VCHSS Lake Sugar Tree (Axton, VA)

A few weeks ago I attempted to change the sprocket of my YZ250F in order to ride supermoto at the Carolina Motorsports Park. The impact wrench didn't loosen the nut, neither did the heat from an oxy acetylene torch. My final effort came in the form of a 4ft jack handle slipped over a half inch breaker bar. I knew it wasn't simply going to thread off, but I knew it must be done. I put all my might into the handle and the nut slowly turned - along with the threads of the output shaft.

It was an inevitable outcome, but I was nonetheless disappointed.



I ordered new parts and after a couple of weeks they arrived. It was then that I set to dissasemble the engine to swap the destroyed shaft for a new one.

My friend Brian offered his pristine garage for me to complete the work. Within a couple of days, it was back together. By the next weekend the motor was back in the bike.

On a Friday afternoon, I kick started the bike and rode around my neighborhood to verify that it was in working order. Two days later I loaded the bike onto the trailer and headed to the final round of the VCHSS series - Lake Sugar Tree.

When I pulled the YZ off the trailer and attempted to start it, though, the kickstart was stuck! We removed the clutch cover, but couldn't see much from there.

Again, luck was on my side and my friend Todd offered up his KTM 2-stroke for me to ride.

I rushed to the start line with Todd's bike. Since his girlfriend Charmaine had just finished her race on the bike, we worried there might not be enough fuel for my three laps. Charmaine decided to find a can of premix and meet me after my first lap. Moments later, the start flag waived and I was off!



Adapting to the bike took at least the entire first lap. Even then, I never fully mastered the feel of the clutch. Luckily, though, I erred on the side of slipping it rather than stalling the motor.

Early in the first lap my right foot slipped from the peg. My toes planted on the ground as the bike [and the rest of my leg] continued forward. I was fairly certain I'd sprained my ankle, so I tried to keep it resting on the peg closer to the center of my foot for the remaining laps.

There were several offs, though. One occured at a short, punchy hillclimb. The rider in front of me propelled his bike from beneath his lap and it flipped above both of our heads! It landed on the front wheel of Todd's bike, but neither of us suffered an injury.



By the end of the third lap I was happy to have survived without more serious injury. I hobbled my YZ back onto the trailer and bid my riding partners adieu.

The next day I removed the side case (outside the cylinder, so I could perform this with the engine within the frame). I found one of the gears had a loose nut, which had worked its way up against the case. In a way, it was fortuitous that the kickstarter jammed immediately. The engine doesn't seem to have been damaged by my brief test ride on Friday and I believe the issue is resolved now.

Of course, I'll have to wait until my ankle is healed to know for sure 😁

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Wave Daze (Virginia Beach, VA)

This year's Wave Daze event marked the first time I've ridden my Yamaha Superjet in saltwater. I had my fears of corroded electrical lines, malfunctioning bilge, or general problems caused by corrosion. Luckily, though, the ski had zero issues - despite being tossed a couple times by the shorebreak that pummeled many of the riders upon launching from the shore.

Air and water temps were excellent for the weekend once Thursday's rain departed. Highs in the mid 70's and sunny skies from Friday through Sunday made hanging out to watch the action superb. In the water, however, was a different story. The waves weren't especially large, but the seas were choppy and rough, requiring constant awareness of the next rogue wave headed your direction.

I took two or three runs each day, but didn't spend much time in the surf as I was lucky to stay upright most of the time. Before the event I'd envisioned trying a barrel roll, but once in the water that aspiration quickly disappeared - replaced by the urge to simply surf the waves and survive. Perhaps some time spent practicing on flatwater and off boat wakes is in order before the next round...



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VCHSS Pipsico (Spring Grove, VA)

After a fairly good race at Coyote Run (excluding the bad start), I was eager to see how I could perform at the next race.



The good luck began when my YZ started on the first kick, which allowed me to get into the woods near the middle of our group, rather than at the very back as I'm usually kick-starting for a few seconds while the rest of the line leaves.





As usual, the most difficult part of these races is making a clean pass. I did have a couple incidents, but for the most part the course had enough alternate lines to allow for it. I did get a little balled up, though, during one pass - this caused my chest to hit the handlebar, tossing my GoPro MAX from the chest mount and sucking up valuable minutes while I dissasembled the broken connectors and got it back on its mount.



