lead up to CSRA round 1 - racing season Tw0pOint0

Dec 8 2013

After a long shift at work it's time to re embark on my racing adventure to the CSRA season opener in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario. First I need to fly back to Minneapolis to pick up my truck, trailer and freshly Rehab  wrapped sled! I arrived back in Minneapolis around 6pm where Jesse and Ross of Rehab Wraps picked me up from the airport. We drove to a near by parking lot where they had brought my rig and unveiled the fresh wrap. It was better than perfect and had a few surprises too, like a Vancouver Canucks logo on the belly pan!!! The Matte finish looked killer and I was thrilled with how it turned out. THANKS again guys you're awesome! I punched Aurora MN, home of Scheuring Speed Sports into the nav and started the drive north. I didn't get too far as the long travel day was catching up to me fast and the weather wasn't helping my case. Snow, snow and more snow, reminding me a lot of our drive to Duluth Last year for the ISOC season opener. I ended up stopping in Hickeley MN at a casino resort where I found a ton of parking and cheap rooms. I assume the rooms are cheap because they expect you to gamble your life savings away while you're there. Got myself a quick meal and a beer and hit the hay!

Dec 9 2013

Got up around 7am and headed downstairs to start the truck, I moved it just outside the restaurant window and went inside for some breakfast. After breakfast I continued driving towards Aurora, thankfully the snow had stopped and the sun had come out. When I finally got to Aurora I was disappointed to see Scheuring's practice track Planet X wasn't open as they were still returning from their last ISOC race in Bessemer. I checked my nav to see how far Hill City MN was from my location. Only an hour drive but the practice track isn't open today anyway, today just became a rest/ casual travel day. I started driving again, in the next city I posted up at the McDonalds to use some WiFi and kill some time on the new MadSkills Motocross tournament. Moooooooore driving. Crossing the Mississippi River reminds me of last year again as it was the first time I had ever seen the Mississippi, which was kinda cool. I arrived in the closest bigger city to Hill City which is Grand Rapids MN. I did a few laps around the city scouting for the hotel with the best drive in drive out parking lot, continental breakfast and a hot tub; the racing trifecta. After getting a room at the Super 8 I started unloading all my stuff into the room so I didn't have to climb into frozen gear in the morning. I figured I should fire up the generator while I was out in the trailer, not a chance was it going to start. I pulled on it probably 50 times and when I finally gave up as the hotel manager was walking by and said "Hey just take it in the room over night" ..perfect! Later that night I walked to the nearest bar and grabbed a pasta dinner, which turned out to be 90% sauce and very little pasta, topped off my appetite in the room with a bag of beef jerky.  Problem solved. Good night

Dec 10 2013

I think the nerves of not having ridden a sled in 8 months are starting to take a toll on me, I woke up at 5am again completely awake. I thought I may as well get up and start the truck and get a good breakfast in me.  I setup the generator in the box of the truck with an extension cord to the trailer so I could leave it running all the time when it gets this cold. Time to head out to Quadna Mountain Park for some practice! It's just a short 10 mile drive to QMP, I filled up the generator and the jerry cans on the way. When I arrived at QMP I was somewhat surprised I was the only truck there, right away I was worried they weren't going to be open and my drive was for nothing. I parked the truck and hung out for a while, shortly after I arrived two more trucks did as well. The two vehicles that arrived were half of Team Lavallee, riders Kyle Pallin and Jake Scott and their mechanic. I'm thinking THANK GOD this place is going to be open today. But they were supposed to be open at 10 and its now noon and still the track looks like crap. I was out looking over the track and Jake came up and asked "How's it looking down there?" I just shook my head and said "not looking good man" at this time we noticed the groomer was broken and the tracks were off. They had been attempting to build a snocross track with a small bulldozer all morning. I unloaded the sled in hopes the track would be open very soon, I cannot wait to put time on this sled. FINALLY they open up the track, its seriously just Kyle Pallin, Jake Scott and I on the track. I take advantage of the short time I have on the track with two top pro's. Every time I entered the track I did so right behind either Kyle or Jake and put all of my efforts into keep pace with them, picking their lines and watching what they did in certain situations. I feel like I boosted my confidence and became much more comfortable on the sled in a shorted period of time practicing this way. Right now the arm pump is KILLING me, after and hour on the track I can only push out two laps at a time before I cant hold the bars any more. But I keep pushing for more and more laps, when I start crashing more and more I feel like its time to call it a day. I thanked Kyle and Jake for putting up with me on the track all day and helping me get quicker. I headed back to the hotel and immediately jumped in the hot tub to soothe my hurting muscles. As soon as I got back to the room I passed out cold!

