EWC Andorra: Hi Everyone! I just arrived here in Barcelona to the place I will be staying for the next month after this next EWC round in Andorra which is a country just two hours north of here on the border between Spain and France. The last few weeks of recovering after a disasterous ISDE have been really nice. My training was a little easier and I spent a lot of time rehabbing my shoulder which is coming together pretty well. I was fortunate enough to go riding with Mika twice last week which was really awesome. It is a dream come true for me to just go out riding with one of the fastest Enduro riders in the world and be able to take times, and just see where he is going fast and try to learn something. My friend and competitor Franco Caimi invited me to stay with him in his apartment here in Girona, and I jumped at the chance to have a cool training partner as well as get to spend a month close to the sea in a whole new country. Italy is a really great place for enduro, and it has been really nice living at the shop and having parts and service right there but sometimes it  can be difficult to find good places to ride or fast guys to train with for me because I don’t have a van so I am limited to going riding with whoever happens to want to ride that day. For this reason I am really excited to stay here in spain and do some training and have some fun!
After such a rough ISDE I really needed to get my feet back on the ground. I wanted to go home so bad, but I feel like I have been able to stabilize and get healthy. I am pumped that my new friend Doctor James Mcgee is coming out to help me out at the race in Andorra this weekend. I met him in Finland and we became friends and he wanted to come check out the scene here on the world championship. We made plans and I couldn’t believe it but he is actually coming which is fantastic. I am learning that for me it is really important to have someone at the races supporting me, it just really helps me keep my head clear and stay focused, and also for sure it gives me confidence that someone like Doc Mcgee will be here so I know he can take care of me and its little things like that that help me push just a little harder.
Everyone is saying that the race is going to have really slow and technical special tests and that the promoter is normally a trials promoter and he wants to make the race a little different. There isn’t much I can do about that but my extreme test confidence is good so we will see what I can do!
If anything good came out of ISDE it came at the first day where I really proved to myself that I have the speed to run at the top of the junior class and that my bike and suspension is good enough for me to go fast so I am really pumped for this race! Wish me luck!

Just a quick update. We arrived here in Sant Julia, Andorra. It is a crazy place. In the very Northern tip of Spain really High in the Pyrenees. The town is in a really steep Valley with r\ cliffs on either side. At the bottom of the valley is the cross test which is really short. Just 3 minutes or so, Very flat grass track, with a couple of gnarly deep holes that should be interesting. On the side of a cliff is the extreme test that from a distance looks absolutely impossible. Only after walking it does it make sense, definitely going to have to go into a mountain goat type of mindset on this one. It just zig zags up a cliff side, with maybe 5 sets of switch backs. The most difficult part is right at the beginning, after that you are kind of stuck in one line, a couple of places you can go up the rocks instead of following the normal trail and save some time. The forecast is for rain which will make this test pretty interesting. If the Extreme test is where the race is going to be lost, for sure the Enduro test is where it will be won at this race. It is maybe 10 minutes and it looks fun! Fast sections on trail and other places are fresh with a strange mossy top soil but lots of up and down hills, technical spots and off cambers and quite a few different line options which should separate everyone. Should be fun! I am looking forward to testing my bike tomorrow and doing some more walking! Ian

