There is video on Go211.com now of all of the mains from Saturday and Sunday (July 26th & 27th). Hit the “Novice” videos, then you’ll see all of the different ages/groups listed on the right–day 2 is on the top. Lucas races in 5 Novice. I race in 28 - 35 Novice.

http://www.go211.com/u/greatsaltlakenationals08

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Lucas is ROCKING IT! We raced last night and he got another 1st place finish! But one of the newer kids looks like he could give him a good run. In the first qualifying race they battled neck and neck down the first straight with the other boy pulling ahead out of the first turn. Lucas was able to catch and pass him on the second straight but was passed again in the second turn. Lucas was gaining on him going into the rhythm section but the boy in the lead fell. Lucas was able to swerve around him and held on to qualify for the main with a first place finish out of the first round.

In the main event, Lucas pretty much held the lead from the gate but the other little boy, he wasn’t too far behind.

That should be 5 wins for Lucas now! Sweet!

Me? I got another 2nd and Kye Tanner got his first win… we were mostly just trying to put as much distance between a couple new guys in the class who were crashing on each other in the second round.

Curt, Aimee and their girls came out for the races and Sheridan raced her first race in a LOOONG time… maybe since the end of the indoor season? She did well but didn’t make her main. She just needs some more time on the track to get her comfort levels back up.

Curt had his camera there taking some video and photos. If I can get them from him I’ll post them here.

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Well, the Great Salt Lake Nationals have come and gone and what an experience it was! Both Lucas and I raced all three days–Friday, Saturday & Sunday. It was fun to have Curt and his girls come out on both Friday and Saturday and for G-ma and G-pa Barton along with Brad/Sheri’s kids on Friday.

Lucas had some good competition from a visiting boy from St. George who he took 2nd to on both Friday and Saturday–he REALLY wanted 1st on those days! But the big trophies helped him to get over it–that and something sugary-sweet from the snack bar.

But on Sunday, wow! Lucas really turned it up! In his first qualifying moto he had a very comfortable lead but a few bumps into the rhythm section down the 3rd straight he lost control and had a little spill. We visited the paramedic’s trailer for a band aid and he was fine… He qualified for the main easily out of his next moto. Onto the main event… one of his track buddies, Carson, makes Lucas work for it. And work he did! He pushed hard where he knew he could, backed off of the rhythm section to stay in control, and crossed the finish line with a very well earned 1st place! The excited, accomplished look on his little face was priceless–and I have it stored in my mind forever! He collected his ticket with a 1 on it, bumped knuckles with the other little racers, and we headed over to the trophy tent. On our to the tent I told him to give me his bike and his helmet because he was going to need all of his remaining strength to carry his trophy–and I was right! That thing is about 4 inches taller than he is! He was is still so proud! And boy did he get some accolades from our friends when we approached our seats in the bleachers. My little buddy was just beaming!

I’m planning to get some pictures of both of us in our riding gear and on our bikes with our trophies we got… so watch for that. But here are a few photos from that day–one that Curt took while Lucas was getting ready and 3 from Brian Long of TrueBMX.com.

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I got a 1st place finish on Friday and 2nd on both Saturday and Sunday.

And, to add to that, Lucas picked up another win on Thursday night. Carson wasn’t there but a new boy was who could be a challenge for Lucas. So, if I haven’t miscounted, that’s 4 wins for him–half way to Intermediate! If he could do all of those before his birthday which is only 1 month away he could be a 4 year-old in the 5 & Under Intermediate… that’d be interesting. But we won’t focus on that too much and just let him race. Because when he gets that 8th win, he’ll have a new group of kids to keep up with!

I mentioned in a previous post that there would be video of the GSL Nats… that didn’t happen, at least the live webcast. But they ARE uploading recorded footage of the races and that can be seen on Go211.com, so go check it out and check back. Currently there are the pro races–you’ve GOT to see how fast they go!

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I’ve not posted for a bit, but stuff has happened so I’ll throw down a quick update in one post.