Dec 11 2013

I finally slept in a bit today... 7:30am. Started the truck, got my continental breakfast. Basically a repeat of yesterday morning. Drove down to QMP, just me again. No Kyle, no Jake, no movement on the track at all, in fact not even a track to ride just flat. NOT a good sign, I waited an hour and nothing changed..Craaaaap I need more track time. Should I wait or should I gamble and head back to Scheuring's track? I rolled the dice and started driving back to Aurora. I arrived there at 2pm only 2 hours till dark... I knocked on the shop door at Scheuring's and talked to Steve about using the track for the rest of the daylight that day. He said for sure and hooked me up only charging me $25 for the insurance cost. He said "Have fun and don't kill yourself" I told him I probably wouldn't haha. 2 more hours of practice on the track by myself was better than none at all. I rode till my hands couldnt hold the bars anymore, loaded up and started the 9 hour drive to Sault Ste. Maire, Ontario.

Lets get it started - racing season Tw0pOint0

 Off Season recap

 Well here we are again after what felt like a long summer, I spent a lot of time training with CrossFit and riding my mountain bike. Living part time in Seattle was beneficial to my off season training. I joined Northwest CrossFit which was an amazing experience, being around people so passionate about fitness helped me become a better athlete.

We had some off season changes to the team, we lost Kris as a physical presence to his Chilean Adventures but he is still very much part of the team via Facebook messenger. We added my girlfriend Alison as the team's new marketing and events manager as well as traveling co-pilot. BIG thanks to Alison for supporting me in chasing my dreams

Some new and exciting sponsors were added to our support list. I would like to welcome and thank:
Rehab Wraps, Ski-Doo, SPY Optics, Lucas Oil, EVS Sports, Rox Speed FX for joining the Shawn Endel Racing Team in our journey to snocross victory in the 2013/14 season. I would also like to thank: HMK, Woody's Traction, C&A Pro Skis, Performance All Terrain and Robin's Marine and snowmobile service for your continued support this season!

Another change for this year is I wanted to pursue national championship points and dedicate the team to one circuit. Based on this I had looked over the tour dates of both the CSRA Nationals and the ISOC Nationals and found I could easily make at least 75% of the CSRA Nationals without taking time off from my job and if need be take time off to make the remaining races. Where is the ISOC Nationals unfortunately almost all fell on my work days.

Nov 17-23rd - racing season Tw0pOint0

Nov 17th 2013 - 100 Mile House

After driving for around 14 hours from Fort Mcmurray AB to 100 Mile House BC I was beat, but still so excited to see my new 2014 Ski-Doo 600rs race sled. I arrived around 8pm in 100 Mile House, a little bummed it would be after closing time at Performance All Terrain and I would have to wait another day to see my new ride. On my way through town a cruise past Performance and notice Jim is still there and I quickly pull in and knock on the glass. Jim lets me in and directs me to the freshly un crated beauty, all I wanted to do was jump on and ride. I had to settle for standing on it and a couple pictures with work on it to commence in the morning.

Nov 18th 2013 - 100 Mile House

The plan was to be up really early but I think all the driving had caught up with me and I ended up sleeping in till 8. I headed to town and grabbed a coffee for me and a take 10 from Timmy's for the boys at Performance. Luckily they were one tech down on Monday and I had an area to work on the sled in the shop.
I had what seemed to be a small box of parts to install on the sled to get it ready to race but it was a very deceiving small box of parts. Rox Speed FX handgaurds and number plates, Woody's Traction studs, C&A Pro XT Ski's with Woody's Carbides, Woody's snowflap anchor kit, Fox Racing Shox Evol X Kashima coat front shocks. 7 hours later I had all of that gear installed, but yet to figure out my foot holds, apparently Ski-Doo just sent the old XP chassis foot holds and not new XS chassis ones. After some back 'n forth messaging to Kris in Chile we came up with a good location to install the foot holds. 2 more hours of cutting and modifying of the XP foot holds I had them installed and sturdy.
Jim gave me the boot from the shop around 6pm.

