A New Starting Gate

Sorry about the lack of posts recently. I could blame it on the season and we are way too busy to be blogging. That's partly true. Around here you need to enjoy the beautiful weather while it is here because it never seems to last long enough.

A couple of weeks ago the track operator at our local BMX track approached Bryan about building a new starting gate for the track. It has been on its last leg for a while and she wanted to get it replaced. She was asking if he knew anyone that could help, but of course he volunteered himself to make the gate. He wanted to make sure it was done right and well, he has amazing skills and know how to do the project. Afterall I think his first love is steel. DId I mention he has amazing skills? 

Anyway our days recently have been filled with making a new starting gate. From scratch. He drew up the plans, cleaned the garage (wish I had some before pictures of that!) then started cutting steel and building. He hasn't built anything like this for a while and while it was a TON of work, I think he really enjoyed building again. So here are some construction pictures of the build:

The first cut for the new frame.

The starting gate frame taking shape.

Just about finished and ready for paint.

Wait. Are we building a gate or a bridge? Actually he is straightening out the bend. It's very important the gate be perfectly straight so it drops correctly and doesn't put too much stress on the joints. 

Straight as can be. Now a little paint and it's ready to be installed.

Cutting out the old gate. While we were in the middle of construction of the new gate the old one died. It finally broke pretty much all its hinges off in the middle of gate practice. Now racing is totally stopped until the gate is finished. Lucky for them Bryan is a quick worker!

Attaching the new gate. The frame is 4 inches taller than what was there so they had to pour a new concrete pad. The old one had settled so much and was so uneven that Gate 8 was 5 inches lower than gate 1. No wonder the old gate was so crooked! Pouring a new pad would help insure it would be level and function properly.

Look how dirty my hubby is! He had lots of help getting the gate installed. Even though there was a big state race going on at another track, and it was 92 degrees that day. They spent 8 hours getting that all installed. And Nick worked right along with the rest of them. In fact he was telling the guys how to build the forms for the concrete and they were following his directions. Guess Bryan's handiness is rubbing off on those kids. They know more about construction and building than a lot of people.

The gate is straight. The dirt is not. You can see how much lower the left hand side is than the right hand side. They will need to bring more dirt in to level the starting hill out.

Freshly poured concrete and brand new gate. Looks amazing and should outlast us! He did such an amazing job and has helping out more than he will ever know. I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband. About 40 hours of labor at home, and 2 days at the track leads to years more of great BMX racing. So many families and racers will benefit from the new gate. 

 That track is a dirty place! This is the dirt line on Nick's leg from the day at the track. Both boys came home so dirty they weren't allowed to touch anything until they had taken a shower. It was pretty disgusting. But we are so grateful for the hard work they did. Can't wait to race on Sunday with the new gate. Should be a great time!

Now that the gate project is completed we can get back to finishing some projects around the house. And racing more. And bike riding. And maybe get out on the river again for some water fun. Lets hope the weather continues to stay warm!

The quest for the cup - Part 1

Wow! What a weekend we had! It was a grueling weekend full of great BMX racing action. We had been looking forward to this weekend for months. Knowing it was pretty much the start of the summer racing season. We participated in the 29th annual Governor's Cup races and Bub was ready to make a run for the trophy.

Let me see if I can explain how the series works. The Governor's Cup series consists of 4 races at 4 different tracks in the state. The races to the north also happened to be State Qualifier races. And of the  2 races down south there was a qualifier for another series we aren't competing for this year, and a double points race. In order to qualify for the cup you have to race all 4 races. They then award cups to whoever has the highest number of points for each age and skill level. So there are a lot of cups handed out at the end. But it sure isn't easy to get one!

We started out at Newburg early Saturday morning. No sleeping in for us! The weather sucked at home, but luckily was dry at the track. In fact we ended up in shirt sleeves in no time that morning! There were so many people at the track it was great! There were 204 racers I think with 48 motos. That is huge and one of the largest counts I have ever seen at that track. It was great! People everywhere. Nick had an awesome race and ended up 3rd overall. He was flying! Very proud of his accomplishment. I also knew at this point he was guaranteed to win the cup since he was the only 11 intermediate registered. He ended up racing in the 12 intermediate class which was great. It's the boys he's going to be racing with all summer since he turns 12 in a couple of weeks. However we didn't tell Nick he was going to win the cup because we wanted him to work hard for it and see what he could do. Plus he could have figured it out himself, but he didn't.

The final stretch in the main at Newburg. Looks like he's in 1st here, but he's actually in 3rd place. Awesome finish!