ISDE 2011
 
I would love to just report that I just rocked it in Finland, made all the right decisions, stayed consistent, and had a great time, but I would also love a toilet made of solid gold but that’s just not in the cards right now is it? The truth is that it was one disaster after another and by the end I was just pumped to finish. Finland, as a country was fantastic, beautiful dense woods, soft ground and everything is very clean, well organized and not crowded. I arrived very early and spent a few days kicking around with Nate Kanney and his friend Adam. We searched out the special tests and started getting comfortable in the rental house we were staying in. The other trophy riders and their mechanics and trainers showed up throughout the week. I felt really prepared before the race! The bike is perfect now, I was healthy, confident and motivated. Also I was focused, and I am getting really good at memorizing and visualizing the special tests. The days clicked by though and it always comes down to a rush to get all the tests walked, especially at ISDE because there are so many! The club did a really great job of getting every different type of terrain. From super technical rocks, motocross, forest, and even a really gnarly beach sand special test. The only thing that they all had in common was that they all became super rough and beat up really fast. It is easy to see why Finland produces so many world champions! You cant ride 10 riders through the woods without making gnarly ruts, bringing up rocks and roots, another ten riders and you have giant sand and rock whoops, the perfect training ground! The one thing that was lacking was hills! Finland is the flattest place I have ever seen, but they did manage to put a special test on the smallest ski slope I have ever seen, but it had a solid uphill and downhill so that the race really did have everything!
Sound test for me was no problem and I got my bike into the impound fine but I was a little nervous watching my good friend Cody Schafer who was also on the Junior trophy team get sent back from the sound tester again and again. Even after they closed tech for the night he still hadn’t passed, I was pumped to hear the next morning that the contraption that Dennis Buttrick and Jeff Fredette had engineered had passed and the whole team was in and good to go! I was pumped about the junior team, Cory Buttrick is super fast and a very experienced strong racer, Andrew Delong has been killing it this season and he did well last year in Mexico, and Cody has also been having a great season, the soft dirt I thought would play into his riding style and I know he was motivated. I really wanted to come in and back up my results from last year and the team really was good enough to be on the podium. It was great being on a team where all of us really like each other and for me, after being in Italy all season it was really great to laugh and joke around with good friends.
The first test was called kymi, it was the most technical test of the race with a 2 minute really difficult rocky section, all together it was around 7 or 8 minutes. That test started great, I was hitting turns really well and I had already caught 2 riders before the rock section. Made a few mistakes in the rocks and ended up kind of flopping over which was frustrating but I didn’t let it get to me, and the best thing that happened was getting to follow Antti Hellsten for the rest of the test. He was behind me when I got up and I let him by and then chased him the rest of the section. Just following him really boosted my confidence because it made me realize that I am fast enough! I didn’t have to push too hard to stay close and I felt totally safe going that pace. I made a mental note of what that pace felt like and I carried that into the next tests. The next one was kind of an Enduro test, a few muddy spots a few big rock slabs. I started behind Romain Dumontier who has been fast this year so I only gave him about 10 seconds. I was pumped to see that he wasn’t pulling me! If anything I was pulling him and soon I was close enough to use him for braking points. I didn’t see any times but I felt great and the American guys at the finish of the test were pumped! After a long transfer section we arrived at Ravioki test. This was one of my favorites, more sandy in the woods, not a lot of rocks and I did a great job remembering to brake early in a couple spots and I didn’t blow any corners. I made a couple mistakes at the end of the test but I did really great in the first half and came out with a really great time. 3 seconds faster than than Sjoo, Lunggren, and Hellsten. This was for sure my best test of the season and my team manager Franco was at the end of the test and I had my first ever mini celebration with him. I think he was shocked and he gave me a big high five. The next test was called Lelu, it had a sandy motocross track and a short rocky section on an off camber. I felt really sketchy in the rocks and had a couple of big swaps and tried to slow things down again and take a step back from my thoughts and just ride. I recovered during the test and came out with another good time. Just 2 seconds behind Hellsten if I remember correct. After this we went back to the rock slabs test where I did a repeat of the first test. I followed Dumontier , caught him a little and came out with a good time. Not sure how good, but the frustrating thing was that the juniors started so far behind the trophy riders that my times didn’t look that good against the early riders because the track was so much rougher, however I know that I was doing great just comparing the other juniors. The time checks were really tight on the first lap, so after the rock slabs test I needed to hurry to make sure I had enough time at the next time check because I was getting hungry. I was riding with Dumontier doing a fast trail pace and when the section popped us out onto the road we gassed it up to pass a guy we had been following, we crested a hill, not going particularly fast, like 5th gear kind of lugging it on a huge wide open paved road, but there was a police officer there and he flagged me and Dumontier over to the side of the road. He told us that we went too fast on the road and that we would have to take a penalty. Many of the other riders were there as well as Brian Garrahan who was chasing or us and got a ticket as well. There was no rushing the police officer and he took his sweet ass time with every one of us. It was more than 30 minutes before they let me back on the bike. At this moment I made the key mistake that ruined my ISDE. I should have relaxed, maybe this day was ruined, there is no way to make up the 30 minutes when I only had 5 minutes to spare the first time around. But I didn’t give up, this is one time that giving up would have helped me. I should have accepted the day was lost (it wasn’t, the riders protested the time check points and many of them got the route points dropped) but I didn’t. I couldn’t give up, I had no way of knowing anything and I did what I thought was best. I absolutely pinned it. Through the next hour of super difficult, technical rocky slippery transfer section, I was going race pace. I stayed off the ground but I made a critical mistake I smashed my shifter on a rock disfigured it so badly it was almost unusable, however it wasn’t just the shifter, also the shift shaft itself got bent which ruined the seal which started my oil leak. I was on crazy mode though and after an hour and half dead sprint I showed up at Ravioki, my favorite test was looking a little rougher this time around but I pinned it right in with my camel back, rain jacket everything on and started pinning it, I was actually doing better than the previous lap but in the same section that I stared to lose focus in the lap before I made my third fatal mistake which was the nail in the coffin. I railed a soft berm a little too hard because I came out of the previous corner too much on the outside putting me on the inside of the next turn, which was a fast sweeper, Inside of this soft berm was a stump that I distinctly remember noticing and kicking when I walked that test the day before. Hitting the stump was avoidable, but so was the crash, If I was fresh, the suspension was cool, and I had ninja focus going on I might have pulled it off, but the way it went down I went flipping through the air, but I held onto the handlebars a moment too long as I went over the bars which is a good reflex but this time I would have been better off letting go because this caused my left shoulder to dislocate and I had the worst sense of déjà vu as I went flipping through the air Then I landed hard on my back in the soft dirt and felt my shoulder slide right back in. It hurt but I was OK. I was up and going after a few minutes but the pain was really intense and I had to trail ride the last couple minutes of the test. My hard charge through the transfer would have gotten me to be only 6 minutes late instead of 20 which at this level makes no difference. After the shoulder comes out it takes usually a week or two to start to feel strong again so I wasn’t encouraged, But I tried to find my “Happy Place” like Happy Gilmore and I found it! Just in time, (thanks chubbs) and I managed decent times in the last two tests. Cory had a solid day and so did Andrew, unfortunately Cody lost 10 minutes in the first special when his chain broke so things weren’t looking good for team. When I got back to the paddock I realized that there is no way that I would be able to finish ISDE if I didn’t take some time and try to fix my bike. I had the bent shifter, leaking seal, and after my crash in Ravioki my hydraulic clutch had problems and I had to replace that too. It really sucks counting down from houring out while I am there working on my bike on the very first day, but my work paid off and I was able to finish.
Day two was not much better. I wasn’t charging the tests that hard and the times show it, this would have been OK if I hadn’t made a huge mistake in the first long transfer section. My shoulder was bothering me in the transfer sections more than in the tests and it was way too easy to slide into a slow trail pace. Another problem was that they routed only the Trophy and Junior guys through a tough long mud section and routed the club and women riders around it, this was fine and I navigated through the mud without any big problems, the problem developed when I found that around 10 minutes of club and women riders had moved in front of me because they were routed around the mud and down the road and I was already at the back of the trophy guys. Also I had a problem with my headlight and I lost some time trying to fix it with ziptyes. All of these small problems put me into the time check 4 minutes late and for some reason I never suspected that I was late, so there is another hard lesson to learn. Never assume anything and getting to the check on time is the #1 no excuses most important thing. So now I am taking route points for the second day in a row, my shoulder is killing me. Luckily the team was having a good day and we moved up a little in points. The only good thing that happened was that I put in a really strong final test in Kymi. Just a few seconds faster than Cory and just outside of the top 20, I was really surprised though because I really couldn’t charge that hard, I guess I just did well and didn’t make any mistakes in the rocks.
Day three! This was my first clean day! No problems at the time checks. However I didn’t do great on the times at all. My shoulder felt better and I was trying to push hard. I bent my shifter again a little bit in a test and it was hanging way out and kept getting bumped into neutral in the corners which was really frustrating. I also was having problems with my front brake, it was coming and going and I was having to kind of pump it up coming into each corner. By the end of the day I really had nothing. At least I didn’t take route points though and I moved up and since they were doing the start order off of the previous day results I was excited to start with my teammate Andrew. My afternoon tires and filter change went well and in the morning all that was left was a front brake complete replacement which is not a very complicated job and I went to sleep happy.
I woke up to dumping rain and I overslept a little so everything was rushed in the morning. I arrived really late and I wasn’t able to prepare everything nearly as well as it needed to be. It was really difficult being there doing everything myself without my dad around to look after me. I ended up running down to the start in a fluster. The complete system came off easy enough and the other one slipped into place real nice and I got everything tight and ready to go, just the bottom part to bolt on. It wasn’t fitting up! Why? It took me a minute to figure it out but then I realized that the caliper that my mechanic had given me was stock! On our team bikes we run oversized braking rotors! Changing the brake mount is complicated and time consuming, not to mention that it had been the brake mount that had failed on the other system so I didn’t even have one. I grabbed the tools that I thought I would need and ran out across the line to my start and watched Andrew ride out into the rain. By the time I hunted down the right mount and got it bolted on I was impossibly late, I was so angry, sad and I wanted to quit so bad. I solved my bent shifter problem by leaning my bike on its side and stomping it as hard as I could which actually worked perfectly, bent it back and made the leaking slow down too! When I finally got going I was in the middle of the club riders and I had to pass like 10 guys in the first test. In the rush of the morning I had forgotten my time card and my check times were messed up all day. I hated riding with the club and women riders so much that I just started getting gas and moving forward until I was up with the other guys. I started having some fun right up until the second to last section when I dislocated my shoulder again in a transfer section. I managed to keep riding and it put itself back in. I didn’t push at all in the tests and just got through the finish of a miserable rainy day. I didn’t even have the heart to tell my parents what had happened, this day was probably my darkest day of racing of my life.
Day 5 I woke up with no expectations… and it was a good thing too because my clutch actuator came loose and unhooked in the beginning of the first test and I rode the rest of the test with no clutch and managed not to stall. Anyway, made it through the rest of the day, didn’t have any great times but at this point mentally I was shot, my focus was terrible and I had no strength basically riding with my right hand only. A terrible thing happened close to the finish, Cory Buttricks bike started locking up. They aren’t sure what happened yet but it made me want to cry to see him DNF after putting in so much effort and having such a great race going. The pressure was on though for the rest of us to finish the race. Cody was stuck in 3rd gear but Andrew was going steady and doing well and I was still rolling. Another day of my shoulder not coming out gave it a lot more strength and I felt OK for the final moto. I was able to gather my focus and I did a lot of visualizing the start. It has been year since I did a motocross race so I didn’t know what to expect. I was pumped when I came off the gate really well and came into the first corner in second, then I did a good move and railed the outside of the second corner and made the pass. I charged hard and pulled a little gap and led the first lap. Matti Seistola apparently had some problems on day 5 and was in the “slow group” with us and he went by me halfway through the second lap. I put in another couple solid laps but around lap 5 I dropped anchor. I couldn’t hold on anymore and I was entering corners retardedly slow. US trophy team rider Colton Udall cruised by me and unfortunately some guy from Poland. I wasn’t happy with myself but the overall time wasn’t bad and I know that I did the best that I could.
And it was over. All the preparation, effort, money, focus and energy spent... I am still pretty bummed although I am pumped that I finished after everything that happened. I really have never gone through so many things and I learned a lot also. I really learned that racing really is a team sport and I need to figure out how to have someone to support me at the next 2 world championship so that I can have a little less attention on the little things and more focus on going fast! I really need to thank Donna Macan who is wonderful woman and cooked and took care of all of us all week! I also have to thank Laurie and Barry Schafer, And also the Buttrick Family as well as all of the other moms and dasd and check workers out there helping, you all did so much to help me out and keep me going! Last but maybe the most important of all are the USA ISDE team guys! These guys do so much just for the passion of the sport and they don’t get the respect or thanks that they deserve! Thanks so much guys!

