Boise, Idaho Endurocross 2011

Well, the Boise Endurocross was an awesome weekend for me. Here is how it all went down. After a 16 hour drive with the one and only, Marshall Gerston, we arrive in Boise and get to our hotel for some sleep. We hopped out of bed early the next morning, expecting a long day of racing. We filled up on the continental breakfast, and headed off to the venue. The track was cool, it had a gnarly firepit section, complete with whole logs and pieces of trees, and it also had a long, slippery, jagged, sketchy, harry, gnarly rock section. This was one of the gnarliest rock sections of the year.
Practice went well, I was able to get a good flow. My bike was working great, and with some minor adjustments, the bike was perfect. I had set the second fastest time in my amateur group, right behind Eric Rhoten, which gave him first gate pick for the qualifier. In our qualifier I was able to get the jump, and hold the lead till the end. I was stoked. After that we had a quick practice race in the pro class, then it was time to chill. This is when they change the course, as they wet everything down, and make everything a little gnarlier. For the 3:00 practice I felt good, confident in my bike and my timing. After practice, it was time to relax until the night show. I had first gate pick for the amateur main, and I was ready to go. Right after the girl got done singing the star spangled banner, we fired up our bikes, and the amateur main was the first race of the night. I got a sweet start, getting a jump on Ian Blythe, and Eric Rhoten by just a hair. I got out in front, and looked forward. Eric was right on my ass, but I was able to stay in the lead for the whole three laps. I finally won an amateur main event!
Right after the main, I had my pro heat race. I was still tired from the amateur main, and I wasn't able to qualify in the top two. Next up, pro semi, only the winner of this race advances to the main event. I got a pretty good start, and worked my way up to second, right behind Gary Sutherlin. On the first lap, Gary bobbled in the rocks, and I snuck by him. I got out front, and held the lead for all 5 laps of the pro semi!! I was in the main event!
The next race I had was the Dash For Cash. This had all the fastest riders from the support classes. I was able to do an exact repeat of my amateur main, and pull the holeshot and run away with it. I ended up winning $500 from that race. Right after the Dash For Cash (and I mean right after) was the pro main event. I lined up right next to all the "Big Boys", it was awesome. Still worn out from the Dash For Cash and all my other races, I was pretty useless in the main, but I was still able to dice it out with the Big Boys. I came out with a tenth in the pro main event.
Thanks to my sponsors, Stillwell Performance, Rekluse Clutches, Klim gear, Eks Brand goggles, Topar protectin, and Hammer Nutrition for all of the support, I couldn't have done it without you guys. Thanks for reading,

"The Sheriff" Max Gerston

RMEC Kimball, Nebraska 2011

Well, there goes another RMEC race in the books! Thanks to MotoCity KTM they were able to get my bike ready to race before the event, their late hours at the shop are much appreciate. This adventure started off with a quick 16 hour drive. It took us two long days to get there, just to be greeted with snow, rain, mist, fog, clouds, and other weird stuff. I was glad to be equipped with my all weather Klim gear, to keep me warm and dry throughout the day. The race was quickly delayed an hour, due to the horrible weather conditions which disabled the ability to see anything. Shortly after, they had to delay the race another hour, because they had to change the course all around, do to the level of moisture in the ground. Finally, the race began at 10, and the race included three, sixteen mile loops. The course was bitchin, it included narrow canyons, waterfalls, and flowy grass track. This was my kind of course. The whole first loop went terrible, as my goggles fogged up horribly, and I couldn't see anything, and I mean anything. I got back to the truck, changed to anti-fog lenses, and I some other stuff to fight the moisture in the air. The second loop went pretty well, except for I got stuck behind a girl who was crashed in a one lane canyon section of the course, and I had to help her get her bike off her, and then I was able to keep going. I was riding like a man possessed, but put in a poor time due to the little incident. Coming into the third loop I was feeling confident, as I scoped out some fast lines I could take which included some sweet natural doubles, and some insanely sketchy cliff jumps which I rolled in the previous laps. The third loop was mine, I nailed it with very minimal mistakes. They also added in a whole other section with some serious exposure and other stuff. My time ended up being the same as my second loop, and that was with the extra section. I knew nobody beat my time on the last loop. I ended up with the win. This gives me three RMEC wins, and tightens up the points chase between me and Cody Schafer. It will be a close one. Thanks for reading!

