Rd 5 Hurricane Hills, May 22^nd & 23^rd.  The first thing I want to talk about for this event is the fifty plus hard working, back busting strong course workers we had out on that trail. This was by far the toughest most technical race we’ve had and without all of you being out there helping the riders on the rock hills and other trouble areas, this event would not have been such a success. Between all the sweepers and Men manning a spot, all riders continued to take on another Hellaciously Fun lap (for lack of better words) if they were able to do so. The guys that help on the course during an event are the dock workers of the NEOC and without them our ship would not sail. We thank you for your dedication, muscle and sweat you give to this organization and its riders to help make such top notch quality events.

We couldn’t have asked for better racing weather and the dust control we had Saturday night was okay with me. The MX part of the course was laid out nice for smooth transitions between jumps and gave the spectators a bird’s eye view of everyone styling and smiling for the camera. After coming out of those woods so whooped I was really surprised to see such action over the jumps. I have to say that it was nice to be able to have an event at a MX track up in the rocks for some diversity to cross off our bucket list of things to do before the season is over.

11am our Tutor Time Instructor, Dan the Man, had them practice using their back brakes and standing up while weaving the cones. Two things they would need to know for completing the event they were about to take part in.

12 noon seventeen future NEOC top guns took on the first challenge of the weekend. As always, they made us smile, cheer and remember the feelings of fearing something new and the power of pride that comes with accomplishment. Those feelings are something you can only create for yourself so to see all of our youngins do it at every event fills my heart with pride and joy, as I am sure yours too.

Brian and I were talking about each event being so technical and challenging for the kids and how they always conquer everything we throw at them. I hope all of you parents realize why we can do this and why they continue to conquer. It is because of the help, support and encouragement you give them on the line and out on the course. By doing this you are telling them that they can’t fail and that it’s okay to fall if you get up and keep trying. You make it easy for us to give them what they want and we thank you for allowing us to do so.

1pm twenty six oil injected young moto heads were lined up chomping at the bit to do the table tops and ride the technical rocks. Our 7-8 OI first and second place traded spots six out of nine laps to come to the checkered as one bike with #316 Jonathan Miller on the front fender and #86 Devin Macavoy on the back. Super Cool. Third place #841 Zeppy Wright held his position the whole event. Our top three racers in the 4-6 OI switched places for an hour straight keeping us guessing who would come down that rocky off camber slope to take the checkered. Our South Jersey Honda boy #89 Wayne Cox came down first with #642 Allen Adkins on his KTM and a black eye for second. You’re a tough cookie kid! #237 Tyler Kowalski held first for three laps but took his third place with such pride because he knew he did the best he could and was happy for his friends that came in before him. What character he has! All of our oil injected racers did an outstanding job in this extreme rock run.

3pm fifty peewees were sitting on the line waiting for Brian to bellow out the ten second count and Todd to drop the flag. The 7-9 65s are always the first two strokes of the weekend to throw roost and start forming the burms. #26 Kyle Tino rules the first place spot but until a bad crash took #38 Brandom Gahm out of the game, the two of them were lighting the course up together.  I know we had some issues in the Thumper class for this event. Hopefully it is a lesson we all can learn from so we never have to go through it again. Things happen in the heat of the moment and mistakes are made without bad intentions but non the less they are mistakes and have consequences. These are all good young kids that are still learning the rules of the trade. We do not want to discourage them or take away from how well they are riding so doing our job to keep things fair and on a level playing field sometimes is a difficult one when the rules have to be enforced. Okay, having said all that, lets leave it behind and move on. Our top finisher #125 Chris Blackburn did very well running the rocks and stylin the jumps on his Honda. Our second place stayed ahead of Blackburn on his own Honda until he ran into some difficulty on the last lap but #388 Cody Reeves handled it with grace. In our 4-8 50 class we had some amazing things happen. These bikes have the smallest wheels in this division so naturally you would think they’d have the most trouble running this extreme rock run section. Not only did the top two excel in the worst conditions, they loved it. According to the winners dad, #185 Johnny Manera wishes all of them could be like that. (maybe he bumped his head and we missed it, lol) Second place #53 Michael Nirdlinger came in a knobby behind first. These boys finished seventh and eighth overall plus tied each other in the points battle. What an amazing race they had!   A great competition has taken form in the 10-12 EL class. The top two ran equal number of first place laps with #813 Adam Exel being there on the last one. #460 Beau Hickman took second with a nine minute and six second lap. These kids are two for two on wins. #367 Desirae Shaw was right there keeping them in check with third place girl power.#117 Ryan Gross took his fourth win in the 4-9EL class. It seems like there is nothing he can’t conquer on a motorcycle. After holding first for two laps #288 Craig Cossaboon settled for a solid second place. Great rock run for you guys. We know this was a very technical extreme rock run for many of you new young riders. We admire and respect you for digging down deep for all your grit to finish this event. Be proud of your accomplishment no matter where you placed in the results. We thank all the parents that were out there on the hill helping all the kids.

