Tuesday Toolbox with .... Mandi Mastin

Geico/TDI Racing’s Mandi Mastin is once again the GNCC Women’s Champion!

We gave Mandi a call on Monday afternoon to find out her plans for this weekend’s GNCC in St. Clairsville, and how she’s preparing for the upcoming International Six Days Enduro in Chile.

Words by Jenn Sheppard
Photos by Dan Brockett-- Geico/TDI Racing

Hey Mandi, how’s it going?

It’s good. I’m tired.

Did you have a race this weekend?

Yes. We were up in Wisconsin for the AMA National Harescramble. We just got back this morning.

How’d you do?

I got first. It was a good track.

Mastin's a happy champion (again).

You must be busy racing all three series?

I do the National Harescrambles, National Enduros and the GNCCs so, I kind of use the harescrambles and the enduros for my training for the GNCCs. Now that it’s getting toward the end of the year, I’m using it for the Six Days to kind of just keep me busy on the weekends.

Which one is the most difficult, in your opinion?

They’re all so different in their own. The GNCCs are definitely difficult because there are a lot more riders there, so passing and all that is difficult. Where the enduros are longer. You have 70 or 80 miles that you’re riding throughout the whole day, and it’s a lot more technical riding versus the GNCCs. The harescrambles are kind of in-between. Some of them are technical and some of them aren’t, so I don’t know, I’d say that the enduro’s are probably the toughest for me, because I don’t train for the long distance stuff. I really train for the GNCCs.

Which one do you like better?

I like the GNCCs a lot better. There are just a lot of people I know there. The races are more centrally located where I live. The GNCCs are definitely my favorite.

You just wrapped up back-to-back Women’s championship at the last round in North Carolina. How’s it feel?

It’s actually my third championship, and I’m really excited. Each year, the Women’s series just keeps growing and growing. Actually this was a more difficult year, because Kacy Martinez is back from California and she’s a really good rider. She’s young; she’s only 17. It takes a little while to get used to the eastern riding, so I look for next year to be really difficult for me because she’s going to get it figured out, and I’m sure she’s going to be right there on my tail every race.

The Mastins are a racing family.

That makes for a battle, though?

It makes it good. The more women, the better. That’s what we got to have to keep the sport and women growing. We have to have twenty riders on the line. That’s what we want.

I read somewhere that you’ve said, “Not too many men like finishing behind a woman, so that is what inspires me to keep competing and pushing myself to be a better rider.” Is that true?

I’ve been riding since I was like six years old. I started back riding motocross. Here, locally, I was a pretty good motocross rider for a local. Then in 2000, I started riding the off-road stuff, and men don’t like it, but I think at the same time, they look at it and they’re like, ‘wow, that’s pretty good,’ so not too often do you get some that’s really bad (about racing a woman). But when you go out and a woman beats them, I think they learn to accept it and they’re accepting the women in the sport.

Do you ever find it difficult to pass those riders who are not in your class, especially when they see it’s a girl behind them; I know I used to…

Now that the Women for the GNCC are starting up towards the front, it’s not quite as bad because we don’t have a whole lot of people to get through, but they want to race you. No doubt. I think they want to, but they’re pretty good about getting over after a little while.

I heard you might be racing an afternoon class coming up here soon?

I’m hoping this weekend at St. Clairsville, I’d like to ride the afternoon. Just try it out and see how I do. It’s an extra hour, so that’s going to be tough, but it’s also going to help me for the Six Days next month, so that’s the other thing I was looking at to just get a little more training before we leave to go down to Chile.

Currently, you are selling t-shirts to help raise money for the ISDE in Chile this year. They are $23 with all proceeds going to help pay for this trip. How’s that going?

Yeah, actually the t-shirts are going really good this year. I’ve sold a lot between all three series. The GNCCs—it’s a little harder to try to raise money for the Six Days because a lot of people don’t know what it is. Once you get talking to people and explain it, they think it’s great, and they’ll donate some money and buy a t-shirt. At the enduro’s, everyone pretty much knows what it is, but then Racer Productions stepped up this year and we’re doing the jersey raffle also. The proceeds go to me, Jimmy Jarrett and Dennis Decker. That actually went really good and I was really happy with that last weekend. That will go on until Crawfordsville.

