Racers and Chasers Holiday Shootout!!!

So summer is finally over and the heat has left So cal so that means that it is time to get going again with the race series. This time around we are going to do things a bit different. We are going to host a race about once a month. We are going to call the series a Holiday Shootout and encourage the costumes to come out and race with us!

There is going to be some changes to the series but rest assured that it will still be the same Racers and Chaser that we all love!

RacersAndChasers.com

The end of Racing

Well at least for the 24 hour races. I have said it now for a while and this time I AM going to stick to it! They are a ton of fun and the people that have allowed me the chance to ride with them, it has been nothing but great times. It has just come time to realize what my goals are and to stick to them. I am going to be really select on the races that I do, only the ones that will get me to my final racing goal!

So on to a recap of the weekend. Whoa what a time it was and what a camp site Team Heat put together! It was truly amazing with 3 refrigerators and an oven and even a chef. Not to mention the support from all of the the staff and friends of Idyllwild Heating. THANKS a ton guys!!! Maybe that had something to do with the FACT that everyone that pitted out of our site won there category. The truly amazing feat of the day was Dez in his amazing 22 SOLO laps that he did and took the Victory by over a lap! Then there was the Team Dust Bunnies, Of Wendy Walton and Shalyn Gates, that would have won the women s category had there been one, and there should be one! Then Jason Gates and his team also won there 5 person category.

Then there was Team HEAT, Kenny, Kevin, Chad, Brian and myself. Well lets just say that we got off to a GREAT start thanks to Brians' awesome first lap and the rest was, well history. By the time that dark had rolled around we were 1 lap up on the next team and we had a lap average of less than 45 minutes per lap. It was truly a great time as we finished with 29 laps in total and just missed the 30th lap by 31 seconds!

I would like to give a huge shout out to both Solo riders that I know through my race series! Luke Wiens and Brian Crook both took on the SOLO category and came out with huge performances! Luke finished with 16 laps and 4th place. It was truly awesome especially beings it was his first ever 24 solo. I saw him out there and amazingly enough he always looked fresh! Great work Luke you have definitely put in the work required!

Then Brian a friend of mine that just bought his first bike 7 months ago had a great race with 11 laps! He even got off to a bad start with 7 flats in the first 3 laps but still continued! It was cool to see him ride so much and still have a ton of fun!

Great work to everyone that was there and competed!

Also I just confirmed the next Racers and Chasers event. October 25th, bring your costume! More details to come soon!

So much riding

So its always the making of a GREAT weekend when I know that I am going to racing both Super D and XC, with a side of dirt jumping at my house after it all.

It all started on Saturday with Brian picking me up from my house then a quick trip to my Mom's to get her. Time was a bit closer than we wanted so we just drove strait to the race site and got ready to race Super D. I heard it was pretty cool using mostly single track and being about 2 miles long. We got up there with just eneough time to get going. We all lined up on the fire road as we took off. Well long story short it took about 14:30 to finish and a ton of it was fireroad but was still a great time. I won on the 29er and Brian finished after quite upset that his bike was not working that well and he had to even get off several times to fix it. Brain still finished in third!

Later as we were unloading the bikes I noticed that brian had completly broken his frame right above the front derailer. Well that explains the shifting problems! Luckly we had still another bike for him to use in the xc race on Sunday.

After a great eveing in the house that Timmy let us use for the night it was off to race XC, me on my FRO and brian on the 29er. Brian took off first and had a great race and WON his class and was the 4th fastest Sport rider of the day. He has only been riding for 7 months!

Then it was time for my race, I was stoked to race XC as it has been about 8 weeks since the last one and yet a bit nervous on how my legs would respond. Well it all went pretty well with the legs responding fairly well and me being content with a 2nd place! Mike Tettelton made a guest apperance and rumor has it that he may be racing more XC next year, Maybe because he WON it all! Nice work guys!!!

Then as the awards finished it was off to the races as we drove home in time to get the ride party on at my house. It was another great time as a ton of friends showed up and we all had a great time riding and eating tons of food!

