dirt bikes

The Off Season

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The Off Season As you may or may not have noticed, the blog has been a little quiet lately. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you know I have been pretty busy this off season. Below, you will find what exactly I have been up to! The last time I raced was November 27! IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME! My focus this off season has been regaining full strength in my upper body / shoulder after having surgery on it back in May. The other focus has been riding AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. That’s the vague version. My bad a** van was completed by Enduro Van back in October. I have set up to handle lots of traveling and hauling my dirt bikes. It gives me the opportunity to travel more than ever and I am stoked about that! Early December, I took a two-week riding adventure. I started out in Georgia at V3 Off Road, playing in the sand and being treated like family. After a few days there, I headed out to South Carolina and met up with a fellow Beta dealer, Redline Motorsports. We rode at his property the first day and that was EPIC! The terrain was quite a bit different for the typical South Carolina stuff I have ridden. It had rocks, hilly, bamboo trees, roots, clay, sandy dirt, basically all the goods. The next day, we checked out GTR Complex. GTR is my cup of tea, FULL of sand! The trails there are a combo of super-fast and super tight, perfect training. The motocross track was straight sand and was fun to rip around. After I got done there, I headed to Allie & Tayla Jones-Spurgeon’s place. My first day there, I put my full focus on the turn track, perfecting every corner. The next day, I rode with Tayla. If you do not know Tayla Jones, she is one of the top women racer’s in the country.. Heck, in the world! We rode on a section of a motocross track and did 20-minute motos. I rode my butt off. Super intense but lots of fun. After we finished, Allie and Tayla took me to downtown Greenville so I could have “fun”. It was super cool and worth checking out if you are in the area! The following day, I did more skill drills. At this point in the trip, I did not know what to do next. I wanted more sand riding for sure so I decided to go back to GTR Complex. That day, I shaved 6 minutes off each lap from when I was there over the weekend. The skill drills and getting comfortable on my bike again was HUGE! I stayed there for two days and continued working. By that time, I had ridden 11 days straight and felt like I could use a rest day. So, I decided to end my trip by going to Florida to hang out with my great friends, Broc & Lindsey French. It was nice to see them. We checked out Panama City Beach, I love the ocean, and participated in a golf cart Christmas parade. Super cool experience! It was now time for me to head home, 14-hour drive. I did the bulk of it in one day and decided to sleep about 5 hours from home. I had the next day off also so when I did get back home, guess what I did?! I rode some more before I returned to work to play catch up! This trip was EPIC! This brings us to Christmas week. I rode all weekend but stayed local. New Year’s Eve, brought another riding trip! I started out in Oklahoma for a day. My day got cut pretty short after a gnarly crash. My front end was twisted and my body did not feel pleasant. Ended up with some bruised ribs and lots of soreness. I decided to suck it up and still head further south to Conroe, TX, north of Houston, to check out 3 Palm’s Action Sports. That place is by far my favorite one I have been too in the last year. Sandy dirt, multiple tracks, and lots of fun! Best part, it was 86 degrees which was far better than the 30’s and snow back in Missouri that weekend. When I got back from that trip, I decided I would spend riding in January within two hours of home… that did not even last a week. The following weekend I went back to Oklahoma to ride some motocross for a day and then went back home that evening and headed to St Joe the following day. St Joe involved a combo of motos and trail riding. It was a good time and 3.5 hours of ride time. This past weekend, I took another trip to Oklahoma to ride with some great friends and then went to Kansas for sand riding the following day. We had lots of fun and had improvements on the bike! That is basically as far as the riding goes. Being 26 days out from race season, bikes are now being prepped and I plan on hitting a race sometime in the next 3 weeks to knock the rust off. Riding, is only part of the off-season prep, as I mentioned above, I have been working on building strength. I train at the gym, 5 days a week, following a program I written for myself. I am almost to 100% full upper body strength before injury. I can squat and deadlift more than I weigh. I have not been ignoring muscles imbalances, trying to give me the best chance against injury prevention. I continue to push forward in every way I can, keeping my goals in mind and keeping the fire lit inside. I have also been training others to help them reach their goals with guidance and the extra push! As race season closes in, I am the fittest I have ever been, I

