"Doesn't that scare you?"

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that, I'd have enough dollar bills to make a stripper jealous. 

Yes, motocross is an inherently dangerous sport. Yet, so is football. I bet no one questions football moms. 

So why motocross? 

For starters, the boy loves his dirt bike. He's a high strung kid. On a dirt bike he is able to let loose and let'er rip without getting yelled at to chill or calm down. He's free on that dirt bike. (Unless he's acting a fool on his pit bike but that's a-whole-nother story)   

The life lessons Wyatt is learning now far surpasses anything he would learn playing any organized team sport at his age level. Motocross requires a huge amount of discipline, hard work and dedication just to stay remotely competitive. The sheer fact that my 7 year old can size up a 60ft jump, and skillfully nail it with confidence tells me that he knows exactly what he is doing on that motorcycle. 

Sure, my heart skips a beat every now and then. A full gate of 40 riders going into the first turn at National Races make me cringe. But, I know that Wyatt knows what he can and cannot do. I trust him.

When Ronny had the track rebuilt a few months ago, a new (huge) double was added. After a couple days of riding the new track Wyatt told me "I'm going to hit that today". I said go for it. Ronny almost lost his mind seeing him fly over what is now known as Wyatt's Leap. I told Ronny that Wyatt told me he was going to hit it and Ronny said he would have told him not to yet. (Oopsie!) It's only proof that Wyatt knows what he and his bike are capable of. He knows how to choose the fastest/smoothest line, what gear he needs to be in, how fast or slow he needs to be going, how to make a clean pass and how to stuff someone in a corner. He is in complete control.

My favorite moto life lesson? Not everyone wins. There are no participation awards in motocross. Just like there's no crying in baseball. At the tender age of 7 my child knows what it feels like to win, what it feels like to lose, what it means to win and what it means to lose. He knows you have to earn it or you leave empty handed. You have to work hard. Only then will you get a trophy and recognition.

 

Lastly, as a moto family you accept that there is a chance of injury...potential serious injury at that. Wyatt has had his share of crashes and I know chances are that more are in the future. There's also a chance I'll trip and fall down my front porch steps, breaking my neck. Should I not go down those steps? If it's on the big man up stairs books to happen, it's going to happen. There are no guarantees on how life will go, why not live it and take some chances? 

So, that's why. That's why motocross and that's why it doesn't scare me.

 

11 Days Worth Blogging About

Yep. I haven't written in a while which makes me mad, but oh well. Recapping the last week and a half will make up for it.

Last March we went to Texas where Wyatt won the 4-6 Special Limited Championship at the James Stewart Spring National at Freestone. In winning that he and all the other Champions secured an invitation to the Champions Ride Day at the Stewart Compound in Florida.
That day finally rolled around on November 17th and it was nothing short of amazing. 

We loaded up the day before and made the drive the Haines City, Florida. We arrived at the Compound around 4PM and we (Ronny, Wyatt, Myself and Ehren) were all like kids on Christmas morning. Screaming the whole way up the drive before pulling into what I have dubbed "Dirtbike Heaven". We bailed out of the truck and went to take it all in.

There it was, in all its glory. Everything I thought it would be and more. A HUGE motocross track wrapping around 2 beyond perfect Supercross tracks. The boys had been watching YouTube videos for weeks leading up to this so they kept looking for specific parts of the tracks. It's a sight to see for sure.  

One by one the rest of the Champions started rolling in and we were up early the next morning for an unforgettable day. We were welcomed by Tom Sheilds of Freestone MX then greeted byt the entire Stewart Family. Unfortunately, James is/was injured so he didn't get on a bike. However, Malcolm gave us all a show on the Supercross track then rode laps with everyone. While the 50's were out he made sure to turn a few laps with each rider. Those laps were the best laps Wyatt turned ALL day! That in it's self made the day. Wyatt loved it.

I said it in a post on Facebook but the hospitality shown by the Stewart Family was amazing.

After the ride day we headed north to Gatorback Cycle Park for a weeks worth of moto during Mini O's. 

Wyatt raced both supercross and motocross. It was the last races on the trusty KTM Jr. Results weren't exactly where we wanted to be but they were due to crashes. 

He's ready to move up and looking forward to getting on the big 50's! 

Catch Up

Well, I got slack and haven't blogged since before Loretta's!
Opps.

So for the sake of having it written down here's a little recap...

Loretta's was the most insane week ever. It was hotter than 4 hells and beyond overwhelming for Wyatt (and us).
The experience was amazing. The racing...not so awesome. BUT he knows what to expect now and I feel like future trips to the ranch will be much more enjoyable with better race results.
He ended up taking a 9th overall in the 4-6 Special Limited Class. With 29 other kids on the gate, we'll take a top 10 finish.