5pm a herd of fifty plus pitsters filled the starting area rubbing, scraping and leaving their scent for any buck willing to take on this challenge with and against them. You will never see a dull pit bike event. These are the fastest guys that run in Sundays events that come together Saturday evening to have a little fun and strut their stuff. The leader of the herd was Young Buck #393 Philip Morshead with second and fellow young buck #40 Nicky McCollough knocking him in the side with his freshly polished horns. Next two were from our Mega Buck Breed and theor hybrid horns are always polished and sharp. #85 Ryan Klair came in just ahead of the master #44 Alan Jessat. Fifth overall and dead center of all the clashing of horns was YB #36 Chris Gordon. Big Slam Daddys dominate bucks were sixth and seventh overall #737 Joe Sumpter and #118 Jeffery Pettit. It’s a good thing both ride Yammies ‘cause they were locking horns and scraping paint. What an awesome display of muscle and fun. The youth pit bikes are run by the spikes. #122 Dillian Abrams was the dominate buck in this event, no question there. The battle was between second and third place bucks. #90 Malcolm Hill came in just ahead of #198 William Sigler by a piece of shedding velvet. Incredible run guys.

Saturday night the rains came for some dust control on Sunday and that was just fine with me because not a drop fell on Sunday like we thought (assumed) was going to happen. We all fell asleep to the counting of motorcycles hoping rocks and jumping table tops.

Sunday morning the grass was wet, EZ-Ups had water pockets sagging down, Sun was bright, the MX track was perfect and the rocks has set their trap for us. 8:30am Brian, Todd, Chuckie, Phil and the rest of the boys were gathered in a huddle on the front line to synchronize watches and confirm the strategy for the day. Ten seconds echoed across the jumps, the flag dropped, goose bumps arose and the wicked fast took off blasting the line behind them with Pennsylvania mountain mud. #10 Tegan Temple owned the AA Youth class and showed us just how easy a rock run can be when your having fun and lovin life. Incredible race kiddo! Second place and top gun on the plaque #3 Robbie Civiletti held strong for a solid finish. Our 12-15 100 top two contenders are new to the circuit for us. First place and fourth overall #795 Francisco Held took the lead on the fifth lap over a special guest and fifth overall #520 Eden Netelkos. Yes folks, I am proud to say second place was a girl from the north that came to play hop scotch on the rocks with the boys. Thanks for an exciting race and I hope you come to play again. Ps. I must have heard ten times the phrase ‘hey, that’s a chick riding like that", way to represent girl! Our 14-15 85 winner also took an amazing third overall for the day. Someone has lit the stick of dynamite under his seat. #36 Chris "Flash" Gordon loves the taste of victory. 12-13 85 winner was #122 Dillan Abrams. He’s a South Jersey boy but you wouldn’t know it by the way he ran the rocks. After running in first place for two laps #543 Tanner Barnhardt took a solid second with six laps of this brutal up hill rock run. 10-11 85 is another story about a south jersey boy riding the rocks like a champ. After getting through that first initial lap from hell #158 Earl Miller took the lead, an extra lap and never looked back. #909 Johnathan Hiles has the nickname of "Sandworm" so for this 13-15 150 south jersey sandworm to ride the rocks and take his first wins says volumes on his stamina and determination. Second place, also with his best finish, #104 Dawson Guzik dug down and made it through the pack on the hill. The 10-11 65 has another best finish take the win too, #98 Matthew Cropper made it a solid one and himself the points leader. 10-12 125 winner did 5 leps on the toughest course to date and made it his best race to date #293 hunter Bush was the king of the rocks today. This year our ELW class has really developed to a great competitive level and the top riders are starting to emerge. In the same order as round 4 this is the top three for round 5. First place with an extra lap and the holeshot #712 Kiersten McDonal is keeping her race team, McDonal Racing, as a top contender for the year end trophy. Second place #143 Amanda Stites gets her grit and drive from her pop that’s for sure and #24 Chelsea Marriner took third place to make her pop, who was waiting at the finish for her, quite proud indeed. As I said earlier, this was a super technical race that tested everyone so if you only did one lap or seven, be proud to say that you survived a true blue rock run while stylin’ over the jumps. Great race guys.

