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CKR 2011YEAR END WRAP UP, by Paul VanHorsen

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0000

2011 was an exciting year for CKR! As usual the year started with a wet and cold race at Prairie City and continued with wet, challenging races through the spring season. John Sicley started the year off with a case of dementia and signed up in the Senior A class. After a dominating win he came to his senses and jumped back into the Open A class where he continued his winning ways taking the Open “A” Championship.

As all members of the CKR Team jockeyed for position throughout the season in their respective classes, but it was Robert Brumit who kept a cool head and rode to numerous top 3 finishes in the Senior “A” class, holding a commanding lead going into the summer break. Robert was able to keep his composure through the fall season and took the Senior “A” championship.

Steve Bonita showed his speed and style all year by putting his Husaberg up front and on the podium several times. Steve suffered an injury at the Nevada “Toulon Two Step” but as Steve does, he fought through the pain and held onto to win the Vet “A” championship.

Michael Brumit JR dominated the Spring 250 4 Stroke class and the Fall 250 2 stroke class wrapping up both Championships and earning his yellow plates.

Jakob Mc Coid rode his last year in the youth class and took the championship on the “AA” youth division.

Brandon Roberts took the championship in the “A-85” class and finished 2^nd overall in the series. Brandon also traveled to Tennessee and rode the GNCC race at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Brandon put in 2 solid rides and won both his classes and finished in the top 20 overall in both races.

During the summer break Kurt Ashley traveled to Glen Helen Raceway and competed in the 2011 Western States Police and Fire Games. Kurt scored a Gold medal in the MX class and a silver medal in the Cross Country event.

The fall season saw two CKR riders win their first race in the “A” class.

Paul Van Horsen won the Prime Time at Metcalf Cycle Park and Kurt Ashley won the Deer Creek GP @ Frank Raines Cycle Park.

The courses challenged all of us throughout the year and throughout hard crashes, mechanical failures and injuries, the CKR team was able to pull off 7 class championships, 3 second’s, 2 third’s, 1 fourth, 2 fifth’s and a ninth place class finishes. To top this off 5 of the top 20 red plates go to CKR riders.

2011 Class champions

Open Expert – John Sicley

Vet Expert – Steve Bonita

Senior Expert – Robert Brumit

250 C 4 stroke – Michael Brumit Jr (Spring Series)

250 C 2 stroke – Michael Brumit Jr (Fall Series) Advanced to “B” Class

Jakob Mc Coid – AA Youth

Brandon Roberts 1^st – A 85

2011 Runner up’s

Nick Thom – 2^nd Vet Expert

Brett Murdaugh – 3^rd Vet Expert

Paul Van Horsen – 2^nd Senior Expert

Mike Brumit – 3^rd Senior Expert

Kurt Ashley – 4^th Senior Expert

Tyler Brumit – 5th 250 A

Cliff Sloma – 9^th C Vet plus (spring season)

Kaylee Silverberg – 2^nd A girls

Tyler Toline 5^th C 85 (7-11)

First time “A” race winners

Paul Van Horsen first win at Metcalf – Prime Time

Kurt Ashley – First win at Frank Raines

Red Plates

John Sicley – # 9

Tyler Brumit – # 14

Robert Brumit – # 16

Mike Brumit – # 17

Paul Van Horsen – # 19

Youth Overall

1^st- Jakob Mc Coid

2^nd – Brandon Roberts

Special Thanks to Pit Specialist Marc Hiles for the continued support and always being there in the pits ready to go. (especially when Sicley’s pit crew abandons him)

Lastly, James T Perreira has prepared a Ballot for you to vote on for 2011.

Vote for one in each catagory please: (cast your vote in the comments section below by putting in catagory and name selected)

Rider of the Year:
Robert Brumit
Cody Webb
John Sicely
Steve Bonita
Justin Bonita

Youth Rider of the Year:
Brandon Roberts
Jakob McCoid
Kalee Silverberg
Tyler Toline

Most Improved:
Paul Van Horsen
Michael Brumit
Brad Rosbach
Brandon Roberts

Fountain of Youth Award: (You Guys are Old, Start acting your age!)
John Sicely
Mike Brumit
Nick Simon
Nick Thom

Next Champion Award:
Paul Van Horsen
Brian Toline
Kurt Ashley
Justin Bonita

Brandon Roberts Wins at Loretta Lynn’s GNCC

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:09:42 +0000

Brandon’s Mom, Debbie Roberts gives us a good idea of how things went for Brandon at his First GNCC.

