Vital Buzz: Testing at Glen Helen 1

Click the following link for a 12-photo gallery of photos from Glen Helen. Don't forget, if you're a Vital MX member, you can comment on any of the photos in the gallery. Not a member? Join now! It's fast and free.

Thursday was the last day for testing at Glen Helen before the start of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship next weekend. As usual, there were plenty of top riders in attendance, working to dial in the last of their setups before the start of the 12-round series.

Talking with Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Michael Byrne, he said the toughest thing about the Glen Helen National isn't how rough it is, or how big some of the jumps are, but that it's really tough to get the setup right. With some portions of the track being baked hardpack, a chunk of it being sandy, and with the huge hills, it's like trying to set up for three different tracks all at the same time. No matter what, you end up with a compromise.

Depending on what time you went out there, you got a variety of riders. Nico Izzi and a few others got their laps in early and left, which was a good plan. It got extremely windy and dusty during the middle portion of the day. For guys like Andrew McFarlane and Chad Reed (above), they were late arrivals, and had one very whooped-out and choppy track to ride.

Of course we'll be out at Glen Helen again on May 24th and 25th, rounding up the usual coverage for Vital MX, so be sure to check back then.

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