Personal History
I am 33 years old, and live in Leicester, North Carolina. Outside of riding, I enjoy camping, fishing at the beach, hanging out with friends and family, attending church, and spending time with my husband. As a kid, I was always amazed with dirt bikes. My cousins would ride up and down our dirt road, and I would only wish I could ride one. Little did I know, many years later I would meet my husband, who at the time only rode street bikes. After 5 yrs of riding on the street together, I finally talked him in to riding in the dirt. He had rode dirt bikes as a kid, but it had been many years since he had ridden. My first dirtbike was a 2001 KTM EXC 200. I then purchased a 2007 KTM 200 XCW which I greatly enjoyed! I decided later that I would like to try a 4-stroke and purchased a KTM 250 XCF-W, which I raced last year in the NCHSA. My husband has taken over that bike, and found a very low hr 2007 KTM 250 SXF to race in the 2013 season. I went with the motocross version of the 250 due weight difference between that and the XCF-W. I am looking forward to racing the 2013 season with the NCHSA on the SXF.
Riding Goals
My goals for the 2013 racing season is to take what I learned in my short 2012 season and apply it to my riding this year. I learned a lot every race as the trails were different. I also learned a lot about preparing for a race. Everything from the importance of nutrition leading up to a race, to physical conditioning. Most of all, I learned that racing is as much, if not more, mental than physical. While only racing 7 out of 16 races, I came in 8th place in points and will be able to attend the NCHSA banquet since I had at least 1/2 the number of points as the class winner. My goal for 2013 is to compete in every race and finish in the top 3 in points at the end of the season. Eventually, if time/money allows, I would like to compete in some other series like SETRA and MidEast Harescrambles, in addition to NCHSA.
I enjoy riding/racing due to the fact I am thinking about nothing except riding when I'm on the trails. I'm thinking about making it up the next big hill climb or making it through the next tough rocky section. My mind is clear from everything outside of riding. I enjoy the family atmosphere of the sport, seeing moms, dads, and kids all riding together. I enjoying hanging out at the track with my race friends and talking about the close calls of the race that day. Race season starts in March here in NC, and can't wait to see how I stack up with my competitors.
Competitive Highlights
Since I only raced 1/2 the season in 2012, my biggest highlight is finishing all 7 races I started. Before my first race, my goal was to finish the race, and to not come in last place at the end. I accomplished both of those goals, finishing 7th out of 9. It was tough due to the fact I hadn't eaten much before the race because of nerves and excitement. I learned real quick, that kind of preparation wasn't going to work in the future. Later in the season, we raced that track again and I had a much better finish. I was in 2nd place the entire race until the very end. I got held up by another rider in a different class, and got passed right before the end. I was still happy with a 3rd place finish. One other goal I had during my short race season was to accumulate enough points to be able to attend the NCHSA banquet. I will be attending that this month and am looking forward to it.