At the Yoests in Pennsylvania and then onto Iowa

Hello

We have just spent from Monday afternoon to early Saturday morning with the Yoests, Chris, Maria, Ryan, Erin and Evan. Erin was away until Friday late afternoon so her and Sarah got one night to hang out but that was better than no time at all.
Josiah and Evan hang out riding during our time together and had a good time riding and grooming the track etc.

I had fun hanging out with Maria. She did a nice job of looking after us and by the end of the week I felt like I'd had a nice rest. Chris Yoest worked all week, but we got to catch up with him in the evenings.

Ryan took the boys riding in Ohio on Wednesday night. We arrived at 3.30pm to gear up to start riding at 4pm. After a few laps the dark clouds above opened up and it poured. Josiah continued riding and everyone else took cover in the trailer. It rained for a bit then eased off and the others went out.

I had rung Tiana and Cara, our friends from Cleveland who spent time in NZ over 2 years ago, and suggested they come down and visit with us as we were not going to get up to see them. They came and hung out for a couple of hours. Saw the boys ride and had a good old catch up.

Joel spent a large amount of time on wii. And Sarah spent a large amount of time with the new born kittens in the barn.

We took off early Saturday as we had a big day travelling to get to Santa Claus Indiana where the next day we had planned a day at Splasin' Safari which is a waterpark and roller coaster park in one. Everyone had fun and got burned. We finished up there about 4pm and continued on to the Hempens in Iowa, 300 miles away. Funny thing we rang them to say we were on our way and would arrive about mid-night and they said, so will we. They had been racing at a regional for Kenny senior. And yes he has also qualified for Lorretas, in the 30+ and 40+ classes. Go Kenny.

We will hang out here for two days before heading up to Red Bud.

Sarah's blog :-)

Hello!!!!! :-) This is me Sarah (I am awesome), Josiah's sister, and am writing my side of the story since we arrived in the USA.

At the moment we are at the Yoests. I was kinda gutted because Erin is away but there isn't really anything we can do about that. :-( Erin can just come to New Zealand!!!!! :-) :-) :-)

AND...today we went shopping and I got some new clothes... it was fun!!!!!
We flew out of New Zealand on the 17th, the flight was so long and I was really tired!!!! I watched BOY and I accidentally scream laughed when I was watching it beacause it was so funny, as in "you egg"!!!! :-) We finally landed then got a shuttle to the motel and then went for a swim. We went to sleep at 6pm then woke up at midnight and had McFlurrys for a midnight snack!!! Twas delisious!!! The next day we went to the airport and we couldn't send the engines in their chilly bins through US airways so we had to catch a taxi to the post office with a really cool taxi driver called Rubic (like the cube) who got us back on time for boarding.

We finally got our flights and arrived in DC. We got there and hired a rental car and a GPS Navman. The GPS got us sooooooo lost and we ended up in Virginia instead of Maryland. We finally got on the right track and we saw/almost ran over a skunk, it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute!!!!! (not so cute if we had ran over it):-/
Eventually we got to where we were supposed to be at the track (Budds Creek) and the family was once again united :-)

The next day (when the pros were racing) we spent at the track and it wasn't very entertaining except when this guy came out of his RV and walked into the awning pole!!!!!!!!! :-D And also we met Lucy Townley and tried Cola flavoured Red Bull twas so yummy!!!!!

The next day we drove to DC for the day in the p-daddy vehicle dad had rented. We went to the Air And Space Museum, The Natural History Museum and The American History Museum. They were really cool. BUT it was soooooooo hot...boiling as!!!!!!!!!!! When we were walking back to the car we saw a squirrel and it was cute. I patted it on the tail then Josiah patted it and it bit him. It was hillarious.

That night and the next day we drove to the Yoests and we saw a beaver. We stayed the night in a Pilot travel center (gas station) and at 5 in the morning a man came and told us we had to move. It was early!!! :-(

We then drove the rest of the way to the Yoests and that's where we are now. Today us girls went shopping and it was great. I got a bunch of new clothes including overalls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Overalls=awesomeness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah that's about it. I have now finished my update so I will update you all later, Chow for now!!! :-)

Budds Creeks Pro National and family reunion

Hi again.
I have just been reading everyones comments on our blog. I am not sure why it has been so hard to post comments on our blog but thanks for perservering. Thank you for the regular comments and support from CNC, RNR, A1property, Granny Lyn and Mr Montford. Comments from Christian, sorry we missed your visit. Kent, we have been working on starts. Thanks Paul and Norma for your support. Great to hear from Selina & Mitch. Kinder, we will work on video. Kristen, I meant to call you back but I forgot to as we were leaving. Ann, glad you worked it out. Les and Jeanette and Dad, nice to hear from you. If I missed anyone sorry.