Overall, I finished in 6th out of 16 riders. It's a result I'm certainly happy with.

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VCHSS Coyote Run (Rural Retreat, VA)

To wrap up an epic weekend on two wheels, I towed my YZ from West Virginia to Rural Retreat, VA to attend the Coyote Run race.

My friend Brian met me at the venue for his first attempt at a Hare Scramble. As I'm still a newb, I prepped him with the limited experience I had on Saturday night before we retired to our respective tent and car-camping abodes.

In the morning, we suited up for the ride and headed to the start grid. Our class is rather crowded, so I told Brian I'd let him go before I began kicking my bike to start.

When the flag waived I paused for a second, then got the YZ fired up and set out after my heat. By the first turn I was within the pack of riders, but when we reached the first climb I was a bit too close to the edge of the soft ground, eventually sliding off the side of the track and having to stop to pull the bike back onto the course.



Yanking the bike out of the ditch took a serious amount of effort, and with the following heats taking off seconds behind ours, I was forced to give way to them.



Eventually I was back on course, but forced to battle back to my heat for basically the rest of the race. NOT a great way to start!



A few dicey passes had me off the bike again, but eventually I made my way through the slower riders. There was definitely some back-and-forth going on as I routinely slid out while trying to pass a rider, only to be passed by the ones I'd just cleared.



Once I reached Brian I knew I was at least within the correct heat, and eventually I noticed another rider in my heat which I was able to clear and continue beyond.

Although the circumstances of my race weren't great, the course itself was phenomenal. It felt very much like a singletrack mountain bike trail with long off-camber sections, and several lines to choose from. Roots were everywhere, requiring split-second weight shifts to keep traction. Near the end of each lap, we'd ride through a creek bed, mimicking the slippery rock sections I'd been navigating in Slatyfork for the past three days.



With one more round near this area, I'm looking forward to another chance at similar terrain. Hopefully next time I'll have a better start ;-)

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Snowshoe Bike Park (West Virginia)

When some friends invited me to ride with them at Snowshoe the same weekend I would be racing a hare scramble in southwest Virginia, I decided not to turn up the opportunity. I loaded up the trailer AND roof tray to carry the dirt AND mountain bikes to wild, wonderful West Virginia.



Since reaching the ripe old age of 41, I’ve opted to ride cross-country more often than lift-accessed parks. One, because I get a better workout – and two, because there’s less chance I’ll suffer an injury.

Since there would be so much driving involved, I decided to extend my weekend by taking off Thursday and Friday to ride XC in Slatyfork, just below Snowshoe Mountain. Both of those days were long and exhausting, so I figured some lift-accessed runs would be a good break before my dirt bike race on Sunday.

It’s been several years since I rode at Snowshoe, but the runs still felt familiar and I had a great group of riders to follow down the track.

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Cape Lookout National Seashore (NC)

Our annual trip to the beach was another excellent weekend in the sun!



This year we invited some friends from Austin, TX to join us. They were going to be visiting Richmond that week, so the timing worked out perfectly!



One of the highlights of the trip was an opportunity to use my snatch rope. A Ford Ranger towing a camper got stuck when crossing the rutted sand on its way down the beach. Although the driver came prepared with boards and plywood to use as traction pads, he would require a bit more to get moving again. Luckily, a few tugs with the Crosstrek were enough to yank him out of the ruts and onto the hard-packed sand near the water's edge.



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Big Bear Bike Bash (Bruceton Mills, WV)

After Dirt Rag Magazine filed for bankruptcy, I was a bit worried that its events at Raystown Lake (PA) & Big Bear Lake (WV) would disappear as well. Luckily, the local riders in West Virginia did not hesitate to resurrect the event near Bruceton Mills. I would assume this is largely due to the existence of an event which predated the Dirt Fest, known as the Funduro.

This time around, the event was called the Big Bear Bike Bash, but it had very much the same look and feel of the Dirt Fest.



I wanted to get in as many rides as possible this year, so Rebecca and I stayed at a hotel near the area on Thursday night, allowing us to work remotely on Friday. Around noon that day, I clocked out and headed to the camplands, set up camp, and joined in on a ride with some camp neighbors.

