Race Report: The Outback

The opening round of the Mideast Hare Scramble series in Laurinburg, NC was another cold, wet race. The weather was less than desirable, and the muddy sections of the track were rough. It did turn out to be a Hoyland family reunion and it was nice to have my wife and parents there. It was also great to see the Mideast family for the first time this year.

Note that my dad is wearing shorts...crazy 

As for the race, I got a good start but overshot the third turn and got into the slop, letting teammates Brian Cook and Braden Henthorn around me. The next field I was able to outmotor Braden and went into the woods in second. Braden passed me back within the first mile, but then Brian got stuck on a downed tree and I was able to pass both of them for the lead. I led until the third lap when I came up on some stuck lappers and had nowhere to go. Brian got there and quickly made a path around, also passing me. I was able to tag in behind him, and we raced back and forth for the next two laps.

On the last lap, I made a pass on Brian and saw out of the corner of my eye that he was flying off of his quad. I turned around and went back to make sure he was ok, then took back off when he said he was fine. He tagged in behind me and when I caught some lappers with a couple miles left, he made the final pass on me to get the win. I finished in second.

Racing with Brian made up for the cold miserable weather, until I got back to the trailer and realized I had forgotten water and washrags to clean myself with. It was very cold washing myself with papertowels and the rest of my gallon jug of drinking water.

Post race discussion

Here is a video from the race. There was hardly any footage clear enough to use, so I did what I could with the footage available.

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The Outback, Laurinburg, NC

This weekend starts the Mideast Hare Scramble Series, with the Outback in Laurinburg, NC. There should be a pretty good pro turnout for this race, some guys on their way down to Florida hit this race, and some people will travel up from Florida. It is a sandy race, which makes it good pre-Florida practice without traveling all the way to Florida.

We are making some shock changes to the bike from last weekend's race, but other than that the bike is staying the same. To get ready for the race, I am going to be getting new tires ready with TireBalls.

It looks like this race has the makings for a Hoyland family reunion, since my wife will be traveling with me and my parents will be moving down to South Carolina this week and are going to try and make it to the race.

So far the weather is calling for rain, which is not good sign. I've never rode in sand while it's raining, but I've heard it's not exactly fun.

If you're planning on coming to the race, here are some Laurinburg links:
Weather for the weekend,
Directions to race
Directions to town of Laurinburg from your location,
Hotels and area information (restaurants, etc.)

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Crosstraining: Dirt Bikes

I recently bought a 2004 YZ125 to try to do some cross training. I've never really rode a dirt bike other than messing around on some at friend's houses, so I really don't know what training benefits I'll get from it. Today was my first time training with it, and here's a video of some of what I did.

So far, I've noticed that dirt bike riding works some different muscles than four wheeler riding. I have a lot to learn about riding a dirt bike, but it's the funnest thing I've done in a while. I converted it to a thumb throttle, which made me feel a lot more comfortable and in control, but I won't lie, the woods are still really hard.

My main reasons for trying out a dirt bike as a training method were money and logistics really. I live in an apartment and don't have anywhere to easily store a four-wheeler, but I have several friends in the area that ride dirt bikes and wouldn't mind finding a little garage space to store mine. Dirt bikes are also easier to transport. I can fit two bikes in the back of my truck, whereas I can only fit one four-wheeler. This helps when I want to travel with someone to ride somewhere. The area that I live in has a lot more places where I can ride a bike than a four-wheeler, so I have more places to train.

Dirt bikes are cheaper than four wheelers in almost every way. They are cheaper from the start, when you purchase one. Maintenance is cheaper, and I can do a lot of it myself especially since I got a 2-stroke. Fuel is cheaper because you use less.

Like I said, I'm still trying it out to see how it will benefit me and my training program, but seat time is seat time.

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Rattlesnake Ridge

The Rattlesnake Ridge outlaw race last weekend in Taylorsville NC was...cold to say the least. Between the wind and the occasional snow, it was not my idea of good racing conditions. I am not a fan of racing below 45 degrees, so I guess you can call me a fair weather rider.

