TEAM DIRTBIKEMIKE

Round  7 -----  Denver, Colorado  

JANUARY  26-28, 2007

January 26
We started the season off with four riders. Robbie Smith was injured at Reno and is out for the season. Chad Cook decided that he was not happy with his results or his situation with the team and has quit the team. So, Tolland and Beau are the team. Not the season we had planned but that is the way it goes sometimes. A couple of the other teams on the tour have experienced the same things. L ife on the road for ten weeks is not for everyone. It’s a good thing I get to drive the Toyota Tacoma and when we’re driving between events, I have plenty of time to myself. I can just plug in my iPod and jam to the great sound system that this Toyota has. I can lie back in the comfortable seats and rock out going down the road. Even in the ice and snow this truck just cruises down the road. With only three more weekends to go, I don’t know what I am going to miss more, being on the road, or being on the road in the Toyota.

We left Dayton on Monday and headed for Denver. As we headed out across Missouri, we dropped Mason off in Columbia. When we got to Kansas City, Chad left with his dad and Beau went home for a couple of days. That left Mike and Pam in the motor home and me in the Toyota headed for Colorado. We ended up at the Isle of Capri casino in Kansas City for the night. We just checked out the action and headed west the next morning. It’s a very long, straight road to Denver. We made it to a campground in western Kansas and spent the night. The next morning, it was back on the road. The elevation is exactly 5280 feet above sea level, hence “mile high city”. We had to really play with the jetting on the bikes. After a few changes, I had it perfect on the little bikes. The big bikes weren’t as critical since they have loads of power. Tolland had flown home during the week and then to Denver with his parents. His dad Paul helped out getting everything going.

Both Tolland and Beau made the Friday night show. Tolland transferred to the Lites main right out of his heat. Beau had to win his last chance qualifier to go to the main. They both rode the Arenacross class, but didn’t transfer. Tolland struggled with the track but matched his previous best finish with an 8 th place. Beau had issues with the thin air and ended up 12 th .

January 27
The Saturday qualifiers were similar to Friday. Not much changed except Tolland qualified from his heat and improved to a front row start. Beau was about the same. He failed to transfer from his heat and had to ride the LCQ. He had a pretty good race with Cory Smith and they took the last two transfers. Cory qualified for the Lites class both nights for the first time this season. Getting both Dirtbikemike Team riders in the main event is getting us some good exposure for next year. They both struggled with the track again, but they improved from Friday night. Even though they rode better on Saturday night, they dropped one spot from Friday to 9 th and 13 th.

January 28
Sunday was my day to shine as the amateur day announcer. I don’t have all the cool gadgets that Tim Cotter has, but it is still fun getting the crowd in on the action on Sunday. Sunday night, we headed up to Winter Park for a couple of days on the slopes. I hadn’t been skiing since I was just a little kid, but I was ready for it.  Tolland and Beau went home for the week.  Wussies.

We left the motorhome at the arena and loaded up the Toyota and a rent-a-car for the climb up the mountain. The elevation in Denver is 5280 feet and the Winter Park Ski lodge is 9,378 feet. The Tacoma never missed a beat on the curvy snow covered mountain roads. It was -1 degrees Fahrenheit when we pulled into the hotel around midnight. Nice. The next morning, we headed for the Winter Park Ski School to finalize our sponsorship deal. They really helped us out and we hope they’ll come on board again next year. So if you are thinking about a ski trip, check out Winter Park and their Ski School. I was thinking I was going to kick Dirtbikemike’s butt. We got our equipment and headed for the lifts. Man was I wrong, the old man isn’t a pro, but he kicked my butt. So after attending the Dirtbikemike ski class for about an hour on the bunny slopes, we headed up the mountain to check out some real terrain. I decided to bail off a near vertical 400 foot drop down a Blue skill level slope which is intermediate to us motocrosser’s. I went fast, real fast. Control is everything and I didn’t have any. It didn’t take long for me to bust ass and loose one of my skis. Funny thing though, once you start you are committed. Finally, I got my skis back on and headed down again. I got going pretty well and I actually improved some on the way down. A few more trips over the bars and I could see the lodge.

I did make it to the bottom safe and sound and with a smile on my face. Then I thought that maybe I could be a ski instructor in the winter and a motocross instructor in the summer. Naaaah. Mike and Pam were out doing their thing and I just hopped on the next lift and headed up again. I soon found myself at the top of Winter Park. It’s called Mary Jane and it’s so high, trees don’t even grow there. Off I went, but with a lot better results this time. Sorry to report, but no broken bones, just some bruises, windburn and a little sore. We skied Monday and Tuesday and it was back to the grind of the road.

We headed back down the mountain to pick up the motor home at the arena. Then back on Interstate 70 headed for the next round in Springfield, Illinois. We made it all the way to Kansas City and then ran into some slick highway conditions. Driving over 40 mph was tricky and after a hundred miles of slowing down stopping for flipped over cars and trucks, Mike spotted an oasis in the middle of a frozen Missouri. Guess what? Mike found a casino in the middle of nowhere. It was another Isle of Capri. We need to hit them up for a sponsorship deal. After Mike showed me a few things on the crap table and Pam cleaned up on the slots, we crashed out in the motor home and waited for better road conditions. The next morning, road conditions improved and we headed on to Springfield.

Well, only three more rounds to go and I have to give up my great Toyota Tacoma and head back to the real world.

Moving Forward, Toyota Phil