1st Place in Class at Loretta Lynns 2011 GNCC

Brandon rode the C250 class, on Friday 11/4 was his first race which started at 10:00 am, the course was 10 ½ miles long and there were 242 riders in that race. Brandon started off mid pack, there were 2 river crossings, road crossings, forest full of trees and of course the Loretta Lynn’s Motocross track. After the first lap, Brandon was in the lead by 18 seconds. Lap 2, still in the lead and getting a bigger lead over 2^nd, Brandon ended up doing 5 laps and was ahead of 2^nd by 4mins. He finished 11^th O/A.

On Sunday the course was 12 ½ miles long, deeper river crossings and more challenging course since the quads had tore it up the day before. He lined up again at 10:00 am and in this race there were 268 riders, Brandon got the hole shot in this race and never looked backed. On the 3^rd lap he had a pretty good get off after he hit a tree, but he still won his class and finished O/A 13^th!

Two First Place Trophy's For for Brandon!

Brandon loved racing back there, true cross country racing and he loved the motocross track. He can’t wait to go back! When he got off the bike Brian Garrahan asked him “Are you tired?” his reply “No, I am ready to go again!”

Brandon with his Coach Brian Garrahan

It was definitely a great experience for him and I hoping he will be able go back again.

Congratulations Brandon!

Sean and Debbie Roberts have been so terriffic in helping you with your XC racing quest. They know how hard you’ve been working for these kinds of results. There is no doubt how proud they must be. I am sure this is the first of many wins to come for you…

Kane

Paul VanHorsen Wins Prime Time XC 10/09/11

admin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:00:12 +0000

Prime Time, Cross Country Race, put on by the Timekeeps Club. Venue at Metcalf Park, San Jose. This weekend Metcalf Park was at its best (blessed with rain earlier in the week). It was a wild 12 mile course consisting of Serious FOG, Rocks, Single track and high speed fire road. This was a course rough enough to shake your teeth loose… Some of our other riders including Robert Brumit, Jimmy “Clothes line” Perreria and Nick Thom did some of there own exploring during the race making some new canyon trails and investigated where the rabbits and deer play.

Congratulations to Paul Van Horsen for Winning the Senior Expert class. Paul’s Moto and XC skills shined as he won the class with 47 seconds to spare as he crossed the line ahead of Mike Sage. Everything lined up for a great race for Paul who’s “Fog Training” really paid off!

Through the Fog #27 was right up front! Battling with Sage and Silverberg for the lead...

Van Horsen with his typical great Start! He is top Left # 27, Silverberg 2k & Sage 121 on Van Horsens Flank...

In the Pro Class Travis Coy and Justin Bonita battled hard for the OA Trav ending up 2nd by only 19 seconds and Justin 4th by again only 34 seconds. That is close for a ~2.5 hour race… Nice work Boys!

The Open Expert Class was dominated yet again by Mr. John Sicley who took the Checker with 4:12 to spare. (What an Animal!) In the Vet Expert Class Brian “ Too Big” Toline pulled off one of his ”off the couch” wins on his new KTM 300xc. Brain was being chased down by “Pretty Boy” Steve Bonita on his “Chrome Pony” as he finished a close 2nd.

Again Congratulations to Paul and Brian for having a fantastic Race and bringing home the #1 plates. Next Up- Frank Raines, Deer Creek XC. Round 10 of the MSR/D36 Western Regional XC series. Best of luck to all our CKR racers. To learn more about our CKR riders click on Team on our home page.

Honey Lake, First Race Back for 2nd half of the Race Season

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:55:17 +0000

Hello and welcome to the 2nd half of the 2011 D36 CC race season. Those of you that could make the Honey Lake race did great. As it was a tough one… Congrats to all including 1st place winners, John Sicley, Brandon Roberts and Jakob Mccoid.

Nick Thom wrote in with a great re-cap of the event. In his own words…

thank you, Thank you very much

I’m back and it feels good. Okay, the knees and back are sore but I mean mentally it feels good. At the last race (in April), I didn’t like the KTM plus I had a flat front tire and I just wasn’t feeling the love. Since then I’ve ditched the orange bike, bought a Yamaha, and had a little work done to my left knee.