We raced on July 10. Lucas ROCKED it and got another 1st place finish–that’s a total of 2 for the little dude. I wiped out HARD in my main–bad start, charged the first straight HARD and railed the smooth and fast paved first turn. I carried too much speed out of that into the first obstacle on the second straight… I had moved from last to the midst of the pack (maybe 4th at best) and ate it! Knocked the wind out of me, bruised me up, broke the visor on my helmet and hurt my shoulder pretty badly…

Shauna and I attended a “retreat” for my work at the Zermatt in Midway over that same weekend (11th - 13th). 2nd year for that–neat place and hanging out with a lot of the people I don’t have much of a chance to was good. But I came down with something–bad sore throat that progressed into something much worse that knocked me down for a week–well, I missed a whole week of work anyway, but still have some icky residual sinusy stuff. And we actually had to come home on Saturday to take Lucas to the doctor as he had a sore throat and ear aches… got him medicated and sleeping and we went back to the mountains.

7/19: Saturday night I took Lucas and Collin out to the Deseret Peak complex in Tooele to race… that was our first time out there and I’m not too certain there will be any others. If I know more people his age and my age are going, then maybe. There were hardly any little kids so he had to race a 6 year-old and a 7 year-old in a total points race (have to race 3 times, best finisher of the 3 wins). He came in 3rd twice and 2nd once. He had a hard time with the 3rd place finishes but was very happy with a second… I thought he did VERY well–especially being a 4 year-old against the older boys.

Our washer broke so we’re waiting on a part… we did a gazillion loads of laundry at the ‘mat down the street from us on Sunday. That’s something not fun!

It’s Monday–well, it was when I started this–and I’m back to work. Catching up, that is. This evening Lucas and I made it out to the track for practice. It was the first time back on my bike in almost two weeks. My shoulder’s still a little tender but not too bad. There’s practice every night this week as the Great Salt Lake Nationals are this weekend–that means a BIG race with people coming in from all over the country (mostly the west, is my guess). We’ve never been to a national race so I don’t know exactly what to expect–other than a LOT more people.

Interested in coming out to the track for the GSL Nationals? Here’s the schedule. We’ll be there for as much of the practicing as we can take–but maybe not Thursday so we can have a day of recovery. And planning to race Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! I do believe the racing will be streaming live on www.go211.com at this link

Also, I helped to coordinate getting Arielle Martin, Utah native and BMX Pro on the X96 morning show on July 25 at 8:00 am. Arielle just missed being the sole woman rider for the USA BMX Olympic team (yes, BMX racing is in the 2008 Olympics!). She literally missed it by 1 point! She’s still the first alternate, however. You can turn your radio to 96.3 FM or your computer to www.x96.com to listen live and ask your questions of her.

Whew! That’s a load of information… and not a single picture!? Oh well, you’re going to be just fine!

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Here are some pictures from our June 2008 trip to Lake Powell. Good trip! Except for the parts where Collin fell out of the boat and threw up all over the truck on the way home…

Lake Powell 2008 June

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Both Jason Gallo (UtahBMX.com) and Brian Long (TrueBMX.com) were taking photos at the races on Saturday, which was a State Championship Qualifier.

After all of the dust settled, I ended up with a 3rd place finish in the first qualifying moto and a 4th in the main event.

Lucas had an up and down day. He didn’t qualify out of his first round but did with a first place finish in round two. Then, in the main event, he was in second place and carrying enough speed to hold off Carson and catch Jake… but for some reason decided to shut it down in the second turn. I don’t know if you’ll be able to see it in the smaller version of these pictures I’ve uploaded below, but he doesn’t have a happy look on his face as he lets the rest of the group pass him in the rhythm section. He later told me “someone told that boy to pass me and I didn’t want him to…” Lucas is fast enough to beat or at least hang with the fastest kids in his class, he just has–let’s say, some “internal demons” to deal with?

Enjoy these 80 pics from the previously mentioned photographers—again, I’ve tried to interleve them into the right order, but I’m not certain if I have them all correct. Click to view larger…

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In the second day of racing for the weekend the rider turn out was surprisingly low–I expected more for a double-points race. For Lucas’ class there were a total of 6, if I recall correctly. He qualified out of the first round with a 1st place finish over the winner of the previous night’s race (Jake’s his name).