I am now back in Italy resting and organizing everything for Andorra. I am planning on changing my program a little bit, I am now super confident with my bike and setup however my physical training can be a little better and I am seeing that I ride looser an with a much better flow when I spend more time play riding and less time doing times and motos. Practicing small sections of a grass track or extreme test until I hit them absolutely perfectly instead of doing so many sprint times. However right now the most important thing is not causing any more damage to my shoulder and getting it rehabbed and tightened up in the next couple weeks. Check in for another blog soon and thanks for reading!

Ian Blythe

 

ISDE Finland Pre race report 1

Well, here we go. I am living in a house with a ocean view just 5 minutes from the paddock. The docs (I stay with them to safe some money) don’t show up until next week. Destry (Abbott) just walked with Kurt (Caselli) and Russell (Bobbitt) . Nate (Kanney) and I have been cruising around with his rental car. We walked the first days tests one time and we are going to start on the longer tests of the 4 and 5. We could definitely use a rally car on all these tight back roads! So far I have been the chef, cooked salmon and pasta yesterday and some eggs this morning. I haven’t seen Gunny or the Schafers or anyone yet, we will go out and try to find him soon. Everything is good though but I am trying to get on a good schedule and not stay up to late and during the day I am pretty busy walking tests. The container is expected to be here on Tuesday, unloading will start at noon. See you!

