LIFE CHANGING!

 What a month this has been for Amy, myself, and now, Ian "Little Gremlin" Garrahan! Watching your boy stare at you for hours on end is just
awesome. The need that they have for your presence, scent, and touch makes you feel great joy inside. What I'm saying is, being a dad is sensational.

     My parents, Beth and Big Al, flew in for the birth of baby Ian. Of course, Al wants to go riding so I have to hook him up with a bike. He rode my Yamaha two fifty smoker. He usually rides a KTM, which are good bikes, but once he got off my Race Tech, Maxxis, Works connection bike, he was like "Whoa!!!!" I'm like, "I KNOW!!! I KNOW!!!!" Then Al says, "I like it. Don't tell Pat."

     Well, it's our secret. We rode at some of my usual spots and tried out some new moto tracks. The first day, we went to Kenny's, out in Indiana. It rained the night before, which made for ideal conditions. Al thought it was slick and muddy out. I had to explain to him how different the soils out here are; that if it was muddy out, we would not be getting around this track.

     I have a track down on the Ohio River, which has really good soil, and Al was more at home in that terrain. The track actually goes out on the shores, and as I'm opening up the four fifty on the beach I can check out barges haul coal up river.

     Ian was born July 30th at 10:10 am. What a night that was! Amy had been kept awake with contractions since the night before she actually went into hard labor, and was completely exhausted by the morning of his birth. When Ian finally arrived, he was just perfect. Our new family had to stay at the hospital for a few days to let Amy recuperate and make sure Ian would be fine. I've spent my time in hospitals, and I was really relieved when we were released.

      Well, round six of the national enduros was starting back up after it's summer break. The event is held up in Henderson, Michigan. Michigan has really nice soil; very sandy, but a little bit too flat for my liking. Give me some hill climbs to roost up.

     Any way, Al and I loaded up the boxy and headed north for the race. Yeah, Al's got to win the masters class. We met up with Pat up in Henderson. KTM was launching their new '08 enduros, so Pat and many other KTM employees were present. The town was definitely bleeding orange. We went out to sign up and check out the condition, and we were definitely in for a long dusty day.

     Back at the hotel, we watched the X Games, showered up, and got some much-wanted sleep before the upcoming day.

     The race included nine tests, which were approximately five to six miles. One of the tests was ten miles, and it was a big deciding factor in the enduro. My test scores were really slow in the morning, as I was not flowing well with the bike in the tight wooded conditions. My arms were tight from being off the bike for the week. It was spent having Ian. During the long ten-mile test, I stalled my bike five times because I was not riding loose. Four of the times I stalled my bike, it was just as I had passed a rider. Not just a rider, but the same guy, over and over again. I had to apologize to him for slowing him up.

     The course had some really fast grass sections which were good for my No Toil, FMF, Arai, Yamaha four fifty. It also had some really nice tight wooded sections that made for a good race. Adding up the test score at the end of the day was depressing. My score was less than satisfactory. After hearing from about five people with better scores than myself, I was ready to get out before results were posted. That ended up being a bad idea for me. I was so pissed off I was not thinking and left my gas cans on the gas truck, never to see those bad boys again.

     Pat rode back with Al and me, wanting to meet his nephew, Ian. Al slept all day on Monday. He was just plum bonked. That left me to do all the cleaning up. Thank goodness for ProClean 1000. That stuff rocks! The parents flew back Tuesday, and Pat on Wednesday. That gave Amy and me some time for us with Ian.

     Not much else going on this month. I did a local Kentucky Harescramble and spent some time doing Shane Watts', riding school "Dirt Wise". His class is really educational, and I learned quite a bit. I'm really pitiful with the fundamentals, and Shane's school teaches you how to master them.

      Well,, I'm off to change some diapers. What a month it has been and this is the supposed to be summer break!
     www.gbrothersracing.com

Brian Garrahan #501