MM battling for a holeshot in the Women's class.

 

Now for the jerseys, is it true that there will be only one winner?

Yes. The winner takes all. There’s like 25 jerseys. The Pros and XC Lites riders, they’re all being really good about it. Thad DuVall just walked up and gave us one, and if we haven’t asked, they just come up and ask us, ‘hey do you want one of my jerseys?’ so we have a lot of jerseys and it is getting bigger by the weekend. Someone is going to be one lucky person to take them all home and put them in their garage!

This year is pretty special for you as this is the first year for the Women’s World Cup at the ISDE?

Yes. This year is the Women’s World Cup and next year it actually turns to a Women’s World Trophy. They’re kind of doing a preliminary trial to see how many teams would actually sign up. Counting the U.S., there are five Women’s teams. I think it’s Chile, France, Sweden, Germany and us. It will be really good and I’m really excited, especially since down in Chile—there are always 600 riders—but it’s such a far haul for the Europeans. I’m excited for next year because I think a lot of the European countries like Italy and some of the other ones will actually put together a team since it’s closer.

Where is the ISDE next year?

Next year, it’s in Greece.

Have you ever been to Chile?

No I haven’t been to Chile. I was down in Brazil for the Six Days two or three years ago. It was really neat. This year, we have a good team. It’s me, Nicole Bradford from Colorado and Lacy Jones from New Jersey. We all did it last year, so all three of us have experience and I really positive that we can do pretty good.

It must help knowing and racing with the same girls going into this?

It helps out a lot since we did it last year. We know each other and we can help each other mentally, because it really is more mental when you go down there than it is physically.

Amanda is a pioneer for her work raising money for the ISDE. Be sure to buy a raffle ticket so you can win a shot at just about every pro racers jersey.

Have you started to prepare yourself mentally, then?

Not really any differently. This will be my fifth time going. Each year it’s so different, but at the same time, I know kind of what it takes mentally when you get there.

What is your dad’s role in all of this?

My dad’s the one that got us started racing. It’s a big family thing. My brother races, too. My dad rides full-time. He’s doing really good this year. He’s first place in National Enduros, National Harescrambles and the GNCCs. He’s got a battle with Terry Hughes going right now in the GNCCs, but hopefully the last two rounds he’ll win. My brother does the National Enduros. He’s a top 15 rider in that, so we’re together all the time, including my mom. She’s a big support. Without her, we probably wouldn’t be able to do any of it.

Does your dad offer you any words of wisdom when you’re out there racing against all those guys?

He helps out with a lot when the track is rough and muddy and technical. He’ll give me pointers on the best way to like go through tree roots or line-picking, just because he’s got the experience and he knows. He’s really good with that stuff when we go trail riding and that; he helps me on that stuff. He and my brother have been a big help with my riding.

Can you beat them?

No. Well, my dad. It kind of depends on the weekend. Like yesterday for the hare scramble, he was a minute ahead of me. He beat me by a minute. We’re kind of close.

How’s the deal with GEICO going?

GEICO has been a really good deal this year. I’m really excited that GEICO stepped up into the sport. To have an outside sponsor in our sport is a big bonus. Hopefully, over the years, GEICO stays and it brings more sponsors in, because it’s just going to make our sport bigger. You see it with the motocross. Once the outside sponsors start coming in, the industry in motocross and supercross has just gone crazy. Hopefully with GEICO and the rest of them, it will make our series grow.

Does GEICO do any work on your bike?

I have my bike all the time. My mechanic Dave works on it all week and gets it ready for me. Without him I probably wouldn’ta be able to get to the races.

Who would you like to thank for getting you this far, Mandi?

Yamaha. GEICO. Maxxis. Scott. MSR. Pro Clean. Dirt Trix. Enduro Engineering. Bel Ray. EBC brakes. PG Grafx. Factory Connection. FMF. Clarke. Championship Powersports. Acerbis. Steahly. Twin Air. Boyesen. Regina. Fiber Wise.

One last question, if you could give the young racers out there any advice, what would it be?

I just always say, always keep it fun. When you go out riding, you have to have fun. If you’re not having fun, you’re defeating the purpose of being out there.

Thanks Mandi! See you at the races!

Okay. Thanks, Jenn.