I have been practicing quite a bit since I raced last. Most of my practice has been at Red Bud or a couple private mx tracks. I have also been riding some trails to try and improve my overall bike skills. I think riding a variety of terrains helps me be more adaptable and a better all around rider. I raced my first harescramble today and won the Open B class which I thought was cool. Although I rode ok I made some unnecessary mistakes and feel like I could have rode a little better if I was more comfortable. I believe I also set the fastest overall lap time which was cool since this was my first ever harescramble. Although it was my first harescramble race I have practiced a bit on trails over the years so it wasn't totally new to me. I will be racing a GNCC in a couple weeks as well as a couple motocross races before it gets cold. My plan for the winter is continue practicing and training to hopefully get faster and better prepared for next year.

My race at Motoland was good and bad. I finished 3rd in both of my classes which doesn't sound too bad, but I wasn't happy with the result. The reason for my bad result was really bad starts. All of my starts were either last place or close to it. Considering my starts a 3rd place finish isn't too bad, but it isn't what I am happy with or capable of. The two main reasons for my 3rd place finishes were:   my 250F is very worn out and slow and I had no front brake because my front brake had fork oil on it due to oil leaking out of my fork. Having no front brake made it hard to charge into the first corner because I couldn't slow down very fast; that coupled with my bike being worn out and a couple bad jumps resulted in bad starts. Fortunately, I was able to make some good passes and take a few good lines during the race. I was also able to catch 2nd place, but I was so far behind in the beginning of the race that it didn't matter. I was also able to match the winners pace, but I never had a good, clear track and my bike is definately slower than his. Hopefully, I can have my bike more prepared prior to the race in the next few months.

I have been practicing quite a bit lately at a few local public and private tracks. In addition, I have been doing some trail riding and a little riding at an offroad park (Badlands). I am feeling fairly good in my riding, but my main focus is be more consistently fast. I haven't raced any big motocross races since the Motoland Pro-Am but I hope to race against some good competition in the next 2-3 months.

I did race three fair races ince the Motoland Pro-Am, and made a couple hundred dollars. One of the tracks was really easy and not a real race track because there was nowhere to make up time. The other track was average as fair tracks go and still really easy and hard to make up time.  The third fair track was decent as fair tracks go. Fair races seem to be a good way to make a little money, but they are not that enjoyable because the caliber of the riders is usually not very high. It was cool to get to race against Travis Sewell and Danny Mitchell at one of the races because they are both good riders. I was able to match Danny Mitchell's pace, which I thought was a decent accomplishment. Of course Travis Sewell was faster than me, but it was cool to watch and learn from him since he is doing fairly well in Supercross and Pro MX right now.

The Pro-Am didn't go very well. I got mostly bad starts, crashed once and just didn't ride very well. However, I did have parts of some motos that went well. Despite a few positive aspects of this race, I was not happy with my riding as I didn't feel like I was charging and my speed was a little bit off. Hopefully, I can improve races in the next few months.  Hopefully I can go to some races with good competition in Michigan and improve my starts, first laps and general intensity on the bike. I am going to continue training off the bike because I feel like my fitness is decent. In addition, I am going to practice as much as possible. However, I really need to work on first lap of my races. I think another thing I need to do is not much as much pressure on myself in my races and ride like I can ride in practice. Hopefully I can improve my results in the near future.

I have been practicing a decent amount lately. I spent a few days riding with Roy Horton which was cool because he is in good shape and fairly consistent in long motos. Riding with him helped me to gauge my fitness level and how much I need to improve. It also helped me work on cornering consistently (and hopefully fast). I also rode Wildcat Creek MX for the first time in awhile which was cool because the track condition has improved from a few months ago. I felt like I rode fairly well at Wildcat as I was the fastest rider there and cornered well. In addition, I have rode Dirt MX a few times, riding at Dirt is cool because sometimes there are other decent riders there so I can gauge my speed. Lastly, I rode Motoland a time or two in prepartion for my next race which is the Motoland (Outlaw National) Pro-Am. Hopefully, I can do a few more races against some good competition in the near future because I need the most practice on my racing. My riding is ok most of the time, but I need to be able to get good starts and sprint consistently in a race.

