Month: November 2016

Flat Track Racing in IDAHO {OMC Rd #1}

This past weekend, we hopped in Poppa Wheelies’ dully pick-up with trailer+bikes in tow – and headed to Nampa, Idaho (8 hours from home) to visit my sister + brother-in-law, and race the OMC Flat Track Series {Round #1}!

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My only sibiling/older sister Chandra is what I consider a ‘flat track veteran’, holding several pro titles throughout her 25+ years of racing quads (on dirt AND ice).  Just a little over a year ago, her career in racing was put on hold due to being diagnosed with MS. Since her diagnoses, she has worked hard to maintain her illness in a positive attempt to live a healthy and happy life. Anyone who has met her knows how much of a strong and amazing person she is…MS knocked her on her a$$, but she has fought back and kept such a positive attitude…I sure love and admire her! This past weekend was her first time back on the dirt track and I couldn’t have been any more proud and happy to be there to cheer her on!

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Chandra got the whole-shot on both the heat and the main, riding fierce (running tire-to-tire with her competition in every corner, keeping tight on the inside line, allowing NO room for error) and maintaining 1st place for the entire 8 lap race in BOTH the PRO heat and main race – taking home the $100 cash purse at the end of the night!

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Uncle Johnny and Shane raced their 3-wheelers, Johnny taking 1st and Shane 2nd.

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Maybelline and Penelope both raced an open kids quad class, May sweeping up 2nd place and Nelly 3rd.

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Both girls also raced an open kids dirt bike class; May fought hard taking 3rd, and Nelly shortly behind in 4th.

Such a great weekend of racing with family!

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Now, 4 days of R&R before another double header event here in Idaho, then back to Washington… #Team77Racing   #WinnersPodium   #ParticipationPlaques

#MotoMom

NW Flat Track Series 2016-2017: Race #1 {of 9}…

Now, that was a GREAT way to start off Flat Track season! Team #77 had victories across the table this past Sunday, and we couldn’t be any more proud of all the kiddos!

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Penelope raced her PW 50 in the beginners 50cc dirt bike class, and her LT80 quad in the beginners 90cc quad class. At the ripe age of six, this is her second year racing in both those classes. Last year, she had a tough time keeping up with the ‘big kids’ in both classes but held in there taking 4th overall in the series (out of 6 total qualifying riders) on her quad, and 4th overall in the series (out of 4 total qualifying riders, so last place) on her dirt bike.

Maybelline raced her new KTM 50cc Pro Senior in the advanced 50cc dirt bike class, and her LT80 quad in the beginners 90cc quad class. As we mentioned before, we were having a tough time deciding what class to put her in on her quad since she had already been in that class for two years. After consulting our fellow ‘flat track veteran’ family and friends, it came down to just a few things:

-In the 2 years she had previously raced this class, she only ONCE (in 18+ races) took home a 1st place trophy (and that’s when #1 and #2 took each other out on the last lap and she was able to pass by the crash).

-Also, she is still riding a stock 80cc quad, vs. the ‘shifter quads’ that are currently running in the advanced class. The ‘Myers’ family (racing mates for 20+ yrs) also have similar age kids on the same quads that always proven for fun competition, so we followed suit leaving them all in the same classes again this year as we’ve always done in the past.

-Finally, she is 3 years YOUNGER than the maximum age requirement for the class, meaning that she is still competing with people who are both less and more advanced than her.

Obviously, if she takes a podium finish in this class this year, we plan to buy her a bigger bike and move her up next year. As far as her dirt bike went, the ‘big bikes’ (KTM’s and Cobra’s) stepped up into the advanced class so Maybelline did too! With only a few short sessions of seat time on the new bike, we were not sure what to expect.

This year, we also added another new member to the Team #77 Racing Team! Our dear friend Makayla and her daughter, Addy (age 5) came out for Sunday RACE-DAY. Addy is using one of the girls’ old LT50 quads, and is racing the beginners 70cc quad class.

Another long-time ‘flat track veteran’ friend brought out his son, Bro, to also race in the beginners 50cc dirt bike class. It was sooooo fun to have him and Penelope in the same races (flashback to circa ’94…and that was us, now parents, racing each other). We are hoping that Bro will return in the near future to race quads with the girls’ as well!

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With a line-up of 4 kids, totaling 6 bikes/quads (and all races running back-to-back pretty much), it sure led to an eventful day for Team #77 Racing!

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Nelly and Bro battled it out on their PW 50 dirt bikes (back and forth between #1 and #2 probably 5 times during the race) – with Nelly taking 1st across the finish line during the heat race. The main had seven dirt bikes total, Nelly taking 1st, and Bro at 3rd (but less than a bikes length from swiping 2nd). I think both of them are probably still sleeping with their trophies at night ;-).

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Next race was Maybelline on her dirt bike! Just her (on her KTM) and another little girl (on a Cobra), both new to the bikes and class this year, hit the track. May blew up her clutch right out of staging, but made it through both the heat and main, taking 2nd place overall.