In spite of the cold, I got a good start, but I had to stop at the end of the first lap to adjust my stabilizer for a few seconds. I had turned it down before the race because it was so cold, which made it hard to turn. But within a mile into the race, everything on the bike warmed up, including the stabilizer, and it felt like I had no stabilizer at all so I stopped to fix it. It didn't take much time, but it allowed 3 or 4 people to pass me. If I ever get a wild hair to race another race as cold as this one, which I probably won't because I hate the cold, I will NOT adjust my stabilizer before the race. Lesson learned.

We raced a 6 mile loop for a little over 2 hours. I felt like I was on the smallest merry-go-round ever; there were more laps than I could count. I wish I had my Garmin on so that I could have told what time it was and how much longer so I would have had an idea of when the last lap would be because it went straight to checkered.

There was some really good racing with my new teammate Braden Henthorn. We both had bike problems that made us pass each other back and forth throughout the race, then he made the final pass on me with 2 laps left. Below is a video of the race. Even though I had my problems with the cold and short track, it was good to start the racing season. Making some changes to the bike and my training regime to get ready for the next race this weekend, and the start of  GNCC.

Brian Wolf won, followed by Kevin Yoho, Brian Cook, Braden Henthorn, and then me in fifth. My other teammate David Reeves broke down and James Reeves won A class.

Getting Ready to Race

My first race of the season is coming up this weekend, as I mentioned in my last post. So this is the first time this year that I've had to prepare for a race. I've gotten some emails/comments asking what I do to get ready for a race, so here is a post about it. This is a local race, so what I do will be a little different than what I have to do for a GNCC race.

First, I keep my workout and diet plan on course. I don't change anything until two days before a race. I usually eat a pretty balanced diet. I don't carb load during the week like some racers/athletes. But two days before a race, I will start switching to more heavy carb meals. Still healthy with good sources of protein, but more weighted towards carbs.

Typical pre-race food.

The day before a race, I definitely eat a lot of carbs, especially at dinner. Pasta is my favorite meal the night before a race. For local races, I don't focus as much on diet, but definitely for GNCC races. The day of the race, I eat carbs and proteins, usually from PowerBars and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I want refined carbs the day of the race so they digest quickly, and my stomach isn't full when the racing begins, but all my muscles are completely fueled for the race.

I also drink a lot of water before a race, starting two days before. I try to drink 1 gallon of water a day to prepare for a race. I want to be fully hydrated before, since during the race I lose so much water from sweat  that I can't drink enough even with my Camelback to replace it.

I also usually take the day before a race easy with exercise. For GNCC races, I normally just walk or bike the track. For local races, I don't do much if any exercise the day before. I want to make sure my muscles aren't sore or tired for the race. I also try to get a full night's sleep before the race. Sometimes if I'm helping with local race preparations, this isn't possible, but for GNCC's I definitely get a full night's sleep.

Drying my goggles.

As far as preparing my gear goes, I usually wash and prep my goggles with roll-offs and tear-offs the week before a race. I pack my gear bag with everything I need for the weekend. I pack a cooler with the food I want to eat before and after the race, sports drinks, and water. My bike is prepped by Santo Derisi for the GNCCs, but for the locals I sometimes help with the preparation.

If you want to know more about what I do to prepare for a race, let me know in a comment, Facebook or email at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com.

Mid East Hare Scramble Series

Race season in nearly here. Along with the GNCC series, I will be running the Mid East Hare Scramble Series. Here's a schedule in case any of you guys are interested in running some or all of these races too.

