Supercross!

It's been a while since I've updated my blog. Shocking for the motormouth that I am!

Been pretty busy with Josh's Supercross. Let me explain for those whom don't know.
When a dirtbike rider wants to earn their national license, they have to attend races in which they earn POINTS for their placings. Once the rider has accumulated 75 points in a 12 month period, they can apply for their license. Josh did that last winter. This enabled him to participate in national races in the professional class. If you do well enough in those races, the right people see you and want to sponsor.
It's the same for Supercross, except last year, when Josh had finished earning his points, it was just barely too late for him to get his Supercross license in time for the season, so he waited til this year.
We have sacrificed a lot over the years for Cole and Joshua to have this motocross experience. The girls have sacrificed having their father home most weekends. I have sacrificed having his help with the girls and their activities and help around home on the weekends. Money was sacrificed also. Those of you in motocross know that it isn't a cheap sport. Not often did our family go away together when it wasn't to a motocross race. Not that we didn't have a good time as a family when we did those races! Our kids weren't in the least bit neglected or anything like that due to motocross. We just had a different life.
Anyways, through all of this, of course, Cole and Josh's dreams were to be pro racers. That they accomplished! They did make a little bit of money at it. Up in Canada, you get paid for being in the Intermediate class, which is the class before Pro. One weekend, the two of them together earned $600. But that wasn't common. Especially since they mainly race down in the states.
This past summer, Cole decided that he wanted to enjoy riding and not stress on the racing situation. That in itself helped me to relax a bit! If he isn't pushing himself then he is less likely to get hurt.
Josh, though, still had that supercross dream and was determined to get himself to one.
The morning of October 17, 2009 changed our entire family's world. The one person who did everything for Cole and Josh's motocross left us. Their biggest and most loyal fan. Their backbone. What was I going to do? Well I knew one thing I wasNOT willing to do. That was to say, "Josh, I know you have dreamed of Supercross and getting to this point. Now that you are here and your dad is not here to financially support that the way he was, I can't afford it. You'll have to be done now." HOW could I say that?? But how could we continue for Josh through this Supercross? I just KNEW without once ever reconsidering . . . some of Travis' life insurance is going to have to be carefully used to help with this part of Josh's life. I HAVE to support this for Joshua . . . and for Travis. So we signed Josh up for 6 Supercross races:
January 9 - Angel Stadium - Anaheim CA
January 16 - Chase Field - Phoenix AZ
January 23 - Angel Stadium - Anaheim CA
February 6 - Qualcomm Stadium - San Diego CA
February 13 - Angel Stadium - Anaheim CA
AND April 24 - Quest Field - Seattle WA

As many of you have seen from my Facebook, when the girls and I went down for Josh's first Supercross, I took a picture that I had printed into a wallet size photo. It is a picture of Josh racing at Mission, BC and coming around the corner. As he is coming around the corner, you can see Travis on the right hand side bending towards the track and pointing to his head. This is how you tell the rider, "Think. Be smart." We took that photo and taped it to Josh's handlebar pad for him to see while he is out there. To remind him to think and to remind him that his dad is with him. You can see that in the photo above.
The first Supercross, Josh did amazingly! This is how it goes: The racers are set into groups. The first weekend in Anaheim, Josh was in group C. Everyone would get to walk the track in the morning, then each group would go out and have a free practice. About ten minutes on the track. Then each group would go out for a 20 minute moto where the transponders on their bikes kept track of their lap times. The fastest lap time of each rider determined who qualified for the "night show". In the 250 lites class that Josh was racing, the top 40 qualified for the night show. That first Supercross of Josh's, he missed qualifying by .3 seconds!!!! Everyone was so excited for him! His FIRST ever Supercross, and he just barely missed qualifying! That first taste of it for Josh was so amazing! I was so happy that the girls and I were able to go down and be there for him! This gave great hope to Josh's future races, as it was said that Anaheim 1 was usually the hardest of all Supercross races! What a confidence boost!
The next weekend, Supercross was in Phoenix, AZ. We were told that this is usually the easiest of the Supercross races. What we came to learn is NOT to listen to what people say about supposed easiest and hardest! Cause it isn't always that way. Josh ended up finishing 45th time. He also crashed pretty good in the woops section. I didn't realize how different Supercross tracks were than motocross tracks . . especially through the woops. I figured since Josh could go through the woops section at Washougal, Supercross wouldn't be too hard. But it is definitely different. Josh soon learned that the woops would be his weakness. In which it did end up being that next weekend back at Anaheim 2. He did great the whole track, but struggled a bit through the woops. Actually, a lot of guys went DOWN in the woops, and usually in the same spot too.
I was glad to be able to attend that race. We have a motorhome that someone was "renting" from us down in Southern California. He didn't have a job and couldn't make the payments anymore, so Cole, our friend Allan and I flew down there to get the motorhome and bring it home. It was nice to be able to coordinate that with Josh's race weekend.
The next weekend of Supercross, Jan 30th, Josh wasn't signed up to do San Francisco, because people said it'd probably be muddy and wet, so he chose to do San Diego instead. That weekend didn't go well at all. He finished top 50. Sadly, Josh was seeming to fade in his timings. Was it because the excitement and adrenaline of this new thing was wearing? The difference of motocross and supercross becoming more and more apparent? Since he crashed in the woops at Phoenix, was he becoming a bit nervous about that part?
That weekend during San Francisco Supercross, Josh went up to Piru and rode on the track. It is basically what he would call the "local" track where he usually stayed. While he was riding, a boy in front of him washed out and went down. Josh had nowhere to go but on top of him, so he crashed also. Xrays showed Josh separated his AC in his right shoulder. This would mean no Supercross in February. I had originally gotten myself tickets to go down and attend the races in Anaheim 3, just myself, so I changed my round trip tickets to a one way ticket down to CA and drove home with Josh.
Since being home, Josh went to our doctor who examined him. It came to the conclusion that he definitely separated his AC. What the xrays don't show is muscle and ligament/joints. So rather than jumping on getting an MRI, the doc said that it seemed Josh was in a bit more pain than he'd maybe have figured if he had just strained or slightly ripped his rotator cuff, but we're giving it a week. If Josh is still in more pain than he should be, then he'll have an MRI to make sure there wasn't a clear and total rip that would need to be sewn back. Hopefully it is the more minor just strain or tear, cause that will heal itself with time. Then Josh can get back on the band wagon of training and preparing for Seattle in April! If he does well there, he will attend the last supercross of the season for him in Utah the weekend after Seattle. When he called to cancel for Feb supercrosses, we changed one of them to the Utah race and cancelled the other.
So this is our Supercross story! It's been a pretty emotional and busy couple of months. I only pray and hope that Josh is as proud of himself as I am! He'll heal up quick and do great at Seattle. I have so much faith in this! And our sponsor at Lifestyles Honda, Gary, has the same faith as I do in Joshua!
I am so thankful and could never in my lifetime thank, the way I would like to, the people who have been there physically and emotionally for us! I pray that the Lord will bless each of you in His own way! I try so hard not to take things for granted! I hope everyone knows this! I try to count and be thankful for my blessings daily!