Shenandoah University, Cool Spring Campus (Winchester, VA)

If you get a fluke 70degree day in February, you take it!

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VCORR Oak Ridge (Arrington, VA)

To prepare for the start of the 2023 season of VCHSS harescramble races, I decided to attend one of the last stops of the winter VCORR series in order to "knock off the cobwebs."



This stop was at Oak Ridge, which will be the same venue for the first race of VCHSS (although it will be a different course).

I felt great at the start of the race, but about midway through my first lap I was getting a bit worn out from riding out of the saddle. I decided to have a seat, but the course was slippery, rooty, and rocky - conditions that were better suited to the "loose and fast" style of riding while standing on the pegs.



I did my best to mix time in the saddle with that of the "attack position," but it was clear that my arms were beginning to feel fatigued. Midway through my second lap I pulled to the side, primarily for a rest and secondarily to reinsert the goPro battery in order to reset my non-operational HeroMAX. With the camera rolling and a bit of rest in my forearms, I took off again, coaching myself to take it easy in order to last the rest of the race. Within a few minutes, though, I was having too much fun and slid out in a muddy corner littered with rocks.

The goPro smashed the handlebar and broke its chest mount, dangling from the auxiliary power cord as I picked myself up off the ground.



After that mishap, I stuffed the HeroMAX in my riding pants and leisurely completed the lap, tossing the camera where I could retrieve it near the race's start line. With these delays, I would only complete three laps in total, which was perfectly fine with me considering how worn out I felt. Somehow, that netted me a fifth place finish in the field of 13. I suppose I wasn't the only rider feeling out-of-shape after too many hours on the couch!

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2023 Daytona Freeride (Daytona Beach, FL)

Now that I've moved onto a Yamaha Superjet (from an '88 Kawasaki 650sx), it seems that riding in the ocean has become slightly more manageable. In addition to the better watercraft, I think these events are starting to improve my skills and sense of balance in the unpredictable conditions of the ocean.



For this event, I was focusing on pacing myself in order to spend longer sessions in the water than in previous years. This strategy worked well, as I navigated the surf and sought out waves to jump here and there, rather than blasting directly into them like a madman!



As usual, I split my time between riding and filming - launching the drone into the air after each session in the surf.





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The NEXT Sweet Schoolbus!

More than 11 years ago, I said goodbye to my original schoolbus. That E350 was the start of this entire adventure, but its spirit has continued strong ever since.

As one would expect, the itch to build another bus did eventually creep in. This time, though, I had my sights set on a larger, more professional build. One that could be lived in fulltime, replacing the permanent brick and mortar home that my wife and I currently live in.

I'd chosen to keep the project somewhat of a secret until some major progress had been made. Although I'd purchased the bus this past summer, the warmer months got away from me and I'd accomplished only a few of the steps necessary in outfitting the 2011 International PB105. I decided I'd kick the project into high-gear over the winter months, scheduling one of the larger tasks, a roof raise, for the Christmas holiday when my coworkers would be out of the shop and I'd have a suitable shelter & tooling to accomplish the rather daunting undertaking.

On the Thursday before Christmas, I pulled the bus into our shop and began the process.

The next week was a whirlwind. 4am-4pm work days resulted in reconnected hat channels and caps on the front and rear transitions. The Saturday before returning to work, three friends helped me slide the new sheet metal into place and the following day I was cleaning the workspace and moving the bus back into its place in the parking lot. All that remains is probably two days of grinding, seam-sealing, bondo, and riveting.



The next phase will be a solar & electrical consult with Chuck Cassady of Chrome Yellow Corp, before strapping the walls (for hanging interior walls & ceiling) and routing the wires behind them. Once those are in place, I'll have the walls spray foamed before mounting the interior panels. I hope to have that next phase complete by Spring, allowing the rest of the projects to be organized into "bite size" tasks.

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Mudmart

Since spraining my ankle at the final round of VCHSS, I haven't been on my YZ. Since the kickstart had malfunctioned that day, it had not actually been ridden [hard] since its rebuild.



On a fluke 70 degree day in January, I decided to trailer the bike to work with the hopes of clocking out a couple hours early. That afternoon I met two friends at "mudmart" and we tore around the woods for the rest of the day. Not a bad way to spend a Monday.



One friend, Andrew, decided he'd slid around long enough and traded his Yamaha Tenere 700 for the DSLR camera. He got some great shots as we finished out the day.





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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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