Highland Cycles headed over to the national motocross race in Lakewood this weekend and it was AWESOME!!! The big boy racing was great as usual and it was really cool to watch Blake Baggett crush it and get his first 450 win! It was also awesome to see Justin Bogle from my home state of Oklahoma dominate the first 450 moto and the Martin brothers battle during the 250 races. But the highlight of our trip was something much smaller but WAY cooler!!
Uncle Gnar with his Mechanics!
As you might know, FMF is hosting 3 125 Dream races throughout the season and round 2 was in Lakewood. Everyone knows that Highland Cycles LOVES 2 strokes and we love racing so this was something we were really looking forward to. But what made it even cooler was that our good buddy Travis Newbold got the nod to race is OLD CR125 in the race which meant we were going to the pits and supporting a racer we ACTUALLY knew!
When we got to the track we hunted down Newbold and in classic fashion, he had the best pit set up ever. A 59 Ford, a NASCAR EZ-Up, an old bike and Baja, his border collie! We gave him the obligatory high fives and wished him luck and headed to watch him practice.
Travis owns Newbold's Motorbike Shop in Wheat Ridge CO
As you can imagine the 125's are awesome to watch on the big track. The sound and smell of small bore 2 strokes is the best in the business and we were loving it. They aren't especially fast, that's for sure but they are so great!
After practice Travis rested up and then headed to the line to start the main event. Since we were his pit crew we headed to the line which was SOOOOOO cool. Standing on the start line of a National Motocross track is amazing! There were 38 125's on the line and some heavy hitters such as Ryan Sipes had shown up to burn some pre-mix!
Sooo cool to be at the starting gate!
Newbold and I before the gate drop!
Newbold's mechanics finishing up before the race!
We wished him luck and headed up the hill a bit to get a good look at the start and listen to 38 angry bumble bees launch up the rocky mountains
Starting gate for the 125 Dream Race!
As the mad hornets took off up the hill, the crowd went nuts and and the smell of burning pre-mix filled the air. I was in heaven. It has been so long since the entire field was 2 stokes and this moved my soul! Travis wasn't first to the top of the hill but he wasn't last and we ran up top to watch the racing.
As the 4 lap moto wore on, Ryan Sipes got out front and showed why he is a champion. He was clearing jumps no one else could on their little bikes. Travis held on to a 25 place finish which is pretty damn good considering his machine and that he didn't know he was racing until 2 day prior to the race!
In the end, the 125 Dream Race wasn't the fastest or the most exciting to watch but it was proof that you can ride an inexpensive motorcycle and have as much fun as anyone else out there. Congratulations to FMF for hosting such a cool event and promoting the oil burners in today's high tech 4 stroke world!Highland Cycles loves 2 strokes because they are simple, easy to maintain and fix and most importantly they are FUN!!!!!
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