Now for my update.

We trained again last week. It was over 100F and after 5 hours Josiah was done.
There was a top amateur (Zach Bell) riding and he had a nasty crash. He broke his femur and wrist. His bike stopped going over a jump and he went over the front and let go of his bike in mid air. This put all the boys off riding for a moment but they kept going.

On Wednesday morning we headed off to meet Ben Townley at Davi Millsaps personal riding track. It was very hot. The track was set up for bigger bikes (450s) but Josiah did some practice then some starts then just watched Ben train. It was good to meet Craig, Ben's machanic, who is from the Hawke's Bay and is a friend of Andy our sponser from CNC Profile Cutting Services.

After some bike maintenence we headed off west on highway 84 to connect to Interstate 95 to head north to Budds Creek (Maryland). I drove from 4pm until 9:30pm then stopped at a truck stop for the night. Thursday was a 12 hour drive. Just before Richmond VA, I was looking in my rear vision mirror and thought that tire looks funny. At the same time a couple pulled up beside me and pointed back. The trailer tyre was shredding. I pulled over and the man stopped and helped me change the tyre. We were back on the road again in 10min thanks to Kenny's wheel changing ramp. Thanks Kenny!

After arriving at Budds Creek we got set up, had tea, signed on for amateur racing on the Friday then walked the track. Josiah thought the track was "mean as" and had awesome jumps. He rode 2 classes that day and won both.

We were expecting Chris, Sarah and Joel to arrive from Washington DC airport about 9pm so we went to the gate to meet them. By 10pm I had not seen them. At 10.15pm I got a message to say they were half an hour away. It was great to see them all and we spent a good amount of time catching up which was good.

The pro national was on the Saturday. We watched Ben who was going really well in the first moto but had trouble with the fuel pump and ended up finishing 14th. In the next moto he rode really well and finished 3rd. At the end of racing we went to the pits and finally meet Lucy (Ben's wife) who I've been talking to on the phone but not yet met.

We stayed another night at the track and in the morning headed to Washington D.C. to do some sight seeing at the Smithsonian museums.

Yes Josiah has qualified in both classes We will go to Loretta Lynn's

Hi

I have managed to get connected so the update from the weekend.
The trip down was hard going. It poured with rain and the thunder and lightening was scary. It was dark but I got the big part of the trip over the first day.
Towing the trailer was o.k. but I pulled into some dumb places that were very busy.
We arrived at the track Thursday about 2pm so we got set up and signed up then relaxed.
Then the rain started and did it pour. The track had heaps of mulch in it so it was boggie on the Friday practice but didn't take long to start drying out.
Josiah was out for his second practice and he cross rutted and crashed. He didn't move and I was worried. You are not allowed on the track but I waited as long as I could then went over. He was moving but the EMS thought he had a broken femur. I was thinking really? So after the four wheeler had bounced across the ruts to the ambulance, I thought no he hasn't. They checked him over and said they thought it was ok but I should get it x-rayed in case it was broken or he bleed to death.
This freaked Josiah out but I said I would take him back to the RV, ice it and would see how he was. A mother knows her kid best sometimes and if you've seen Josiah when he has broken something, I knew it was not broken. Yes badly bruised and very sore but not broken.
He was having a bit of trouble with the bike bogging as the humidity was terrible. It was over 100 F (close to 40 C). So I had to ask can you go out to test the bike or not. He did. It wasn't going well off the starts and bogging coming off jumps. Max and Cason were pitted with us so they got to changing jetting as per PR2's instructions. It was better.
Cason hurt his shoulder in practice so he decided not to race the next day. Josiah's first moto started badly but he pulled through the pack and finished 5th.
Doing maintanence that night Josiah found his chain was tight and not looking good. We went to Tat (David) from Pirelli and asked if he could help us with the new chain. He had a guy with him Steve who has a Yamaha connection and he helped. I had told Tat about the bogging and Steve looked at the bike and said it was too lean. So he changed the jetting and the bike sounded much better.
Moto 2 the next day, bad start again but another 5th place finish. That had Josiah in an overall of 6th place. All things going to plan he should have been good. Moto 3, not such a bad start, 6th around the first corner and he passed a rider per lap to give him a 3rd finish and overall qualify third.
Josiah is very pleased and thanks to Max, Cason, Tat and Steve for helping us out.
We then packed up and headed South back to Albany. I got the laundry done this morning and yes Josiah did schoolwork which he has been doing as we have been travelling.
We will be here for a few days before heading north to Budds Creek in Maryland.