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IRONMAN GNCC 2021 – I FINALLY RIPPED THE BAND AID OFF

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IRONMAN GNCC 2021 – I FINALLY RIPPED THE BAND AID OFF I FINALLY RIPPED THE BAND AID OFF! I found out my van was going to be ready for its for trip so I felt like I HAD to go to Ironman GNCC and not to spectate. I’ve had the largest itch to race! The last time I raced was November 2020. MORE THAN READY FOR THIS. This was my first GNCC ever racing/attending. It was for sure a different atmosphere and pretty chaotic but very RAD. I’ve never watched an ATV race before and that was neat. Looking at the trails after they had been on them was completely different than anything I have ever seen. Like it was wild. It rained Sunday morning and never stopped. Lots of down pours. The 10AM race got delayed and I ended up sitting on the line for a hour. It rained basically the entire time leading up to the actual start. The field was turning into a pond. 10 secondssssssss!! FINALLY, IT WAS GO TIME! My bike didn’t want to start for some odd reason and by the time I finally got it to start, I was practically taking off with the row behind me. I brushed it off and rolled with it. Crap happens. By the end of the field, I passed two girls. I passed a few more in the first 100 feet of the woods. Shortly after, I came up to the first pile up. Someone pointed me into a line and I passed like 50 people! It was nuts! It seemed like every half mile there was some kind of “technical” area that was loaded with people wrecked, stopped, or laying there. I focused on choosing good lines and not waiting around. I felt like I excelled on the hill climbs and navigating most ruts. Don’t get me wrong, I had my fair share of fall overs, wrecks, and getting stuck in ruts, face plants, rolling down a hill because I couldn’t stand without falling. One wreck left me stuck under my bike and another rider rode up and told me to grab on to his arm and so I did and as he rode off, he pulled me out from under my bike. That was pretty dang funny. The most memorable moment of the day is what ended my race early. I was 7.5 – 8ish miles in and was in a field section. So far, the ruts in the fields weren’t super bad and the standing water wasn’t super deep. I was trying to get around a rider and got stopped dead in my tracks. The rut was so deep and full of water, it literally brought me to a dead stop and almost threw me off the bike. IT WAS DEEP! Like up to my gas tank deep. Bike sucked some water in and wouldn’t run. I didn’t think leaving it sit in a water hole was a great idea so I got off my bike and tried to get it out. I mentally prepared myself by saying “I can deadlift this out of here, no big deal!!” I shoved my arms down in the water and wrapped them around my front wheel. I was able to lift the front wheel up and almost out but couldn’t get it high enough. After talking to another rider, it is best to focus on the rear wheel and getting it out and then proceed on dragging the bike out after the rear is out. I realized; I was going to need help so I decided to just chill sitting Indian style on my bike. I was out there for at least 40 minutes. I got super cold because it was still raining and I was drenched. Finally, the neighbors found me. They rolled up and was like “Holy shit! We heard you were stuck but didn’t think it was THAT BAD!!” They helped me get my bike out and I tried to get it started again with no luck. I got off to push my bike into a position to where it could be hooked up to be towed and I ended up face planting into that deep rut. I guess it was my time to go for a swim lol. We finally got it to where we could tow it out. It was a super cold ride back. I got lots of cheers and laughs from fellow racer’s as we arrived back to the pits. I really did not know what to expect with my physical capabilities coming back from a shoulder injury especially in the gnarly conditions but I am more than pleased with how it handled it. Everything felt easy. It was very odd to me. I have kept myself conditioned throughout the entire injury (since January) and have a very solid base following my own training programs. But now it is time to build and get to work for 2022 prep! I want to thank everyone in my corner throughout this injury and constantly pushing me to level up. I also want to thank my sponsors who are still helping and supporting after a full season off. I appreciate everything! Lastly, I just want to say I had an absolute blast and cheesing the entire time! I AM STOKED TO BE BACK TO RACING! More Posts Back To Blog Page

