I am happy to report that we were able to get Joe’s suspension and parts back from Denver safely last Monday. Luckily, a very good friend of ours, who just happens to be an AMA scorer, works for Frontier Airlines out of Denver and was able to get the parts and send them back to us. I had to drive to LAX at 5pm on Monday to pick up the parts, but it was all worth it knowing that we didn’t have to deal with United anymore!
Joe was able to ride on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week at Competitive Edge MX Park in Hesperia, CA. The facility features tracks for all ages and riding abilities including a full on Supercross track. That’s actually where I work during the week and on the weekends that I am not at Joe’s races. It’s pretty nice being able to watch him practice, whereas before I was stuck in an office doing lots of paperwork with no outside air at all!
Friday morning, Joe and Gerald packed up again to travel to Vancouver for this week’s race. They arrived Friday afternoon at the stadium to find that their Canadian connection – Steve “Legend” Matthes – once again hooked them up. Joe was able to get a 2006 KX450F that they said had low hours on it. They delivered the bike to the stadium just in time for Joe and Gerald to once again build a race bike out of a stock bike.
Joe woke up on Saturday morning to the feeling of food poisoning from the night before. He wasn’t quite feeling up to par going into the first practice, but he went for it anyways. Joe rode about 4 laps in the first practice only to notice that the engine wasn’t sounding so good. He decided to put in a fast lap for his qualifying time before he pulled off. Once they got back to the pits, Gerald proceeded to check out the motor. They took it over to the Kawasaki Factory Team and they were kind enough to offer some advice as to what the problem could be – luckily they were right. With no parts for a Kawasaki on hand, they stepped in and helped Joe out. They gave him the parts they needed to put the bike back together. Joe ended up missing the second practice, but they were able to get the bike running again before the night show began.
In the midst of all this chaos, Joe had volunteered to help me out with the Women’s Motocross/Supercross Foundation by doing a track walk for some of the Canadian fans. I am deeply involved with this organization that helps out those in the industry that are in need. We – the WMXF - had generously been given 10 tickets to each of the SX rounds. With those tickets, we were able to get a rider for these past two races in Canada to take those fans on a track walk and get a rider’s perspective. For the rest of the races, the WMXF will have 10 spots available for purchase on Ebay. So, if you want a pit pass, seat in industry seating and a track walk that no other fan gets, check out our bidding beginning on Monday – December 11 th.
After the track walk, Joe grabbed something to eat and headed off to get ready for his heat race. He ended up with a decent start in the heat and battled his way to an 8 th place finish. I was so pumped for him – his first Supercross Main Event for over a year! He finished up 13 th overall with a mid pack start. The intervals between the riders was so close, it was a little stressful, even for me!
Joe will be home Sunday, but head out again on Wednesday to Munich, Germany where he and a few other Americans will race another German Supercross. During that time that he is away, we should know what his deal is with his team. This past weekend, he rode Kawasaki’s, but the team is switching to KTM’s, and he is riding Suzuki’s in Germany – got all that??? The life of a privateer – interesting to say the least!
We hope that everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas and New Year’s. There won’t be much time sitting around for the Oehlhof household this year. It looks like Joe will be out at the practice track as much as possible trying to get whatever color bike he is on dialed in for his liking. See you in Anaheim!
