Nick Burson-

This weekend I had another double-header in my schedule. We had Laughlin Hare Scrambles BITD on Saturday and D37 Checkers event on Sunday in Lucerne Valley. The BITD in Laughlin is always a fun event. I rode with my teammate Axel Pearson because my usual partner Justin Morrow came down with the flu. Axel started and headed out on his 15-mile loop and we were the 2nd bikes off the line. With Brabec and Abbatoye starting first and Dave Pearson starting 3rd behind us. Axel brought me the bike and I took off. I was trying to push hard, as I knew it was going to be hard for Abbatoye to lead and follow trail. I felt like I was riding well and making up some time, as I would catch his dust a little bit. Almost near the end of the loop I caught Abbatoye and was trying to get close enough to make a pass when I clipped a rock with the back right side of the bike. As soon as I did that I had no brakes. My first thought was that I bent the rotor but when I was going down pit row I looked back and noticed brake fluid all over. When we came in to pit and give Axel back the bike we found the problem and it was that I had knocked the Banjo Bolt loose and pumped all the fluid out. I don’t know what the odds of this happening are but they have to be close with winning the lottery. It was just really bad luck. Axel went out after we tightened the Banjo bolt and we were hoping the brakes would pump back up. Well they didn’t and when he brought the bike back after his loop we were in 3rd and not too far behind considering he had no brakes for the whole loop. At this point we had to swap the whole brake system. Our mechanic Collin did a great job and we were in and out in only a few minutes but with this race being so short we were already out of contention. We put on a good charge and made up time the rest of the race but in the end our effort wasn’t enough. We ended up 3rd overall for the day.

So after a semi-disappointing day on Saturday I was ready to get back in the win column on Sunday. I was a little worn out and my hands were sore from pushing so hard on Saturday but I knew I had enough left in me for this race. I rode the start a few times and had an idea of where I was lining up. It was really dusty and no wind so I knew I couldn’t afford a bad start. When the banner dropped my Purvines Racing Beta 498 fired so fast it actually kind of surprised me. But I was really happy it did. I held it wide open down the bomb and just aimed for the banner and stuck to my line. I made it there first and was on the ribbon with no dust in front. It’s really the best feeling ever to hit fresh course and have no dust in front of you. I rode just smart and consistent for about half the loop and then really got in a grove for the 2nd half and started opening up my lead. The Checkers D37 club laid out an awesome course with lots of single track and rocky trails which I was really happy for. I really like the technical trails and it makes the racing a lot more fun then just going balls out through valleys all day long. I came into the pits and got a splash of gas and fresh Xbrand Goggles from my dad and was back out to hit the same loop again. This loop went just as smooth and I extended my lead to over 5minutes by the finish. It felt good to end the weekend on a win. I’m looking forward to a few more local races before we have another National so I can get some more race time in and be on point for the next big race!!


Axel Pearson-