Taking what they can get

This one had some build up.  The Stony XC was here and there were points and positions at stake.  Jon and Aryn needing to light the woods on fire to finish 1 and 3 in the overall for the Tailwind Series.  First through fourth in their class was only separated by 10 points with the 5th place person being close to striking distance as well.  All five guys were there and it would be a battle for sure.  Brian, Ken and Mitch were there playing supporting cast and trying to get in one more Tailwind podium for the season as well.

Day started off great with Mitch forgetting his wheels and having to use Aryn's backup set.  Tire combo wasn't the best for Mitch but it was better than missing the race.  Brian, he showed up for the race at 9am, coming straight from the office.  No, not his bathroom at home, his work office.  So he was looking to blow off some steam.  Ken showed up like he was going on some kind of hunt like they used to do in Britain in the 1800's.

Jon and Aryn . . . business casual.

After warm ups and the team got in one final "WHOA BUNDY!" to set the tone for the day.

Jon, being the stud he is, got the pre race call up since he was sitting second overall.  Aryn filed in second row right behind him and Mitch was tucked in as well.

Gun went off and it was Jon who took point to lead the group out.  Aryn made a few moves before the single track to go into the woods 5th and Mitch kept himself in the hunt as well in the top 10.  In the end it was a rough day for our hero Jon.  Did not do as well as he needed to take the series but still finished 2nd overall in points for the season.

Aryn was able to make good of the day and finish second in the race securing his 4th place overall in the series.

Mitch made due with the wheels lent to him and hung in for a top 10 finish.  Been an up and down season for this guy but still solid for his first year with this group.  Look for this guy to come out swinging next season and still do plenty of damage thru this fall.  This is the guy who won the overall series for Expert 19-29 a couple years ago so keep him on your radar!

Brian probably had the most excitement with his crash to the finish...literally.  He was in a three way sprint to the finish when he got cross checked after the finish line and he went down hard.  If he could of stood up he probably would of punched the guy but luckily for that guy Brian was cramping and just scooted himself out the way.  There is video footage of the incident and we will post it up once we get our hands on it.  In the end, the crasher came and apologized to Diesel and bridges were not burned.

Ken had a great day considering he only crashed once and Aryn failed to hand him a bottle to start lap two.  Jon, in a valiant effort, grabbed a bottle and sprinted thru the field to catch Ken to give him a bottle but by the time he caught Ken, he was up out the saddle overtaking before the wooded section started.

So ends the 2014 Tailwind USAC XC Series.  While some goals were not met the team as a whole made a huge dent in the competition for their first year together.  The 2014 racing season is far from over but this concludes the points chase the METAL Loaded Motors were in this year.

Aryn in the six man pain train post lap #2 flat

Brian putting style first making sure his gloves match the course markings

Mitch turning and burning!

Jon out with the leaders to start lap #2

Jon leading out for the race start

Business face

Ken with the guys he has been battling with all season

Mitch holding the wheel of the German

Oh and the Maybury TT results from 2 weeks ago.  Click the link to see the results:

http://www.eborg2.com/Sounds/Sounds-Animals/Crickets.wav

Sometimes racing is the last thing on everyone's brain

Glacial Hills in Belleaire Michigan was hella cool.  Jammed packed with climbs, flowing descents and overflowing hairpin turns that forced you to pay attention to just more than the incredible scenery.  Was well worth the 3-4 hour drive for the guys to get there.

But this weekend has much more to it than the race.  

First, pre ride was killer fun.  Block go there early and had a 10 min lead on the Expert crew.  Jon, Mitch, Aryn and Brian were all in chase mode but Ken managed to finish one lap of the course before being caught by the pack.  The team wanted to go out for another lap but it was decided best to save the legs and head to the hotel for check in and then find some dinner.

Shanty Creek Resort was a nice place.  Rooms were very large.  Large as in both rooms had a conference table in them with 8 chairs, two doorwalls a piece that lead to a balcony that spread the length of the room and what seemed like an endless supply of the thickest pillows they guys had ever seen.

Dinner was at some local Bistro in downtown Belleaire.  Jon ordered the gut buster to make sure he'd have an excuse to pull out of the race Sunday.  What's not pictured is the 10 pound breakfast burrito he at the morning of the race.....

After getting some racing tips from the wait staff at the Bistro the gang made it's way down the street to stop at Short's to talk the talk and walk the walk with some of the other racers in town.

The gang sat down with some serious legs and lungs at this big kid table.  This wasn't your kid's table in the basement at Thanksgiving dinner though.  Local downstate super heroes from KLM and Sandbag were there checking out the scene and testing the brew prepping for Sunday's race.

After trading smacks and jabs the fellas wandered back to the resort to digest and get digital for a few minutes.

Some together time with Diesel

Block making himself at home

Some 'real' together time with Diesel

And of course as you know this group can't sit still in one place for more than 5 minutes.  So it was off to find ice cream.  While in search for the cold stuff the team came across a ping pong table and Peg Bundy's stunt double.  Unfortunately we only have photos of the ping pong doubles tournament that sprung up and of course was taken very seriously.

So serious in fact that the table was unofficially relocated to an area with better lighting so the tournament could continue....

Eventually the gang made it back to the room and watched Under Siege to get them all excited for race day.

Sunday morning came and the team decided to eat breakfast inhouse to avoid not being lazy.  It costs more to be lazy of course but the view and $8 oatmeal was worth it to some.

It tool some convincing but yes, they ended up racing.  Jon 4th, Aryn 5th, Brian 7th, Mitch 10th and Ken.....I don't remember.  And of course some race photos to prove we actually kitted up for the event.  Without our normal photographer and historian, Mrs Dub9, we were forced to take photos of each other on race day.