Bellflower State Qualifier

[mfoga]

I will allow those who raced to tell the stories but I will at least start things up with pics.

Lee and Randy in the gate


Julia in the gate


Leading the pack


Hold on Julia


Nice Save


Randy rolling the rhythm section


Julia punking someone in the corner



We got a race


Lee chasing the leader down



There are more here
http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ga/Bellflower/

[bighit8]

cool mark.Good job to all,wish i could have been there

[TeamDEKEbmx]

WooooT! Who knew Julia is a brawler? With Lee's coaching Julia showed the boys a thing or two about a thing or two. I am glad you raced Julia. You impressed everyone including the boys in your race.

Lee did great also.

Ty mfoga for the great photos!

[Julia12]

Mark thanks for the pictures. It was good to see everyone at the track today. This was fun and thanks to Randy and Lee for telling me about the State Qualifier Race. It was a great experience raced against boys at my level.

Thanks to Lee and Randy for the help and support. Thanks to Angelo for showing up to my race. Thanks to mom and sis for pushing our vacation back a day in order for me to race today.

I learned alot about racing today it was a great day. Today there was no trophy but it was one of my best races. I actually got to compete and push myself very hard.


Julia12

[Rockinthecasbah]

dude LEE you had a couple good swoops spots !!!!

Originally Posted by TeamDEKEbmx

WooooT! Who knew Julia is a brawler? With Lee's coaching Julia showed the boys a thing or two about a thing or two. I am glad you raced Julia. You impressed everyone including the boys in your race.

Lee did great also.

Ty mfoga for the great photos!

[2wheel_lee]

ah...what a day! Great weather, great racing, and great friends! I met some friends at the track I knew from over 20 years ago.

I killed it in the first qualifying moto. I hit all the jumps just right - in fact, some I hit better than ever. I won the qualifier, allowing me to sit around for the next hour or so (perhaps not a good thing).

In my final, I had a bad gate, hence my radical swerve coming out of the gate - thankfully no one was there. After that, I just couldn't hit most of the jumps right. This race really came down to lane position. Had I had the inside line into the first turn, I'm reasonably sure I could have had it.

Julia...what can I say...I'm so proud of her!
Because the girls in her age division were well experienced (all top, national level riders), she competed in the 13 year old boys novice class.

Right before her first moto, one of the boys was asking how long she's been racing. I think he may have been a bit relieved to hear that was her first time racing a 20"er. Although he may have been a bit nervous after saying she's raced cruiser a few times as well as 4X.

When the gate dropped, she got a good start. Going into the jump just before the first turn, she was about mid pack. But because she had an outside gate, she had nowhere to go and she backed off - she apparently wasn't comfortable in traffic.

For the second moto, I wanted to toughen her up a little, so to speak. So in staging, we were standing around throwing elbows and shoulders into eachother, quite aggressively I should add. This really started to scare the other boys, because they were expecting the worse from her.

In reality, they got the best from her! She had an inside gate, and she and the boy a bit further outside came out about even. A boy in between was a little back. Julia perfectly moved toward the outside boy, leaving the middle boy nowhere to go - he had to shut down a little bit. She moved over into them without any fear - basically putting the boys where she wanted them. Going into the first turn, she took full control of the situation and pushed the boy on the outside high into the turn, leaving him nowhere to go.

Unfortunately, she slipped a pedal on the first jump coming out of the first turn. Although it appeared that an ugly crash was eminent, she expertly pulled it off and saved herself from falling.

In the final moto, it was Julia and another boy. We again threw elbows and shoulders in staging, surely frightening the boy. When the gate dropped, they both came out about even. But once again, Julia had the inside line into the turn, she pushed the boy high, causing him to slow down a bit. Going into the second turn, the boy was once again on the outside, and Julia again shut the door on him. By the third turn, the boy learned her tricks, and hi-lo passed her and took the win. Although that boy has been racing for two months, he was very impressed with Julia's riding, as we all were.

I was in the starting area at the beginning of her races and noticed something. If you ever want to watch someone balance perfectly still in a gate, watch Julia. I mean perfectly still and relaxed!

Although this wasn't Julia's first race, this was her first race where she really had competition about the same level. It was very obvious that she had learned a lot in each of the three motos, and I'm sure she's going to continue learning at the same rapid pace. I really look forward to seeing her progress.

Thanks to Angelo, Mark, Elvia, and Ko for coming out to support the racers.

[bighit8]

good job julia.I throw some elbows with ya next time.Just not the left side please

[2wheel_lee]

Danny, we missed you out there. I was hoping we'd be blessed with your presence. After all, I didn't think you'd be riding today. Please say you didn't ride today...

We almost saw Ko racing in the women's cruiser class today. Up until just before signups ended, there were only two women cruiser riders, which wasn't enough to have a class. They talked Ko into racing (I was going to have no part in that!), but as Ko went to sign up, another woman was signing up. It's not only cool to see her skills improve, but also really cool that she's willing to go and mix it up!

[bighit8]

Thanks lee.Tried to make it out with the kids.But for whatever reason today i just decided to stay home and rest.I think my 14 hr work day took its toll on me Friday.We should be at Orange tomorrow.If not,see ya Monday night.Give Ko props.

[OMR]

Passing on the good mojo to the younger generation ... your rewards will be great...



Props to Julia for starting out on the long journey with small steps ... you do us all proud!

[bighit8]

oh and for the record,i could not help myself,i took two laps around the block one handed.I love str and all,but I just kept looking at my bike in the corner crying
Whats a guy to do

[ezzyride]

Great pictures Mark. I'll certainly be printing and framing pics. I just want to say thanks to Lee, Randy, Mark, Fred, Ang, Ko. I am not sure Lee and Randy will ever really know how greatful I am for all the support given to Julia12 today. This support is not just today it's all the time and it's certainly appreciated. Her support comes from so many great folks on STR. I think this is why the kid is enjoying this racing stuff so much right now.

I enjoy all her races today's race I have to admit was exciting. I am proud of you Julia12. Today you gave it everything you had. I saw this aggressive girl on the track. You gave those boys a good race...good job.

Lee's races are always exciting it's the way he takes off at the gate. Great racing today Lee.

Randy also great racing today and you never give up. It's just totally awesome.

Congrats to all the racers out there today!

-Elvia

[TeamDEKEbmx]

I could kick myself for not recording Julia12's races. Here is the next best thing...

[Rockinthecasbah]

you guys are killing me !!! Im going to freakin lance the huge welt on my leg so I can freakin ride !!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh goin stirr crazy

[bighit8]

that makes two of us

[Rockinthecasbah]

dude,, halfway new 20" at my house, new xr650, new suspension on my crf250, finally got brakes for my 7 point and I am DYING to do something, I'm still paying (in pain and blue toes) for riding my xr up to beeks on wed's and meeting str folks