Josh to Germany - ISDE 2012

[Southest US Thumper]

Looking Good Team USA!!! Really appreciate you taking the time to stay up late in the night to post updates!!!

GO JOSH!!!

[mknight]

September 19, 2012 (Wednesday)

Today was spent almost exclusively on final bike prep so there is not quite as much “exciting” news to report. Josh and I and my youngest son Benji drove to the parc ferme and spent most all day prepping the bike. Despite doing a great deal of work at home, somehow we burned most of the day prepping and installing tires (and doing some dry run tire change practices), along with oil, gas, suspension clickers, fiddling with this, fiddling with that.

Everyone else was doing pretty much the same thing. A few US riders had rented Gas Gas bikes and they didn’t get them until late this afternoon.

The U.S. pits look great this year. The main U.S. tent has some nice new tool holders similar to the Factory KTM/Husaberg style ones, along with new AMA or Factory eco-rugs. We are in a good location pretty much right at the end of pit row and about 15 seconds from the impound area.

Due to real estate issues, Josh and I were kind of working in the “North 40” today, but it was good to have some space and just focus on getting our work done.






Thad Duvall showed up today.


Relaxing Metzeler recliner.




Mike Brown and Kurt Caselli’s bikes. They were looking pretty plain yesterday, but look sweeeeet today.




The Gas Gas bikes that finally showed up.

Gas Gas 300


And Gas Gas 250F (with Yamaha 250F motor)


Nick Canny and John Maier from Connecticutt will be riding the Gas Gas. They’re great looking bikes.


Pits looking good.


Yesterday was car practice day on the track….today was practice day for bikes. Day 6 of the Six Days will be a part super moto with the dirt bikes racing on this track.


Even tire changers can look pretty.


Jeff Fredette….the legend. Another great example of what a class act Jeff is……tonight was a riders meeting for ISDE Rookies. There are about 42% of the total U.S. team that are first-timers. Jeff, having completed 31 ISDE’s, was present at the meeting, hardly a first-timer, lending his insight into how to have a successful 6-Days.


Some more Six Days edition KTM goodness. (This is a 125 EXC….sweet little bike).


Billy Burns great looking Husaberg.


Jordan Brandt’s very cool and modern looking YZ250.


Sarah Whitmore’s KTM 200. Great to see a really fast moto-head here giving it a try on the Women’s Trophy Team. She’ll be a great asset.


Nick Hamill’s Husky 250F. Nick and Josh are riding on the same club team.




We hope to have a little more intel and pictures of some of the other special tests tomorrow. Word on the street is that the tests and transfer sections of Day 3 and 4 are going to be gnarly.

[kenny61]

Anyone know if it will be on tv? or live web feed? linky?

[ICERIDER]

Looking Good Team USA!!! Really appreciate you taking the time to stay up late in the night to post updates!!!

GO JOSH!!!

+1

Despite doing a great deal of work at home, somehow we burned most of the day prepping and installing tires (and doing some dry run tire change practices), along with oil, gas, suspension clickers, fiddling with this, fiddling with that.

Ha! been there before!

There's not much I can say except please keep your report coming. It's as close to being at the Six Days as it gets for us around the world. We love your family story and we all want to see Josh safely park his bike up after the final Special next Saturday. 'Job Done'.

In the meantime.....Have fun.

[RichBeBe]

Great job of really showing us what it is like. A few local guys are there racing on the Junior team and it is great to see some behind the scenes.

[Tbone]

Thank you so much for posting these reports!!!

[beechum1]

Thanks for keeping us informed. Real treat for me to see this stuff.

[nada_scurb]

As always, nice write up Mike! Keep it coming as you can.

[mknight]

Originally Posted by kenny61

Anyone know if it will be on tv? or live web feed? linky?

They shared the link for Live results today. It is:

http://www.fim-isde-live.info/

Be sure to bookmark that one everyone. Nothing there yet, of course, but will be in a few more days!

[mknight]

September 20, 2012 (Thursday)

With Josh’s bike ready and prepped yesterday, this was the only day for the rest of the trip that we didn’t have any big obligations. We decided to walk another test this morning, and then do one “touristy” type of activity while we were here.

Josh, Benji, and I went to the second test that will be used on Days 3 and 4. It is a test that has a pretty good variety. There is a traditional big grass track, combined with a small motocross section that is essentially built in a rock quarry, and then some rocky trails bordering the forest.
The finish of the test comes down this big hill.


Looking back the other way with the grass track in the background.




They only had one side of the ribbon up when we were there, but were working on it. This was traditional pasture type grass….could be slick if wet, but should otherwise rut up nicely. The soil seems to be a clay type, so it could also be pretty snotty if wet.


This picture is overexposed, but the MX section is in this flat valley. They’ve come in with a dozer and built up jumps and berms, but the soil is basically like reject from the rock quarry so it’s a lot of rock mixed with the soil.


The test has a few tricky off-camber grassy hills like this.