We headed to Molalla that afternoon for the next race. This one also had a big turnout, just a little smaller than the last race. He Did OK here. Still qualified 1st round, but ended up 5th after having a bad gate in the main. He isn't used to racing with a full gate of people and got a little intimidated by the games some racers play. We need to work on that!
Here is a link to his qualifier in Molalla. They didn't get the main recorded. He's in the 2nd group that races. He starts in 1st place but ends up in 2nd. Molalla 1st round of Qualifiers There were 2 groups of 12 intermediates. Lots of kids!

Nick & Isaac sharing a chair during the main break.

So it was a long day of racing but we were very happy with how Nick raced all day. He looked good, was fast and beat his finished from the year before. He just has to learn how to deal with aggressive riders. Stay tuned for day 2...

Priceless....

$90 in race fees

330 miles over 2 days

12 motos at 4 tracks

Falling asleep completely exhausted on your way home with your first Governor's Cup..... PRICELESS!

More details to come later, trying to catch up after our busy exhausting weekend! So proud of the boy though!

BMX Weekend

What a great weekend we had! The sun finally decided to come out and play for the entire weekend. It was gorgeous on Saturday with the temps i the low 80's. We spent the entire day out at the BMX tracks getting some much needed racing in. Nick had such a great weekend and looks so ready for the big state qualifiers next weekend. The rest of us, well we look like little lobsters because we forgot the sunscreen on Saturday. Too long without having to worry about sun I guess. At least we remembered for Sunday!

We raced at 2 tracks on Saturday and he got a 4th in Newburg where he raced 4 experts and a couple of novices. Of the 4 experts (a class above his) he beat one of them to finish up 4th. He held hs own very well against some of the fastest boys in the state!

We then headed down to Salem to race there in the afternoon. He ended up racing against another expert & a novice who was a year older and twice as big.
Here is a video link to those races: Nick's races at Capital City BMX
He ended up 2nd after some pretty tricky maneuvering in the final race. Almost went down, but managed to stay up and pass the guy. It was great.

Sunday we headed out to our home track in Molalla from some more great racing. They had been working on the track all weekend for the big races coming up next weekend so the track wasn't in tip top shape, but it didn't seem to bother Nick much at all! Here are some photos from his race on Sunday.

Here is the start of the race Nick is pulling ahead! (Photo by James Thrash)

Halfway through:

While this photo makes him look like he was all alone on the track,

This photo shows the same place from a different angle. Our friend & fellow teammate James Thrash took this photo.

Another great photo by Thrash.

On the final stretch, he has quite a lead here.

Success! 1st place trophy! Great reward for all that hard work!

It was a great weekend with some great racing action and time spent with our BMX family. How we love those fellow racers! This week will also be filled with more BMX action while we get ready for the big races next weekend. The 29th annual Governor's Cup series is Father's Day weekend so we will be spending it out at the tracks. 2 tracks on Saturday followed by 2 more races on Sunday. We can't wait!

Here is the video of his 1st place finish at Molalla. He's only in the 1st and last race because he qualified in moto #1 and didn't have to race the other 2 qualifiers. Nick's Molalla Race 6.13.10

And tomorrow I'll post about the other exciting thing that is close to completion at the house! The pantry!

We were finally able to get out to the track this weekend for our first racing of the season. Now that the Bub's wrist is healed it was time to get some racing in before the big races come next month. The weather was beautiful after some morning showers and to be honest we weren't expecting much since he hadn't really been on his race bike, or a track for that matter since last year.

He ended up with a class of 6 racers, 2 were experts that were younger than him, but quite fast. The little guy in green in the photo above ended up overall 1 yesterday. Nick won his 2nd moto, and ended up 3rd overall. He was not that far behind the 1st & 2nd place riders and with a little more track time he should be even closer, if not ahea of them soon!

He is loving his new bike however and was looking really good out on the track. We are so glad to get the race season started and Nick is already talking about summer road trips with the team in a motorhome, and racing at other state tracks . His goal this year is to earn a state plate and I think he's got a pretty good shot at it, provided he doesn't brake any more bones!

The last corner. You can just see the back of the 2nd place rider. Nick ended up 3rd overall which was really great for him. A great needed confidence boost, and his wrist didn't bother him one bit which was great news.

So not happy with me taking his picture. Poor kid. That's what happens when you're a star! LOL

1st place!

Nick got first place racing on Sunday! It was great! Of course the picture I took of him WITH his trophy is stuck on my phone, so here's a picture of the trophy. He's been working very hard on his racing, and it finally paid off. He was able to beat one of his biggest competitors (who happens to be a girl - #1 in the district) and got a first place. He now has a total of 6 Intermediate wins - 19 more to go until he turns expert. We were so proud of him! 