On Saturday, Rebecca was able to join me. I probably should have devised a better "warm up lap" for her, but I wanted to badly to return to the Little Canaan Trail that I sort of threw her right into the deep end. She handled it well, and soon we were on the more manageable Roadside Trail. At the end of that section, I asked her if she'd like to wait for the shuttle or continue across the road to one of the iconic sections - the Crack Trail. Without a second of hesitation she decided we could both handle a few more miles, so onward we went, pedaling Beaver Creek to Voodoo Rocks, which eventually turns into Crack.

We rode with a couple other riders for this second half. I led us into the woods, followed by the two guys, then Rebecca. A few minutes into the trail I stopped to let them catch up - only to see that Rebecca had passed them both and was the next rider behind me! The guys were very complimentary of her riding skills, which boosted her confidence and gave her even more gumption to try the challenging up-and-over obstacles throughout the ride.

Eventually we reached the rocks which the trail was named after. The first is a narrow path between two large rocks and the second is a tunnel through a rock with a wooden ramp which drops back onto the trail. We stopped at each to snap a few photos before continuing on to the completion of the trail.



Once out of the woods, we pedaled to the country store to reward ourselves with ice cream before boarding the shuttle to return to camp.

On Sunday, Rebecca headed home while I took part in the Feats of Skill & Strength Championship of the Universe Group Ride. I expected it to just be sort of a goof ride, but it actually was a competition!

We started the event with a race near the registration tent - 25 pushups followed by a sprint around the port-o-potties and skills tent. With that "warmup" behind us, we headed into the woods.

The subsequent challenges were "no dab" competitions through technical sections, accompanied by head-to-head races UP rock gardens. Our group of competitors had a great time scoping out the lines, watching each attempt, and laughing about the ridiculousness of it all. Our fearless leader, Chuck Morris, chose to scattter our bikes for a LeMans start for one of the races. We turned around at the count of three and sprinted aimlessly into the brush to retrieve our bikes before pedaling like mad to ascend the rocky route.



At the end of this series of competitions we returned to the registration tent to tally points. I'd been neck-and-neck with another rider named Josie during the event, but in the end I snuck out the win! More than that, though, I got to meet some awesome riders and will be tasked with leading next year's competition :-)

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Lake Moomaw & Jackson River Trail (Hot Springs, VA)

Pedaling a rail-to-trail for my birthday weekend has become a favorite tradition. Originally, it was enjoyed by my wife & myself, plus my mother and her husband. Eventually, though, my brother and his girlfriend decided to join us for the ride. Each year I try to find a new section of crushed-gravel trail to enjoy. This time I landed on the Jackson River Trail near Lake Moomaw in Hot Springs, VA.



Since the trail is so conveniently situated near Lake Moomaw, we decided to tow my jet ski and my stepfather's boat. On friday we spent the day exploring the coves and small islands of the lake, sipping drinks and floating on tubes in the warm sun.



I'd just finished epoxying footholds into my 2012 Superjet, topped off with gray Hydroturf and neon splatter paint to match my '88 650sx.



The ski ran flawlessly and I was even able to coerce my brother into giving it a spin.





The next day we drove to the Natural Well Trailhead, about a quarter of the way down the 14 mile trail. From there we headed to the southern end of the trail, stopping every now and then to take in the scenery and watch the flowing Jackson River as it wound through the woods below us.



We reached the end of the trail in Covington, took a short break for water, then turned around to retrace the 10.5 miles we'd pedaled. On our way back, we dismounted to walk to the swinging bridge.



We'd planned on continuing north to the start of the trail, then back to the cars, but by the time we were back at the Natural Well Trailhead we'd decided we'd rather head back to the AirBnb to dip our feet in the creek while sipping on a cold beer - so we did!

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VCHSS Peninsula Classic (Dinwiddie, VA)

After the supermoto race at VIR, it was time to reconfigure the YZ250. I swapped number plates and wheels, then fitted a new kickstand to the moto. The bike came with Cycra Powerflow plastics, so I had a second set of graphics from SKDA to apply to those parts as well. Within a day, though, the bike was ready for the dirt!