And then borders the forest down in a big gulley with lots of rocks.




And up a nice big hill.


This was on the side of a vendor shack there at the test. This one is for my friend Jon at LocalHeroMX.com back in Utah.


With the good weather and relaxed itinerary for the day, we decided to go check out the Buchenwald Memorial (concentration camp). My wife has read volumes on the holocaust and also lived in Germany for four years, and has always dreamed of bringing her kids back to try and give them some perspective and appreciation for this dark spot in history.

It was sobering to say the least, to visit such a facility that was very small in comparison to some of the other camps such as Auschwitz. Nonetheless, the sheer magnitude and scope of this camp was startling.


The crematorium was particularly powerful.


The sections outlined in black rock behind us are where the barracks stood. They were all pretty much destroyed by the bombs during the liberation but there are many foundations still standing.


I know this doesn’t have anything to do with motorcycles, but I feel it is important that if we are to come half way across the world, to understand the history and culture of the host country. That is part of the magic of the ISDE, similar to the Olympics, in that it is a melting pot of cultures.

Having my son participate in the ISDE and having the gift of my family here to support him is a dream. However, my perspective was reinforced today that in the grand scheme of things, racing motorcycles around the countryside is quite trivial, but also a wonderful privilege to be representing our country and the freedoms we enjoy.

Tomorrow morning is a team photo shoot, followed with administrative inspection (all the paperwork), and then bike inspection and impound. After that we’ll focus on spending the next 3 days walking the tests and preparing in other ways. I know Josh (and all the riders) are really ready to get this thing started, and it will only be amplified over the next few days after they can’t touch their bikes.

[Gotlabs]

Originally Posted by mknight

September 20, 2012 (Thursday)

With Josh’s bike ready and prepped yesterday, this was the only day for the rest of the trip that we didn’t have any big obligations. We decided to walk another test this morning, and then do one “touristy” type of activity while we were here.

Josh, Benji, and I went to the second test that will be used on Days 3 and 4. It is a test that has a pretty good variety. There is a traditional big grass track, combined with a small motocross section that is essentially built in a rock quarry, and then some rocky trails bordering the forest.
The finish of the test comes down this big hill.


Looking back the other way with the grass track in the background.




They only had one side of the ribbon up when we were there, but were working on it. This was traditional pasture type grass….could be slick if wet, but should otherwise rut up nicely. The soil seems to be a clay type, so it could also be pretty snotty if wet.


This picture is overexposed, but the MX section is in this flat valley. They’ve come in with a dozer and built up jumps and berms, but the soil is basically like reject from the rock quarry so it’s a lot of rock mixed with the soil.


The test has a few tricky off-camber grassy hills like this.


And then borders the forest down in a big gulley with lots of rocks.




And up a nice big hill.


This was on the side of a vendor shack there at the test. This one is for my friend Jon at LocalHeroMX.com back in Utah.


With the good weather and relaxed itinerary for the day, we decided to go check out the Buchenwald Memorial (concentration camp). My wife has read volumes on the holocaust and also lived in Germany for four years, and has always dreamed of bringing her kids back to try and give them some perspective and appreciation for this dark spot in history.

It was sobering to say the least, to visit such a facility that was very small in comparison to some of the other camps such as Auschwitz. Nonetheless, the sheer magnitude and scope of this camp was startling.


The crematorium was particularly powerful.


The sections outlined in black rock behind us are where the barracks stood. They were all pretty much destroyed by the bombs during the liberation but there are many foundations still standing.


I know this doesn’t have anything to do with motorcycles, but I feel it is important that if we are to come half way across the world, to understand the history and culture of the host country. That is part of the magic of the ISDE, similar to the Olympics, in that it is a melting pot of cultures.

Having my son participate in the ISDE and having the gift of my family here to support him is a dream. However, my perspective was reinforced today that in the grand scheme of things, racing motorcycles around the countryside is quite trivial, but also a wonderful privilege to be representing our country and the freedoms we enjoy.

Tomorrow morning is a team photo shoot, followed with administrative inspection (all the paperwork), and then bike inspection and impound. After that we’ll focus on spending the next 3 days walking the tests and preparing in other ways. I know Josh (and all the riders) are really ready to get this thing started, and it will only be amplified over the next few days after they can’t touch their bikes.

Awesome thanks for the updates!

[neduro]

Thank you for taking the time to do such thoughtful updates, loving it!

[DruncleWill]

It's threads like this that make folks check on ADVrider as soon as they can get to a computer.


GO GET 'EM JOSH!

[pilo]

Mike - I am loving the detail. Thanks for taking the time. Team Walker is getting their Josh T-shirts warmed up. They'll likely stink by the end of the week.

Go Go Go Go

[Holeshot]

All I can say is WOW! Thanks for taking the time to keep us all up to date and share your experience. I see all the bikes in the pits and my heart starts to beat fast.. just as if I was there.

GO JOSH! and good luck to all the riders on Team USA!