Round 1! Sumter, South Carolina

    So I decided to do this blogging thing for a few reasons. One, I've never seen a racer blog and believe that our sport is one of the most fun and unique sports on the planet and not enough people get to see it, especially through our eyes. Two, because I've never read a blog by a dirtbike racer I think it's a great way to publicize myself so if you are one of our sponsors reading this, hey. If there is anyone who wants to be part of our journey feel free to contact me at Seankoeller521@gmail.com. Lastly, I know most of you probably don't care about this. Like I said I've never ever read a blog because frankly I'm busy doing this whole racing thing and I don't care, but with my family being all together, enjoying something we love, and making memories along the way it's something worth documenting.I hope you stop by from time to time and see what we're up to. Without further ado, Round 1.

Wyatt @ Battery Park

      (Pre-Race)

      I'm writing this post in hindsight; Sumter, South Carolina is the first round of the series and took place February 5th. With that being said I might be a little foggy on some details; lets face it, I can't remember what I ate for breakfast. The week before the 1st race is probably my favorite week of the whole year. We clean our bikes like new and replace plastics and graphics, new gear gets unpackaged from our great gear sponsors, Answer racing, Scott goggles, and Bell Helmets. The bikes get new sunstar chains and sprockets and wrapped in Dunlop tires, everything is brand new and fresh before we literally drag it through the dirt for the next year. Not only do we get freshened up but myself, Wyatt, and Noah plan to head down a few days early to one of our favorite riding spots, Battery Park Offroad, in Nesmith, South Carolina for a few days of practice, photos, and breaking in our bikes.
     The trip down was pretty uneventful apparently because I literally don't remember anything about it but we arrive at Battery Park bright and early Thursday to a beautiful day, and that's when it all goes wrong. The sun is shining, its 70 degrees and we're lacing up our fresh gear and boots to take some poster-style shots when I go to start my bike, NOPE. I check everything, Spark, air, gas, it has it all but won't start; now I'm pissed. The sun is baking the back of my neck, sweat pouring down my face, but I decide to hop in for pictures and tackle getting this started after. Fast forward 45 mins and the photos are done and I'm stripping in the parking lot because we just left 22 degree New Jersey and it's like the Sahara out here. Finally after taking the tank off my bike, flooding the engine, replacing 2 spark plugs, and spending 20 mins on the phone with my dad I finally find a rag stuffed way down the airboot; I actually contemplate finding something tall to jump off when Noah comes sputtering up to me. After riding for 20 mins a crank seal on his freshly rebuilt Husqvarna 150 failed and he's done until my dad can bring the parts to fix it. Wyatt and I spend the rest of the day enjoying miles of great single track while dialing in our bikes and much to our surprise have the whole place to ourselves.
     Friday morning we wake up in our van to the sound of rain pinging off the roof, its roughly 9:30 am, raining, and 45 degrees; talk about a 180. The rain subsides as the morning rolls on and a half dozen trucks roll in; more enduro riders coming to practice before the race. We meet some cool guys, hey TJ and Kyle, and ride for a few hours before loading up our stuff and waving farewell to Ashley and the crew that run Battery Park. Our next top is Sumter where the rest of our family will be meeting us the next day.

The whole family together, the best part

     Saturday morning my Dad, Uncle Kerry, and Aunt Joyce arrive with a box of supplies and we head to the race site to sign in, fix Noah's bike, and get ready for the race the next day. Luckily we've got a big boxvan to stay out of the wind because a cold front came through and its bitter out, the wind is ripping, and its in the upper 30s. We're also lucky Noah's ride was a relatively easy fix and he's perfectly good to race. A few hours late as usual Tommy and his wife Katie show up; we all sign up and head back to the hotel before a family dinner and a good nights sleep in anticipation for the coming event.

My Dad and I Before the start

    (Race Day)

   6;30am, Alarm blaring and after a restless nights sleep I'm awake. I nibble on a light hotel breakfast as I pound water getting ready for the day. Kerry and the boys come down as we're on our way out the door, I start on row 29 as I'm preseeded into the race because of last years results while the rest of the family is on row 94, so they start at 10:34am while I start at 9:29am.

9:29am, I'm off! Its FREAKING cold, so even though the first mile or two isn't actually part of the race I ride it quickly so I can stop before the first section and warm my hands and body up. The first piece is absolutely destroyed, I realize that it is identical to last years race and let me tell you, it was outrageously rough. Before I know it I have the worst arm pump of my life and promptly pinball off a root and find myself off the trail in a bush. One of my friends, who ended up winning my class for the day, Thorn Devlin, passes me from a minute behind and boy is that disheartening. I struggle though the next few miles before last years Pro champ Russ Bobbitt comes by me from 2 minutes back, at this point I'm just making up new curse words and yelling to myself but can't even pull in my clutch because my arms are so pumped and end up crashing once more before the section is over. The piece is over and I'm sitting at the van with my arms above my head trying to figure out what just happened as my dad attempts to break up the lactic acid trying to burst though my forearms.

