What’s better than racing A Day in the Dirt? Not much of anything I can think of… But a distant second may be racing the exact same track with a fresh track prep and a fraction of the racers; and being able to be home before noon. Yep. Its awesome.

This last weekend the TransWorldMX crew met at LA County Raceway for the CRC (California Racing Club) Merry Christmas GP, where they were utilizing the ADITD track before the end of the year. This year’s track was incredible; rough, but fun as hell. The super-fast uphills and downhills, the concrete straightaway, deep sand… so much fun.

Ya know, I was actually doing semi-okay too…until the last lap. I just had to screw it up, just had to stare at the rut in the turn….stare and stare and stare, until I pushed the front end and was sent over the bars and onto the back of my head. I took it as yet another lesson learned: don’t look at the rut or your fender, eyes up, look ahead.

I have to be honest, getting dead-last kind of sucks. I don’t where I placed in this last GP, because the results still have yet to be posted, but I imagine it is somewhere near the back. Granted, a few dudes DNF’ed, but still…

Even so, I have been having a blast racing. Even if my results aren’t showing it, I know that racing has improved my ability exponentially. Riding practice days kept me riding in my comfort zone, and it left me no room to improve. Racing has forced me to ride faster and more aggressively for more laps at a time. So even if I don’t post great results, I am stoked on my progression.

Last weekend I raced, once again, with Swap out at LA County Raceway. And again, it was a lot of fun. I had horrible arm pump and I finished both motos in the back of the back, but I did enjoy myself. I liked the concrete starts and I jumped off the line in both motos relatively well. It was the 6 and 7 lap motos themselves that ruined me. I don’t know if it was the excessive C.L’s I drank on Halloween still haunting me, or just my nerves, but I could not hold on after three laps.

The track quickly turned to rough, true motocross abuse early in the day, and the wind stuck around throughout, but the sun was shining and the layout was fun. So, the racing bug was still under my skin when we loaded up late that afternoon and I headed back to Orange County.

So with the racing bug still alive and well, and yet another race day slated for LA County Raceway, I was scheduled to meet Swap, P-Lo, and the Ladle early this Sunday morning. Yet, instead of racing right now, I am typing this. Yep, I flaked. I just couldn’t bring myself to drive the two hours after I saw the weather report late last night. With a high of 60 and a low of 40 predicted, the temperature wasn’t ideal, but it was manageable. It was the 30 mph winds that were set to complement the cool temperatures that turned my nose away.

The light winds the weekend before threatened to ruin my weekend; I don’t think I could bear legitimate winds after a two hour drive. I know, I am lucky to be able to race right now. Many of you are dealing with real cold and real weather, so my excuse holds little weight. But I say this, I will be ready for A Day in the Dirt, and I plan on not finishing dead last.

So there I am, sitting on my 2009 RM-Z250 watching Swap prep my gate, and all I can think about it is, Maybe I should have crapped first…

That’s right, not only did Swap prep my gate, he even filled out my race entry forms and prepped my bike. I tell you what, there is no better man to go racing with than Swap. Not only is he pretty damn entertaining, he absolutely loves racing. He makes racing that much better for everyone around him, and for me, it makes it far easier.

I have avoided racing for the most part, due mostly to my, let’s say, lack of enthusiasm toward competition. Well, that and I’m slow. I realized, though, that it doesn’t really matter. No matter how slow you are, there are a bunch of other guys that are just as slow to bang bars with. Although for me, winning isn’t really a driving factor for me to continue to tag along with Swap to races. Instead, I am motivated go back because the racing atmosphere just seems help me (and most everyone, I would guess) progress. Cruising around the track is pretty ideal for me, but I am not really getting any better. I easily settle in to my usual pace and hesitate to push myself. In the race situation, however, even if you have no intention, or chance, of winning, you can’t help but ride as fast as you can at that moment. I like that. I need that. Heaven knows I am not getting any better doing 3-lap cruising motos at Perris.

So, I guess I’ll see you at the races. I’ll be the one that Swap is pulling the downed bike off of.