6-29-11 Turkey: Hey everyone, it has been a while since my last full blog. A lot has happened and the past few weeks have been an incredible adventure. Since the third round of EWC in Sicily, a lot has changed. First, I finally made some friends! It has been great feeling like I am at home, playing ping pong, soccer, and Frisbee. Also, things are getting better and better as far as riding goes. I am making friends at the races and I hopefully I will finally have the opportunity to do some training with some really fast guys! After Sicily I changed the suspension slightly, and we are still making progress! I can’t believe how fast the time is flying! We departed for the race in Turkey on the Tuesday before the race. Very very early. It was Franco, the team manager, Tullio, the riding coach, Eduardo D’ambrosio, Maurizio Facchin, and myself. Our first connection was from Milan to Rhodes which is a Greek island. We arrived in Rhodes, and I found out just how strange the Greek Language is! Those crazy symbols I learned in Physics are actually letters in their alphabet that they actually use! I guess I just never put two and two together on that one but now I know. We took a 1 hour bus ride from the airport, across Rhodes to the port on the north side of the island. It was interesting to see a little bit of the island. It’s kind of touristy which isn’t really my style but it has some incredible beaches and it made me a little jealous to see all of the kids out swimming in the ocean. In the Mediterranean there aren’t big waves which is a little disappointing but I imagine that it makes it nice for swimming! At the port we bought tickets for the Ferry to cross the channel and then went out for a nice lunch! I am not sure if it was really authentic Greek food, but it was definitely awesome. Most people in Greece speak really good English so it was cool that I could actually keep up with what is happening as we were traveling. In Italy or Spain and Portugal I couldn’t understand everything and I was always guessing what was going on! After lunch it was time to get on the ferry, but not before crossing the border between the European-Turkish borders. I was a little nervous because people had told me that there could be a problem with different vaccination regulations. I was pumped to find some Arizona Green tea in the Duty Free right before we went in, but my happiness wouldn’t last. The guy behind the window took a long hard look at my passport, said something in Greek to the armed guard next to him who then escorted me into the back room, he and I just kind of chilled there for a few minutes exchanging awkward glances until the guy from behind the counter showed back up with a big ass black book. He started tearing through the pages and like mumbling to himself in Greek. At this time a nice looking Greek woman arrived and glared at me disapprovingly. Still without saying a word to me, the guy from behind the counter took out a note pad and a calculator and started writing things down and doing all kinds of calculations, I am still not sure what he was calculating but I am sure that he would get full credit for showing his work on an exam. He finished, circled his answer and then copied the number down onto a blue ticket pad (where when you write something and it makes the 3 copies underneath it.) Still incredibly unsure of what the hell I did, I was getting ready to panic! I tried to ask him what the problem was but he pointed his pen at me and said something in Greek. By this time I was imagining Greek prison for some confusion, he turned the ticket pad which was completely filled with Greek fine print, with a lot of sloppily hand written stuff at the bottom. Then there was a line at the bottom and he handed me the pen and pointed. I didn’t understand and the woman said “your signature”. One of the recent southpark episodes flashed through my head Human CentiPad I couldn’t hold back a laugh and I said, “No way man, what does that even say”. He turned it back around and started writing more, I knew that this guy had to speak English! He works at the border! I steadied my voice, and said in my most polite voice, Sir could you please explain to me what the problem is and what this paper says? He didn’t respond but after a moment demanded if I planned to return to Europe. I told him that yes I planned to return in about 1 week, the Monday after the race. He handed me the ticket and said, when you arrive, you must pay this ticket of 600 Euro. I said, “but why!?” but he didn’t answer he just walked back out to his little booth. I looked to the woman and she said in very broken English that I stayed too long in Europe and that I must pay a fine. After I was on the ferry I called the US embassy and the woman on the other end confirmed that I had to pay the fine, and after gathering more information I now know that as an American, you can stay in Europe for only 90 days without a visa, I have been here for about 5 months now so I am well over the limit. Big problem. It was only about an hour on the ferry, we arrived in Turkey! Dry and dusty but with a beautiful sea and incredibly steep mountains. Lots of police with big ass machine guns, and at this point I was pretty nervous of anyone of a foreign government. The place that we took the ferry too was around 200 kilometers from the race site so we had a gnarly journey down the coast. For some reason I imagined Turkey as flat, like a desert! Not the case! It has incredible huge mountains coming right out of the Mediterranean. Turkish money is the Turkish lira, luckily Euro is pretty much accepted everywhere, but they give you the shaft on the exchange so at the first chance, I got some switched over. The bus ride was incredible. As much as I just wanted to arrive at my hotel and get to sleep and start working out some problems, I couldn’t help but absorb some of the culture along the way. For sure there were not very many cars on the road, mostly trucks and buses and many people standing on the sides of the roads waiting for buses. At the station I found that the toilet cost 1 lira to use, but it was really clean and nice so I didn’t mind too much. I was able to grab a taxi when we finally arrived at the bus station. This was my first time ever taking a taxi by myself, I was a little nervous, especially when the driver either didn’t speak any English, or just preferred not to speak to me. He understood orient hotel and it was only a few minutes away so things were going well. This season it has been a challenge at every event finding my hotel when I arrive so taking a taxi was a really stress free easy way of doing it. I was feeling like an adult! The kindly gent behind the counter at my hotel assigned me the walk of death from the first floor, at least a 100 meter walk to the end of the hall and I was the very very last room. I guess I smelled THAT bad. The hallway was funny too, they had lights that turn on only when someone is walking there, so as I was walking down the endless hallway the light would click on just a couple of meters in front of me, and it was like recessed in the wall so it only shined a beam right in front of me so I never knew how far to the end of the hall! It was so dark, and the same thing behind me, as soon as I got half way the lights behind me turned off. Finally I almost ran into the wall at the end and got to my room. I wanted to let my parents know the story and that I had made it safely there and to let them know about the problems crossing the border. I got a thrill trying to outrun the lights on the way back because I forgot to ask for the password for internet. It was past midnight by the time I got to sleep, I decided not to try to wake up early so I was in for a late start to test walking. When I did wake up it was because it was so hot! My room was at the very end of the hotel and had a giant window, the blinds were open and it had been heating the place up to almost 40 degrees. I was happy for the cold shower got breakfast and then met up with my friend from Argentina, Franco Caimi. I hadn’t seen him since the race in Sicily and I was able to jump in with him to go walk the enduro test. It was pine trees, and gravely slippery dirt. The corners at the beginning were really difficult off cambers and then fast hills to the top with important downhills. After that it did some flat twists and turns in the forest before putting us into a fast creek bed. The creek section by the end got really really rough and I think it was important to be able to be confident and full gas in there. Then there was the super moto section! A fast section into a really fun right hander with a rut, then a long sweeper left that tightened and put you onto a fast straight away. It had a couple of chicanes at the end that were a little scary, and then a kind of sketchy exit to the road over a sideways ledge and then diving straight back into the woods. This was my favorite section ever with an awesome left hand corner that seemed to have endless traction and then a fast straight away where you had to duck through some trees but stay full gas. Then we arrived at the gypsy section! The first time we walked this section there were piles of trash everywhere on the track. As it got closer to the race though they burned or shoveled off the waste. This was also the section with all of the stray dogs everywhere! On Thursday night, the last time we walked the test there was like 15 dogs just chilling on one of the hill sides making me nervous. The Gypsy section was really fast with a couple of like ravine crossings and then we finished up at the start. It looked like a fun test. It was long so it would for sure be the most important one in the race.
The days prior to the race are spent visualizing the tests, destroying the hotel buffet and drinking outrageous amounts of water. Normally we are out walking tests all hours of the day, but the race in Turkey was so much hotter than normal that many of the riders were sacrificing the normal 3 or 4 times walking each test for just 2 or maybe 3. In the end I saw the cross and extreme twice and the enduro 3 times which is far less than in Sicily. However this gave all of the racers a few hours of free time in the middle of the day and it was interesting to see so many of the fastest enduro riders in the planet in the lobby skyping with family and friends or even in the swimming pool. There was a ping pong table but it was out in the sun, missing a net and there were no paddles or balls to be seen which was a bummer, it would have been fun to play some ping pong by the pool. The relaxation was extended a little when they canceled the prequel on Friday night. The course that they set up was completely outrageous but it was still a bummer to see all the work that the club went through to put it together go to waste.
It sure seems like I can’t make it through a single day of racing without learning an important lesson! In Turkey I learned not to hold anything back on setup. I really wanted to make a change to the chassis, just pushing the forks down in the triple clamps to stabilize the bike a little bit, but I was scared to try it in the race. There was plenty of time at the check point, but I just wasn’t 100% sure that it would make me faster! In Greece this turned out to make a big difference for me, but in Turkey I once again had no flow through the corners. Especially the cross test. On the first day I finished a distant 12 which to me was unacceptable, the second day instead of changing the chassis I focused on changing my body position, moving a little back on the bike, and also I really focused on breathing and attacking all the way through the Enduro test. Unfortunately a bike problem in the second test combined with a big high speed crash in the final time through kept me from accomplishing my goals. Although the result was bad I felt like I had made some progress in Turkey.
Sunday was a free day for me, I spent some time in the pool, and around the hotel, but then I took to wandering the Turkish markets and streets. Also I explored all throughout the port there in Fethiye and spend some time talking to the locals about the Turkish government. The race had been held on Friday and Saturday because Sunday they were holding an election for the Turkish president. There were many parades of cars, going around, but it was incredible to see the streets literally empty and every single bar completely packed with people watching a bar graph on the TV. Apparently the current a president won the election and will continue to be the leader, I didn’t get into Turkish politics.

 