Can't wait til Chris Sarah and Joel join us, only four more sleeps.
Keep in touch and thanks for your comments

Janine

Josiah qualifies in mod class for Loretta Lynn's

I received a text from Janine at 5AM to say Josiah qualified for the modified class for the American Motocross Nationals to be held at Loretta Lynn's. Josiah got third place overall. This race was at the south east regional at Aonia Pass MX in Georgia.

Under the circumstances this is great result. Mum and dad are rapt. I expect more will follow on the blog in a week or so when Janine has access to someone's PC and the internet. Janine and Josiah plan to be in Georgia for a few more days before heading up to Washington DC and the pro national track at Budds Creek where the rest of the family will join up.


Chris

Off to Aonia Pass Motocross Park, Washington, Georgia

Hi
We have had a busy 2 days unpacking and repacking for the next leg of the journey. We will take the trailer this time as we will take both bikes. We will leave early in the morning.It will be another 2day trip so tomorrow we will get through Nashville TN and stay somewhere the night. Then on to the track the next day.

We hope to hook up with our friends we saw two weeks back at the area qualifier (Lazy River MX). Same format as last weekend. Practice on Friday, racing Saturday & Sunday. In the south east region the top seven go through. Still not sure what we will do following that (other than pick up Chris, Sarah and Joel in Washington DC) but will let you know when we sort that out.

Aren't the boys nice cleaning the motorhome before we head off!

Thanks for the comments. It's nice knowing people are reading our blog.
Have a good week
Janine

Josiah Qualifies at Spring Creek NC Regional!

Hello everyone.
It feels like three weeks since I posted but only half that time.
Memorial weekend at Millville MN went well. On Sunday Josiah raced in the 9-11yr 85cc. He finished 4th. On Monday he raced two classes, 9-11yrs 85cc and 9-12yrs 85cc. He finished 2nd and 7th respectively. It was a good chance to get practice in for the regional the following weekend.
For the next three days before the regional, it rained alot so we did school and went to town to shop and do laundry. Not much really happening.
Practice for the regional was on Friday. It was wet so practice was delayed but once it got going the track dried out. On the last stock bike practice Josiah got taken out by a boy who took him on the inside. The kid smashed into the side of him. I saw it happen and was mad because there was no need to do that. You can't win practice. Josiah had a skinned elbow with bruising and a sore hip. The radiator shroud was munted and the radiator damaged. Plus another broken peak. So that was an expensive practice.
Onward and upward. For the stock class there was two divisions which meant the top 16 from each division go straight through to the following 2 motos and the rest go into a LCQ (last chance qualifier). Josiah finished 2nd in his division.
Then there was the first race for the modified class. Josiah got a bad start but the race was red flagged as a rider went down and broke his hip on the second corner which had a blind jump before it. Then he got a bad start in the 2nd start. He went from 16th to 7th in the first lap but didn't come round again. I had to run over to the back of the track as I thought he must have gone down. Thankfully he hadn't gone down but sadly the spokes on the back wheel had shattered. Josiah was very disappointed, as you just can't come back from a DNF. I said don't worry, it's just one of those things so lets concentrate on the stock class.
We lined up for race two of the stock class by which time it had been raining for sometime and the track was very slippery. Also the track officials were worried about injury as they had had some bad ones. Next thing they are calling a riders briefing and they cancelled racing for the day.
We went back to our pits and went out for pizza. It helped with the day we had had.
First moto on day two went well. Josiah didn't get a good start but he finished 3rd. Josiah was sitting in a good position with one moto to go. Another bad start, he was running about 13th or 14th. Some trouble in the first lap through the whoops and behind someone stuck in a rut didn't help him gain any spots. In the next lap he started to pull a spot here and there. Josiah finished 7th which gave him an overall of 3rd place qualifier.
We are both thrilled as there is tough competition at the regionals and they all want to make one of the 6 top spots to go to Loretta Lynn’s.
We are also very excited for our friends the Hempens. Luke qualified 5th in the 65cc 9-11yrs, so we can go to Loretta's together.
Moving on Josiah has two more chances to qualify for the modified class so we will plan the next trip which is to leave in 2 days for Georgia. Will post again before heading off.
We are counting the days until Chris, Sarah and Joel arrive. It is very hard without them. Much harder than any of us thought it would be. Keep commenting on the blog as we love to hear form you. As much as you wait for posts, I wait for comments.
Thanks for your support.
Janine and Josiah