WMX Racer Lindsey Scheltema WMX #28 WarhawkMX Race Team

2010 WMX Season Race 3 Report: Thunder Valley National

Photos courtesy of Carl Stone

Thunder Valley is now in the record books! What a fun weekend. I always love coming to Thunder Valley. The track and I always seem to get along; I love the layout, scenery, driving, and with my family along it’s always a good, adventurous time. We showed up Friday morning, set up camp at the track, and brought the bike through tech inspection. Afterwards we decided to hit the mountains and go to Mt. Evans- the largest, highest paved road in America. It certainly was a trip! A lot of fun, and many pictures later we were heading back down the mountain to head to dinner. After that, we went back to the trailer to retire early and get prepared for race day!

Saturday, race day. We woke up and the sun was shining. It was absolutely beautiful out; couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day! 1st practice went awesome, I felt comfortable, loved the track, my bike was running a little bit slower, but I anticipated that from previous years of racing here. It was awesome. 2nd practice, I felt a little off, things weren’t flowing as well as the first practice, and I was feeling a bit fuzzy headed, so I decided to rest up a little bit before my moto.

Well, my rest turned into becoming a LONG nap! I could not believe it! I passed out! I frantically look at the time, 2:20! We were supposed to be in staging! I rushed around, trying to get dressed and ready to race as quickly as I could, while my dad was outside getting my bike together. We rushed off to the staging area but we were too late. In return for being late, I got the last gate pick. Everything turned out working for the best, I think since I was “in a panic” I didn’t have time for nerves or anxiety because I was so upset about being late! I picked the most inside gate. I was feeling confident about my starts after practice, so I decided to give it a shot. I ended up getting a top 10 start, and was feeling incredible! My bike was handling the track perfectly, and for that I have to thank Bobby Fitch (ART Suspension) who spent many hours tearing apart and fixing my entire bike Thursday night! The first half of the moto I was running in about 8th/ 9th place, and definitely feeling better and stronger as the laps went on. About halfway, my front end washed out right before the finish line! I kept my bike running, only lost a couple of spots, and kept charging. I worked passed a couple of those girls again, and ended moto one with a solid 13th place finish.

I was excited with my finish, and was looking forward to my second moto. About an hour from our moto, I looked into the distance and saw nothing but darkness. It was insane, you could look one way and the sun would be shinning bright, and then turn 180 degrees and it looked like black night. The storm was heading our way. As the 250’s were heading out, we started gearing up and getting everything ready, getting the umbrellas and raincoats, and making sure to double check everything and bring extra tearoffs. We headed up to staging and watched the storm heading closer our way. The wind had definitely picked up; it was coming closer, very fast. Nonetheless, we still line up on the gate. The 250’s were done racing, and were waiting to go on our sight lap. Then all the women are called off their bikes for an emergency meeting. We are told that there was a gnarly storm headed our way so we needed to return to our pits and wait for the storm to pass, but we needed to be ready to be called up when it’s done. I couldn’t believe it!

We all headed back to our pits and sure enough, about 15 minutes later we were called back to the line. Right when the rain started coming down. As we lined up again, the rain picked up even more, our parade lap was a mess! I’m sure no one could see anything, I sure couldn’t! I just wanted to get around and get back to the line so we could race! We lined up, the gate dropped, and my start was not like the first one. I was late mid pack, but that sure was not going to stop me! I was charging- We were dodging the rain, mud, bikes, girls, flags, it was so awesome! I ended up 2nd moto 14th. Considering my start, I was happy with how the race went, I charged hard, stayed up, and didn’t crash.

Photos courtesy of Carl Stone

After the moto, we cleaned up camp, packed up, and started the long 19 hour journey home. My parents were troopers. I’m so thankful for my family for coming with me and supporting me. They went through so much work to get me out there and I can’t thank them enough; also Burrito and everyone behind Warhawk MX. I really appreciate the help, love, and support I am getting. This is one sport you cannot do on your own.

This week is RED BUD! I am so excited; it is my home track and also my favorite outdoor track! Look for an update next week! Hope you all have a great week!

Lindsey Scheltema WMX #28

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