6-29-11 Greece: Because of my problems with the Visa and the re entry to Europe, I decided to travel from Fethiye to Meteora with one of the team sprinter vans. On Tuesday morning we were full gas down the highway, I was crammed between Luca and Tony on a bench seat. I have done my fair share of road trips racing in the US and every group that you travel with has a different mentality on travel. These guys know how to do it right. It is hard to explain, but the trip was for sure one of the most relaxed yet effective and at the same time hilarious trips ever. As soon as the race face comes off the mechanics are some of the funniest guys ever. It was great for me to be surrounded in close quarters with two guys who only speak a few words of English and it was fun to get to know the background and stories of the guys that I spend so much time with. We drove right by the ancient city of Troy, which I had no idea was located in Turkey. The city however is a national park and it was closed when we arrived in the evening so we had to drive right past without seeing a thing. I did get a good view of the incredible beach. We stopped for the night just 20 kilometers from the border, so the moment of truth would come first thing in the morning. I was prepared to pay the fine, thanks to a very good friend and supporter, otherwise it would have been even more stressful. But even if I did pay the fine, I didn’t know if they were going to immediately deport me back to the US or what would happen. We decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea to try hiding in the back of the semi, with the bikes but I wouldn’t want to let you think that it didn’t cross our minds. There are two borders, one at turkey, and then one at Greece for the European Union. At the Turkish border the guards immediately demanded T shirts after realizing that we were a racing team, and then they took our passports and stamped them and gave them right back. It took a little while for the team to handle all of the paperwork and everything and then we did the 3 km drive across the border straight into the European border. Again upon arrival every guard in the place demanded a t shirt. Then the guy at the gate asked for the paperwork of the van, asked what was in the back. We made it through the border and they only asked for the passport of Luca who was driving. I just sat there in the middle not saying a word. Apparently all of the stamping goes on at the Turkish border and the Greek border didn’t even care to see our passports! Home free! I still need to go to the visa office here in Italy and get it all sorted out but I was pumped not to be in Greek prison and that I would be able to compete in Greece. After the border was a half days drive so we arrived and set up the tents and the whole pit on Wednesday evening. That night I slept like a baby in the semi. Unfortunately I woke up to the pitter patter of rain drops and walked outside into a steady drizzle. I skipped breakfast because I timed it perfectly and caught Franco Caimi on his way out to go walking. We slipped and slid our way through the enduro test. It was so damn slippery! I tried my best to remember the whole thing and did a decent job. It was a difficult test to remember with many important blind uphills and steep downhills and ledges. The whole thing was really slow, only a few fast uphills and down hills but for sure the slowest and longest enduro test so far this season. It took us nearly 3 hours to walk the enduro test it was so slippery! After we quick power walked the extreme before heading to town to get lunch. I ordered a bowl of chicken soup and a plate of vegetables. The vegetables were not what I had been imagining at all, and they definitely didn’t taste great. But I had confidence in my digestive system because I almost never get sick, but I should have listened to myself when I thought, “Man this really doesn’t taste very good”. But I didn’t, I blocked my thoughts and did my best to eat everything I could. I also drank a couple glasses of water from a pitcher. It should have went off in my head right then that restaurant water always comes in bottles over here, but it was definitely a pitcher of water. Come to find out the water in Kalambaka / Meteora is like spring water and everyone is very proud of it and all the restaurants serve it in pitchers. Anyway, I didn’t even give it a second thought and we pinned it back up there to walk the Cross test. The cross test took us about 1.5 hours to walk and looked sweet! It had long sweeping corners, smooth grass with hard ground underneath and fast straights with open and closed corners. It was still raining on and off but from the cross test we had an incredible view of the rock formations in Meteora. Now I am not a language expert but I am pretty sure Meteora is Greek for big ass rocks because this place had plenty of them. They were crazy too, just coming straight out of the ground and going vertical! During the race we would get to ride around on top of a few of them which was cool. Anyway, by the time we finished walking the cross test I knew something was wrong. I was starting to feel like I was going to explode. Chemical reaction! Not really I don’t think but I just hoped my iron gut would neutralize that shit so we decided to walk the enduro test one more time so that we would have the majority of the walking done on the first day. This would have been great, but nature had different plans, I made it maybe ¼ of the way through before the first Yak, thought maybe I was through cause I felt way better immediately, but it quickly became apparent that this was the real deal and that I was going to be in for a rough night. I puked 1 more time, and then I decided to cut the track, sit down and wait for Franco hoping to have a second wind and be able to walk the end of the test. After laying down for 20 minutes I was feeling ok, but when Franco arrived he said “Man, Gonsalvo e muerto, he is effing finished, my dad is picking him up and taking him to the hospital, you should get a ride back to the paddock and get to your hotel or something, walk tomorrow.” It was a good thing I listened to his advice because not 50 meters later my stomach turned inside out and I was vomiting so hard and so long that I changed my stance to avoid feet splatter. Then, feeling good again I cruised down to the road and met up with Franco’s father and Gonsalvo who looked 10 times worse than I felt. When I arrived at the paddock I quick got out my laptop, looked up what hotel I was staying at. Franco Mayr was nice enough to give me a ride there. I made a key error not asking him to wait a moment for me to get checked in to know that I was at the correct hotel which I immediately regretted. The people at the hotel had no reservation for me and had no interest in helping me in anyway. After consideration, influenced by my cell phone not working, some serious nausea, and the fact that the paddock was 5 kilometers away I decided to tell them I would pay for the room, but I was hoping to get in contact with the federation and get things sorted out. I came into the room, kicked off my shoes set down my backpack and then initiated a complete overhaul on my digestive system. I awoke the next day around 10. Cruised down to the breakfast bar, poured myself some cereal ate two bites and then went running back to my room with a whole new list of problems. Finally I was settled enough to try to start my day and possibly walk some tests around 11. Unfortunately I was still 5 kilometers from town without a cell phone and with a need to pay the hotel. Apparently the federation had decided to book me at a very nice hotel much closer to the paddock, which was great! I was pumped that they were considerate enough to move us closer to the paddock but a little frustrated that the ball had been dropped on the notification part, I had to forgive them pretty quickly though because I am pretty lucky that the federation does anything at all! Anyway, the guy at the hotel informed me that a bus would show up at 11:15 and I could get a ride into town. By 11:45 I was pissed off and started walking and hitch hiking, luckily before I got too far the bus showed up and then drove directly past the paddock and continued 2 kilometers before they would let me off. Sweet.
Thomaso, the mechanic who works on my bike was waiting for me when I finally rolled into the paddock. I also got to see Kurt! It was great to see a familiar face, plus Kurt just radiates energy and positivity which is always fun to be around. I would have really liked to have spent some time at the test track playing with chassis a little bit, but at this point physically I really couldn’t afford 2 hours out sweating in the sun. I tested the bike quickly, I couldn’t get a good feel for the new chassis setup but I was pretty sure that I was going the right way so I just went with it. At this point in the afternoon I was still feeling sick and I hadn’t eaten hardly anything significant since before I got sick. Luckily Franco Mayr was thoughtful enough to save for me some rice that he had put together for the team. I had very little apatite but I ate as much as I could. Then, I went on the quest to find the correct hotel, it wasn’t difficult because you could almost see it from the paddock! I was still in need of the toilet for most of the afternoon, but I was able to drink a lot of water and sleep a little bit so I was on the road to recovery. In the evening I was lucky to be able to get a ride out to walk the cross test again. The rain had stopped and the tests were bone dry. Thursday night I still had 0 apatite. I bought some fruit and some nuts from a grocery and that was all I could get down for dinner. Friday I still felt like shit, but got signed up, and then went out and saw only the cross and extreme tests with the Guerrero brothers. They pointed out some good lines that really helped me in the race. Seeing the enduro test only one time normally is unacceptable, but that was just the way it worked out this time unfortunately.
The most positive way to tell the story of my race is definitely to tell the bad part first and get it out of the way. Into the bad category is all of the second day, and for sure the second half of the first day. Physically I had no endurance, the incredibly long and physically demanding enduro test completely destroyed me and by the end I was for in survival mode. I have never bonked so hard physically and mentally in a race. BUT the good news was that I started the race strong, like a top ten racer. My first two times in the cross test were fantastic and I was strong in the extreme. Even my early times in the Enduro test were terrible but I am pumped that I had some really competitive times in the cross and extreme.
Congratulations to Kurt who killed it in Greece. A 2-4 finish and having really competitive times overall is awesome! It will be great to see him again in Romania in 2 weeks! Practice and life in Italy has improved a lot for me lately. Getting to know some people around here and I had a really good few days of training with Giacomo Redondi and also Tullio Pellegrinelli. I am working on improving my outright speed in all areas and I am finding that focusing on my breathing and on lifting my head and looking through the corners make really significant differences in my times. After a hard day of riding with Giacomo on Sunday, we drove in his smart car over next to Lake Iseo and we cooled down with some giant cliff jumps. I couldn’t believe my eyes when he hucked it off the side of the mountain into the lake. Definitely the highest I have done and it took some encouraging but I finally jumped off into the water and I realized that I am really starting to like it here. I miss my family and friends for sure but I am having the time of my life right now and that’s the most important thing. We can make plans and hope for the best but there are never guarantees for the future all we have is right now and I am giving it 100%. Thanks so much to all of my friends, supporters and sponsors! You guys are awesome and I can’t wait to see you all when I get back! Wish me luck in Romania I will tell you all about it!