"The Sheriff" Max Gerston

Denver Endurocross 2011

Denver Endurocross, 2010, Amatuer main event. The gate drops, I get a good jump on the competition, and I squeeze out all my competitors to my left, but the riders to the right of me bobbled, and eventually pushed me right into the barrel that marks the turn. Badly broken ankle, surgery, 4 months off the bike. About a year after the crash, I am back on the same starting line for the amateur main looking at the same barrel that smashed my ankle the year before.
My Dad and I rolled into Denver at about ten on Friday night, and woke up early to go sign up at the venue. We hauled our buddy Josh Anthony's bike up there, so we met up with them as well. Practice went great, I felt great, and was nailing all the hard obstacles. I was feeling confident. I set the fastest lap time for my group, and I ended up winning my qualifier with time to spare. I also won a little practice race in my expert group, so I was definitely flowin'. After that, we had a big break until our next practice for the night show. I rolled up to the starting gate like usual, but my bike was having a hard time starting and running. I did about half a lap, and had to push 'er back to the van. We changed spark plugs, a fuel injector, and many other things, but we couldn't figure out what the problem was. We eventually had to begin switching parts from my 290, to the back- up 350. I quickly had to ride the 350 in my expert hot lap. It was the first time that bike had been on an EX course, but I was able to put in a pretty good lap time. Thanks to Stillwell Performance, I was able to get a bigger sprocket on the 350, and switch parts over in time for the main. We rallied, put on my skid plate, unbreakable levers, a special tire, sprockets, and some other stuff, but I was without a Rekluse Clutch on the 350. As the National Anthem was being sung, we rolled our bikes into place on the starting line for the Amateur main. I was able to pull a great start, and was in the lead my the first corner. I stalled my bike, and faded back to third, but quickly got back up to second. I was able to hang onto second throughout the whole race, and finished a solid second place which qualified me for the Dash For Cash! I rolled my bike directly onto the starting line for the expert qualifier. I had Taddy, and Mike brown in my qualifier, not to mention many other big named riders. I got about 3 laps in, and my bike began making a knocking noise. I figured I better quit while I was ahead, and I pulled off. I was unable to ride my bike in the Dash For Cash, so I headed for the stands. We had many ups and downs at this EX, but for the most part, the Denver EX has gotten the best of us for the last two years. Also I saw the EMT who helped me off the track last year, and told her I hope I never see her again. HaHa! I flew home the next day with Josh and Brian Anthony, and it's back to the grind. Thanks for reading,

"The Sheriff" Max Gerston

Ontario Endurocross 2011

Friday morning, pops and I load everything up, and were off to the races by 10:00. We chewed the fat the hole drive, and never even turned on the radio. We talked about dirt bikes for the first 3 and 1/2 hours, and the the Motovan for the remainder of the drive. We rolled in just in time to get signed up, and get changed out for the KTM experience. The KTM experience was awesome, we got to practice the EX track and have Mike Brown and Taddy Blazusiak critique our riding...bitchin. The next day was race day, and I was feeling confident because of the practice I had the day before, the bike felt good, I felt good, I was ready. In practice I set the fastest time in my group, giving me first gate pick for the qualifier. The course was fairly fast and flawy, and the start headed you straight into a huge log. In my qualifier, I got the jump, wheelied, and hammered the log as hard as I could. I pulled a sweet holeshot, and held the lead for the entire race. Now it was time to get ready for the amateur main event. We made a few adjustments to the bike, ate some burritos, and went to the hotel for a couple hours to relax. I watched some of the helmet cam footage I took from my qualifier, and looked for spots to pick up speed. For the main event, they added water to the water pit, and pretty much wet everything down. The rocks were now twice as hard as before, and the matrix was now too slippery to even stand on. I got a second place start, and held it for about two laps, when the third place guy, Matt Crouch, snuck by me due to a mistake on my behalf. I tailed him the whole last lap, and I was just behind him coming into the final obstacle, the matrix. I nailed the matrix, and he bobbled, but he was able to stay in front of me. We crossed the finish line less than half a second apart! I was happy with a third, as it was my first podium in EX. I proudly thanked my sponsors on the podium, MotoCity, Klim, Rekluse, Eks Brand, Hammer Nutrition, Stillwell Performance, and Topar. It was awesome, but next time I am looking to go for the win. Beraaaaaap!

