2010 ISDE Day 6 cancelled

[Gary Roach]

I just talked to Cory's mom, Valorie, and she said that Day 6 was cancelled today because the drug cartel are on the outskirts of town. I don't know any other details than that.

Cory has been doing a lot better since his crash. I'm not sure what they did, but the team doctors worked on him the other night for about a hour, and I guess it really helped.

[Gary Roach]

I just found some more information on the Team USA Facebook page.

  "The race was cancelled today because the organization felt that there was not enough security to cover the road crossings safely for the racers. It's a 40km plus ride out to mx tracks."

[joeysixdays]

Thanks for the update Gary. I was wondering what was going on. I clicked on the "Start List" for Day 6 on the //www.isde-live.info/ website and it just simply said "Day 6 Cancelled."

This sort of thing is all too common at the ISDE in recent times. I know guys who have gone to several ISDE's and have never ridden a final moto. Even though it didn't count in the end, I feel fortunate that I got to experience the whole six days including the final moto the year I went. That year, they ran the first three or four motos (I was in moto 2) and then a protest over the safety of the course ensued and they ended up cancelling the rest of the motos and not counting the times for the ones which already ran. It actually was a good decision. The track was at a military base on the edge of town and it was super dusty. The start was a fifth gear straight-away and I couldn't see my front fender because of the dust. Pure insanity!!



"Do not go where the path may lead.  Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
    -Ralph Waldo Emerson

[Rocket]

Looks like Fredette finished his 30th 6-day and on gold!!

[Larry Perkins]

Jeff's finish and accomplishments are fantastic and far better than I could ever do but it brings up something that needs to be discussed if we are ever going to do really well at 6 Days.

Jeff finished on Gold but in 15th place in Club competition behind 5 other Americans.  After so many trips to 6 Days for him and others like Fred Hoess and still no big prize for the USA perhaps it is time that some of these guys should pass on going to give some others their chance at bringing home the Gold.  One of the most gracious things I ever heard of Dick Mann doing was after going to 6 Days and realizing he could not bring the big prize home he chose to not qualify again so as to give others their chance.

We have to do something different if we want to win this thing.  Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is to do the same experiment and expect a different outcome.  If we are to win this thing we must fund it differently, manage the team differently, and choose it differently or we will continue to be close but no cigar to the Gold in World Trophy.

Once again I so very much respect and regard Jeff and the guys that have been a bunch of times.  I realize these are not popular statements but sometimes you have to call a duck a duck.  Otherwise we will be doomed to continue to repeat the phrase, "Maybe next year."

Larry P

[Jeff D]

Freddie rides on the senior team and poses no threat to those trying to qualify for the Trophy or Junior Trophy team (or for that matter the women's team!).  There is great value in having senior members like Fredette and Hoess there to walk the "newbies" through the process.  I spoke with Billy Burns (who rode with Fredette on the senior team this year) and he told me how in his first Six Days in Greece he was freaking out trying to get a tire changed on time when Fred Hoess walked up, sat down next to him and just started having a calm, quiet conversation with him about what he was doing and how he was doing it, and gently guiding him through the process, no wasted actions, no freaking out, etc.  Billy said those few minutes proved invaluable to him in the following years and he is still indebted to Fred for his help and guidance, not just at that one tire-changing instance, but for many other things which have helped him learn how to compete better against the Euros.
The bottom line is that our guys will have to train the same way the Euros do in order to be competitive at the ISDE.  The WEC and other Euro events are basically mini-ISDEs which the Euros get to ride every weekend.  When our guys go over the have a qualifier or two under their belt and that's it.  The Six Days isn't a national enduro or a GNCC.  Riding those type of events doesn't hurt a rider, but it's not the same as the real thing.  Many of our top riders go into the Six Days not having ever changed a tire because they always have mechanics do it for them.  One botched tire change and you've lost your gold.
My 2 cents worth, but regardless I am always proud of how our guys do against the world, especially the old guys like Jeff and Fred and Billy.  Finland 2011!


Jeff DeBell

[Larry Perkins]

Jeff,

When they go it does keep another Senior from going that also went through the Qualifying process but I do see your point and also am proud of them.  I just wish the whole process would change and don't understand why the AMA doesn't see what seems obvious.  