It Happened...

That's right. IT happened.
Buckle up, this is a long one.
If you're reading, I know you saw my post yesterday.
Let me tell you all about how it went down...

In my last blog post I said we had a weekend off before Regionals. Like weekend before last. Not the one that just passed, the one before.
Ya following me? Hope so.

So, that Saturday Ronny and Wyatt decided to go put some laps in at Scrub'nDirt in Monroe. I ran some errands and planned to go watch Jurassic World in IMAX with Mom and Caroline. On the way to Buford I got the call. That call. The call that NO mother wants to receive.

Me: Hello
Ronald: Hey.
Me: Hey?
Ronald: *huge sigh* I guess I'm headed to Gainesville to the ER with Wyatt.
Me: WHAT?!
Ronald: Yeah. I think he broke his arm.
*silence*
Me: I'll meet you there.
Ronald: Ok. Love you, bye.
Me: Love you, bye.

One week before Regionals and we're talking about a broken arm?! I was sick.

Fast forward an hour and they pull into the hospital. Wyatt was in good spirits and had calmed down on the ride. His arm was swelling, but nothing looked out of place.
We waited for what seemed to be an eternity and they took us back to xray. I'm not going to lie. I damn near puked waiting on the images to load on the screen. Images pop up and to my untrained eye I see full bones, I can't explain the relief I felt. She let Wyatt come over and look at them and told him what all the bones were. I thought that was fun, Wyatt thought it was cool. She returned us to the waiting room and said the Dr would go over them and then see us.  Another eternity later we're called back. Quickly she lets us know she sees no breaks. *Thank you Jesus* Gives us a sling and tells us to follow up with Ortho the next week.
The swelling was unreal. Sunday was by far the worst day. We wanted him to rest and I was religiously icing it for 20 minutes every hour. Keeping him still is like having a caged wild animal. Close to impossible.

 So I had to take advantage during naps...

We even had a break down Sunday afternoon. 

He was so mad, worried about Regionals and just plain pissed about being hurt period. 

Monday the bruising started. 

Tuesday was Ortho appointment with progressively worse bruising...

On the way to the Orthopedic Ronny says: I just have a bad feeling about this.
First thing the Dr. says is "Well I see no breaks. We'll put a cast on for a week and re -xray next week and then maybe a re-cast for a couple weeks after that."

Wait. What?! No break? Why a cast?!?

As Wyatt's eyes filled with tears and after me and Ronny were able to speak I explained the importance of the upcoming race. IF there was ANY chance he could do it...we were doing it. He got a bit huffy with me and said we would re-xray right then and make a decision at that point.
Xrays came back and we went over them and again...no visible breaks. He was worried about the swelling and bruising. Once he realized we weren't OK with a cast for no reason he came around to our side and said to wrap it and see how things go over the next few days. Told us he wouldn't recommend it but wasn't telling us no, that if he felt up to racing he could race. We made a follow up appointment for the next week and left.

Wednesday after work we wrapped him up and sent him off on his Honda around the yard. He said he was good to go.
Southeast Regional at South of the Border MX...here we come.

Side note: South of the Border happens to be the weirdest town/tourist trap this side of the Mississippi.

So here we are. The Southeast Regional Championship and Wyatt is riding at about 80%. Of course we wanted to show up to Regionals and kick tail, dominate and pick up a ticket in each class.
At this point I didn't care if it was 1st or 5th. I didn't want my guy to have to do it again the next weekend.
Remember how nervous I've been about this? Yeah, times it by a million.
It was hotter than four hells and humid as all get out.
It didn't help that it monsoon rained Thursday night. Made for an awful day of practice on Friday.
By Saturday(race day) arm looked like this...

Luckily Jessica and Ehren were there to help us keep our sanity.
Plus Wyatt loves him some Mobley and Jessica.
It's no longer Maverick Mobley...it's Mechanic Mobley.

Regionals are 3 moto format. That meant 6 motos in 2 days.

Saturday we got in his first & second moto in the 4-6 Stock Limited class. He made mistakes and like I said he was riding at about 80%. He took 10th in both of those motos. 

First moto of the Special Limited class he finished 3rd.

Sunday was the day...the day you earn your ticket.

First moto of the day was the second round on the Mini...and boy did he kill it. Had a great start and dropped it in a turn and went to next to last. He worked his way back up to another 3rd.

