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Vital MX Pit Bits: Spring Creek 9

The weather put a big spin on the weekend, but there was also lots of new goodies and action to check out. Let's dive in.

64 GuyB https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/users/64/avatar/c50_110811guyb_redbud_1449985751.jpg?1449984985 https://www.vitalmx.com/community/GuyB,64/all 07/10/06 9355 3575 45954 883 2386 30463 38 1692 2 184

GuyB
7/23/2019 10:08 AM

With the rain and lightning in the area of the Spring Creek track on Saturday morning, weather monitoring became quite the activity. Roy Jansen was using this app to keep an eye on the distance of the lightning to the track. As hard as it was coming down, we were pleasantly surprised that all four motos went off only an hour behind schedule.

At one point, rain was coming down so hard (and sideways) that even under the Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna awning, Damon Conkright was having to use an umbrella to keep it off of Dean Wilson's.

When the rain started coming down, the Red Bull tent suddenly got very popular.

The 450 B riders got a bit of a shaft, since the rain started coming down hard in the middle of the shortened 450 A practice session. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to be done about it.

Hmm...we hadn't spotted these XTrig bar clamps before on Joey Savatgy's bike. He's been running them since RedBud, and they add a bit of damping.

The carbon plates fit so snugly around the powerplant on Eli Tomac's Monster Energy Kawasaki that it doesn't take much foam to fill the gaps.

Of course, with the rain and mud ahead for the day, there was lots of mud prep going on. Joey Savatgy's helmet had the usual foam and goggle lens visor extension, but it had been creased to match the contours of his Just1 visor.

Eli Tomac's helmet, ready to rock.

Yep, those Bell Lexan visor extensions are cool...and see-through.

Bell dialed in the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki crew with new helmets to match the new Fox gear that they were wearing. (More on that later.)

The guys wearing Alpinestars helmets had a new carbon fiber extension for the muddy conditions. In addition to the roost protection, it also plugged up the vent holes in the visor.

You can see that it added quite a bit of real estate to the front.

Of course the riders had lots of fresh goggles ready to go...for whatever conditions they might encounter.

Ah yeah, factory details.

The RedBud flag graphic plastic came off of Zach Osborne's bike during Friday's setup. We wonder what this would look like on his bike in say...late September?

Yep, we told you that weather-watching was a popular activity. RJ Hampshire must have been using something other than Verizon, which was pretty much non-existent at the track.

Josh Wisenor (center) is now handling the Team Manager duties at GEICO Honda after Dan Betley's departure.

The GEICO Honda team did a bit of testing on Friday before the race, but up the street from Spring Creek at Meadow Valley MX. They had a variety of engine options to try, and rotated among the four bikes. Things were looking good at the start of practice on Saturday morning.

Chase Sexton says he's feeling a lot better after the WW Ranch and Southwick races that had really sapped his strength. A blood test also found that he was depleted in some areas, and he's figured out what he needs to change in his program

Ah yeah, there's nothing quite like doing a little pressure washing in the middle of a downpour. Oscar probably could have left it out there for ten minutes and come back to a mostly clean bike.

Jacob Hayes and Brandon Hartranft keeping an eye on the weather from the safety of the CycleTrader.com/Rock River/Yamaha rig.

Baggies to keep the grips and controls dry while heading to the gate? That's always a good idea.

"Hey man, are you trying to give away my waterproofing secrets?"

Foam to block water from the vents on the side of the airbox on Fredrik Noren's JGR Yoshimura Suzuki.

The JGR guys use the Oetiker style of hose clamp for their radiator hose connections. The one that failed on Alex Martin's bike at RedBud was a standard style one used in one tough-to-reach spot. Obviously, it's since been swapped out to match the rest of them.

Several riders made their return to action this weekend, including Garrett Marchbanks...

...Sean Cantrell...

...and Mitchell Falk...

There was a whole lot of new gear on the track last weekend, but for the most part, you had to catch it early so that it wasn't a uniform shade of brown. Of course, Adam Cianciarulo ran up front most of the second moto...

Are we ready for a flashback to the 80s? Thor is.

Both Cooper Webb and Marvin Musquin were wearing this new Thor gear for the action at Spring Creek. That's a bold move on a muddy day.

On the other hand, it did seem to work out well for Coop.

Isaac Teasdale had another flavor of new Thor gear. He's been getting some help from the JGR crew.

Whoa! That'll get your attention.

Mitchell Oldenburg sporting the pink stuff.

Henry Miller showed off a couple different versions of new FXR gear, too.

Mike Brown was set to ride the 125 race, but apparently confusion about the schedule changes due to the rain left him sitting on the sidelines on Saturday.

Brownie's bike.

Chris Johnson was set to ride a Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/KTM/WPS 125, but was in the same boat as Brownie.

In the 125 All-Star race, Chase Stevenson (746) was out front early, but he about lost the front end as they headed into the first turn.

Joshua Boaz had the early lead but ended up in second place.

Brennan Myers nabbed fourth place.

Chase Stevenson grabbed third.

The winner? Joseph Dalzell...

...and Joseph was clearly enjoying himself on the podium.

Curtis and Kyle Cunningham.

No special reason for this shot...other than we love the style.

That minute you step onto the track...and realize you have a couple of bikes headed your way...

We caught a few different crashes last weekend...like this speed-bump.

We're guessing that this is not how Shane McElrath wanted to start his morning practice session (and that he wasn't expecting Ty Masterpool to sweep around the outside of him).