     Approx. 10am. I ride towards piece #2 still trying to shake the arm pump, I never get arm pump so I'm completely flabbergasted at whats happened as I try to regroup. The clock ticks off my minute and I take off again. A little while into the piece I notice how beat this piece is too, again its just regurgitated trail from last years event and is completely hammered. The arm pump is creeping back in but I'm doing my best to work it out when coming off a dirt road into trail a vine rips me off the bike and sends my Husqvarna flying into a downed tree. When I pick it up I realized I've smashed yet another brand new pipe; dad's gonna be pissed. I struggle out the rest of the section where Thorn, Bobbitt, and Stu Baylor all pass me as I nurse my beat up bike to the end of the test. When I get to the end we replace the pipe with the spare we brought (I smash a lot of pipes) and I believe my day is basically over after 2 disastrous tests so the pressure is off and we're going out to just lay it down best I can.
 
     Who knows what time it is. Test 3 goes a little better, I managed to ride a little smoother and shake my debilitating arm pump even though we're still riding the same trail as we did last year; are you starting to see a pattern? The same guys blow my doors off but it's the longest piece of the day and I start finding my groove and manage a 38th overall fastest time where my first 2 sections were 60-something and 50-something.

Hopping out on a road during test #2
Darrin Chapman Photo

   Test 4 because time doesn't work with this. I finally start to get my shit together! I still have crashed in every piece at least once but I finally found a groove and although I'm still getting caught by the fast guys on the 2 minutes behind me it's way later in the piece and I can stick with them for longer. Thorn only comes into the test 1 second in front of me. I don't really remember the piece specifically, but judging by my test time this was my best of the day with a 29th overall fastest time.

  Test 5, I guess we'll stick with this format. I remember this a little because I was about a mile before the end of the section and no one had passed me yet! I was finally riding more like myself until I washed the front wheel on a root. As I was picking my bike up I hear a four stroke singing off in the distance, here comes Bobbitt. Russ ended up catching me a few corners later and as I let him by I now hear a two stroke coming. "I don't thinkkkkkk so bud" I grab a handful of throttle and zig zag through the trees. I can see Thorn pass me at one point but the trail goes in every which direction and I manage to drop back in front of him and come into the finish of the piece 2 seconds in front of him, a small victory if I ever had one but I take that confidence with me to the 6th and final section of the day.

     THE FINAL COUNTDOWN, Test 6.  The test isn't the clearest in my mind except for the fact its the A loop, only the A classes (expert), the AA, and Pro classes run this piece. One thing I do remember is that there were a lot of pine needles down and it was super easy to get lost and turned around. I managed to keep it on the trail for the most part minus 1 or 2 points where I thought I ended up in Narnia because I had no idea which way I was supposed to go. A personal best for me on the day, neither Bobbitt or Thorn passed me in this piece. After such a rough start to my day I was grasping at straws to try and take some positives from the day and this was the cherry on top of the pile of garbage that was my day.

Towards the end of Test 6
Kenneth King Photo

    (Results)

     The day actually ended up not being that bad, I was 10th place in the AA class which secured me row 30 for the next event in Florida, as the top 10 in points get assigned row numbers for the coming races. Florida will be my first race with a seeded row earned from racing and not from previous years points. I also ended up 38th overall and while its not my best overall the first round here is filled to the brim with talent; there were 36 Pro riders and 30 AA. Not one Expert beat me which on a day I didn't feel anywhere near my best was a positive. Last year I suffered a mechanical DNF here so I will absolutely take a top 10 to start the season but I'll always have my eye on the top step of the podium.

Noah Ripping though the South Carolina whoops

The Boys!

I can't attest for the rest of the guys days piece by piece other then I'm sure it was even rougher back on row 94! Tommy suffered a blown rear shock in the very first piece and had to replace his with a spare that was not even for his bike, but he finished which is what matters and ended up 37th in A30+. Both Noah and Wyatt finished 5th in their respective classes A200 and B200 in their first races in the higher classes than they raced last year.

Wyatt at speed

We couldn't do any of this without our family, all of them and their support is what makes this all possible. Also our shop Town & Country Cycle Center is responsible for getting us to the races and we hope you check us out for anything you need. We'd all like to thank Dan Duda at Tucker Rocky for the support from Answer racing and everything else he does for us, Dave Ginolfi at Scott Goggles for keeping us in the best product on the market, as well as Kenny Lake at Motive Dezigns, and Chris at 139 designs. I'd like to thank my personal sponsors Bel-Ray Lubricants, Sunstar chains and sprockets, Braking Brakes, and EVS Sports. Noah has to thank his own sponsors; Sidi Boots, Mobius, Twin Air, and Ryno Power.

Tom, Noah, and Wyatt before the start