For my class, there were only 3 of us… so that means “total points”. He who has the best combined finishes for three races wins. I did well with a 1st in my first race. In the second race I had a good lead but either a dirt demon jumped up from the earth and tackled me or the true “novice” in me took over. I got all squirrely towards the end of the rhythm section, rode off the side of the track and laid it down right in the only place there’s any standing water–the hose hook-up in the third turn. I gave myself a nice mud bath and everyone else a nice show… so that was a 3rd place finish, which means I can’t let anyone beat me because I could lose! In the third race I got off to decent start and put the power down but tried to also keep it smooth so as to NOT repeat my earlier bobble. I got out in front and just made sure that neither of the other 2 guys would catch me… but I think they got a little mixed up a couple times. So, I crossed the line first again which cemented me a win for the night–and my 3rd, total.

Here come the pics of both Lucas’ and my first race of the night (from TrueBMX.com):

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Hot BMX Racing Action! Great photos from Brian Long (TrueBMX.com) and Jason Gallo (UtahBMX.com/bmxpics). They were both there shooting the action, check their sites for more sweet imagery. I “threaded” the photos into the correct sequence from both photogs below…

Lucas ROCKED his first race–his round 1 qualifier. He and Carson were going neck and neck the whole track but Lucas pulled of the 1st place finish! Very sweet! But he had a little bit of an attitude (:() as he displayed AFTER the race. Lucas was stopping and he and Carson collided–ever so softly–at the end of the race. Lucas fell and put on his little display.

I rode well in my first race, too, in my round 1 qualifier with a 1st place finish. Feeling pretty good!

There was a “full rack” (8 riders) In Lucas’ main event and he started in lane 1. As the gate dropped, he and Carson and Jake (and more, I’m sure) carried great speed down the ramp. Lucas got a little air and got a little close to some of the other kids. I think this may have spooked him a little… and out came the attitude again. He pretty much just shut it down and quite possibly ended up with the slowest ever registered time to finish a lap! Poor kid. At the end of the race, as he sobbed, he told me he was mad that the other kids passed him… so, we’re still working on the “keep trying no matter what” idea. I thought he had it down, but it appears to need some reinforcing.

So, for my main event we ALSO had a “full rack”. Several new guys have come out to race–and that makes it fun and adds more excitement to the races. I didn’t get a real good snap on the drop of the gate but powered hard down the ramp and over the first couple obstacles to get into third place by the first turn. I charged that turn hard and came out in second place. I’ve been getting a good feel for the second straight’s obstacles and was able to keep some momentum by “manualing” them and got close to Nate’s (a VERY fast new guy) back wheel. Into the second turn he went high so I thought I’d cut low and see if I could set up a pass… bad idea! The lower part of the berm had some loose dirt and I washed out. BUMMER! I was so hoping for a good finish and, I think I could have taken him by the time we would have made it to the stripe…

There’s racing tonight and tomorrow. We’ll try to make both of those and improve upon our mix of finishes… you best be watchin’ in Nate! Muwahhahahhahah!

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Lucas is starting in the gate all by himself… he started doing that a few weeks ago. But last night at practice he came over to me as I was pushing Collin over the last jump on the last straight and proclaimed, “Daddy! I can balance in the gate all by myself!”.

I knew he was getting closer since he started riding the bigger bike–but WOW! It was only a few months ago that he was throwing a fit if I didn’t hold him up by his handlebars!

Here’s a pic of him in the gate:

When we get to the track I don’t hardly have to do a thing for him now–which is GREAT for when I have Collin with. And if Collin isn’t with, I can get more practice time in. We just get out of the car, he gets geared up and takes off on his bike!

Now I’ll have to try to get some pictures of him jumping… or trying to jump. He does get both wheels off the ground at the same time though. And he’s 3 months from turning 5! Dude, I’m stoked for the little guy!

Here are some more pics of him:

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