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.