"Main Jet" Max

ISDE Finland 2011 Day 5/6 and Recap

Well, I am still in shock about the whole event, it was a crazy and unbelievable experience. Day 5 was similar to day 4, but there was only a little bit of rain. I was so excited that it was almost over I was doing wheelies wherever I could! There was people standing on the back roads handing out Sunflowers and cheering for wheelies. High fiving the kids, while on a 5th gear sit down wheelie gets a little sketchy, but its well worth it, they loved it. Day 6 was the final moto, they broke the C3 class into two motos, a slower one, and a faster one. They put me in the faster one and I was up against some heavy Euro competition. I got a crappy 12th place start and started working my way back up. I was able to get up to fourth place by about the 3rd or 4th lap, it was a 7 lap moto. The front three guys were hauling and were way out from, so I pretty much settled into a groove in 4th. I am happy with the result. As far as overall goes, I ended up 10th place in the C3, was only 3 or 4 minutes out of a gold medal. I am pumped with a silver medal since it was my first Six Days. I dropped no trail points, which was gnarly because of how gnarly the race was. Jeff Fredette said it was one of the top 5 hardest Six Days he has ever done.

At the beginning of Six Days I didn't know how to ride mud and slop, I do now. I learned a ton here from all the experienced riders that attend the event, these dudes are gnarly. It has been an experience of a lifetime, which has made me tougher, and taught me a lot. I appreciate all of your support, thanks for everything. You guys are the best,

"Main Jet" Max Gerston

ISDE Finland 2011 Day Four

Day four, I wake up to Marsh saying "Lets Go Ridin", as he looks out the window at the relentless rain. As I get up it starts to sink in, here we go, another wet, muddy, sloppy, rainy ass day here in Kotka, Finland. I get my stuff together and head down to get some "food". I am still tired and sore from the past 3 days, but just as motivated to bust out the 4th rainy ass day. Eating is way harder just from the stresses of the racing, so I have to force some nasty shit down. I get my helmet, and a couple pairs of dry gloves from the room, and hop in the car. On the way to the race venue, I am dreading the fact that I am going to have to ride 200+ miles in the weather outside of the warm and fuzzy Ford Focus. The car is silent and all you can here is pouring rain when my dad says, "Don't touch the bike Marshall, don't touch the dam bike." He breaks out in laughter. I say, "What the Hell are you talking about Marsh?" Apparently, that was what I said when I was sleep-talking the night before. It pretty much rained the first and last two hours of the day, not to bad. I was able to stay on my minute all day, even when I realized I was missing a master link clip, and replaced it right before the check with seconds to spare. At the end of the day, we had a test section on a ski slope, it had foot deep rivers running down the ruts as we were going uphill...Gnarly. I busted out some major work to the bike in the last 15 minutes, and I am ready for bed tonight. Beraaaapp!

"Main Jet"

ISDE Finland 2011 Day Three!

Day three is officially over. Today was shorter than usual but don't worry, it was still miserable. When we woke up at 6:00 it was a little cloudy, then before the race it turned sunny! It looked to be a nice sunny day, but as soon as I started the motorcycle, it started raining, and it only stopped when I hit the kill switch for the last time at the end of the day. We covered around 240 kilometers, mostly dirt road. We had a couple fun special tests with a lot of sand, but a couple others with nasty wet rocks. We were pretty much riding in mud and ruts all day. At the end of the day I busted out a flawless tire change with time to spare. So the day went pretty good, I didn't drop any trail points, and I stayed smooth. I can't ask for ouch more than that! Thanks for reading,

Max Gerston

ISDE Finland 2011 Day Two!

Day number two is finally over. Today started off nasty! As soon as a started the race it began to downpour. I was soaked to the core and freezing by the time we got to the first test section, so I was a tight and uncomfortable on the bike. After a little while I began to get broken loose, and I was using my brain, instead of my muscles. Smooth lines and patience got me through the day. I continued to not drop and trail points today. I am pumped on that because this race is becoming a test of attrition. We road the exact same course as yesterday, minus a couple mud holes. I stayed focused and rode smooth today. I am very sore and beat, but everything went off without a hitch. Tomorrow is a new day and I'm ready to go. Lets do it!