I'd missed a couple VCHSS races (one was during the supermoto), but wanted to make sure to get to this stop, as its venue was only about a thirty minute drive from downtown Richmond. I pulled into the Virginia Motorsports Park around 9am on Sunday, finding some friends to park near. After registration, it was a short ride to the start line where we scoped some of the "moto-style" jumps we'd see for the first time on lap one.

It was obvious that the open sections would be particularly dusty, as we kicked up the silt just walking on them.

As we watched the earlier classes leave the line, my friend Lory & I realized that they were allowing for live-engine starts. When it was our time to go, our entire line started their engines and awaited the green flag. As per usual, I let everyone beat me off the line, immediately losing sight of the ground in a cloud of dust.

As we rounded the first turn, fallen riders emerged from the dust - proof that the holeshot just wasn't worth the effort.

Once in the woods, the logjams began. For some reason (perhaps the tightness of trees), this event seemed to be more prone to congestion. I made my way past a few slower riders, but for most of the first lap we all just simply had to adopt the pace of the slowest rider since room to pass was nonexistent.

Eventually we spread out some, but my intermittent stalls dropped me back into the traffic a couple more times.

After three laps, I saw the checkered flag. My friend Lory was in the front of the pack, so he was able to complete the entire four-lap race, netting a fifth place finish.

During the break between races, I'm going to fit the Rekluse clutch to the YZ in order to eliminate the stalls and hopefully remove one more excuse I have for finishing near the end of our class!



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Supermoto East Coast 2022 (VIR - Alton, VA)

Ever since last year's experience riding supermoto at VIR, I've been looking forward to returning to the track for another round of racing on the asphalt & dirt.

Since I'd replaced my DRZ with a Yamaha YZ250 only weeks before, I was in a bit of a scramble to convert it into Supermoto mode. A second set of plastics meant I could keep my VCHSS number plates and swap over to my SMEC graphics [from SKDA] after applying them. For the wheels, I found a set of Tarazon rims laced to blue anodized hubs on eBay. When they arrived, I set them up for tubeless using 3M 5200, some duct tape & bolt-on valve stems. I changed the oil & filter and drilled the drain & fill plugs while they were removed so that they could be safety wired, along with the brake caliper bolts.

One change that I was incapable of making before the race was swapping the front sprocket for a larger one. On my vstrom, I send a pipe through my mag wheel and trap it on the swingarm. This holds the sprocket still so I can wrench it off. With only spoked wheels on the YZ this method is no longer an option. Impact wrench and rear brake were simply not enough to torque the nut off, so I had to leave the 13t sprocket in place. This resulted in not having QUITE enough speed on the back straight of the course, but otherwise not really an issue.



On Saturday morning, I loaded up the Crosstrek with tools & gear and headed west to VIR. By mid-morning I was unpacking and setting up camp at the kart track.



This time around, my wife was joining me. She arrived that afternoon with the dogs, as did a couple friends and my mother and stepfather. This weekend coincides with MotoAmerica, so convincing others to make the drive is a bit less challenging. The heat this weekend was definitely a factor. Finding shade was critical with the sun directly overhead during the 95 degree day.

Considering the heat, I tried my best to time my donning of the leather tracksuit to avoid sitting around in it for any longer than absolutely necessary. I also made sure to constantly drink water and electrolytes throughout the days of practice and racing.

Once on the track it was clear that I still needed to equip myself with the correct tires, as I chose to fit an 80/20 tire to the rear in hopes of gaining a bit more traction on the dirt section. The lesson learned was that grip on the asphalt is really what matters. In a way, though, it was fun letting the rear "step out" under hard braking. This would have probably required higher speeds had I fitted tackier rubber to the wheels. Luckily I had installed a more road-worthy front tire, so I didn't have any issues washing out in the front.

On the dirt section I attempted all of the jumps except the final double. After witnessing a few riders wreck badly there, I decided that was probably a wise choice.

Last year I competed in SMEC3 (beginner class), so I chose to bump up one level this time to SMEC2 in hopes of joining a larger field of racers. As it turned out, there were only five of us competing in that class. The caliber of riders was significantly higher, as I could only beat out one of the others in order to net a fourth place finish. I will say, though, that I was getting fairly close to the rider in 3rd place during our second moto. Each lap he'd pull away on the asphalt and I'd reel him in on the dirt. When the race was finished, we congratulated each other and laughed about our game of cat and mouse.