Next moto was the last of the Stock class. He had a terrible start...dead last by the 2nd turn. He managed to work back up to 9th for a 9th place finish overall. Putting his KTM in the top 10 with all the Cobras (my moto peeps will get that). 9th is not in a qualifying spot, but that was ok. We wanted the other class.

Now for the last moto. All he needed was a good start and to stay on 2 wheels.

He did just that. He finished the moto in second for a second overall.

He did it. He's headed to The Ranch! 

We couldn't be more proud.

 Loretta's 2015 here we come.  

Muddy Creek

There's nothing muddy about this post. Just the name of the track we hit last week.
We left out Thursday night for Blountville, TN, arriving at the beautiful Muddy Creek Raceway around 11PM. Which happens to be one of my favorites. It's one of the best spectator tracks we've been to.

This race was kind of special. It was Amateur Day(s) for the RedBull Tennessee National.

Friday, Wyatt raced in the 4-6 and the 4-8 open. The track was rough. Which is what we went expecting. Wyatt hated it, Ronny loved it. He finished up with a 2nd and 4th respectively.
Once again, that sneaky Brian Converse was scoping out the track for the Pro National and grabbed a couple awesome shots.

So that was Friday. Saturday was the fun day. We woke up to the sweet sounds of  factory bikes ripping the track for practice. The pits opened at 9 so we headed that way shortly after.

Before I get into what happened in the pits let me go back a couple months...
When we went to Daytona in March for the Ricky Carmichael Supercross, it was kind of the same deal just on a much larger scale. Supercross on Saturday then Amateurs the following day. Ronny and I went to the pits before the Supercross without Wyatt. We scoped out what times everyone was signing autographs and tried to come up with a game plan. On the way out we pass the RCH rig...there's about 6 people standing in a line. I say "Hey, I bet that's for autograph tickets. I'll stay here you go get Wyatt." Ronny asks a girl a the tent and she tells him no that's for something else. I still wanted to stay but Ronny said "It'll be fine. Lets go get Wyatt. We'll come back and get a ticket". Mind you, all Wyatt wanted out of the entire weekend was Ricky Carmichael and Ken Roczen's autograph. We go get Wyatt and head back to the pits. Upon returning we find that the line is huge. Chick lied! It was the autograph ticket line! Ronny jumps in line and we wait; slowly moving toward the man handing out the equivalent of Willy Wonka's Golden Tickets. The last ticket is handed to the man in front of us. Talk about total disappointment. I'm not sure who was more mad, Wyatt or me. Mark that as a big 'ol pisser.

Now back to Muddy Creek. We take off on the forever long walk to the pro pits.
First tent we hit was Honda. Cole Seely pic & autograph right off the bat. Wyatt was pumped.

We start walking along and Ronny darts off between 2 rigs...we follow.
There's my man Chad Reed...who was super nice and just a gorgeous in person.

While waiting in line for Mr. Reed, Ronny went to see who else was out signing.
Me and Wyatt get our goods and start looking for Ronny. As you can see Wyatt was decked out in Roczen swag so we went on a hunt for his rig. I knew Ronny would eventually find us.
After wandering around for a bit we find Ronny to learn the exact same scenario as Daytona happened AGAIN!
Seriously. Twice?! My poor baby is never going to meet him.
Luckily Marvin Musquin was singing at the KTM tent and that perked Wyatt back up. We didn't get a pic with him though. His mechanic was trying to get him to come in the rig and he kept signing..I thought that was nice of him. Made lots of kids happy.

At noon racing began. We got a spot on the grass next to the start gate and roasted in the sun...even got rained on a bit.

Oh and that chick you see there in the khakis, blue tank top & hat...I should have gotten another picture of her later in the day. That tank top got rolled into a bandeau. It was a sight to see.

By the time the second motos came around Wyatt was spent. We went back to the camper, Wyatt and I enjoyed some AC. Ronald watched the second motos.

Sunday we were up bright and early for another day of racing for Wyatt.
He raced the same classes and finished the same 2nd & 4th. His lap times improved greatly...but unfortunately so did everyone else's. Also had a couple crashes, all in all it was a good day.

This weekend we're off and next weekend is Southeast Regionals. Yeah, just typing that has my stomach in knots. Good thing is Wyatt is chill. He told us "Guys, it's just a race where if you do good you get a Loretta's ticket. It's just a race." He's cool as a cucumber.
Maybe I'm getting all his nerves, which is OK. I'd rather be the basket-case than him.


Next blog will be post Regionals...Hopefully to show off that Loretta's ticket.

On that road...

The Road to Loretta's that is. 

For my non-Moto peeps let me bring you up to speed and break down this "Road to Loretta's" real quick. 

