DAY 4
The boys were dragging this morning. We had to give Cory a pep talk. His hand was really hurting today and he was psyching himself up to go endure the course today. He looked good in the first special test though.
We're only able to see the few tests that are close, as we need to stick close to the paddock today. Jake just gets faster as the week wears on.
Today is going to be very important.
The comments, encouragement, and cheers from those at home is seriously doing them a great deal of good.
The reality of 3 days of one of the world's toughest off-road motorcycling racing events was taking it's toll on our boys this morning. Shawn is taking it all in good stride and he has an easy-going approach to everything, but it's been tough on him. Jake gets more and more focused as the week progresses. He's been through this before and it's apparent in his preparation and approach to each day.
The best analogy I've heard is from Greg Gillian (multi-time ISDE participant who now lives in Utah and has been coaching and helping both Cory and Shawn). He said "The ISDE is like riding a National Hare n' Hound with 6 minute motos interspersed every hour, for 6 days straight." Based on what I've witnessed, that's an incredibly accurate comparison.
Cory woke on the wrong side of the bed this morning, and his hand was really bothering him. You have to remember, he's been riding with a broken hand this entire time. We gave him a pep talk and a kick in the butt and he was ready to go, but for anybody thinking this was just another simple day of racing, would be greatly mistaken.
The "Pepsi Test" is very close to the paddock and it's been ridden 3 times every single day. Do the math, 350 world class riders x 3 times a day x 4 days of racing (that's 4,200 times for those not wanting to do the math). This test is so chewed up you can't believe it. But, everyone is maintaining a consistent approach and doing very well. Here are a lot of pictures from this test.
Cody Schafer from Colorado. He and Shawn are about the same age, speed, and personality. Cody is a class act and always smiling. I've really enjoyed getting to know him and his Dad this week, true "working class" riders and racers just out trying to experience their first ISDE like us.
Later in the day, we went over to the "Altozano" test (named after the Mall). This test is right next to the parking lot of the huge mall where the parc ferme (pits) is and is in a big grassy/dusty open field that is the future site of a Wal Mart Supercenter. I had not been to this test yet, despite it being the closest one to us. We were hoping to see our Trophy Guys come through, but we knew we would have to leave in time to get back to the pits for the rest of our riders.
Taylor Roberts from Colorado. This kid continues to impress me more and more as the week progresses. He has incredible speed and although I've not been able to follow the scores too closely, I think he's actually ahead of Destry and has had some exceptionally fast scores in the tests. He's proving to be a huge asset to the Junior Trophy Team.
On the way back to prepare to help our guys, we stopped by the KTM rig and watched Johnny Aubert change his tire. This guy is so amazingly fast in the special tests it is ridiculous. Check his scores and do some comparing and you'll see what I mean. It's that "I really can't believe someone can humanly go that fast on a motorcycle" kind of speed that just makes you shake your head.
I talked alot in my earlier posts about the difference between the American approach and the Finns. After watching them, it's not that their speed is that much greater (Caselli is exceptionally fast), but the difference is in the approach. At it's peak, when the American Trophy Boys are all at it at once in the pits it's just plain craziness. In the Finns pits, there was certainly a sense of urgency, but it was smooth, quiet, calm, and efficient. In the end, the results are the same, but I'm confident the Finns are exerting considerably less energy than what I've witnessed all week long in the American pits.
After everyone was done for the day, Pam came back with a little surprise for Josh. She had gone to the Finnish pits and secured a Trophy Team jersey for him. She attempted to get Juha's jersey and he would have given it to her but they were already spoken for so she got a jersey from Trophy Team Member #39 Lauri Salonen from the Junior Trophy Team. Off-road racers in Finland are like celebrities and although Josh did not know any of the Finnish riders before he came (other than Juha) he was absolutely beaming from this gift (Thanks Pam). I guarantee you if someone had placed a pair of Michael Jordan's used shoes in front of him or a dirty, stinky, sweaty Jersey from a Finnish Junior Trophy team member from the ISDE, he would have easily picked the jersey. This ranks right up there with the dirty goggles he got from David Pearson in 2007 from Bert Bradford's riding school when he was trying to raise money to go to the ISDE in 2007 in Chile.
Jeff Fredette is just incredible. He's on his 30th ISDE, he's blazing fast, and he is the most cool, calm, and collected individual on the team hands down. He never raises his voice, he never gets flustered, and he just goes with the flow. During the team meeting tonight some were joking and complaining about having to ride the "Pepsi Test" again tomorrow. He half jokingly, but I know he was serious said, "I think it's fun. I could ride that all day long". Later, somebody said something about being concerned with what route is being ridden tomorrow. He non-chalantly commented, "I'll just follow the arrows and have fun". It's no wonder he's on his way to completing his 30th ISDE. Oh, and I asked him the question someone wanted me to ask about why he doesn't ride the KDX anymore. He said he stopped riding it in 2007 simply because they stopped making it. His ride currently is a KLX 450 (not KX450), and he's every bit as fast on it as everyone else. Tonight, after everyone was done racing, it's a huge team effort to clean up the entire pits and put everything back in the container for the night. Jeff was right in the middle of it all, picking up chairs, carrying crates and helping clean up just as if he was one of the support crew.....after riding another 150 miles on day four of the ISDE. What a stud!