Round	Race Date	Event	Location
Rd. 1	February 19	Outback	Laurenburg, NC
Rd. 2	March 4	Palmetto	Gaston, SC
Rd. 3	March 25	Rockhouse	Morganton, NC
Rd. 4	April 22	Harris Bridge	Woodruff,SC
Rd. 5	May 5	Antioch	Morganton, NC
Rd. 6	May 20	Deer Trail	Cowpens, SC
Rd. 7	June 3	Welborn Farm	Boonville, NC
Rd. 8	June 10	New CAW	Winnsboro, SC
Rd. 9	August 26	Harris Bridge	Woodruff, SC
Rd. 10	Sep 9	Fowkins Farm	Jonesville, SC
Rd. 11	Sep 23	Airport	Hickory, NC
Rd. 12	Sep 30	Pea Ridge	Jonesville, SC
Rd. 13 Rd. 14	Oct 14 Oct 28	Outback Rockhouse	Laurenburg, NC Morganton, NC

I will be racing an outlaw race this weekend. See the flyer below if you're interested in racing. I'll be posting again this week with some info on what I do to prepare for a race, since this is the first race of the season. If you like this blog, subscribe and follow. You can leave comments/questions on the blog, Facebook, or email me at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com.

Mountain Biking as Training

Training should be fun. Other than riding your four-wheeler, I feel that the second best training method is pedaling up a mountain and flying down the other side. When I mountain bike, I wear my Garmin GPS watch with a heart rate monitor (which I also wear at some of the races) and in a two hour bike ride through the mountains, I burn as many calories as a 2 hour race. It is a great cardio workout, and it also works some of the same muscles that racing does.

I am lucky enough to live near the edge of the Jefferson and George Washington National Forests, where there is tons of mountain biking. Pandapas Pond is a recreation area a few minutes drive from my house (or 10 minute bike ride) with miles of trails up and down the mountains. Whenever the weather is decent, and it is not dark, I go there to ride for training. It provides a break from the treadmill running I normally do.

For those of you who do not live right next to a National Forest, look online for local parks or state parks. You'd be surprised what's around you if you just look. Most places allow biking on trails.

Mountain biking has a two sided aspect of training that many workout methods do not. Sure, it's a good workout, and I'm always really tired at the end of a good ride. But I've also gotten the trail-reading, quick-decision-making aspect of racing that I can't get from a treadmill. As you can see from the video, you can get going pretty fast down the mountain and pretty wore out pedaling up. You have to be able to continue making good decisions even when you're completely wore out.

Mountain Biking 2-1

We're still working on the angle for the camera, so bear with us. I'm sure I'll have more mountain biking videos with more info about bikes, where to ride, etc. if you are interested. Follow the blog and subscribe if you like it. Leave me comments below, on Facebook, or email me at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com.

Treadmill Trials

A few weeks ago I broke our treadmill while doing my daily cardio training, preparing for the start of the Can-Am GNCC series. After running on the treadmill at my sister's house before the wedding, and the at the gyms in St. Lucia, I noticed our treadmill had a lot more friction. We had some silicon belt lube that we got for free in a treadmill kit, so I tried it out. It worked fine that day, but the next morning when I was running, Victoria said she smelled something burning.

We just thought that it was the belt lube, and I kept running on the treadmill for a couple of days, but I thought it would eventually all burn off. Bad idea. It made the entire apartment smell like burnt electric motor, which it turns out it was. Two days into the burning smell, the treadmill stopped running mid workout. We thought about buying a new treadmill (this one has had issues before and was free), but to replace it will an equal model would be around $1000. TreadmillDoctor.com helped us figure out the problem and order a new motor. We only had to pay for the motor and it cost around $190. Savings: $810



So it arrived this week and here I am installing it. It works now, and I'm back to training for Florida at home instead of the gym.

Taking out the bad motor.

 Closeup of the bad motor.

New motor that works!

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Riding Video: Practice January 22

For Christmas my parents got me a GoPro Hero, and the past few weekends I've been trying it out. Last weekend was the first quality video I got, so my wife and I decided to try out video editing to make a video for my blog.