At 4000 feet above sea level it was 80 degrees and the sun was intense. Like stay out of the sun intense, unfortunately the track was 95% in the sun, it was watered but rough. I lined up on the left side and it was go time. I actually thought I was late off the line as I kind of bogged it and had to re-clutch but everyone else was sleeping and I went into the first right turn in second. The leading bike drifted wide and I came out in first. Over two table tops and then through a rhythm section, double, double, double, I nailed it but was a little sloppy into the right turn at the end and that same bike went back by, then just totally checked out and left the rest of us to fight over second place. Several turns on the sand course and an RMZ demoted me to third. We hit a monster uphill but the soil was either loose or wet and I had to downshift to 3rd, a four stroke was giving me pressure. Down the backside, the two leaders were gone, we hit a few turns and went over a dusty rock pile to run down a creek bed. The dust from the traffic made it treacherous by hiding the rocks, but I cleaned it and hit some rough and rocky jeep roads then climbed a hill to get back on the mx track. Picked a good line on the downhill, cleared a few doubles, made it over the rock pile and down into the southern creek bed then gassed it hard in the big turns down in the flat to come around in 3rd still under pressure from the four stroke.

The creek beds and rock pile were killing me, the uphill was fun but sapped hella energy. First time up my right arm cramped up, it got easier as the dirt either packed in or dried out and I was able to hold 5th over the jump once, but mostly doing it in 4th. The rhythm section was tough, I geeked it twice and had to single everything and twice they watered the turn at the entrance and I had to slow down and single everything. Once I doubled twice but hit a hole and almost lost it on the landing and had to single out. Let’s just say every lap I simply hoped for the best in that section, it was unpredictable. I was great on the rough straights, the Yamaha suspension soaked up the whoops and holes pretty well, but my corner speed was dismal and I made a few small mistakes; like twice I screwed up on the rock pile by the southern creek bed.

The four stroke that chased me on the first lap fell behind to be replaced by Brett Murdagh (on another four stoke) who gave me pressure for laps 2 and 3. On the second lap the RMZ in second place stalled and had trouble getting started again, moving me into second. I pushed as hard as I could for four laps, not even taking time to get a drink, and then physically I hit the wall. Lap 5 was murder, I started drinking but it wasn’t working and I was actually planning on pulling into the pit and resting when I dropped the bike in a right hander and got passed by Brett. Brett had beaten me in a team race back in June and had edged me out for second in the Oasis race back in the fall and I really didn’t want to lose to him again so I picked it up and chased him for half a lap until we got to the uphill. I had a smoother line out of the corner and passed him on the hill but coming down the backside we caught a slower rider and Brett made a pass back. I followed him down the creek bed and into the jeep road section where I railed the outside of a right hander to take the inside line on the following left hander and shut him out. I held the gas on and pulled a gap on him but I was beat. At the end of the lap I was praying that the race was almost over; but when I came through the clock said one hour left. We were only halfway done? Oh man, I had to do six more laps; this was going to be tough.

The entire second half of the race I was on the lookout for Brett. I took it easy in the creek bed and drank a lot of water and when someone wanted to pass me I let them by easy, but only after I checked to make sure it wasn’t Brett. I don’t know that I could have fought him off even if I tried but thankfully he never caught me again and I was able to come home in second. Brett took third and the RMZ with the restart problem took fourth. Off road ace, and series points leader Steve Bonita must have wrecked or something. At the end of lap 8 he was 37 seconds behind me and he was putting in lap times 10-20 seconds faster than mine which gave him plenty of time to catch me but on lap 9 he dropped back several minutes and he never recovered. I made up some points on him, and when you consider the throw away races we’re pretty much tied for first now.

I parked next to Dan Marshal who was doing his first A race and was entered into the senior class. I used to race that class and I thought I was all experienced and told him how tough that class was and how this group of guys continually kill it in that class. So don’t you know it? Dan goes out and takes 2^nd and beats Paul, Kurt, and Robert who typically put me to shame and are the reason I don’t race that class. Way to make me look like an idiot guys, thanks.

Longtime friend and travel companion to this race Matt Reinhart had pretty much the worst start possible to his race in the B class. I think he gave everyone else about a 15 second head start and then worked his way through traffic with some incredibly consistent lap times to pass half the guys in his class and finish 7^th. He said he didn’t feel it for this one and it looked to me like his flow was off. Even with no flow, a good start would have netted him 5^th and if he was feeling it he could have done even better. Before the race we were looking at the rhythm section and I was urging him to double everything but after my trials through there I think he was pretty smart to ignore me on this one.

Next race: San Jose 10/9

A living Legend “Pretty Stevie Bonita”… By CKR Sports Columnist, Jim Perreira

admin — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:35:11 +0000

Pretty Steve

Luke 3:16 …But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.

The latin translation of bonita is pretty, as most of us know, and Steve Bonita is a pretty interesting dude.