- The weather was very different today. In the morning, we were huddled around in hoodies and jackets. It was just about 40 degrees and we expect tomorrow morning to be cooler but it warms up a lot in the afternoon. It was a bit windy and cooler temps throughout the day which was great for the riders.
- There was a rider hurt very badly yesterday. Cory commented saw it after it had happened and said they had a sheet draped around the guy and he was sure he was dead. Turns out he survived and will be OK, but apparently he had a collision with a car or a bus during a transfer section. He was a rider from "New Caledonia" (is that a country?) which is near New Zealand/Australia. He was here with two other riders from his country and they had to give up their race to take care of their buddy and get him home. He broke both of his femurs and his hip. Glad to know he is OK.
One of the really fun parts of this whole experience has been meeting the other US riders and families from around the country. This is the "working class" of racers and I love it. It's been enjoyable meeting and rubbing shoulders with the Trophy Team, but honestly, mingling with the Club riders has been awesome and hearing about their riding areas, the sacrifices they had to make to be here, and seeing them enjoy (or not enjoy at times) the experience has been a lot of fun.
- Kara and Trish have become the new Pit coordinators. With all the US riders so bunched up on their minutes, it's created a real challenge getting them all in and out because they're all so concentrated. They've taken on the task of designating which stalls riders are pulling into and keeping it all moving. They've been enjoying the job.
As we were doing final cleanup, I heard a few different comments that I thought were accurate. Shawn said, "It's amazing that we do this for fun.", and someone was encouraging Fred Hoess and said, "It's like having a baby. You forget about the pain or else you wouldn't do it again."
I guarantee you that these guys (and gals) are really hurting right now, but they've endured 4 incredibly grueling days. If they can make it through tomorrow, they're on the home stretch, and I'm 100% confident that after all the pain and blisters subside, they'll look back on it with great pride for having completed one of the toughest events in the entire world.
The boys were dragging this morning. We had to give Cory a pep talk. His hand was really hurting today and he was psyching himself up to go endure the course today. He looked good in the first special test though.
We're only able to see the few tests that are close, as we need to stick close to the paddock today. Jake just gets faster as the week wears on.
Today is going to be very important.
The comments, encouragement, and cheers from those at home is seriously doing them a great deal of good.
The reality of 3 days of one of the world's toughest off-road motorcycling racing events was taking it's toll on our boys this morning. Shawn is taking it all in good stride and he has an easy-going approach to everything, but it's been tough on him. Jake gets more and more focused as the week progresses. He's been through this before and it's apparent in his preparation and approach to each day.
The best analogy I've heard is from Greg Gillian (multi-time ISDE participant who now lives in Utah and has been coaching and helping both Cory and Shawn). He said "The ISDE is like riding a National Hare n' Hound with 6 minute motos interspersed every hour, for 6 days straight." Based on what I've witnessed, that's an incredibly accurate comparison.
Cory woke on the wrong side of the bed this morning, and his hand was really bothering him. You have to remember, he's been riding with a broken hand this entire time. We gave him a pep talk and a kick in the butt and he was ready to go, but for anybody thinking this was just another simple day of racing, would be greatly mistaken.
The "Pepsi Test" is very close to the paddock and it's been ridden 3 times every single day. Do the math, 350 world class riders x 3 times a day x 4 days of racing (that's 4,200 times for those not wanting to do the math). This test is so chewed up you can't believe it. But, everyone is maintaining a consistent approach and doing very well. Here are a lot of pictures from this test.
Cody Schafer from Colorado. He and Shawn are about the same age, speed, and personality. Cody is a class act and always smiling. I've really enjoyed getting to know him and his Dad this week, true "working class" riders and racers just out trying to experience their first ISDE like us.
Later in the day, we went over to the "Altozano" test (named after the Mall). This test is right next to the parking lot of the huge mall where the parc ferme (pits) is and is in a big grassy/dusty open field that is the future site of a Wal Mart Supercenter. I had not been to this test yet, despite it being the closest one to us. We were hoping to see our Trophy Guys come through, but we knew we would have to leave in time to get back to the pits for the rest of our riders.
Taylor Roberts from Colorado. This kid continues to impress me more and more as the week progresses. He has incredible speed and although I've not been able to follow the scores too closely, I think he's actually ahead of Destry and has had some exceptionally fast scores in the tests. He's proving to be a huge asset to the Junior Trophy Team.