Addy was up next! For her first time ever on the track, she did GREAT! There were 2 quads in her class that did not belong in there (it was a 70cc and less beginners class, and there was a DDR 90 and a 110 both in it) that made it an even tougher race for her. Either way, she swooped up 5th in the heat race, and finished 2nd in the main…INCREDIBLE!

Next up was May and Nelly in the quad class! With 9 total riders in the class, both girls had to fight hard to keep their places. May took 1st in both the heat and main, and Nelly took 4th in both as well! SO PROUD OF THEM ❤❤

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We got out of the track by 5:30ish on Sunday, and headed home with a bus full of happy kids and a bundle of trophies! With 26 winters spent at that track for Flat Track Racing…these sure are the nights and moments we live for…GO TEAM #77 RACING!

{{Up next: Indoor BMX Racing             THIS WEEKEND}}

#MotoMom

Quick Update: NW Flat Track Series 2016-2017…{Just 3 more days}!

 

We are SOOOOOOO proud to announce we have added another little racer to Team #77 Racing for the upcoming NW Flat Track Season! This will be Addy’s first year on the track, and we are so excited to help her gain some podium finishes. Also, our funniest little man AJ will be returning for another year of wreaking havoc in the Beginners 90cc Class! 
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Now that we’ve gotten the GOOD news out of the way…the bad news: we are down a race quad at the moment. Maybelline’s LT80 is currently in repair mode, after the cooling fan let go and exploded during some trial runs today. We purchased the quad a year and a half ago (for a small fortune) and it was supposed to be ‘race ready’. Ever since, it has had jetting problems (or so we thought that was the issue). It really never ran its full capacity this last race season, so we were surely hoping for a better start to this season.

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Poppa Wheelie has it torn to pieces at the moment…and we are awaiting details on where to go from here. On a side note, good thing we own at least a half dozen of these LT80’s (but nothing as fast as that particular quad). Either way, we will be RACE READY on Sunday morning!

it’s Going to be a GREAT season…

{JUST 3 MORE DAYS}…

#MotoMom

Northwest Indoor BMX Racing GRAND OPENING WKND!

Guess what? We got some moto’ing in today!

This weekend was the grand opening for NW Indoor BMX Racing…YAY! What does that mean for us? It means we now have an INDOOR track 52 miles north of our home! Since our only ‘dry’season(s) here in the Pacific NW are typically just Spring and Summer, most our local tracks operate only during that time of the year since they are all outdoor. We do have another indoor track on the Peninsula (75 miles southwest of home), but the last few times we’ve made a trip out there, traffic has been AWFUL, taking us 2.5+ hrs each way. So having this new indoor track up North (and the speed limit driving that direction is 70mph) means that the girls’ will easily be able to race BMX year round now, YAY!

We arrived at the track around 10ish this morning, and the girls had 90 minutes to practice. Since it has been racing since late August, we were not sure really what to expect. They both got in several practice laps and were feeling pretty confident.

We were SUPER impressed with the new track and its facilities! Not only is it indoor, but it has a great location just 2 mins off of I-5, REAL bathrooms instead of port-o-potties, some heat in the spectator areas, and accommodates/is laid out for large crowds. The track itself obviously had a lot of thought put into it and maximized all the space and features available, and was in TOP SHAPE!  Pretty impressive for the 3rd day of a 3 day grand opening weekend…

Penelope had 4 kids in her moto, and Maybelline had 3. Both were ‘total points’. Penelope rode great today, and took 2nd in both her 1st and 2nd moto, and then fought hard, taking 1st in her last moto – total points shaking out to a 2nd place overall finish! Maybelline was also riding hard today. She took 2nd place in all 3 of here motos, and taking 2nd place overall. We were so happy to see that they haven’t lost progress and are still determined as ever to peddle their butts off!

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Even better than the girls’ victories today was the sense of ‘team spirit in the house’! We had 7 diablos team members, many from Canada, come out to race with us. It’s always fun to meet new people and chat with others that we don’t see often enough!

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We also had a ‘future Diablo’ join us for her first day at the track with her Strider. Aubrey is the 3 year old cousin of our Diablos team captain, Bill. She made a few attempts at riding the track during practice, but was quickly sidelined and distracted by the amount of people (and her food, LOL), so she decided to warm the bench for the rest of the afternoon. Sounds like she plans to get in some more regular practices and join us again for racing in the next few months!

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Since we were racing locally today, we were lucky enough to also have my aunt/uncle and grandma come out and watch the girls’ race! It’s not very often that family joins us at the track, so this was a special treat for all of us.

Now that we home from today’s adventures, we are focused on getting ready for our Flat Track (quads and dirt bikes) season which begins next weekend. We have to the get the ‘bus’ out of storage and ready to go, we’ve got to get the covered trailer emptied (and figure out where all those bikes will be going for now), we have the kids 2 dirt bikes plus 2 quads that they will be racing (plus a few back up bikes) to get ready to go, and then the small things like gear/food/etc. Meanwhile, school and work is on full force for the next four days (thankfully we all have Friday off though). With all the chores aside, we are SOOOOOOOO excited for the season of ‘2 stroke Sundays’ to begin!

#MotoMom