Welcome to Quick Fill. It's hard to believe that racing season is finally here! Most of our GNCC crew has already migrated down south as the first ATVMX race is taking place at Aonia Pass this weekend. Most of the guys are going to hang down south all week to ensure that everything is rearing to go when y'all arrive to River Ranch next weekend.
Speaking of GNCC Crew, everyone here is pretty excited to welcome Barry Hawk to the office. Finally, I'm not the newest member of the staff here! His first official day of work was Monday, and I believe he was on the road by Wednesday. Maybe we'll check back with him in a few weeks to see which side of traveling he likes better, ha!
In case you haven't noticed, we have sent out a lot of information lately about sponsors, contingencies and everything in between. Most of the contingencies have been updated on the website to the best of our knowledge, so check 'em out. Also, I literally just got word from Leatt that they will be offering a contingency program this year, click here for the press release.
Photo By: Courtesty of Baylor's
Steward isn't the only Baylor competing for championships
We've been doing a Photo Caption Contest every week on Facebook and I must say, I'm very impressed with the GNCC Facebook fans. The captions are hilarious and I wish we could pick more than one winner every week. We'll keep it going with the (4) free gate admissions for a while; so don't miss your chance to get some free stuff!
We just talked to Mama B and it sounds like Steward Baylor has been on it in the off-season, finishing 3rd last Sunday at the SE&TRA Cherokee Enduro behind Bakken and Buttrick. And apparently, his sister Jordan killed it in the Miss BHP Sophomore Class Beauty contest , taking home the win as the lucky #14. Way to go Baylors!
Here's a link to the Cycle News article from the AMA East Harescrambles Opener, check it out!
I'll pass it along to Shan Moore.
Thanks, Jen. Just over a week to the first race of the year and a few of the bike contenders will be getting in one last warm-up this weekend at the opening round of the national enduro series in South Carolina. I know Charlie Mullins, Cory Buttrick, Thad DuVall and Michael Lafferty will be there for sure. The South Carolina race is a sandy one, which will give the guys plenty of practice for River Ranch.
In the meantime, the opening round of the OMA series was this past weekend and several of our guys raced that event, with Paul Whibley and Jordan Ashburn finishing second and third behind winner Russell Bobbitt. Jimmy Jarrett finished fourth in his debut Honda ride for the JG Off-road/GEICO Powersports team. Jarrett's teammate Scotty Watkins was sixth behind Husaberg's Nick Fahringer, while Kenneth Gilbert was seventh.
One of the coolest things about this new season is that we will have three new manufacturers involved in GNCC racing on the bike side of things, with Honda, Beta and Husaberg all fielding teams. Chris Bach will head up the American Beta effort, while Jarrett and Watkins are the Honda-backed entries. Meanwhile, Michael Lafferty and Fahringer will ride select races for Husaberg.
Photo By: Jason Hooper
Jordan Ashburn took 3rd at an OMA last weekend
Over the next four weeks, we will discuss five key components that GNCC riders need to focus on to finish long races strong: Consistency & Specificity, Anaerobic Endurance, Flexibility, Nutritional Support and Sleep.
Component #1: Consistency & Specificity
Speed is a result of two specific variables - physical fitness and specificity. You won't become a fast racer by climbing rocks. At any level of racing, speed requires two elements. First, the pattern of joint and muscle coordination must be specific to motocross (accomplished with the help of a riding coach). Second, speed must place specific demands on the muscles and associated energy systems (accomplished with the help of a human performance coach).
Through a yearlong fitness program that is based on the scientific overload principle, a racer is moving his or her level of speed to the next level incrementally from month to month. This is evaluated through field-testing and analysis. If the workloads are appropriate and rest follows, the body will respond and your overall fitness and resulting speed will develop. This is where consistency becomes factored into the equation.
Your sleep patterns (to be discussed in upcoming weeks), your pre race warm up, strength, flexibility and nutritional programs should not be adjusted too drastically from week to week (unless something is obviously missing). If you need to make adjustments to your program, keep in mind that your body needs approximately four weeks to absorb the new program elements and commit it to muscle memory, so get busy to ensure you are ready come race week!
