WORCS 2ND RND GLEN HELEN - TAYLOR THOMAS & MY YAMAHA DIRT BIKE

I am exhausted, bruised and blistered. Yeah, I wasn’t ready to race the WORCS 2nd Round Race at Glen Helen, California. Because I live in Utah County, Utah the weather has been frigid cold and snowy so I haven’t had a chance to ride my bike whatsoever. I wanted to try to race my first full off road dirt bike race so I entered to race WORCS at Glen Helen. I was so nervous that my hands were shaking and my stomach felt like I just was about to eliminate some body fluids, ugh!

My grandma and my grandpa and I got to Glen Helen late afternoon and set up the trailer; had dinner and tried to get a good night’s sleep. Okay, that’s hard to do since riders were coming in until late that night but that’s all part of the excitement of the upcoming race; right? Friday morning adult C class was first to go out. This was Glen Helen and the infamous hill climb. On Friday I had four practice runs. Three were only on the Glen Helen MX track but the last one of the day was the full course; 45 minutes of riding the MX track, through creeks, through the trees, over the rugged and rocky straightaways, through mud holes. It was absolutely a great day. Tiring, yeah! Hurting, yeah! Muddy and dirty, yeah!

Since this was my first off road race I didn’t have a clue of what to expect. I talked with a lot of good ol’ boys about what to expect. Their answer, “Just keep upright and have fun.” I had just sold my Flexx bars and am waiting for my new #Torc1Racing bars and grips so I had the wrong bars and grips for this type of practice and racing so I paid the price. The vibration of the rugged terrain took its toll on my hands and body. I actually had over 6 blisters on my hands after Friday’s practice and Saturday morning’s Unclassified Adult C 68 minute race. I could hardly even hold onto the bike. It hurt. By the time night came along I was in pain. What you don’t realize is that if you haven’t been wearing a helmet for a while wearing that heavy thing on your head puts a strain on your neck. My neck was a mess. Grandma did some nursing on my shoulders and neck with a massage gun and a icey-hot pain patch. Sunday morning was coming really fast and that was going to be my Class C 250 race. As soon as I climbed up into my bunk in the toy hauler and tried to catch up on some emails, messages and Instagram I was out.

Sunday morning; race time. WOW!! Hundreds of riders lined up and ready to ride. The 450 bikes were on the first line and I was on the second line to go out on my #2021 Yamaha YZ250F Monster Edition. Before we even started WORCS has somebody sing the USA National Anthem. …chills down my spine and I’m just a teenager. It was time to race! Still trying to figure out the flag start. Starter pointed out to one side and then without looking on our side flipped the flag; oh well, I missed the start which is a nightmare trying to play catch up. Six laps to go and over an hour of racing. I just wanted to also thank all of the sponsors that have helped me get here.

I’ll post some more on my next post. I made it without bike and body breakdowns so it was a good day but I need to find some more power out of my 250 cc machine. Suggestions would be welcome.

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