After two days in the swealtering heat, I was delighted to pack up the car and blast the AC on my way out of Alton. As I was making my way out of the parking area, Charlie Buffum flagged me down to say goodbye and thank me for making the event. Charlie is easily one of the superstars of this series (in fact, he won EVERY CATEGORY he competed in this weekend!). This is basically equivalent to Axl Rose thanking his concertgoers as they file out of the arena. It just goes to show the overwhelming feeling of inclusivity that this series fosters. Every racer and organizer is approachable and friendly, welcoming the "newbs" into the sport. It's a great time being on the bike, but what's really unique about the series is the mood. Everyone there has a smile from ear-to-ear and the stoke level is palpable. I feel fortunate to have discovered this series and hope to inspire others to give it a try!



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VCHSS Blue Ridge (Martinsville, VA)

With two races under my belt on a DRZ dual-sport motorcycle, I figured it was time to step up to a "real" dirt bike. With some reluctance, I bid farewell to my beloved DRZ400SM, and found a 2018 Yamaha YZ250F to replace it with. The bike's motor, clutch, and suspension had been rebuilt, so I felt confident about buying what would otherwise be a fairly well-used motorcycle. It came with a spare 18" wheel also, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad in the woods despite being built for motocross.

I got one ride on the bike before the race and a crash-course on using the kick-start. Naturally, though, the bike was a bit hesitant to start when the green flag waived, so I started the race by giving the rest of my heat about a 30 second head-start.



Once in the woods, the bike felt in its element. I'll want to soften the suspension for the next event, but otherwise it wasn't too hard to handle.

My main focus was on keeping the bike running, since a stall would mean another round of kick-starting the bike. I was relatively lucky in maintaining this effort until a backup on the trail. A panic stab of the rear brake when I was following closely caused the bike to stall. Making matters worse, my friend Lory was also following closely behind the slower rider, so he slammed into me when I came to a halt. We were tangled for a moment, but eventually separated his brake rotor from my rear sprocket.

With a push of a button, he was off again, while I took a few deep breaths of air before kicking the bike back to life. After this, I was pretty gassed, with fogged goggles to boot.

From that point on it seemed like one stall after another. At one point, a bystander tried to help me kick-start the bike after seeing me wrestle with it for a while. I got it going each time, but at a deficit to my energy level and time.



Despite the setbacks, I finished in 7th place [in a class of 13 riders]. Given that the setbacks were mechanical in nature, I'm happy with the result. I'll be installing a Rekluse Clutch before my next race as well as turning a few clicks out on the compression damper to see what effect that will have.



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VCHSS Central Virginia (Charlotte Courthouse, VA)

My second race of the VCHSS series was another great time! This course, provided by the Central Virginia Trail Riders, was significantly more tight than the previous race, so I decided to play it safe instead of ending up T-boning a tree.



As with the first race, I let the heat leave the line ahead of me, which proved to be quite wise with three riders going down before even reaching the woods.



A few breaks to wake up my throttle hand and swap a GoPro battery kept me way behind the leaders, but it was still a great time getting a bit more experience riding in the dirt.



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Wave Daze - Spring 2022 (Virginia Beach, VA)

This appearance marks my third time at the WaveDaze event in Virginia Beach, but only the first time that I've experienced it in the Spring.



There were two other "events" taking place while we were riding skis in the surf: College Beach Weekend & the Dredging of Rudee Inlet. The College Beach Weekend meant that we had more inquiring eyes watching the hijinx in the water and asking about the physics of it all - questions we're all more than happy to field. The second event, though, meant that the first 100ft of surf was filled with dark sediment - not exactly what you'd like to be swimming in.



I'm still nursing a muscle injury from a snowboard trip about a month ago, so climbing aboard the ski from a start was a bit difficult. I eventually figured out a way to favor my left arm in this process, which worked a bit better.



For the most part, though, I took it easy all weekend - only riding on Thursday and Saturday. The rest of the time I enjoyed watching the action from the shore, taking out the drone for several flights on Friday to document it all.



The rest of the riders were going off! Perhaps a result of waiting patiently for the season to start during the cold, snowy months of winter ;-)





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VCHSS April Fools at Oak Ridge (Arrington, VA)

Ever since I fit a set of dirt wheels to my DRZ400 Supermoto, I’ve been riding the bike offroad as often as possible.