5-16-11 I had a good weekend, I scored a bunch of points. I accomplished a goal! Had a couple of tests that were in the top five of the junior class this weekend at the third round of EWC in Italy, Sicilia. We arrived on Wednesday in the morning to the race site in Franca Villa in Sicily. The cross test would be the first test of the day, it was placed in a river bed and wound around in the sand and rocks. This test was between 6 and 7 minutes and as the weekend progressed became very very rough. Deep whoops and blown out sand berms. I have always loved racing in sand but I was a little frustrated to see sand whoops after spending the last month practicing on hard pack! After the cross test was a difficult transfer section, long climb up the side of the mountain. I was happy that I was able to get better and better as the days and laps went by on this climb. At the top there was a short road section followed by an extremely steep technical and very very slow down hill on a cliff. The trail had many switch backs that you had to pivot on the front wheel or else get off of you bike and pick it up and turn it. Very steep. At the bottom was a trail check where normally we would have about 5 minutes or so to prepare for the extreme test. The extreme test was in the same river bed as the cross test, but it looked a lot different. With volcanic rock ledges, 2 bridges over the river and some tight turns, lots of rocks and a couple of drop offs. It was around 2 minutes. This was the test that I was able to get up into the top 5 a couple of times, surprisingly, because at the last race the extreme was by far my worst test! Progress! I love it! After the cross test was a service check back at the semi, and then an easy transfer to the Enduro test. This test started on a motocross track up and down a hill, onto a few grass track turns, and then into a technical creek bed. The beginning of the creek was tight but then it opened up into a fast straight away down the creek in the water. After this was a short fast section where we crossed the creek a few more times and then a fun uphill that had good berms and a good flow. Then on to the grass track down the hill that had many ledges and drop offs. After this it did a few more passes up and down the hill with on and off camber turns and then it finished crossing the creek one more time and then a few more straights on the motocross track. This test was just over 8 minutes.

The Extreme test doubled as the Friday night super test. I felt strong on the test, I didn’t make any big mistakes and my time was competitive. On Saturday I had a good flow. My times were competitive from the beginning and it was great to get a taste of that warm fuzzy feeling of success. The weather was hot and the brutal lap took it’s toll on me much more quickly than I expected. My training has been very good and mentally I was pretty strong all day Saturday, but before the 2nd of 4 laps was over I was already starting to get cramps in my quads, I realized that I must be more dehydrated than I thought and started drinking more water and trying to take in more sodium and potassium but it was too late. By the start of the 3rd lap I was cramping in my arms and legs in the special tests and by the 4th it was all I could do to keep going, Cramps everywhere on my body, even in weird places like in my back, my feet, hands, even my neck. However, my training I think has been good, because my cardio in the tests was good, and I never felt hot. Never got chills, I guess I just suffer from WBMs (white boy muscles). Going into the last special test on Saturday I was within 5 seconds of 7th and 5 seconds of 11th. I dug deep but still didn’t have a great time, but managing a 9th, only one second ahead of Giacomo Redondi, my friend who I met at ISDE in Mexico, who came on very strong at the end of the day.(Giacomo also went on to finish 5th on Sunday so congratulations to him)

After becoming so physically spent after Saturday, I knew that whatever I put into my body between the moment the race finished and the start the next morning would make or break weather or not I would even be able to finish Sunday. Unfortunately, I was unprepared. Athletes know that there is a point where you can drink as much water as you want but unless you have the right minerals in your body the water wont be absorbed into your system, I didn’t have or know where to get any electrolyte capsules and I didn’t have any powder. The only beverage I had was Gatorade which is better than nothing but for sure not enough to bring me back to life. So, I know that potassium magnesium calcium and sodium are the vital minerals for hydration. Boom, fruit, salt and water. I combined sea salt with all kinds of fruit. I ate 4 bananas, 2 kiwis, 2 apples and at first with coca cola until I read the ingredients and found out that this was some new horrible coca cola that has 0g of sodium! so sea salt was the best I could do. By Sunday morning I was revived but not completely. I was stiff and sore and beat, pretty sure everyone was. My tests all day were off. My riding was just not nearly as sharp on Sunday which was very disappointing. However, I had just enough mental power to go hard and keep my times competitive in the extreme and I wasn’t very far off of the top ten junior until the third time through the cross test. I was motivated and ready to hang it all out, however sometimes things just don’t quite work out. I had stiffened the suspension and the feeling was better but I was still soft for the big whoops. Also, by the second turn I noticed that there was something bouncing around inside of my goggles! by the third turn I determined that it had to be the tear off pin from the lens judging from the dryness of my right eye. However, I centered myself and started hitting corners well. I had found a good flow and pushed the object to the back of my mind, that was until I came out of a corner and the damn thing bounced up and hit me right in the pupil I flinched and lost my balance taking me out of the main line, the smart thing to do would have been to let off and get back in the line but I was having too good of a test and I stayed on it and plowed through the rocks. I hit a big one and swapped too much, lost traction and went down hard but I was able to keep it on the low side, the bike running. I didn't lose more than 10 seconds. I was able to jump into the flow again but just before the finish I made a very bad decision. There was a line that looked too easy, go around the whoops or go through them. A hydrated, focused mind knows that there is a reason for this but my dried up panicked mind said oh hell yea! and I hit a big ass rock hiding in a shadow about 3rd wide, It was an epic swap that luckily once again I was able to low side and avoid injury. I picked myself up and cruised in to the finish of the test. At this point any confidence I had was wiped out. I was able to put in another competitive time in the extreme but I was very slow and careful in the very important fast sections of the special tests. I finished up in 17th, a full minute from the top 10.

I am encouraged because I now know that I can do it! and that I am learning and improving. I will continue to work on my skills in the extreme and also on my speed and confidence in the high speed rough stuff and hopefully reduce my near death experiences. Also I have a few things in mind for improvements to the suspension that will hopefully make a difference. Again, thanks to all of my supporters and sponsors! I couldn’t be here without all of you and I am doing my best over here and learning all of time! My goal for the next race in Turkey on the 10th and 11th of June is to be strong enough to race the last corner of the last test on Sunday with the same intensity and focus I will have on the first turn of the first special test. That’s all for now!
Ian

 

5-12-11 Hey guys! I am here in Sicily! Got to the hotel and everything sorted out, tests walked. One is a really rough tight WORCS style test in a river bed, the other has a beautiful motocross track, some technical in a creek bed and then a grass track on a steep hill side. Should be fun! Tested the bike today, everything is OK! The people here are completely different than in Piacenza. Way more friendly, borderline obnoxiously helpful if that is possible, and this place somehow consists of 80% beautiful 16-25 year old women everywhere you look. Might have to come back to this place under different circumstances. My hotel is a farm house surrounded by vineyards and olive gardens and without internet so I am at the one internet bar of the town so my next report may be when I return to Piacenza. Talk to you later!
Ciao, Ian

 

