Jump report, preperation, preperation, preperation...

 


Ok, there is this tricky 65 footer, right off a sketchy flat corner at
Rocky Hill, we call it the "Parking Lot Jump". It is somewhat of a
milestone for the riders here and at the same time has taken it's share
of bones and bikes. Jessi has been looking at it since last year and
with the 250 this year she has been really looking at it. If I may
digress, she has been working real hard and getting very smooth on the
bike. So the last few weeks we have been preparing for the attempt in a
somewhat unusual way. We assumed the first time she tried it she would
probably case so that's how we approached it. AJ Catanzaro working with
some other kids a few weeks back noted "you might very well case it the
first time, but you can do that. You have cased big before, just make
sure you are straight coming in, and keep your arms up, on the balls of
your feet, squeezing the tank, and hit the gas when you land so the
suspension can do it's job". So we worked smaller jumps and whoops and
made sure she was ready. We also worked on attitude in the air by
hitting the back table top and using brakes and revs to move the bike
around in the air..

Anyway, it was late in the day the other day and she was out doing
corners, corners, corners... She had asked me earlier that day if she
could try if she felt good and after a few weeks I finally said ok and
put my cell phone in my pocket. She cut the track in a rather ominous
place, me and some friends were standing about 50 yards away.. She came
around and hit the corner hard and I said "here we go". She backed out
and landed about half way, at the bottom and drove out... She took the
cut again and came around again. She cleared the big tabletop before the
setup and went inside on the corner... We all stood there and watched as
she swapped a bit going up the face, "oh shit", she didn't back out and
came off sideways a bit and we all knew what was coming so I started
over to the backside (which you can't see from where we were standing).
She came down right on the top of the landing, somewhat sideways but got
both tires down pretty much together. Body was perfect, right before she
hit you heard the Pro Circuit scream and she bounced over the top.. We
all started running and my bud was reaching for his cell phone. Then we
saw the top of the blue helmet come out toward the corner, "Holy shit,
she rode it out"! Ok, now she takes the cut again but this time doesn't
even stop to set up. So now I trot over to the jump so I can be there if
something goes wrong... She screams over the tabletop and hits the
corner hard... Then going up the face she backs off and rolls off the
side of the jump to where I am standing.. She puts one foot down and
takes off the goggles.. She has that trademark huge smile and at the
same time she is shaking like a leaf, it was funny as hell, I mean
shaking more than my dad with his Parkinsons.

She told the same story we all have. That whole slow motion thing while
you are in the air saying to yourself "I'm screwed". She knew she was
going to go down hard but the training paid off, the set up paid off and
she did it. She asked me yesterday if she could try again and I told her
no. We needed to get back to the business of corners, corners, corners..
Save the gear and the kid for racing tomorrow. She got back to business
and we will be at Winchester tomorrow. Healthy and set up...

The moral of the story is of course preparation, preparation,
preparation...

Thanks for listening

Rowdy Mouse Racing - Racing with Raegen Harrold #007, hurry back Rae!

 

I am Tosk wrote:


Excellent!  Not only chesticles, BRAINS!

--
Cheers, Bev
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Warning:  Objects in mirror appear smarter than they are.