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BLEED YOUR BRAKES – USE GOOD BRAKE FLUID

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BLEED YOUR BRAKES – USE GOOD BRAKE FLUID Alright guys, if y’all watched my Wrench Tip video on Facebook or Instagram yesterday, you know one of my biggest pet peeves is when people complain about losing their brakes but did nothing to prevent the problem. Even better, if you know you are hard on brakes, prepare for it. I went through a phase where I was losing my brakes in a 35-minute race! LIKE WHAT?!?!! There are not many things that are scarier than the first moment you realize you have no brakes. It was 5 years ago when I was having this issue, so back in my ultra-beginner days, I had no idea what to do! As a result, I ran into a dirt pile, forgot how to use what little skill I had, and lost the race. That’s enough to make a little girl angry! I had a problem and it needed fixed! Fluid, brake pads, and rotors all contribute to this but for now we are going to hit on the fluid. The first thing we did was bleeding my brakes after every single race. During a MORE race weekend, I would even do it again Saturday night after racing so I was set up for Sunday! That alone made my problem better. When I started traveling further to races, it got a bit more serious. I switched to what I like to call liquid gold, Castrol React SRF Racing brake fluid, it comes in a 1L jug and is around $90. I look at it as the bigger picture, if I am going to travel 10+ hours to race, I am going to do what I can to prevent as many problems as possible. This brake fluid is cheaper than not finishing or struggling to finish. When you look into purchasing brake fluid, do your homework! Each bottle of brake fluid has the wet boiling point listed on it. Some even state the dry boiling point. All that we care about is the wet, because as soon as you open the bottle, moisture gets in it and therefore it is now “wet”. So, do not be fooled by the dry boiling points. We keep these brake fluids on the shelf: Castrol React SRF Racing: 518 *F wet boiling point Motul RBF 660: 399*F wet boiling point Maxima Racing: 399*F wet boiling point Lucas Synthetic: 116*F wet boiling point All of these vary in price. Remember, focus on what works and not what is the cheapest. Remember, riding your brakes in “overtime” is not worth it. How to know they need to be bled: If you are a serious racer, do it after every race. Braking power has reduced Inconsistent braking The lever feels spongy Pro tip: If it is hot outside, everything on your bike is that much hotter, including your brakes, which means they will boil faster! If you boil your brakes, the boiling temperature is reduced so that is why it is important to bleed them! More Posts Back To Blog Page

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Overlooked Dirt Bike Riding Tips #3: PRACTICE