4-17-11 Round 2 of the Enduro World Championship, Portugal

We arrived in Portugal on the Tuesday before the race giving us plenty of time to walk tests and test the bike before the race. This race would have one prologue test on Friday night, and then 3 tests which we would be timed on for 3 laps on each day. The first was the Enduro test. The beginning and end of this test were on fast and bumpy grass track, there were a few WORCS style ski jumps to flat landings. The dirt seemed good, but there were some sketchy hard to see rocks scattered throughout the grass. The middle of this test was a twisty, fun looking trail through the eucalyptus forest. It was a little hard to remember but I knew for sure that the soft dirt would make deep ruts and big berms. After the Enduro test we would hit the cross test. This test looked like it was straight out of the ISDE in Mexico. Very hard pack, not so bumpy. Not really any ruts or anything formed so it was all about knowing how much to slow down coming into the corners and how early you could get on the gas. The extreme test looked like something from balancing act. Straight trials up and down very steep hills with big rock ledges and soft dirt that would make deep ruts.
The weekend started well for me. I had a good time on the prologue, although my feeling was terrible. I hit the logs hard and avoided any big mistakes. I made sure my exits to the corners were perfect even if my corner speed and entrances were terrible. It was easy to make the exits perfect because the track was completely smooth because I was one of the first riders on the track. Anyway the good time gave me some confidence that the changes to the bike we had made were good and I was excited to see if I could put down some good times in the real race on Saturday. And thus started another disaster weekend. The first test was the Enduro test which I managed to stay off of the ground, but had almost no flow. I felt like I was going a million miles an hour everywhere. After the Enduro test we did the first time check where I had about 8 minutes to eat some food and get focused on the cross test. I was watching the clock and times posted on the sprinter van. There was no reason to get going to early because I could see the check from where we were. With about 2 minutes to spare I put all of my gear back on and started my bike, then I glanced at my own time card and watch and noticed that there was a discrepancy between the time that I had written on my time sheet and the one written on the van. The time on my card showed that I had about 10 seconds to get into the check to avoid being late, and the time that I had been going off of said that I could enter the check in 10 seconds and be correct. It took me about 5 seconds to decide that I was going to believe in my own time card, 3 seconds to get the bike started and 4 seconds to pin it into the check. And that’s the way it goes, once again I was going to take route points and receive no points toward the championship for my effort. At this point I was pretty pissed off and I was ready to give it 110% in the cross test. I pushed really hard for me, but again my flow and corner speed was not good. Near the end of the test I came into a corner just plain too fast and laid it down on the super hard ground. I got up quick, but for sure lost around 10 seconds. I made it clean through the extreme test without getting stuck, but I am not to the level where I can really carry speed through this really gnarly stuff and I lose a lot of time. In the long transfer before the first test I crashed really really hard. Just lost my focus on a fast rocky uphill and found myself cart wheeling. I know that you only have so many crashes like these before you hurt yourself so I was in some pain but I was pumped that my body was still in working order. The bike however had bent handlebars and was missing a side number plate. Eddy just shook his head when I rolled up to the Enduro test and took my camel back. For the rest of the day I managed to not fall, but that was about it. Not falling is an accomplishment, but it doesn’t mean you are going fast. The times are really bad, for sure I am racing against some of the best young riders in the world, but compared to my speed, confidence, and flow that I had at ISDE in Morelia I am no where close. Sunday was more of the same. I am always trying to focus on different things, taking different lines, but the times are always the same. However on Sunday I was able to avoid doing anything seriously stupid and I didn’t take any route points and was awarded with 2 championship points which at this point feels like a major accomplishment. I don’t want to be the guy blaming anything on the bike, because obviously the bike is capable of winning and being ridden fast. The team that I am riding for is excellent, the mechanics, the organization, everything is top notch. I am sure that the majority of the problems are coming from within myself, my focus and my mindset. However, every rider is different and at the moment, something about the chassis and suspension setup is definitely not resonating with my riding style. This is my problem, and I am taking responsibility for finding out how to fix it. Hopefully we can find a solution in time for the next World Championship in Italy on 14 and 15th of May. Until then I will be working my ass off trying to improve my riding and my speed! I will keep you posted on our progress!  Ciao, Ian

 

4-04-11 We arrived in Spain on Wednesday and immediately began walking tests. There were only three, One cross test that was on a beautiful green grassy hill side. I was difficult with many off camber turns but I thought it would fit my riding style. One Enduro test, nothing too technical here. It was a well laid out test through the forest with a good flow and was pretty high speed. One extreme test, this was pretty technical, you were riding on sand stone for most of the test. It had one big ledge that was maybe 6 or 7 feet tall at the top of a hill early in the test and then it opened up and had more corners but was pretty rough all the way through. I was confident and happy about the tests. Prologue was on a really cool motocross track just outside of town, it used about half of the track with a few jumps and finished with 3 logs. The course is set up with ribbon basically cutting the motocross track in half, and there is an over under so you end up doing one lap on the right side and one lap on the left. The logs on the left side were a little smaller and had more dirt built up than the logs on the right and all of the juniors were eyeing them up before the race and everyone was asking each other weather or not they would jump all of them. I looked at them and thought that it was definitely doable but sketchy for sure. For the prologue the Juniors go first and because I was not in points last year I was one of the first riders to go on the track. This was a good thing because the light on the track was not that good and most of the racers have a good helmet light for the prologue. Luckily I was able to go when it was still relatively light out. I was faster than the guy I was racing but when I came through the over - under tunnel and saw those logs my brain said no, but my soul said fuck yeah and I pinned it and jumped them all. It kicked but I cleared them all easily so no problem. I was excited that I was the first rider to jump all of the logs, but I was not happy with my corner speed and the times showed it. I didn’t sweat the time too much and got ready for the real race on Saturday. My first test... going good going good fall in the last kilo after passing a rider in front of me. I gave up maybe 10 or 15 seconds picking up my bike. The track was smooth but still my corner speed was not good. This became the story of the weekend... bad corner speed, coming in either too fast or too slow into the corners and making many mistakes. My times were way off, and on sunday they got even worse as the track became super rough. I don’t want to dwell on the negatives, but I failed to have a single competitive test all weekend. My focus was decent, and in some tests I felt good but no matter what I tried with my technique, braking, line choice, my times stayed at the same level of bad. I can count on One hand the number of corners that felt really perfect like how I felt 80% of the time in Mexico so I have a lot of work to do to get back to my personal best. On Sunday one the way to the first test, somehow the hydraulic clutch line touched the exhaust and melted. Luckily, Tullio was at the first test and we were able to change out the clutch. It took a long time and by the time I got going I was in the middle of the Women riders. I pushed really hard in the transfer to try to get back on time but I was still 7 minutes late. At this check the team noticed that a radiator was leaking which was strange because I had not crashed or done anything to damage it, but still we were forced to change the radiator at the next check and I picked up another 3 minutes. I was able to make it through the rest of the day without any huge disastrous but being 10 minutes late I was battling with the women riders in the tests as well as the transfers. The race was tough with long technical travel sections and I think we did around 150 miles of trail by the end of the day. I was happy to finish after all we went through and the last disappointment of the day was learning that I had been disqualified at the first special test for receiving the outside assistance from Tullio. It makes no difference because with the 10 minute penalty I would not have gotten any points but it would nice not to have my name in the Disqualified portion of the results. I am going to change a few things with my suspension and chassis and try to put down some competitive times in Portugal. This is just the beginning and I have to remind myself that I am here to become a better rider and learn and I definitely learned a lot. However I am the type of guy who strives on success and positive energy, it will take only one small change and my flow and speed will be there... for now I just need to spend some time testing until we stumble upon the right feeling. Results EJ class

 

3-31-11 I am in Spain! Everything is going great. We arrived on Wednesday and have been walking tests and had a chance to test the race bike today. Things are all good, the tests look really fun. The cross test is similar to the tests in Mexico, the Enduro test looks a lot like home, and the extreme test could literally be one of the harder parts of the trails in West Water or Rabbit Valley. Nothing too crazy just some ledges and lots and lots of epic corners! 
We have the prologue (1 short extreme test, 1-2 minutes long) tomorrow which will be interesting for sure! Nothing too hard but it is going to be all about staying focused!
Also the hotel stuff is all figured out and dialed in. I am rooming with a rider from Argentina which is no problem, he doesn’t speak much English, but we get along.

