I Didn't Say I Was Powerful, I Said I Was a Wizard

The last three weeks got away from me.  I am the first to admit that it didn't go exactly as planned.  The important stuff in life is grand.  My girlfriend is amazing (and very pregnant), my kids are the eternal holders of my heart and I am still feeling physically strong.  On the flip side, I am not amassing enough money to launch a serious push for 2012 Supercross or really begin to claw my way out of post-marital-monetary-debt.  I am also in mental purgatory.  I need to get a job to earn money to get to Supercross, but doing so would surely eliminate any chance I have at making Supercross my job.  It's a bit of a conundrum.  At this point I just have to believe in myself enough to go with my gut instinct, which tells me that if I just twist the throttle than all the other things will work themselves out.

My view over the last two weeks has looked like the photograph above.  I have spent many, many, many hours in everything from a Skid Steer to a Skip, a Water Truck to a Rubber Tire Loader.  I have built a new Arenacross track, rebuilt my Supercross track, pounded dozens of T-posts, set concrete poles, strung wire, graded roads and picked up trash.  All of this was done to improve our training compound in hopes of having a better facility to prepare for the rapidly approaching Anaheim 1.  The tracks are all but complete, the fencing is nearly congruent and the concrete for the new gate posts is set.  I am excited for this place, there is much potential.  Potential far beyond what I set out to create.

Vet Rider Clinic participants Chris Kelly and Michael Larance talk lines.

In between all day tractor sessions, I have been doing some group and private training sessions at Speedworld.  It is rewarding for me to see riders improve, especially when they may have been stuck in a bad habit that I was quickly able to correct.  Like anything, it takes consistent training and a lot of repetition to break bad habits, which is why I decided to focus on small group training as much as possible.  For $100 per month, you get two, three-hour small group sessions.  With continued training, we can address issues and keep focused on improvement throughout the year for a much more reasonable cost.  If you are interested in joining either the Vet or Young Rider group classes, please e-mail me at mxculture@yahoo.com.  We meet every other Thursday at Speedworld.

Colonel Clark commands his little sister's attention.

I will leave the best for last: my kids.  Although they wear me out, they also keep me grounded and focused on the future.  I realize how fortunate I am to have them, and how much motivation they give me to succeed.  Three years ago I loved them and enjoyed being their father, but I didn't exactly know what that meant.  Today, a little better for the wear, I understand the things they need from me as well as the things I get from them.  Every day I am thankful to know them and, hopefully, lead them toward their own successes (and failures). I am so excited to add to my family a new baby boy.    

I try to teach my children to reach for the moon.

Blood Blisters and Tongue Twisters

Justin Buckelew racing Arenacross a few years back.  Check out his website, www.motocrosscoach.com

The last several days have been a whirlwind of activity.  I don't want to bore you with the mundane shit, but life is comprised of mundane shit.  As I have been saying, most of my training has been off the bike up to this point, but the rain beckoned me to the desert on Wednesday for an impromptu shred session with my little minions Tristan and Tyler.  We had a lot of fun searching for jumps and trying to avoid getting incarcerated by the authorities.  The places we were riding were bordering subdivisions, and I am sure the trophy housewives and didn't want the CCV stickers on their SUV's to get dusted out by my MX71 roost.  Regardless, we traversed the area without incident, all the while finding new and interesting hip jumps, rut tracks and enduro sections to annihilate.

Someday kids, if you are the top privateer in SX and finish 4th in the World SX Championship, all this could be yours.

Early this morning I loaded up the Corolla/Trailer with my trusty steed and my two sleepy-eyed children to embark on this glorious day.  I dropped the grommets off at their respective learning institutions and punched the accelerator (which got me just over 54 mph) toward my learning institution.  Awaiting my arrival was Professor Justin Buckelew, along with two of his other pupils.  The track was pristine, as the recent rain coupled with the previous evenings open practice session left many a line and plenty of moisture.  After a good set of sprint motos on the MX track, we switched over to some off road riding.  Justin's students are preparing for a WORCS race, so they had laid out an off-road course for us to moto.  They were doing an hour moto, but I told JB I was only going 30 minutes.  I was having so much fun and feeling good at the pit stop, so I decided to double down and run the whole jalapeno.  Don't you agree that sounds better than enchilada?  Good, me too.  Anyway, I did it and now I am feeling it.  My hands are covered in blood blisters, but I am really happy to have put in some seat time.  I know I will be thankful come October, as I have some sizable events on my calendar.

Seamless transition from dirt bikes to roller skating...

Tonight I took the family to GreatSkate, an old-school roller rink, for my son's school skate party.  Both my kids did pretty well for their first (and hopefully last) time on roller skates.  Hey GreatSkate, 1982 called and they want their hobby back.  Nowadays we sit on the couch and gorge our faces while murdering people in video games and watch reality tv while complaining about the President and/or the state of the economy.  Oh, is that just me?  Capricious youth, how I miss thee.

Alright, that is enough information for one blog post.  Big days and weeks ahead.  Get to it.  RC