You start with an Area Qualifier for specific Regions. Near us there's obviously the Southeast Region followed by...Northeast, Mideast and South Central. You must take a qualifying spot an an Area Qualifier to advance to that Regions "Regional Championship". You can qualify in as many as you want, so you have more than one Regional Championship to compete in case you don't qualify. 

In Wyatt's classes they take the top 8 at the Area Qualifier to advance to a Regional Championship, then they take the top 5 at said Regional.

That top 5 finish at a Regional Championship gets you a coveted ticket to compete at Loretta Lynn's Ranch. Yes, that Loretta Lynn. The coal miners daughter hosts THE largest Ameteur Motocross event at her ranch in Hurricane Mills, TN. 

Ricky Carmichael, Travis Pastrana, James Stewart and many more guys we watch on tv each week crossed the gates at Loretta Lynn's. 

Insanity. 

Now that you're caught up...What we've got going on is the Southeast Regional Championship the 3rd weekend of June. We have a back up Regional the next weekend if (Lord forbid) we do not qualifiy in the SE Region. 

If things go our way at Regionals Wyatt will be training harder than ever to prepare for his trip Loretta's in July. 

So, all that being said...pray I don't loose my sanity. Freestone was nerve racking enough, this is a whole'nother level. We're takling the fastest kids in the country, the whole frigging country. 

There are no words. 

I'll leave you with some super awesome shots by MotoOne aka: the amazing Brian Converse from last weekend at Lazy River. 

Never Trust Siri

Tuesdays are my day off so I got to tag along for a ride day with the boys. 

We got Wyatt from school early and went down to Scrubndirt. There were only a handful of people there so it was nice. Wyatt and Ronny put down a ton of laps. I did my my MotoMom duties and kept their lap times. 

The weather was fabulous. 

Wyatt was throwing huge no footers over the giant tabletop managed to not go down a single time. He was killing it. However...The highlight of the day was screaming "SQUID" at Ronny across the track as he barrel-rolled through a corner in true squid fashion. It was more than epic. He may or may not take me with them anymore. ;)

Now on to why you can't trust Siri and the events of last weekend...

In case you didn't know, I work for a vacation rental company in Sautee/Helen.
Something I do on the daily is tell people NOT to use a GPS/they're phone to find the way to our cabins, much less to our office.
That being said, we left out Friday after work headed to Thunder Valley MX in Livingston, TN for a Mideast Area Qualifier.
I had mapped it and felt like the best route was over to Dalton and catching I-75 North there. Ronny plugs it in his phone and finds another route through Blairsville. His route showed 20 minutes faster than mine. He won the battle. Over the mountain we went.
Once through Blairsville we went to Murphy then turned on to some road that I can't remember. I do know we went by "The Field of the Wood"...if you've been there you know how small this road is. (Remember we're pulling a 30' camper.)
Off that tiny road we made another turn and Siri tells us we have 47 miles on this road.

47 MILES on this pig trail!

It reminded me of HWY 197 in between Clarksville and Lake Burton but smaller. We eventually returned to civilization in Telico Plains, TN and finally onto I-75 North. We hit I-40 for a bit and then made our way to Thunder Valley MX...just before the gates closed at 11PM. I'm not sure if we really saved any time, but we now know how not to go.

Saturday was race day. Top 8 move onto the Regional.
The track was nice and looked like a track Wyatt would be able to do well on.
He finished 2nd & 3rd. Not the results we wanted, but they're qualifying positions so that's fine by me. He aired out some big tables and doubles. He was the only little 50 hitting them, so that was pretty awesome. The Mideast Regional is a regional we hope to not need. It's our backup plan if the Southeast Regional doesn't go our way. 

After the race, while were packing up we realized that there was a Sunday race at Echeconnee (near Macon). So, I mapped it and it was 4.5 hours home or 4.5 hours to Echeconnee.
Ronny asked Wyatt and of course he chose racing over a ride day at home.
So we were South bound by 4:30.

After a bit of confusion on where a Walmart was in Chattanooga, we made our way down to Lizella, GA.

Echeconnee was voted "The Best Track in Georgia" and self proclaim "The Best Dirt in the South"...it was even on the plaques. More like "Best Sand in the South", but whatever. It's a tough and rough track so it's good for getting the hang of riding rough stuff. 

Wyatt went 1-1 in the 4-6 Stock and 7-11 in the 4-8 Open. He was one of 2 little bikes on the gate and had a couple gnarly crashes in the open class. The track was rough, as expected. We were pleased, he rode really well in the conditions. 

This weekend is Aonia Pass, one of Wyatt's favorite tracks. It's a Southeast Area Qualifier, so should be fun.