Tuesday Toolbox: Cory Buttrick

Cory Buttrick is about to realize an almost life-long dream. From October 12-17, 2009, Buttrick will be competing in the International Six Days Enduro, something he's hoped to do since he was 6 six years old. Now Buttrick has his chance and he tells us about the road to Portugal.

Cory, are you enjoying your Summer Break from GNCC? So far it's been really good. I got to do a good bit of riding so far. I had Walker Fowler staying with me. I got to win some money at Fast Traxx. Doing stuff like that so far.

Are you busy getting ready for the International Six Days Enduro? Yeah, that's pretty much what we've been focusing on all week. That's been our main concern so far, just kind of getting ready to ship stuff over there. Learning stuff about the bikes, working on changing tires.

Using a different bike? It will be the same bike for the GNCCs- the 250XCF

When did you first decide you wanted to do the ISDE? I've always wanted to do it since I was probably six or seven when my dad told me about it. It always sounded really fun. I remember hearing about it and I always saw it on TV.  I thought, 'Man I want to do that so bad.' It's always been my dream to do that, do good, and bring home a gold medal.  It was really an honor to be asked to do it this year.

What did it take to get on the team? Basically just wanting to do it and having the backing to do it. It helped a lot because I knew Casselli. It was also my experiences from racing on the east coast, and just the types of racing I've been doing. Just wanting to do it had a good bit to do it. They always pick a couple of guys from the east and west coast, too.

Why do you think you were picked? I hope a lot of it had to do with my age. You know, we want to do really good (in the future).  The U.S. has never won a 6-day.  I also think they just wanted to start taking young kids. I think the more they can get the young riders trained for the race, the better we can do down the road, or here in a couple of years.

Since you're on this year can you keep coming back? I think I can, as long as I keep doing well.  I mean, you're always going to have top names like Casselli, Bobbitt and Kanney and those guys. A lot of times they'll ask you to come back as long as they like you and you do well.

What do you think of your chances for winning a gold medal? I think they are pretty high. I think I just need to be smart and keep my stuff together. Six days is a lot of time to be on a bike.  But I still thinkmy chances are high, I just need to keep it off the ground as much as possible and keep me and the bike going good and I think I can do it.

I was reading an article online that said the team has a rider for each series, like a WORCS rider, a GNCC rider, an Enduro rider, etc. Do you think that's going to help the team as a whole? I think it will really help because there will be certain days where certain guys will shine. There might be some desert stuff out there where Abbott will do well. Dietrich and those guys from out west will do well. There will be certain days. It's cool to have different riders from all the different series. I think that will really benefit the team altogether. I know my teammate Casselli will do good because he's always done good in the past.

Has your training been different than for GNCC? Not so much. It's a completely different style of racing. I will only focus on going fast on 10 miles a section at a time. It's more of a sprint race than all out for three hours. I haven't changed it up too much.

Now, you've always been one of the most consistent riders, you've had a decent year in XC2, but has it not been what you thought it would? Yes. Entirely. I mean, I've wanted to win a lot more than I've gotten to. I've been in a tough class, Kailub, and Thomas and Watkins...They've really stepped it up. They've shown how competitive the Pro Lites class can be. If you just look at the overall, I think the Lites class has surprised everyone.  It's how hard we've pushed from the get go. Kailub has been getting third and fourth overall and that's just really good.

What are you doing after summer? Every chance I get I'm going to keep training and try to do really well. I just want to keep trying to get some wins. I will try to be consistent on the way out and just put out some good rides.

Your girlfriend is pretty much at every race, she must be good support when you're competing.
It's really good. She's a big help. She's always pushing me to do anything, to ride or get stuff done. It's good to get help all the time. It's no different from my parents pushing me. They help out with so much. Dad has been working all week to get the 6 days bike down.

Did your dad race? Yeah, he used to race in the early 90s. I know he got his first bike right about the time I was born. He used to be in local enduros here in southern Ohio. He hit all those for a couple of years until I got on 50s. He was still riding a lot, but then he started working on my stuff as much as he was riding. He was pretty much being my mechanic. Which is a bummer for him, I want him to start riding some more. Hopefully that will happen in the next couple of years.

Well I wish you the best of luck for the ISDE. Have a good summer break!
Thanks Rachel. See you at the next race!