The Red Bud Regional didn't go very well results-wise. I only finished 19th in 250B stock and 21st in 4-stroke. I didn't ride my last two 450B mod motos because I did bad in the first one. My riding wasn't bad when I had a clear track and was riding my 250F. However, I got all bad starts and one big crash on the 450 which hurt my results. The 450 suspension was too soft for as rough as Red Bud was this weekend; unfortunately the soft suspension also contributed to my big crash. On a more positive note, the track was in great shape and I didn't get hurt in my crash. If I can get some better starts I have the speed to do well. However, its almost impossible to do well against decent riders that are about the same speed as I am when I get bad starts. It is even tougher in motocross when the motos are only 4 laps. In the next few weeks I am practicing starts and continuing to ride some rough tracks.

I have been practiing for the Mideast Regional at Red Bud during the past couple of weeks. I have ridden Motoland three times, one Red Bud practice, a time or two at Fred Bud, two times at Dirt MX, two  times at FMX Paradise. and also some trail riding. My next race will be the the Red Bud Regional. Hopefully I can qualify for Loretta Lynns. I'm not so worried about my speed if I get consistently good starts, but that is tough to do at a Regional with some good riders. Hopefully I can put together some solid motos and get a good enough result to qualify for Loretta Lynns. I would have liked to have raced more Area Qualifiers and qualified for a couple of different regions, but it was too expensive. Since I am only qualified for one region it is kind of tough to qualify because I only have one chance per class.  As long as I am healthy after the Regional I plan to do some more practice and race a couple harescrambles along with some motocross.

Last weekend I practiced at both Fred Bud and Red Bud. At Fred Bud I was on the same pace Fred which was cool, because he has done more laps there anyone else. The track was also rough and technical as usual which is cool for training. I also practiced at Red Bud MX which was fun. I was one of the faster riders there, I'm not sure if I was the fastest. I felt like I rode fairly well overall, but I need to continue to make little improvements here and there. I was also the only rider to jump LaRoccos Leap that day which was cool. Next weekend I plan on racing at Red Bud. Hopefully I can get some decent starts and ride well.

I am now qualified for all of the classes I want to ride at the Mideast Regional. My classes will be: 250B modified, 450B modified and 4 stroke. My weekend at Baja went fairly well as my speed was consistently improving all weekend. On Friday I felt really slow and uncomfortable. However, on Saturday I got some good starts, switched my suspension and rode better. By my last moto on Sunday I was riding at or above the top 1-3 riders pace. Unfortunately in my last moto I was moving into third on the 2nd lap and crashed really hard in 4th gear on the 450. I bent the front of my bike, broke my visor, broke my chest protector, got a concussion and bit my tongue (bleeding) however I still finished 11th. I couldn't remember the moto too well but it was cool still finish halfway decent after a hard, high speed crash. The track was really fun, well maintained and professionally ran. In addition, there were some good riders in my class. The only two whose pace I could not consistently match or felt that I need to improve to beat were Eric McDonald and Travis Merrill. Both of these riders tend to get fairly good starts, go fairly fast and not fade during their motos. I need to improve a little to match their pace consistently but I was able to follow them at times and pick up on a few things that hopefully help me in the future. I look forward to going to Baja to race and practice as the track is great and the competition is pretty good too. Lastly, I still need to jump the 140ft downhill which 5 or 6 of my competitors were doing.

The Thunder Valley MX Area Qualifier went good and bad. My starts were all atleast decent with some really good starts. I was happy with the way I started especially against the caliber of riders who were at this race. There were several good riders in the A, B and 4-stroke classes.  Unfortunately I missed practice on Friday and haven't rode this track before. The track was good and rough which helped to separate the riders. Unfortunately, my suspension was too soft for the roughness of the track and I haven't practiced on my brother's 450 much. Despite not riding the track before, not riding the 450 much and the track being rough I was able to ride half-way decent sometimes.

On Saturday I had good starts, but crashed in both of my motos. However, on Sunday I also got decent starts and didn't crash. I was happy to qualify for the Mideast Regional in the 4-stroke class since I am already qualified in 250 B stock. Next I am going to qualify for the Mideast Regional in 450 B Mod; after that I will be qualified in all of the classes that I want to race in the Regional.

Unfortunately at this race a B rider in my class was killed. His name was Jacob Nash and although I don't know him it seems he was a decent rider. Godspeed. Other than this fatality there were a few other fairly severe injuries. Death or severe injuries could happen to any rider, but usually they can be avoided. I don't think the track was necessarily bad; these injuries were probably more due to the riders putting themselves in bad situations. However, the area of the track where Jacob Nash died was a bit dangerous with a downhill jump with an uphill right after it.