Nov 19th 2013 - 100 Mile House - Kamloops

Another wake up early fail, I ended up getting out of bed at 8am. packed up all my stuff and cleaned up the trailer and it contents. I got my 2011 race sled some what put back together and headed to town again, trailer in tow this time. More coffee to fuel me up and prepare me for another day of long hauling. When I got to Performance they were pretty busy and I needed to get on the road ASAP. I bought some race fuel and mixed it up with some Lucas Oil full synthetic snowmobile oil and flashed up the beast for the first time. After a short ride around the yard I quickly learned it was clutched like a trail machine and in dire need of more work. A panic text or two to Chile ended in Kris getting a hold of his dad Robin in Kamloops and setting up a quick clutch job. On the road again, cruise control set and nav coordinates set to Robin's Marine and snowmobile service. When I land at Robin's I unload the sled and drive in the shop and find myself part of a NASCAR pit crew style clutch job. They had my new sled's clutches off and apart in seconds, chain case off and apart shortly after. Robin upstairs digging through clutch springs and ramps, fabricating the best possible set up. Less than 2 hours later they had completely re clutched, re jetted and re geared my sled perfectly ready for the green flag to drop. Thanks guys, A LOT!
Back on the road again, nav set to Seattle WA. Half way down the Coquihalla Highway I start to notice the truck making a vibration on light acceleration and instantly start having flashbacks of last March when Kris and I were stranded in Cour D' Alene ID from the front differential coming apart. When I stopped for fuel i checked diff temperatures and found front and rear are similar and I suspect possibly a U-joint is going bad but I have no choice but to continue on. When I arrive at the border I noticed the border guard had a BADASS movember stache going on and figured he wouldn't give me too much trouble. I was correct indeed, it didn't take long to explain my racing and work schedules and he didn't even look in the trailer or search the truck (like last year)
Free and clear! 'MERICA!!

Nov 20th 2013 - Seattle WA

I slept in today in hopes to continue the trek across the country when Alison gets off work. I was eventually woken up by FedEx, my new shipment of Lucas Oil fully synthetic 2 stroke snowmobile oil arrived! Pretty sweet wake up call. When I eventually got moving and showered and dressed I had a few things to do around town. I had to ship some things back to HMK and get some food packed for the long drive. While I was driving around town without the trailer on thew back I noticed the U joint getting MUCH worse! I headed to an Oreilly's Auto Parts and bought a Ujoint, put on my coveralls and pulled the driveshaft off and replaced the U joint in the trailer. By this time it was much too late to be starting our drive across the country, so we opted to get food and a beer and head out early morning.

Nov 21-22 2013 

So to be quite honest these two days were almost completely filled, wake to sleep with non stop driving and nothing more. Alison and I drove from Seattle through Spokane to Billings to Fargo and on to Bird Island MN home of Rehab Wraps. We arrive in Bird Island at around 8:45pm on Friday where we met with Jesse of Rehab Wraps our newest sponsor. Jesse had booked us a room at a local hotel, I cant thank him enough for all he's done for the team. We discussed wrap designs, sponsorship and business over some tall Alaskan APA's. I would just like to say it's pretty awesome having a personal relationship with a sponsor in addition to the business relationship.

Nov 23 2013

Alison and I had a well deserved sleep in this morning. When we got up I ran straight to the continental breakfast as I usually do! I got my fill of eggs and bacon and Greek yogurt I brought Alison her morning coffee and started the truck up. We drove 10 miles down the road to Rehab Wraps HQ where we got a quick tour of their operation. I cannot wait to see what they come up with for my wrap! Last year I never had a wrap sponsor and couldn't afford to have one done, so the sled just had a bunch of random sponsor stickers on it. So not only did Rehab Wraps spoil us with booking us a hotel they hooked us up with storage for the truck and trailer, a wrap, T-shirts and a ride to the Minneapolis airport which is a 2 hour drive from Bird Island! Sponsor of the year!