Since I don’t really know where to go to find trails, I decided to join my friend Lory at a Hare Scramble in Arrington, Virginia.

Lory has years of experience riding dirt bikes, but luckily he didn’t mind showing me the ropes on my first ever race.



The classes lined up on race day and left the starting grid at roughly one-minute increments. Since I didn’t want to be in anyone’s way, I decided to forego the holeshot and instead let my heat enter the trails ahead of me.

In the woods, I tried to follow other riders’ lines and keep an ear out for faster riders behind me that might want to pass.



The format for the race is four laps of eight miles each. On the first lap, I had a few slips, but eventually got the hang of slowing for the quick turns without grabbing too much front brake.

Eventually, the entire field of riders was intermixed and I was constantly mindful to give way to the front of the pack as they approached from behind. I wish I could say the same for all of us “slow guys” but I repeatedly witnessed riders logjam the course instead of simply pulling to the side to let the real racers by.



One memorable off happened when I accidentally bumped the throttle, rocketing the bike toward a tree! Luckily I was fine, especially considering that I’m nursing a snowboarding injury from about a month ago.

At a couple points in the race, I decided to pull over to take a breather, drink some water, and generally relax since this was NOT a race in my mind, but rather an opportunity to ride the trails. These breaks meant that I only had time to complete three laps, but that was still PLENTY of riding for what was really my first time ever on singletrack.



The series is packed with races all throughout the summer, so I expect I’ll be attending a few more this season.

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Daytona Freeride (Daytona Beach, FL)

Back in September, before I'd even attended this year's Wave Daze in VA Beach, I decided to sign up for the Daytona Freeride event set for January 2022. Given the load of fun I had at last year's Wave Daze, I was understandably excited to attend an even larger event once the cold winter had settled upon us.



My wife was too busy at work to attend the event, so I decided to go solo. With that in mind, I decided to remove my passenger seat in order to fit the ski inside my Crosstrek instead of hauling the trailer. It worked great! With no more than a few inches to spare, the ski tucked into the hatchback and I set off to Daytona!



I arrived midday on Wednesday, visiting the site to get the lay of the land before heading to my campsite at the Nova Family Campground. I'd stay there until my reservation at Daytona Beach Club began on Friday.



On Thursday I made my way to the beachfront near the Hard Rock Hotel for the first day of riding. I set up camp and got a hand unloading my 650sx from the car.



Unfortunately, my ski was not running well. It had a complete lack of power, so I set out to diagnose the problem. By that afternoon I'd figured out that it was only firing on one cylinder. Too late in the day to continue digging into the ski, I decided to return to working on it the next morning.

Early on Friday morning I pulled the spark plug boots and decided to re-crimp a new end on one of the wires. It worked! I was delighted that such a simple fix was all the ski needed. By mid-morning I was in the water!

Between rides in the surf, I'd walk along the row of vehicles to see the other skis and engage with other riders. I also took to the skies with the drone, capturing some great footage of the more experienced riders throwing spins and flips in the turquoise ocean.



On Saturday morning there was a line of vehicles about five blocks long waiting to access the beach. Eventually the gates opened and we filed onto the sand, packing in what some agreed was the largest crowd at this event in years.



Each day I'd settle in with a new group of riders. We'd help each other launch, keep an eye out for one another in the water, and share stories once back on land.

My confidence must've been increasing, evidenced by the sprained ankle I suffered on Saturday. Although I couldn't pin it down to one particular jump or fall, I believe it was the result of coming down tail-heavy after a jump. I did take one more ride with the injury before eventually packing up at the end of the day.

Moments after leaving the high-adrenaline of the event I was hardly able to put any weight on that foot. That night I skipped the afterparty and chose to ice my ankle instead.



The next morning I hobbled my gear into the Subaru and set off for Savannah, GA where I stayed with a friend. Although I wasn't very mobile, it was great to catch up. My friend couldn't have been more hospitable - even sending me off the next morning with some homemade hotsauce and a "snack pack" for the road. By Monday afternoon I was pulling into Richmond, unloading gear and rinsing the salt water from my ski.

All in all, it was an amazing event and I'm excited to return in 2023!

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