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Overlooked Dirt Bike Riding Tips #3: PRACTICE PRACTICE! Every time you ride, you should have a specific goal with what you want out of this practice session. Dedicated practice. I work on things I need to and when I feel like I earned it, I treat myself to something I want to ride for fun. It helps to have another experienced rider to ride with so you can learn from them. Sometimes, it is hard to know what you are doing wrong. Having videos helps too. Fundamentals will make you faster and better on the bike. Pro athletes in different sports are not “too good” for fundamentals and either are you! Study the elite and you will see a trend. A few examples are Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Chasing the small details, gets you to the next level. What are some ways I practice? Corners – There are A LOT of details that go into the perfect corner. Speed, throttle control, braking, body position, standing to sitting, weighting the outside peg, getting over the bars, etc.. So many things going on! I like to choose a couple corners and start out slow and work my way back to full speed. If I mess up, I go back to slowing it down. I do this until every corner is good. Then I finish with a moto. It takes more than one practice session to develop habits though so I do this multiple times a week. Figure 8’s – I alternate between only standing, sitting, tight as possible, and more open. This also helps develop corner skills and helps with ruts. Logs – I ride around and find logs to try to go over them. Then I work on hitting them correctly. Like getting the front end up, hopping/jumping them, or what it would be like to hit it in a race. Logs have been a major weakness for me and over the years it has gotten better by doing this. But it is also important to not over think it. Standing only – Literally ride for X amount of time without sitting. If you are not comfortable with standing up, this will be a huge help! Static Balance – helps you learn balance and have better control of your bike! You can do this with your bike running or off and you stay in one place and hold it without dabbing a foot as long as possible. Embrace the burn! Creeks – If creeks intimidate you, spend more time in them. Lots of time can be made up in a creek if you are carrying speed. I literally ride up and down the creek trying to perfect it and choose different lines and increase my speed. Braking – Practice using BOTH brakes not just rear or just front. The fastest way to slow the bike down is using both. If you only use your rear, it will cause you to slide out. Hills – I find random hills and try to make it up them. You never know what you will see in a reason and it is best to be ready no matter what. Down hills, I practice not just coasting down them but actually using the throttle down it. Lots of time can be made up on downhills. Line choice / looking ahead – If you catch yourself looking at your front fender a lot or straight at the ground in front of you, practice looking up and as far ahead as you can see. Your mind processes what you see and it does not require you to look directly in front of you. Starts – If you do not practice starts, do not complain about bad starts! You have to know your bike and what it requires to start quickly in a dead engine start, only way to know is to practice. It also will help speed up your reaction time to the flag drop. If you get nervous starting with others, find someone faster and more aggressive to practice starts with. It will get you more comfortable and make you more confident. Sand – There’s not a lot of sand in Missouri but sometimes you go to those random places that have sand sections. Because of that a lot of people do not know how to ride it. Sand is intense, hard to predict, and always changing. But the fact is, if you can go fast in sand, you will go faster in dirt. I hated sand 3-4 years ago but I made myself practice it.. A LOT! Now, it is a strong point for me. I crave it and when it’s in that random MORE race in New Florence, MO, I MAKE UP A LOT OF TIME IN ALL THE SAND SECTIONS. There are many other ways to dedicated practice but this will get you started! Practicing the details and fundamentals will give you the confidence on race day. You will know that you prepared for the race and you can rely on your instincts and not think. It will also take you to the next level in your riding abilities. It’s not always about going all out, sometimes you gotta slow it down to perfect. Do what makes you better, not just what is fun. More Posts Back To Blog Page

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6th Annual Girls Ride Weekend

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6th Annual Girls Ride Weekend Girls weekend – to learn, gain confidence, and ride dirt bikes  How did girls weekend start? A group of girls got together for a full weekend of riding and working on our weaknesses. We came up with practice drills and worked hour after hour. That weekend Meg and I put 13 hours on our bikes. It was EPIC. We developed more skills during the weekend and also all became a lot closer to each other. Friendships that will forever. The goal of this weekend is to encourage and help fellow women riders. I want to show them if the work is done, anything is possible, set huge goals, and work your butt off to get where you want to be! Teaching is an empowering feeling. Brings me joy to show them through hard work and practice anything is obtainable. This is why I started my personal training business. I want to help others learn and maximize their protentional with anything. It’s not just about dirt bikes but being better in general. This RAD weekend dedicated to the girls takes place every single year on Labor Day Weekend at Hardwood Hills Ranch in Mansfield, MO. ALL FEMALE RIDER’S ARE WELCOME! Since the first weekend, we have gotten 30+ girls for the last few years. We offer guided trail rides (for all skill levels), night rides, games, races, and skills clinics. We also have a ton of rad giveaways denoted by our sponsors. Whether you are starting out or a seasoned rider, everyone is welcome and we promise good times will be had! Thanks to everyone who came out this year. I also wanna thank the people who help make this happen. Hardwood Hills Ranch for giving us a place to ride and camp every single year! Fly Racing for supporting the event with a bunch of rad giveaways and making sure everyone goes home with something. Fasst Company for supporting the event with a cool box of goodies and gift certificates for the best products on the planet! Megan Kennon for always being the host and bringing us together. Bonecutter Off Road for donating giveaways. Girl Power  More Posts Back To Blog Page

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