Interesting weekend

So we had a pretty good weekend, even with the rain and stormy weather. Nick was able to race on Friday which was a beautiful day I might add. Nick ended up with a second place which was so cool. He won the first round with an amazing pass that brought him from 3rd to 1st on the second to last corner. It was great! He has been racing the same 2 people for 2 weeks now and has gotten 3rd every time. This time the other guy, Issac pushed Taylor high into the corner and Nick was able to slide by them on the inside and take over the lead. That put him into position to win 2nd overall. They were all tied going into the main and he was able to beat Issac for the 2nd place spot. It was great!

Gabi didn't end up racing because she got an injury earlier in the day from the trainer we had picked up the night before. (It looks like the one pictured, only Gold.) Bryan found one of these on craigslist so we got it for their training purposes. It forces them to pedal hard and build up those leg muscles. But what Gabi found out is you can't stop pedaling or the pedals come back to bite you. She ended up with a huge nasty bruise on the back of her leg and was limping around the house for a couple of days. She's better now, but couldn't race on Friday night.

So we had really stormy weather pass through on Saturday with big gusty winds and tons of rain. It was a really cool storm that lasted about 15 minutes I think. Then it was all pretty and sunny after that. But it was drizzling most of the day too so the racing was cancelled that day. We were thinking of going to Salem for racing but it didn't happen. Laundry and cleaning happened instead. 

Sunday the weather held all day, but they still cancelled racing. I'm assuming the track was just too wet from the rain the day before, and the threat of rain all day, but who knows. In some ways it was nice to have a free Sunday Bryan and I ended up going to the Mexican flea market in Gresham. He had wanted to show it to me for a long time saying it was just like Mexico. Well, he was sort of right. The booths were not filled with Mexican trinkets though, just lots of cowboy boots, little girl prom dresses, CDs (all in spanish of course) and clothes and random crap. The food looked good though, but we felt completely out of place. It was a whole different world, and interesting to say the least.

Then last night I went to make dinner. The first ribs of the season for us. The menu: BBQ ribs, Corn, Salad, Mac & Cheese. Yum Yum Yum! So I seasoned the ribs perfectly, put them on the grill and sat down to watch some Hannah Montana. When I went out to turn them I opened the lid and this is what I saw:

For the 1st time in 16 years I burned dinner beyond recognition. They were just little bits of charcoal. That's all. It was hilarious! Bryan made me take a picture of it for posterity I guess. So needless to say we did not have BBQ ribs at home last night. We were forced to go to Busters BBQ and had ribs there instead. Mine would have been better, but well not that time. I'll try again later. And maybe a little less distractions that time. I'm sure my family won't let me live it down for a while but that's OK. It's not like I burn dinner very often at all. LOL

Great Northwest Nationals

The Big National Race was this last weekend in Redmond. What an experience that was! There were 205 motos on Saturday and 200 Motos on Sunday. 11 states were represented at the races, with some of the fastest racers in the country there. It was quite an experience for us! The kids were unbelievably fast, and there were so many people! Normally racing takes about an hour at our local track from when they start racing until it is all over. This weekend it took almost 4 hours to get through all the racing! 

Unfortunately Nick did not qualify in any of his races. He did learn some valuable lessons about riding with a full gate and having to jockey for position. They ride dirty at the National races which was a new experience to him. There was a lot of rubbing, intimidation, and trying to push riders up and out of the way. All legal, but different from what he is used to. He's used to having lots of space around him when he races at home. He now understands the purpose of practicing with a full gate and learning different strategies on passing people. Next year will be better! 

We were sitting by the first corner and saw so many crashes and jockeying for position Nothing too serious as far as injuries, but we learned how important position is in that first corner. Races are won and lost there. The last corner too. Nick missed qualifying on Saturday because he got cut off in the last corner. Live and learn.

It was fun routing for all the kids we knew and see race every weekend. Some did well and others struggled like Nick. But everyone had a great time. The hotel we stayed at had a pool which filled up in the evenings with all the kids. The kids were just glad to get some pool time in. 

Bryan managed to leave his bag of clothes at home which was a constant source of amusement. Especially since he was on everyone to make sure they packed warm clothes and didn't forget anything. Luckily there was a Super Wal-Mart right across the street from our hotel so he was able to pick up another swim suit and some underwear and socks. 

Nick coming off the gate on Sunday. He's in the middle. 

Nick leading into the last corner on Saturday. Unfortunately he went too high in the corner and got cut off coming out of the corner. 

They also had side car racing fun on Saturday. Bryan and I decided this is how we will race. One guy pedals the bike like crazy and the other guy pumps the hills and corners.