On the way back to prepare to help our guys, we stopped by the KTM rig and watched Johnny Aubert change his tire. This guy is so amazingly fast in the special tests it is ridiculous. Check his scores and do some comparing and you'll see what I mean. It's that "I really can't believe someone can humanly go that fast on a motorcycle" kind of speed that just makes you shake your head.
I talked alot in my earlier posts about the difference between the American approach and the Finns. After watching them, it's not that their speed is that much greater (Caselli is exceptionally fast), but the difference is in the approach. At it's peak, when the American Trophy Boys are all at it at once in the pits it's just plain craziness. In the Finns pits, there was certainly a sense of urgency, but it was smooth, quiet, calm, and efficient. In the end, the results are the same, but I'm confident the Finns are exerting considerably less energy than what I've witnessed all week long in the American pits.
After everyone was done for the day, Pam came back with a little surprise for Josh. She had gone to the Finnish pits and secured a Trophy Team jersey for him. She attempted to get Juha's jersey and he would have given it to her but they were already spoken for so she got a jersey from Trophy Team Member #39 Lauri Salonen from the Junior Trophy Team. Off-road racers in Finland are like celebrities and although Josh did not know any of the Finnish riders before he came (other than Juha) he was absolutely beaming from this gift (Thanks Pam). I guarantee you if someone had placed a pair of Michael Jordan's used shoes in front of him or a dirty, stinky, sweaty Jersey from a Finnish Junior Trophy team member from the ISDE, he would have easily picked the jersey. This ranks right up there with the dirty goggles he got from David Pearson in 2007 from Bert Bradford's riding school when he was trying to raise money to go to the ISDE in 2007 in Chile.
Jeff Fredette is just incredible. He's on his 30th ISDE, he's blazing fast, and he is the most cool, calm, and collected individual on the team hands down. He never raises his voice, he never gets flustered, and he just goes with the flow. During the team meeting tonight some were joking and complaining about having to ride the "Pepsi Test" again tomorrow. He half jokingly, but I know he was serious said, "I think it's fun. I could ride that all day long". Later, somebody said something about being concerned with what route is being ridden tomorrow. He non-chalantly commented, "I'll just follow the arrows and have fun". It's no wonder he's on his way to completing his 30th ISDE. Oh, and I asked him the question someone wanted me to ask about why he doesn't ride the KDX anymore. He said he stopped riding it in 2007 simply because they stopped making it. His ride currently is a KLX 450 (not KX450), and he's every bit as fast on it as everyone else. Tonight, after everyone was done racing, it's a huge team effort to clean up the entire pits and put everything back in the container for the night. Jeff was right in the middle of it all, picking up chairs, carrying crates and helping clean up just as if he was one of the support crew.....after riding another 150 miles on day four of the ISDE. What a stud!
- The weather was very different today. In the morning, we were huddled around in hoodies and jackets. It was just about 40 degrees and we expect tomorrow morning to be cooler but it warms up a lot in the afternoon. It was a bit windy and cooler temps throughout the day which was great for the riders.
- There was a rider hurt very badly yesterday. Cory commented saw it after it had happened and said they had a sheet draped around the guy and he was sure he was dead. Turns out he survived and will be OK, but apparently he had a collision with a car or a bus during a transfer section. He was a rider from "New Caledonia" (is that a country?) which is near New Zealand/Australia. He was here with two other riders from his country and they had to give up their race to take care of their buddy and get him home. He broke both of his femurs and his hip. Glad to know he is OK.
One of the really fun parts of this whole experience has been meeting the other US riders and families from around the country. This is the "working class" of racers and I love it. It's been enjoyable meeting and rubbing shoulders with the Trophy Team, but honestly, mingling with the Club riders has been awesome and hearing about their riding areas, the sacrifices they had to make to be here, and seeing them enjoy (or not enjoy at times) the experience has been a lot of fun.
- Kara and Trish have become the new Pit coordinators. With all the US riders so bunched up on their minutes, it's created a real challenge getting them all in and out because they're all so concentrated. They've taken on the task of designating which stalls riders are pulling into and keeping it all moving. They've been enjoying the job.
As we were doing final cleanup, I heard a few different comments that I thought were accurate. Shawn said, "It's amazing that we do this for fun.", and someone was encouraging Fred Hoess and said, "It's like having a baby. You forget about the pain or else you wouldn't do it again."
I guarantee you that these guys (and gals) are really hurting right now, but they've endured 4 incredibly grueling days. If they can make it through tomorrow, they're on the home stretch, and I'm 100% confident that after all the pain and blisters subside, they'll look back on it with great pride for having completed one of the toughest events in the entire world.
