sandersracingteam 2011

2/5/11- First, I want to thank Cole Townsend at Fasst Co. for helping me out all weekend. I wouldnt have been at the races at all without him. With superbowl and family time landing on this weekend we decided to only go out for the day and just log another race and more seat time. Ive always liked Taft because of the high speeds and the layout of the courses, so I was excited to get going.

Unclassified was early and really cold so it took me a few laps to get going but by the end of it I felt good and was ready to get going. A few hours later we lined up for the HWT expert race. I felt good about the start because we had a banner drop, which is what all desert races are. I got the holeshot with a big lead, but the first corner was more like a swamp so I was the test dummy to see how slick it was. I dropped to about 5th when we hit the offroad for the first lap. I rode consistently and really focused on finding my strengths and weaknesses. I stayed in the top 10 for most of the race but finished 13th overall and 8th in class. I learned a lot about my fitness this week so it was successful no matter what my finish was.

This weekend wasnt about getting the best result or even winning, I just need to put in as many race laps as I can and continue to learn something every time I ride and race. Next weekend is the second round of the NHHA series in Ridgecrest, CA so im looking forward to the week and another good weekend.

I really need to thank Cole at Fasst Co. for all of the help, along with my trainer Troy, FMF, Maxima, Thousand Oaks Powersports, Answer, TBT Suspension, Offroad-journal.com, GPR, Scott, Gaerne, EVS, and Twin Air.

1/23/11- This weekend was one of the hardest I’ve had in the last few months.

Unfortunately on Wednesday I got sick, so during the week I was pushing though

and trying to get better. My cold seemed to clear up when it was time to leave

and most of the day on Saturday, which made me feel comfortable and not too

concerned about the race.

Saturday was pretty good, the bomb was really fast and after a run or two you

basically knew every line. I felt good and headed back to camp for the day. That

night we hung out at sign-ups and did some autograph signing, then it was

straight to bed, hoping I would feel good in the morning.

Sunday morning was hard to get going, but I finally got my bike on the line in

the spot I wanted and wasn’t feeling too bad. After a good warm up and talking

to some family we went straight to the line. I didn’t have a nervous feeling all

week! But of course, at the line it all hit me. I let myself think and let the

nerves get to me. Not racing for so long has made me forget how to hold back

nerves and just focus. The banner went down and I had a great start, all of my

nerves were gone. About three miles after the bomb, someone cut in front of me

and took me out, I fell really hard and eventually landed in a cactus. After a

few minutes of pulling thorns, but not all of them, I got going and fought back

to around the top 30. I had some problems in the rocks on the first loop and

found myself making small mistakes a lot. When I came into the pits I was in

about 22nd place and had a lot of guys right in front of me. About 10 miles into

the second loop I came to a hill with a huge bottleneck and got stuck towards

the bottom. I tipped over and broke a the clutch lever, which made the entire

rest of my race really hard. I stalled on almost every hill and had a hard time

getting through the rocks without problems, and without using all of my energy.

At the 2nd-3rd loop split I made the wise decision to call it a day, I was

absolutely beat and knew the 3rd loop would be very hard without a clutch lever.

A DNF definitely wasn’t the weekend outcome I wanted, but I learned a lot from

it. I need to work on not psyching myself out and staying focused on each part

of the day. My confidence is coming up slowly with both the bike and in my leg.

For now, it’s time to rest and get back to training for the next couple of weeks

before the next race, which will be either a Big 6 in Taft or the next NHHA

round at Red Mountain.

I’d like thank Troy Ross, FMF, Fasst Co., Thousand Oaks Powersports, Maxima,

Answer, TBT, Scott, Gaerne, and Twin Air.

-Colton

photo courtesy of Megan Blackburn