11am our C event had 100+ riders sitting anxiously waiting for Chuckie to drop the flag. He did and they took off sailing over the jumps and disappearing into the woods to take on the first lap of what they will find out is not friendly at all. The leaders did seven laps because they chose their lines carefully and knew to stay steady on the throttle. If you rode over your head trying to make up time, you most definitely were going to land on it and lose time instead. Top 5 rock runners of this event were C Light #30 Trevor Stevens, C 4 Stroke #783 Jonathan Edel, C Vet #75 Robert Robbins, industry & Mechanics #35 Larry Gordon and C Light #759 Christian Crum. Our first C Heavy #115 Jon Tarlowski came in as thirteenth overall and for three races in a row our Canadian friend #372 Felicia Robichaud took the win in our women’s class. Our C event has turned into a highly competitive and exciting race not to be missed. The skill level has soared from the first event of the year to an all time high. I have a feeling that our main event is going to be filled with many of the names you just read about.

1:30 was a long time coming after running the course for the youth and C event but I was glad it was time for the fastest riders to take on this challenge because it is such a pleasure and learning experience to watch them pick their lines and make it look easy. These riders have the most experience and skill levels. I saw first hand that even they didn’t fully escape all the traps set by the rocks. Snares were going off everywhere. The key was to keep your cool and out smart the rocks. Lol, how does that saying go? "Dumb as a rock!" Needless to say, all of our main event guys were brilliant. The valedictorians for this event goes as follows AA #356 Ryan Rodgers, A Heavies #306 Kyle McDonal and #240 Kyle Bylsma, B Light and fourth overall #504 Tanner Thomas rode his strongest race yet, Awesome finish you guys! Seventh overall was our first A Light and last rider to take the ninth lap #326 Kenny Tenner and what a pleasure it was to see him skying the jumps after his wreck at round 4. Ninth and tenth overall are the mentors of our main event and they schooled everyone, A Seniors #38 Glenn Scherer followed up directly by #34 Keith Rodgers. Fourteenth overall #127 Brian Sworen took A Vet right from jump street and never looked back. The second B rider to come to the flag came from the Vet class #404 Mark Walters. B Senior #180 Glen Davis threw some experience in the mix to show the young guns how to handle the rocks. Some of them were #323 Zack Huberty winner of the school boy class and first place B Heavy #712 Barry Patrick. Now I know you guys had your hands full on the first lap in that new section but it was super cool to see them look for a good line to take or get off their bike and run it up past the tough section. Huge shout out to Big T, Billy Horseman, Scooter and the rest of the men that went to the help in that section. We know these are the fastest and most experienced riders out there but even Albert Einstein needed a little help now and then too.

This was a good technical event that challenged all who laid their rubber on the rocks. We thank you for coming to Clifford PA and taking part in Round 5 of the Northeast Offroad Championship Series.

See everyone in a few weeks. I’m gonna go soak my feet and take a nap………..