Hope your weekend was GREAT also!!!

RC cars, Bikes, Dogs and all around great times!!!

So today was another great day. Why? Well I got lots done and even got a good ride in the resulted in two 29"flat tires. So I had to get back home so I called up Brian "The Pro Super D racer" and he gave me a ride back to my house.

Not even 2 minutes after we go back to my house a flat black van pulled into my drive. Needless to say I finally figured out who drives it! I had seen it a ton driving all over town mostly when I was riding my bike. Jeremy Steinberg and Taka pulled up looking for a place to drive there new RC cars. We both laughed as this whole time Jeremy said the same thing that he had seen me riding a ton... must of been the times I saw him driving the Stealth black van around.

Well onto the good times! Before long I hear the sounds of RC cars rippin around the back yard with my dog Duke chasing after it. It was honestly one of the funniest things I have ever seen him do but I had to put him back after a but cause he was catchin the car. Before long the guys had the cars launching the 18 foot doubles and hitting the best lines we have here.

So what is learned from today? I need to paint my van Stealth Black and get more jumps built, oh and FMX riders even kill it with RC cars!

Weekend of riding

It was a great weekend as it seemed that I was able to ride a bike all weekend long!

It started off with a 4am wake up on Saturday morning so that I could get to Bill Dixons house on time. Bill, his riding partner Jeff and I all took off in Bill's truck to Irvine where the century was set to start for the day. It was a great ride and was perfect for my legs as I am still trying to get them back after the long road trip I was on. It followed the coast all the way to downtown San Diego. It was a great time and we had no flat tires the whole way!

Brian on his "Road Bike" #168

The crowning achievement of the day however does go to Brian that rode over a hundred miles on his mountain bike! He did it all by him self with knobby tires and 6" of travel. Way to go, you rode more than us and we were on road bikes!!!

Sunday

Ahh yes after eating lots and sleeping lots it was time to get out the mountain bikes and have some fun on my jumps in the backyard. Before we got to ride though Mike, Toots and Brian all came over to help out with maintence on the jumps. We spent several hours working on them and it looked great what those guys all got done! Thanks guys, that is what its all about!

Then it was about 5 so we put down the tools and got ready to have some fun! In turns out that there was quite a turn out with a bunch of people hanging out and a bunch of us riding! It is always a ton of fun as we get pushed with everyone around. It all went well except for the one minor mishap that had me going over the bars. It was pretty funny as the board that I was riding across broke and pitched me over the front. No Damage done as I got back up as we all kept riding and I went to turn the lights on for some after dark riding. In total we cooked a ton of hamburgers and rode till about 10 at night.

Not a bad weekend! Hope yours was awesome also!

!!Brian Head = Stuart Gonzales National Champion!!

I'll start off this post with a shot of the Newest National Chapion, Congrats Stu!After getting home from the Intense demo tour on the east coast I had just 12 hours to get some sleep and wash my clothes. I was really excited to head to Brian Head as it was going to be a weekend to just relax and get a lot of riding in. I had no real plans to race anything besides Super D and even that I was not to concerned about. All in all I convinced Brian to race Pro with me and he great. He finished in 9th and beat several riders! I ended up in 5th with my first Pro National podium. Stu getting the bottle of choice from his Wife Erin on his way to Winning the National Series!!!!Brian, just before we dropped into the Super D for his first Pro race!

The bike of choice for the weekend. I am so stoked on it that I just may have to get one!

Congratulations Stu for a well earned National Title! It has been awesome to watch you progress all these years and to now finally WIN it...Congrats Man!! You earned it, Enjoy it!!!!!

Here are just some quick pics from Various places like Diablo

<---This is what happens when you drive this to much--->

It time to go ride the Premier MTB ride park on the east Coast!!

Brian Jumping several guys and the massive tabletops they had to offer------------->

Having fun off of the cool wood jump through the woods and just before the rain\/

Brian going higher and further than any squirl would ever want to go