out there, so don’t be shy! Sign up for the forums, leave comments, post links on your Facebook and Twitter. The more the word gets out there, the better the site will get. Hope to see you at the races.

-hoop

Strang and Mullins in their matching Jamis team kit are very strong cyclists!

As some of you may know, my girlfriend (and digitaloffroad.com photographer) Krista Shaw and I recently relocated from Morgantown, West Virginia to the mecca of GNCC raciing, Hickory, NC. There were a lot of reasons that we wanted to move, most of which I won’t get into here, but one big reason was our love for being active. The weather in Morgantown simply isn’t very good, and pretty much plain sucks in the winter. I’ve become obsessed with competing in triathlons over the years, competing in my first Half Ironman this past July in Rhode Island. I want to train, and I want to train outside. So, here we are, and I’ll finally get to the point of this blog!

Since we’ve moved here, I’ve been pretty fortunate to find some awesome training buddies in Josh Strang, Charlie Mullins, and Glenn Kearney. I won’t go into much detail on their specific routines as I haven’t really asked for their permission to do so. But, let me tell you, these guys are in freaking amazing shape. If you’ve ever wondered how these guys can ride so fast for an entire 3-hour GNCC, it’s because they put in a serious amount of work during the week.

Paul faithfully rode behind me, ready to give me a push if I couldn't catch the group.

Yesterday after an hour at the gym lifting, we did a 22-mile road bike ride. It was Mullins, Strang, Aussie Mark Goggins (who is here visiting Strang), and myself. We had Goggin’s buddy Paul follow us on Charlie’s Suzuki DRZ 400 just in case we ran into any issues. I usually take my time when I ride, warming up to a steady pace after a couple of miles. Well, apparently that’s not how Mullins rolls! We were hammering pretty hard from the get go, and after the first couple of hills I could hear my legs telling me that they worked too hard earlier at the gym and they really just wanted to stop. Despite getting dropped on every hill, and having to work my ass off on every flat to try and bridge the gap they created, I had an awesome time and have come away with a new respect for how freaking fit these top racers are.

Goggins finished 4th in Open A and 41st overall at his first-ever GNCC in Yadkinville. Check out his sweet cycling shorts!

We’re now just a few days away from the return to GNCC racing at Unadilla and things are pretty hectic for me. My girlfriend and I are moving to Hickory, NC (the mecca of GNCC racers) in a couple of weeks so we’re shacked up with her parents until then. This means an hour commute for me back to Morgantown to work, a heck of a lot further than my previous commute of 5 minutes!

I’m getting really close to being done tinkering on this site and having everything work the way I want it to. But I’ve also got to finish up television shows of the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals as well as a show from the final ATV MX round of the season. I wasn’t around for the shooting of either and it’s pretty tough to put it all together!

Anyway, back to the grind, just wanted to get something going on here!