The track I was riding was at Santo's. It was muddy, so I'm glad I rode for an hour so we could pull out around 4 minutes of clear footage for the video.
This is the first time I've ever tried to edit a video before, so I'm using Windows MovieMaker. If you guys know of better editting software, let me know in a comment, on Facebook, or in an email to HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com because I plan on making videos for most of the local races and some of the nationals.

Product Review: HMF Exhaust

It's pretty obvious that HMF is a leading ATV exhaust brand at the GNCC races. Just look at the start each race, and you'll see an HMF exhaust on lots of bikes. I've been running HMF exhausts since 2006, or basically my entire GNCC career. From B class to Pro-Am, HMF has been my go-to exhaust company, and here's why.

We have been running the Competition Series for a '06-'10 Honda TRX 450R. It is a lightweight exhaust that has smooth power from bottom to top. They have 3 stage inserts that offer different power/decibel levels. Which makes the pipe versitile to meet decibel requirements at some riding parks/races, but allows you to maximize power when needed. It is a good-looking exhuast and they offer a variety of colors for it. Some of you may have seen the pink exhausts HMF was putting on bikes at the Ironman for breast cancer awareness month.

HMF is very easy to get ahold of and work with. I've never had any trouble dealing with them when we need something in the 6 years I've been running their products. They had many different levels of sponsorship when I was starting out riding, and I was able to get some help even as a new B class rider. I don't know what the sponsorship situation is now, due to the economic issues everyone is dealing with, but I've always felt like they really care about the riders that use their products and want to help out if and when they can.

Georgia 2011

I don't know what their schedule will be for the 2012 series, but in previous years, they have often been at the nationals to deliver and pick up exhausts. Unlike most other exhaust companies, their office is in Ohio, close to most GNCC racers, so you can get what you need fast.

If you'd like to hear about any other products I use, let me know in a comment or at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com. If you like this blog, become a follower!

2012 Program

2012 GNCC season is closing in, and our program is being worked out. As a Derisi racing rider, I only know what Santo tells me about our program, so there may be some companies/parts that I have left out. But so far, I'm really pumped about our program for next year. Derisi racing is putting together a new look for the team, and we have a lot of really good companies sponsoring our racing.

For the bike, we are running all Derisi Racing components: A-arms and linkage. As usual, we deal with RG Honda for our bikes and OEM parts. Our tire setup will include GBC tires, Hiper wheels, and Tireballs. We will be running Rath Racing nerf bars, bumpers, and grab bars. DC Cycle will work on our motors, and we will run Rekluse, Wiseco pistons, and HMF exhaust. The bike will be equipped with TwinAir filters, Fox shocks, Flexx bars, a GPR stabilizer, DP Brakes, Spider grips, Quadtech hood and seat, IMS tank, and Dirtworks battery box. The whole bike is wrapped in custom G4 graphics.

Big Buck 2011



I will be wearing Moose gear, Alpinestar boots, Bell helmets, and Scott goggles. And of course, we always fuel up before the races and during training with PowerBar products.

This isn't a complete list. There are still a few parts/companies that we are working out, but it is mostly what we will be running. If you want to know anything about these products, most of them I have run in past years, so I can answer any questions you have about them. Email me at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com or leave a comment. If you like what you've been reading, follow this blog!

The Road to Florida

The Florida race is very different from all of the other GNCC races. It is in the sand, so whoops are a huge factor. It is very hot, coming from the winter up north, where many of us are from. Florida is known as the 'who's in best shape' or 'who has the best endurance' race. Technique and machinery are important, but fitness rules the podium at this race.

The other thing to consider when preparing for Florida is a good shock setup. I know why a lot of people blow off the Florida race (besides it's so far away from all of the other races). Your shock setup for Florida is completely different than the setup you need for all of the other races because you have to battle whoops for 2 hours instead of normal dirt/clay track. If it's a spring shock, I usually have to run 25-50 lbs heavier springs. For an air shock, I have to add more air pressure for Florida. I'll talk about shock setup for Florida more in a later post.