One more thought regarding consistency and specificity - you need to make sure that you are training & subjecting your body to the exact conditions that you will experience during your race weekend: ride at the same time your race will begin, establishing an eating and hydration plan and apply it to your race speed (very important that the intensity level is accurate) and having a specific warm up and stretching routine prior to racing. Keep in mind that races with a long pre-staging wait will require you to develop some sort of pre race routine that is applicable to this long wait time and incorporate it into your daily warm up routine - remember specificity!
Next week we will discuss how aerobic and anaerobic training translates into speed and never getting tired! If you have any questions, please contact me at robb3@earthlink.net
8-Time Champion Barry Hawk is the newest member of the GNCC crew, welcome!
First, I'd really like to thank Rodney for taking the time to do Tuesday Toolbox with me this week. I've always secretly wanted to do it, and was pumped when Rodney asked me if I would. If you didn't get a chance to read it stop everything you're doing and read it NOW! Just kidding, I'm not really that vain! But there is some cool info on how I got into GNCC Racing which might not be too far from a lot of you out there, as well as some more info on that TV schedule that we'll be offering in 2011.
Last week I gave you all a little teaser about something I'm super excited out--the 2011 Offroadfantasy.com GNCC Fantasy League. Keith Obermeyer of Obermeyer Yamaha (former sponsor of Charlie Mullins and current sponsor of Jordan Ashburn amongst a list of others) was kind enough to hook us up with a Yamaha TTR-110 that will be kitted out with custom RidePG.com graphics that we'll be giving away to the overall top point scorer for the season. We've got a ton of other prizes for each round and with a reduced entry fee of only $10 I guarantee you it'll be the most fun you have all year for $10 that doesn't involve a dancing girl and a shiny pole!
I talked to Fred Andrews today, he's down in Florida testing with his FAR/Husqvarna team and he told me that Morgan Moss is absolutely flying. Moss has been riddled with injuries the past year--it was about this time last year he tore up his knee which delayed his racing almost the entire season--so we never really got to see his true speed in the XC2 class. With Kailub Russell out of the class the smart championship bet theoretically would be Moss' Husky teammate Jason Thomas, the runner-up in the class the last two seasons. But, with young kids like Moss and KTM's Steward Baylor on the gas along with more experienced racers like Josh Weisenfels, Scotty Watkins, and Jesse Robinson, I can see the XC2 title fight being a tough one.
Thanks Jen. I know everyone is getting geared up and ready for the start of the season. Me too! Right now I am on my way to Aonia Pass, site of round 2 The Maxxis General GNCC and we are kicking things off with the opening round of the 2011 AMA ATV Motocross Championship. Trail Boss Jeff Russell, Lt. Trail Boss Buren Hamrick, BARRY HAWK and the crew are already there getting things laid out.
I don't really have a lot on the GNCC front but I did get this note from Shane Watts on the upcoming Hardcore Schools he has coming up:
Offroad motorcycle racing legend, and renowned skills instructor, Shane Watts has announced the confirmation of two of his wildly popular two day "DirtWise with Shane Watts" Academy of Offroad Riding Schools, one of which will be a "HardCore" Advanced school, to be conducted in Ford City, PA (near Pittsburgh). The dates are as follows:
June 2/3 (Thurs/Fri) - "HardCore" Advanced School. Cost for this school is $450 which includes a $225 deposit due upon registration.
This HardCore school is appropriate for the higher skilled riders only. Please visit the "HardCore" page on www.shanewatts.com to make sure this school is right for your skill level and goals.
Wattsy has a full schedule of his DirtWise schools in 2011
Also, don't forget about the upcoming DirtWise schools to be held in Milledgeville, GA on February 25/26 (Fri/Sat) and Chatham, VA at Rivers Edge Outdoors on March 10/11 ("HardCore" Advanced) and March 12/13 (Regular). There is limited space remaining so if you are interested in attending send us an email to dirtwise@shanewatts.com for more info on how to sign up for these schools and to receive the Event flyers.
We are stoked that we will be conducting a DirtWise school in Crawfordsville, IN at the site of the Ironman GNCC. After announcing this last week this school is now Sold Out! Due to the high demand and interest we are working on hopefully conducting another DirtWise school at this same venue later on in the year. Be sure to visit www.shanewatts.com to sign up for our Newsletter, which will immediately update you on all of our latest news and info as soon as it is released. Cheers!
That will do it for me. Till next time God Bless Your Hearts and All Your Vital Organs!
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