behind the visor

I originally started out drag racing during my time in the military stationed in California. I spent a lot of time wrenching on a 2008 Dodge Charger R/T to make it a 10 second 1/4 mile car. A good friend of mine was into motorcycles, and he bought a 2008 Honda CBR1000RR. Once the Charger reached its capacity for performance without significant changes, I got bored with timing a starting light and flooring the gas pedal for 10 seconds.

I became increasingly interested in bikes and bought a 2005 Honda CBR600RR. It had some minor damage to the upper fairing, but it was mechanically sound with about 24,000 miles on it. The perfect bike for me to drop several times in a parking lot learning how to ride.

Quickly, my obsession with learning/improving on the bike came naturally. The feeling of freedom was unmatched compared to being in the driver’s seat of a 10 second street car. After my friend and I got out of the military, I rode that CBR600RR from California back to Minnesota with my backpack and shipped everything else. It took me two-and-a-half days riding from sunrise to sunset to complete the trip. It was equally exhausting and amazing to ride a bike through the mountains.

I got connected with some local group rides to meet people. After a few successful/fun group rides, one of them ended up with me filing an insurance claim. Fortunately my injury was a minor sore/stiff leg for a couple weeks. This sparked my interest in trackdays and road racing. After my first trackday, I was hooked! I ended up with different race bikes such as a Yamaha R6 and a Triumph Daytona 675. My friend graduated from MMI (Motorcycle Mechanics Institute) in Arizona, and we created a goal to become a race team in the AMA Road Racing series. Unfortunately, my friend ultimately took his own life.

Now that you have some insight into what got me started, I invite you to follow my journey to the what is now the MotoAmerica road racing series.