The first time I ever heard the name Steve Bonita, was over a loudspeaker at an Over the Hill Gang mx race. He was smoking the pro class on a KTM 450sx. It was a pretty sight indeed. I didn’t think about that name again until I heard Brian Toline mention him at a cross country race. I remember arguing with Brian that Bonita rode a KTM, but Brian insisted that Steve rode Hondas and only Hondas. In my mind I said, “Look, jackass, I just watched him smoke everone on a KTM 450 a few weeks ago!” The truth is that I didn’t say that because Brian is 6′3″ and 220lbs and I’m skinny and weak. Come to find out, Bonita had borrowed the KTM because his Honda had broke down. So, in true Bonita fashion, he won the OTHG pro national championship on a borrowed bike.

As time went by, I got to know Steve a little bit. He always seemed to be in a pretty darn good mood and he also seemed to know what he was talking about. Usually, when someone talks a lot (and Steve talks a lot), the bullshit meter redlines faster than a funny car. It’s hard to tell a story with every minute detail and not bore people to death. But I’ve seen Steve command the campfire with a coors light in his clutch hand and an imaginary throttle in his right hand on many occasions. Like the one about Shane Watts daring him to race the industry class at a GNCC after he’d already polished off a twelver or so. Or the time he destroyed his wrist landing off a jump so hard on a 125 honda. Or the time he got an infection in his shoulder after an opperation and almost died. There are so many. If you’ve known Steve for more than a few minutes, then you probably have a Bonita story to tell.

I’ve also been fortunate enough to witness several Bonita happenings. One time at band camp…I mean at the Fernely OTHG national, I had the best Bonita encounter. I decided at the last minute to drive to Fernely for the Reno OTHG national over Memorial day weekend. I was riding the intermediate class on my KTM 250 exc. The Fernely track is deep desert sand and horsepower is helpful, but you need to be in shape to ride that stuff. So after a dead last start off of a concrete pad, I began to pick guys off 4 or 5 per lap. A few laps into the race, I see some crazy, possibly drunk mexican, waving a shirt and screaming on the side of the track. As I get closer, I realize he’s screaming at me. WTF! Hey! it’s that friggin crazy Bonita! I said to myself as I whipped my head around incredulously. Dude, sorry I thought you were a drunk mexican. You are a pretty dark Portagee though. For the rest of the race and all my other moto’s, Steve was out there waving his shirt and cheering me on. I don’t even know how he knew I was there in the first place or what class I was in. And the fact that he was waving a shirt around was reassuring, because I wasn’t sure if Steve owned a shirt since I’d never seen him wear one. Later, I would watch Steves motos. He would holeshot every moto, clear the giant tripple jump and lead the first lap on his brand new KTMxc. After a couple of laps the KTM was flogged. The bike was so undersprung he looked like John Candy on a pogo stick. He would bottom out so hard, that the ground would shake. Good times…

I must admit that I was always a bit intimidated by Steve. Not in a physical sense, but in an ‘I’m not worthy!’ sense. The guy can ride a motorcycle like few can. I sell him short when I say he’s a natural. How do I know how hard he worked to make it look so easy, I just know he does. A couple of years ago a group of us were riding at Robert Brumits place. At one point I got in behind Steve on a bitchin singletrack trail. To my surprise, I was keeping up pretty good, but I was at my limit. When we got to the end of the trail I was kind of patting myself on the back for keeping up. It was then that I noticed him taking off his flat tire he’d been riding on!? That same day, we went down the nastiest trail I’ve been on on a dirtbike. I was following Steve again when we started down a nasty rock strewn trail. It was off camber and steep with a hard left to make or you’re going off a ledge. Bonita starts down, gets out of shape, rides a chinese wheelie for about 10′ with the back wheel starting to swing out to his side. Somehow he gathers it up and gets the rear wheel back on the ground and stops the bike without crashing. He then wisely dismounted and walked it down. I dismounted without attempting it. This was the first and only time I’d ever seen Bonita walk a bike.

Seriously, I could go on and on. Like the time he won Wilseyville with a front flat and a broken leg. I was there it happened. “I figured it’s already broken, how much worse could it get?” he said after the race. I’ve seen him do a valve adjustement on Nick Simons Honda 450f finishing by the light of the campfire. I’ve seen him down enough beer to kill a small horse and still ride circles around me the next day. I’ve seen him work the pits like a factory mechanic. I’ve seen him jet around the country helping his boys race the GNCC series. I seen him uphold the honor of the BC Boys. I’ve seen him get more joy out of riding than anyone I know. I’ve tried to get inside his mind to see how he strategizes and stays 3 steps ahead of most of us. There is always something to be learned from the man.

So, with all do respect mister Dos Equis man, who is truly the most interesting man in the world?

By Jimmy Perreira,