"Main Jet" Max

ISDE Finland 2011 Day One!

Day one is officially in the books! We were hoping for epic conditions, but the weather gods apparently hate us this week. It has been cool and mellow weathered the whole last week, but this morning we wake up to a deluge! Everything that was gonna be fun, is now a test of will and attrition. Muddy rocks, mud holes and everything else. We rode about 180 miles, some road, mostly gnarly trails. It was extremely hard to stay on your minute because of the difficulty of the transfer sections. This being my first ISDE day ever, I was a little nervous but extremely excited. I was trying to just pick good lines and be smooth. I had a few problems, but somehow was able to stay on my minute and not drop any trail points. Dozens of racers earned speeding tickets as they were speeding through the streets of Finland, in attempt to try and make up time to stay on their minute. I was lucky enough to stay away from the cops. This is one of the few times I have actually gotten LUCKY with cops. As the race went on, fatigue set in, along with bad decisions. I got stuck in mud three times, got a branch between my rear wheel and my brake rotor, and went over the bars going up hill. Somehow I was able to relax and make to my checkpoint on time. At the end of the day I took full advantage of my 15 minute work period, and I changed a rear tire and made some other adjustments with time to spare. The results from today are up, and I am 10th in the C3 class, super pumped!!! I am also the top C3 club rider for the US!!! Pumped! I am tired and worn out from the day, so tonight will be doing a lot of eating, and preparing for tomorrow!! Thanks for reading! Feel free to ask questions! Thanks,

"Main Jet" Max Gerston

P.S. My mom will be posting pics at www.saycheesephotograghy.smugmug.com

ISDE Finland 2011

Today was pretty bitchin! I got to roll around with Brian Garrahan all day. The dude is intense, we drove around and walked tests, laughing the whole way. We went to a test that was close to the border of Russia, where there was some crazy old tanks, bunkers, hideouts, all from the Battle between Russia and Finland during WWII, it was crazy. This was all before we crossed the street, and began walking the test. The test was in the midst of battlefield, there was huge boulders blocking a hole in a big concrete wall for shooting out of. We will literally be riding directly through a battlefield, right around bunkers, 6' trenches, and hideouts...Gnarly. On the way home we proceeded to find 3 or 4 motocross tracks, and two or three rally car tracks, one of which Garrahan and I had to pin it around on the rental car for a little, kinda hard with traction control, that pissed us off. Big let down. We continued home, pulling off at every motocross track we saw, just like kids in a candy store, with severe cases of ADD. We made it home eventually, and went to opening ceremonies. They weren't too exciting, but it's super cool walking in front of a ton of people, with the fastest racers in the world surrounding you on all sides. Tomorrow is the final preparation day, then its game time. Thanks for reading,

Max Gerston

ISDE Finland 2011

Today was a good day. We woke up early and got to work. We got my motorcycle all finished up. This included putting Mousse tubes in the tires, Loctiting a million bolts, setting sag, etc...The bike runs extremely crisp and I am confident in my equipment. We also walked several of the test sections. One of them was reeeaaally rocky, it consisted of big planted boulders, and the other test was on a small ski slope. It consisted of some nice sand, loamy corners, and extremely steep hills. Both of the test sections were very short, but looked very fun as well. Tomorrow we will walk more test sections and probably ride and test out the bike. Look for more updates! Wooo Hoooo

ISDE Finland 2011

Today was cool and exciting! My dad and I helped everybody unload all the crates and stuff from the big huge container today. We also got my rented motorcycle, a KTM 300 EXC, the thing is badass. It comes with an orange frame, pipe guard, skid plate, quick axle pulse, disc guard, and the works, its pretty much factory bike. We set it all up with my bars and all that stuff, and I will post some pics of it up tomorrow. Tomorrow I will also start walking the track, I will give you another update then. Thanks,

Main Jet

ISDE Finland 2011

Arrived in Helsinki, Finland at 8:30 this morning. I have been up for about 30 hours straight trying to adjust to the 9 hour time difference. My dad and I made the hour and a half drive to Kotka, then we drove around in circles looking for our hotel for another hour or two. The search consisted of illegal U-turns, stopping on train tracks, wrong way on one-way streets, and eventually we rolled into the hotel parking lot. All of the Finish people have been extremely nice, and excited about everything. I am looking forward to some good sleep tonight thats for sure. Beraaaaaaap!