 

3-28-11 After my first race (Italian Enduro) in Viverone, I knew I had some work to do for sure. Since then I have ridden all except for 2 days! We did an epic trail ride in the foot hills of the Alps in a town called Bergamo on Wednesday. My team mates Mattia Traversi and Eduardo D'ambrosio along with the team coach and ex world champion Tullio Pellegrinelli thoroughly kicked my ass up and down the gnarliest terrain I have ever ridden. We rode some of 2007 Italian EWC terrain (the extreme test) and much much more. One particularly hard hill took us an hour to climb and we had to stop twice to refill the radiators with water from a natural springs on the mountain. By the end of the day I had greatly improved my feet paddling technique; next level is to go up with feet on the pegs like the Italians! It was strange, but good for me to be the guy holding up the group because I have grown up being very good in the rocks, but these guys straight owned me! Each day of riding I made significant changes to the suspension and the chassis as well as the motor. Finally on Saturday, when I went riding with my friend Luigi I had a setup that I felt really, really confident on.
Luigi and some of the racers from the Jolly Racing Junior team were doing to do a small race in Piacenza on Sunday and after some thought I decided to enter the race and compete on my practice bike. I wanted to test the bike because sometimes you can feel great in practice but in the race have a completely different feeling. This race was an “Enduro” but with no travel sections and only one 4 minute test. I signed up and received number 0 because I am an international racer and not Italian so I couldn’t be counted in the overall results. This is the penalty for being and illegal immigrant!
The top racers at this event were Paoli Bernardi, who was a top EWC junior rider in 2007 and he won an Italian 125 championship and Mattia Traversi, who is the fastest rider on the Jolly Racing junior team. On the first test I felt good and made no big mistakes. My time was 2 seconds faster than Bernardi, but 1 second slower than Mattia. After a solid test, but not being the fastest, I new I was going to have to dig a little deeper and this is why racing is so great! The second test I pushed a little more than my comfort level, braking later, trying to get on the gas earlier, however I made several mistakes. I came out 1 second faster than my first time, but this time I gave up 1 second to Bernardi and 1 second to Mattia. I was a little frustrated after this test and I went out and walked and looked at most of the test, especially the corners where I made mistakes. I told myself that the problem was not the bike, it was that I was overriding the coarse, making things too difficult and that I needed to use the berms more. In Italy and at this race especially, it is common for there to be really good dirt, but just a few inches down is a layer of hard slippery rocks. The dirt was getting pushed off into soft berms leaving slippery rocks to corner on. On the third lap I dug even deeper and tried to use the berms. I felt better this time but came out 3 seconds slower than Bernardi and 2 seconds slower than Mattia. After some thinking I decided to lower the chassis of the front of my bike by pushing the forks up in the tripple clamps and transfering more weight to the front of the bike, also I did a better job mentally preparing for the test this time. This was the final try through the test and even though this race meant nothing if you measured the adrenaline in my blood you would have thought I was battling for a world championship. I guessed right on the setup and with the new chassis I was able to enter and roll through the insides of the corners. I was more patient with the throttle and did a better job setting up my corners early and doing the turning on the good dirt. I came out with a 3:53, the fastest time of the day overall, and on the worst track. I beat Bernardi by 4 seconds, and Mattia apparently had a spectacular crash in the mud. So I won my first test, and my first race! I learned a new phrase: Campione en Assoluti which means overall winner. I had a great time, the Italians know how to have a good time at the races! Thanks to my friend Daniel Fontana for taking the picture! Ciao, Ian

 

3-21-11 all right. One race in the books. Not a great result, but I definitely learned a lot! It was good for sure to do this race to prepare for the first EWC in 2 weeks in Spain. I have not had a lot of time to test the bike or to ride a lot, so I hope to be a lot more prepared in Spain. The good thing is that the bike is really good! The motor, suspension, chassis is all really good. I want to make a few changes to the suspension, and try a different ignition map, but for a start with little testing everything was very good! Also it is new for me to have the mechanics doing so much! It really is great to be able to relax on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and know that everything is taken care of! I couldn’t get used to it, I walked all the tests 3 times, and kept coming back to the truck and just looking at my bike which was assembled and ready to race! such a big change from the usual scramble to get everything together last minute finding Aluminum in the oil or having mushy brakes! Everything was perfect and it made it a lot easy to clear my mind and focus on the race. After days... weeks of focusing on the race, especially the first test what do I do? fall down half way through! I was not used to the bike, I felt uncoordinated, unbalanced, and nervous on this super muddy grass track. My fall was not even like I was going fast, I just fell down like a complete goon! Braking was early and soft, and I was late to get on the gas. When I came out I was about 10 seconds off of where I should be. The next test was the cross test on the side hill. The dirt was better here, but on the first lap there was not really any good ruts or anything to hold you in the corners. I am pretty sure that the course marshals would have tackled me if they could have because I single handily knocked down about half of the wooden stakes holding up the ribbon to mark the course. The first 2 tests were right off the beginning of the race, with no warm up, so I was happy to see the 30 mile trail ride through the Italian forest.This race was supposed to 4 laps, but they threw out the Enduro test and the transfer on the last lap because the mud was so bad and the ruts were too deep. I tried to push kind of hard on the transfer to get warmed up and comfortable with the bike. The Enduro test was located just outside of town and the times were between 10 and 13 minutes depending on how much time you spent on the ground. The first time through was just to view the test, with no time. I improved my feeling on the bike in the two cross tests, but I fell in the second one and gave up 5 or so seconds. The race was definitely going to be decided in the Enduro test because the cross tests were so short and tight, and the Enduro test was very long, fast and difficult. I was very happy with my riding the first time through the Enduro test. I was on the edge, but I kept mistakes to a minimum. My speed was pretty good and I was clean on almost all of the uphills. My focus was strong until the very last uphill. It was the easiest of the three gnarly ones, but with slippery clay, waterbars, and ruts. It was the final switch back I planted my foot to lift the front wheel over the water bar in the turn, got more traction than I expected and dropped the front wheel off the side of the trail. Trying to lift the front wheel out, it was stuck on a tree and in my effort my hands slipped off the bars and I comically rolled down the hill. After I strategically lifted my front wheel back on to the trail and got going I came out with a time of 11 16... not good. I continued to feel better in the cross tests, but my second time through the Enduro test was a disaster. I made a mistake in the second Kilometer, lost the front wheel, fell and put my hands in the mud. Trying to go fast with slippery hands was not happening and I went to survival mode, but I still got stuck on a couple of the gnarly hills and ruts. With these short tests, you really have to be focused and attacking the entire way. I have a lot of work to do! I ended up 29th overall, but to put into perspective how crazy the Enduro test was 4 time world champion Mika Ahola was 24th overall. Obviously he had a much worse race than I did... I was happy with my speed in the last two cross tests, but I think with a few changes and some more time on the bike I can pick up a couple of seconds for sure! Big thanks to the team HM Honda Zanardo, My Mom and Dad, Erik Nijkamp with Off Road Champions, and all of my supporters in America! I love you guys and it is because of you I am living my dream, learning tons, and having the time of my life! There will be more pictures soon! I promise!

To see this the complete results http://www.sincro-online.it/CI2011_A3_Assoluta.pdf