Temperatures were high at Motortrials National Championship Sequatchie

The sections were a little on the long side and very challenging. I appreciated the difficulty of the sections. They were all achievable, none of them really were dangerous and I thought I had a good shot at getting good scores as the day went on. Unfortunately, the heat and the length of the sections got to me a bit and by the end of the day, it was more of a fight than I really wanted it to be. I still had some really good rides that I am very proud of, but unfortunately, there were just a couple too many bad rides that stopped me from doing better in the results.

Sunday:

I felt ok when I woke up, I had gotten a good night’s rest. But at about 9am I was really struggling, my body itself felt fine, but I had no energy and was even struggling to walk, so I decided to go and lay in the AC until it was time to start. My warm-up consisted of a big wheelie and a ride through the practice area to conserve energy. Well, it seemed to pay off as I started the day strong with a clean in section one. Unfortunately, my first loop score took a big hit because I ripped markers off in sections 2 and 3, both sections that I was on for a clean. The sections were slightly shorter for Sunday which helped me, maybe not easier, but more straightforward. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and was again happy with my riding. I had a very unfortunate five on the last loop because I stalled the bike, but all in all I am quite happy with my ride. Still not the result I wanted, but there is progress in my riding.

I want to give a big thanks to Beta USA for the continued support, and to Ray Peters for helping me this weekend. Now time to do some work on the bike, practice, and conditioning before the next round in California.”

“Tennessee was a rough one for me this past weekend. It was super hot all weekend and the sections were set on the difficult side not allowing for any mistakes. Unfortunately and also fortunately, my knee is finally healed from rounds 1 &2 in Arizona but due to lack of practice and training during the rehab process, I was out of shape heading into rounds 3 & 4. One month until rounds 5 & 6 in California so I have a decent amount of time to get myself back up to strength. As always, a huge thank you to team manager Ray Peters and everyone at Beta USA for their continued support and for putting me on the best bike out there! Onwards and upwards!

“Rounds 3 and 4 of the NATC Mototrial series went great! Saturday started off well and progressively got better towards the end of the day. I felt like the sections were very technical, but not too big and that is where I excel. Sunday had some larger obstacles which took a little bit to get used to, but I was able to get better scores every loop, with my last loop being the lowest. I was able to get the top step on the podium both days and thanks to my Beta Factory 125 I had enough power to get all the way through the weekend!”

“The trial was hot, dusty, and technical with an exhausting loop. Saturday started off very well. I cleaned all but two sections. I lost some focus on the second loop putting down fairy dabs but resulted in the same score. The third loop I fell apart. I was unable to concentrate which resulted in third place. On Sunday I really wanted a win. The first loop started off good again but the second loop was terrible. I rushed the sections and I couldn’t concentrate which the scores reflected. I got back to the pit thinking I was way off, but seeing others didn’t do so hot gave me hope. I had roughly 2 hours to finish the last loop. So I took my time, walked every section, thanked the checkers, and hoped for the best. I got to section 12 (the last section) on a 3. I needed to clean the section to win the trial. I got to the first hard part of the section and lost my balance but quickly recovered, I rushed into the next hard part and washed my front end out resulting in a 5 with the sound of a sad whistle. I rode pretty well and the bike performed great. It was a fun but disappointing weekend with lots to learn from. I’m looking forward to California and Florida to give it my all.”

Photos: Steph Vetterly