Virgin BMX - Race Report

[Curtis Newkirk]

Who is heading down for the race tomorrow? Bennett and I are going to head down to Cedar City tonight. He will race tomorrow, then we are planning to hit up Gooseberry Mesa for some MTB.

Anyone else in?

Also, does anyone know if they use the random NBL/UCI cadence?

[dajama5]

Andrew was telling me it is the random gate start. he had a hard time getting used to it. BTW check your inbox.

[mhp800]

No we are not doing the random start as the NBL has not sent us the new chip . They better hurry up as are regional is the last of may and we have to run it .

BILL

[Curtis Newkirk]

Thanks Bill and Doug. Random chip or not, we will be there tomorrow. We are in Cedar City and the Bulldog is crashed hard. We will be looking for some folks to ride Gooseberry Mesa afterward. Even brought the camera!

[b2]

race report?

[Curtis Newkirk]

The track, the people, and the scenery were great. Today was truly an epic experience all around. I would love to tell all, but we just got in, got cleaned up, and it is way past time for bed. More tomorrow.

[Curtis Newkirk]

This will be a little more of a trip report than a race report:

Bennett and I rolled in to Cedar City about 10:00PM and pretty much went straight to bed. Got up a little before 7:00AM, showered, ate, checked out, and we were on the road about 8:00 heading for Virgin, UT.

The track was a little hard to find. We actually missed Virgin on the first pass. I think I blinked. We turned around at Rockville and headed back. This time, no problems. We spot Kolob Reservoir Rd. and head north about a mile to the track on the left.

We have traveled enough with BMX over the years that we knew better than to have high expectations from a tack that is out in the country. Trust me when I say we can tell you nightmares about the kids getting beat up on tracks that are older and unmaintained.

That was not the case in Virgin. We pull up to the track and the place looks great! Big concrete start hill, nicely shaped jumps, well maintained, and good dirt to boot! The track was great and they are in the middle of making some good improvements to the facility. They have some bleachers and some picnic tables right at track side. The scenery is absolutely as good as it gets in BMX. It is truly an awesome location with unobstructed views of the surrounding mountains and mesas.

The people were great too. We immediately met Bill (mhp800 as he is known on this board) and his lovely wife who runs registration. I took a photo of Bill and was going to post it, but he said something about the Witness Relocation something or other, and that I should keep the photo private. He also said he has known Wayne Brown for a long time which makes the whole witness relocation thing make sense. All of the volunteers were great and they take a lot of pride in taking care of the facility and the business side of things. Motos were up quickly and the races were run well.

Other Salt Lake notables in attendance were Brandon and Jordan Smith, The Hansen crew, and Jason Stout. Stout really does not count though because he lives in St. George and just moved from Logan.

The races pulled 13 motos. McKenzie Hansen, Stout , and Bennett all won theirs. Jordan and Brandon split because they had to get back to SLC. Bennett's group was five riders that went 9I, 9X, 10X, 11I, 11X or something like that. Two riders really stood out to me: Mclayne Empey (10X) and Tyler Black (9I). Look for some great things from these kids. Mclayne had great track speed, and Tyler had the best gate I have ever seen on an intermediate rider. Watch out for these kids if they come up to SLC. They will be contenders for the win.

After the races Bennett kept bugging me about going mountain biking on Gooseberry Mesa. I needed some sunglasses so we stopped by a guy at the tracks bike shop in Hurricane. This is where we got to know Quentin and DJ, the husband and wife team that own The Edge Cyclery. The Edge is not what you would expect in a bike shop in Hurricane, UT. They carry nothing but top-quality bikes, and offer great service. Really nice joint run by a couple of great people following their dream. And did I say really nice bikes?

After getting the sunglasses, we headed up to Gooseberry. I had never ridden this trail so I was really excited to see what it had to offer. DJ from The Edge was taking up a friend, Bill, from Colorado Springs. Just as were were ready, they were too so we hung on and she guided the trail for us. We later found out just how good of a rider DJ is. She is also patient because she had to wait on her male riding partners more than once.

We started with the South Loop, and wow, what a fun trail. Relentless, technical fun, and you really need to be on your toes. Lots of steep ledges, and drop offs, with good potential to leave skin on the trail if you make a wrong move. We then went to the overlook, and hit the rest of South Loop on to the North Overlook, then back over to Yellow Trail. All-in all it was about 12.2 miles and three hours of pure, but exhausting, fun.

We were so tired that I honestly did not know how we were going to make it back. This is one of those rare times that I see value in Red Bull. The wings truly carried us back.

I look forward to our next trip down. That was one of the most fun days I have spent on a bike in quite a long time. If not ever. If you are considering going down for the next race, do it. If you are not considering it, you might want to reconsider Good times. Some of the best.

[b2]

Nice write-up. Thanks, Curtis. It sounds like a great time!

Years ago I put some yellow pipe in the ground in that neck of the woods (Leeds, Toquerville, Laverkin, Hurricane, and all of the other areas surrounding St. George) but never had a chance nor the desire to take in much of the scenery on two wheels--besides, it was summer, and after trying to dig in the sandstone in that heat for 10 hours, all I wanted was to fall into a lake or pool and then a cool bed--and for activities, all I had on my mind then was sk8boarding.

But now I'd really like to take the family down there PRE-heat and ride a bike around.

Thanks again.

[Skeleton]

Two riders really stood out to me: Mclayne Empey (10X) and Tyler Black (9I).

Mclayne is a great rider he came up last year for the SCQ's and took the Number 1 Plate for the 9 year olds class last year.

[mhp800]

Curtis

Thanks for the kind words on the track and the fine folks that help out there . We will be racing again this weekend and would like to see some more riders come down . 75 deg this weekend and no snow !!!!

Thanks Bill !!!

[Extreme Team Coach]

Curtis
Wow that was some report ! It sounds like your trip down south was killer Im glad you had a good time with my old brother Bill ! Thanks for all of your support down there. I keep telling Bill we will be down to support him and with all of the traveling we have been doing we just haven't made it YET !! Oh and as 4 the picture of Bill yeah you had best just burn it ! But yes Bill and Wendy are some of the best people you will find we go back oh about 15-20 years.