Race one

My first race was a real success. I felt good in practice and I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. There wasn't the usual amount of people racing with it being a non-championship round so they decided to run the A and B class together. I think there were about 26 of us on the line and about half in each class.

Moto 1: My first proper race. The start was crazy, out of pure habit I selected first gear to start instead of second. I'm sure any experienced racer reading this will know that this was a big mistake. Needless to say I nearly flipped the bike on the start. So not the greatest of starts but people got stuck on the first corner and I managed to get a nice clear line round the outside which took me from last to mid pack. My first few laps felt a little stiff and as expected the arm pump kicked in fairly quick. I managed to loosen up a bit by the end but it was definitely the toughest ride I had done so far.

Moto 2: This time I made sure I was in second gear for the start. I was much faster out the gate and was mid pack going into the first corner. There was some pretty big pile ups in the first two corners and I managed to avoid both of them. I felt a lot more confident in this race right from the start and I could tell already that I was smoother and faster. Towards the end of the race another rider on a Kawasaki slowly caught up to me and managed to pass me but then I stuck on his tail and applied some pressure. After half a lap he went down on one of the corners so I passed him and gained a comfortable gap which allowed me to relax a bit. On my last lap I made a mistake and went down on a tight corner. I picked up my bike as quickly as I could. All I could think of was the Kawasaki rider passing me again. Luckily the bike never stalled so I was able to get going quickly and finish without the Kawasaki passing me.

Moto 3: My start was similar to moto 2 and I felt good for the first lap. Then the arm pump set in bad and I began to feel really tired. After a few laps I really felt like pulling in but I was going to stick it out no matter what. One of my goals was to finish all the races. The whole time during the 3rd moto, I thought I was in last place which I think made it even harder. When I finished and came in absolutely shattered, I was relieved to find out that I was actually ahead of a few people.

So the day was a complete success. The track was the toughest I have ridden to date. It got so bumpy going in and out of every single corner. By the last few laps of each race I was so tired I wanted to sit down on the straights but you couldn't because the bumps were so big. It was fantastic to have my family and Hannah come out and support me. Townley also came down in his new Golf GTI which was awesome. Having them there cheering on the side helped me so much, especially on the last few laps of each race where I was barely hanging on, seeing them would give me that extra burst of energy.

I never looked at my results the whole day. Just before prize giving, Coops checked out the board and came back with some good news. I finished 7th overall in the B class and guess what... top 10 get a trophy. So at prize giving I got to walk up and collect my first ever motocross trophy. After collecting it, a distant memory came back to me. I remember at the age of 7 or 8 watching my older cousin collect a trophy after one of his motocross races and I remember thinking to myself, "man... one day I want a trophy with a little dirt biker on top, a motocross trophy!"