Nebraska RMEC race

I just got back from a race in some small town in Nebraska. It was a fun course, grass track style, and I had fun and ended up on top of the podium. Everything went perfect. Now it's time to wrap myself in bubble wrap in preparation for the ISDE. Beraaap

Local Grinding Stone GP

This race was a very fun race! I decided the night before that I was going to race it, so I loaded up the ol' 125 and headed out there. My race went off at 8:30, and it was a 45 minute race. I ended up getting a second place holeshot behind Luke Reynolds, and I got passed quickly by Mason Ottersburg. I was able to get passed Mason after about a lap and a half, and Luke was way out front. Luke ended up crashing, and I took over the lead. Mason was never more than 20 seconds behind me the whole race, and got pretty close, but I was able to pull away on the last lap to take the win. I had a lot of fun on the little 125, and I will come out for more of these events. Beraaap,

Max Gerston

RMEC Chadron, Nebraska 2011

This race was awesome! It was well worth the 18 hour drive that had huge wind the hole way. This race was my first time keeping endure, and I didn't even know what to do. I had a fellow racer named Jim Koch give me a crash course on the ICO computer, and then I was on my own. I was able to perfectly zero out 4 out of 7 checks, and it should have been 5 if it weren't for a cranky checkpoint worker who laughed when I put my foot down at 59 seconds, and made me burn the check, when I really zeroed it out. I was unsure how I was doing in the results, but I ended up getting 1st!! I am very happy and excited about my result! Anyway, I had a ton of fun on some awesome singletrack through the trees with nice moist loamy dirt. It was about a 100 mile race, and I felt good and strong the whole time. Thanks to everybody who helped me out, you guys are the best. Beraaaaaapp!

Max Gerston

RMEC Bennet Race 2011

Well, the race from last weekend went pretty much awesome. The day before it was extremely windy and dusty, and we had our doubt about the race. Also the course was suuuuper tight through the trees, which would cause you to have many small mistakes. That night, it rained and hailed and everything else that happens in Colorado. The next morning, it was a perfect race day, conditions were perfect. There was a grass track portion of the course, and some trail that busted through the trees. It was a seven mile loop, and we did it 6 times. The course was extremely fun with big loamy nice turns in the grass track, and fun technical stuff through the trees. I put in a very solid ride, and ended up taking second behind Cody Shafer in the pro class. Beraaaaap!!

National Enduro ISDE Qualifier in Lubbock Texas

It was a long, hot, and dusty weekend for me and the crew this weekend. My dad and I, along with two other awesome racers loaded up the Moto Van and headed out to the races. We rolled into the race venue about mid-day Saturday, and we got through tech and sign up in about 5 minutes. There was a jetting loop that was about a half of a mile long, so we got our flow on for about an hour to make sure everything was working flawlessly. We stayed the night in Post, a town about 20 miles from the race venue, and woke up the next morning with our race faces on, we went into "race mode". On our way to the race venue we happened to come across a flock of Turkeys in the middle of the road, we tried our best to avoid the turkeys, but we managed to blast one on the corner of our van. Let's just say, the Moto Van had turkey for breakfast. Anyway, my dad and I, and Stewart "The Ball Peen Hammer" Hamer were all on row number 4. The first test section was extremely tight, crippling my ability to get a flow, or my ability to get out of second gear. The second test section was awesome!! It consisted of fun and flowy singletrack, where I was able to lay down a pretty good time. The remainder of the test sections were extremely tight and energy draining. I had a pretty good and strong finish, I was able to finish 2nd in the AA class, and 13th overall out of all the "Big Boys". As soon as the race was over, we jumped in the van, and drove back to Scottsdale, we rolled in the driveway at 3:00 A.M. Monday morning, and I woke up at 6:30 to go to school. It doesn't get any better than that. Everybody had fun, and we all walked away injury free. Beeeeraaaaaapp!!!

New Ktm 350!!!

I have been riding and training on the new Moto City Ktm 350. The bike works like a dream and I am very excited to race it in Globe on the 22nd!!