Florida 2011



Many pros go down to Florida right after the holidays are over to begin training. Some go down before the holidays. They train for months in the heat and the sand to prepare. I did this one year. I was lucky enough to be living with my parents still and they helped me go to Florida for 2 months to train.

This year I'm only planning on going down to Florida for one week. Like most people who race GNCC, I have a job. I need to make money to be able to race, so leaving for months and losing all that money (not counting the cost of living in Florida for that time) is too much.

From my experience, training in Florida for months is the best way to get in shape for GNCC, if you can afford it. But for those of us who can't, we are not at a big disadvantage. We can do loads of cardio training up north, and head down to a sandy area for a week, like me, or for a weekend to test out shocks. For example, we've gone to Sumter/Manchester SC to test shocks for Florida. It is a lot closer than Florida, and provides similar sandy terrain to test out the whoops.

Moral of the story, Florida is expensive enough without going down for several months to prepare. Do what you can where you live, and if you can afford to, go down for a week or so. As long as you're constantly training, on or off the quad, to better yourself as a rider, you will do well in your class and improve throughout the year.

I will have a few more blog posts talking about Florida preparation, since that is what everyone is doing right now. If there is something specific you would like to know about, let me know in a comment, or at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com

Product Review: Derisi Racing's Honda TRX450R Long Travel Linkage

For some of my blog posts, I'd like to give information about the products I use and why I like them. The after-market accessories I use definitely allow me to do well by making my machine perform the best that it can.

I'll start with Derisi Racing's Honda TRX450R Long Travel Linkage. I used this linkage on my Honda all year and really like it's performance. The great thing about this linkage is that it can be used with a stock swing arm. There are a lot of advantages with this. Stock swing arms are lighter than after-market swing arms and I've never heard of someone breaking a stock swing arm. I personally have used after market linkage/swing arm combos and had a lot of trouble with breaking the after-market swing arms, which are not cheap. This linkage can save $500-700 by not requiring the after-market swing arm, and that's not counting replacement swing arms.

Snowshoe GNCC 2011

I ran this linkage in many really rocky races where the linkage took a real beating, but it never showed signs of stress. It also has a replaceable stainless steel skidplate, but I've not had to replace that all year. Neither have any of the riders testing out this product.

From experience, I can say that this linkage provides a better result than the after market linkage/swing arm combos. Suspension-wise, it is comparable, but the added benefit of a lighter, more durable swing arm make it a better setup all around.

If you liked this post, comment and let me know. If there is something else you'd like me to talk about on this blog, leave me a comment or email me at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com.

Back on the Grind

I just got back from our 7 day honeymoon at Sandals in St. Lucia. If you don't know (and I didn't until my wife told me) St. Lucia is an island in the Caribbean close to South America. Needless to say, it was warm and awesome. The all-included meals and drinks made sticking to a diet plan difficult, but the fitness centers helped. So did the ridiculous hike we went on. 

You might have seen this on my Facebook page. We hiked up the mountain in the background. It was a 2000 foot vertical climb in an hour and a half. Really intense. 

But we were rewarded for our efforts with some amazing views like this one.

We stayed in a room on the second floor of the second building from the cliff edge. It was really cool.

All considered, it was much needed relaxation, and I was able to maintain my level of fitness, which was my goal. But now it's back to the grind and I'm headed down to Santo Derisi's for some much needed riding. I haven't been able to ride for about 3 weeks, and I'm really pumped to go riding Sunday.

The Mideast Harescramble Series banquet is on Saturday, so I will be heading to that too. I placed 3rd in pro class, so maybe I'll make out with some swag. 

So I'm back in gear with the blog. I should be able to post 3-4 times a week, with anything you guys are interested in. I've gotten some requests for nutrition/fitness program information and how I train. I'll also post some product reviews for you. But let me know what you're interested in hearing about, and I'll post it. Email me at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com.