Back in "The Day" when we lagged in MX Internationally we did not continue to go through the same haphazzard process of what kind of course we raced, where we looked for talent, and how we prepared for it.  Lackey, Pomeroy, and others went to Europe and learned how they did it. Then the promoters began to look for the big great courses that were so physical like those in Europe and it was through emulation that we came to find ourselves and dominate Moto.  That is what we must do in the case of Six Days.  Fund it like Europe, ride it like Europe, look stronger to the MX ranks to recruit like Europe, and run it like 6 Days. It is then that our true American spirit will arise and our desire to be the best will come true.  Bobby Knight once said, "The will to win is important but more important is the will to prepare."

Larry P

[brian kirby]

The Trophy and Junior teams (maybe the Women too?) are hand picked by someone, I dont know who, so you dont even have to "qualify". Look at Mike Brown this year, I think he was an excellent choice, I'm just saying, its not like the old days where you actually have to ride the Qualifier series. Since the US teams are hand picked I say everyone else on Club teams should go if they are fast enough. If Fredette is fast enough to make it 5 more years then he should go, if he is faster than some young guy and takes a spot from him, then that young guy needs to train harder for the next time.


Brian

[tooclose racing]

Since Jeff Fredette is mentioned, I also want to give a nod to Bill Burns.  They BOTH finished on Gold (15th and 16th respectively in C2, or Club 2), with "Billy" finishing only 45 seconds behind Jeff after 5 days of competition! Their times (I presume that these times represent a total from Special Tests plus or minus any penalties) were ~18 minutes behind the C2 winner, and 24 minutes behind the E2 class leaders.  I just think that is fantastic.  Some of you got to race with Burns at the Two Day AHRMA event last month.  Up here in NE AHRMA, he used a couple of our events to get in some motocross practice on his super-secret "factory" Hodaka.  He was so fast.  I followed him around the Hancock track for...a lap.  Then - bye, bye.

One detail on the Fredette/Burns finish - Burns took a 3 minute penalty on Day 1 and was 37th in class at end of that day (Jeff was 22nd).  These guys just got faster and faster each day.  

BTW - I say E2 " class leaders" because I am not counting the E2 winner Aubert, who finished SIX MINUTES in front of the next half a dozen guys in his class (so technically, Jeff and Bill were 30 minutes behind him).  I'm not a statistics guy, but his result must be one for the books - just a fantastic performance.

Interesting discussion above - w/r to "USA doesn't have the right kind of events to train guys for Six Day".  Too bad - we used to back in the day, huh?  Having said that, it's my understanding that our AMA Enduros have changed their scoring and introduced special tests - is that strictly true?  Heck, throw in a REQUIRED tire change for those events and maybe that will help?  

I dunno what the answer is..I'm just a Big Fan.  I do think that one can make the case that our GNCC/OMA/WORCs events have been designed to be promoter - and perhaps - sponsorship friendly.  Two day competitions?  Too long for the American attention span, and besides,  how would the promoters make money without all those Quad and amateur entries for their two hour races? []

Way off topic - speaking of The American Way (when it comes to cross-country racing), I sure wish that Husqvarna would adopt the KTM marketing model and talk one of their heavies (I think you use the $$ language) into coming over and running  GNCC or the Enduro series.  Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday has worked just fine for KTM and I think that Salminen and Knight (and Shane Watts?) deserve some of the credit for the huge number of KTMs I see at these events.  Huskies took 1st/3rd in E1, 2nd in E2, and 1st in E3.  I can count on one hand how many Huskies I see at a GNCC event.  Ready to sell some bikes, Husky?  Bring over one of these Bad Boys.

[Jeff D]

I agree, Larry, we need to even the playing field.  We either need to change the events here or send our best guys to Europe to ride their series.  When Drew Smith was US team manager he ran a few mini-ISDE training camps to try to better prepare our guys for the types of things they would face at the Six Days.  Great idea, but a week or two training cannot compete with riding like that every weekend year after year.  Jack Penton said it took him 6 or 7 ISDTs before he felt comfortable at it.  
Another advantage the Euros have is that they are racing for their country every weekend, whereas our guys are racing for their individual factory or privately sponsored team...and their fellow countrymen are doing the same.  Then they are thrown together for one week a year during which they are expected to be team mates instead of opponents.  For example, at a Czech event, an Italian on a Husky may beat an Italian on a KTM to win the E1 class, but in the end it is a win for Italy...if that makes sense.  
We've got a long way to go.

Jeff DeBell

[Speedy]

quote:Originally posted by Jeff D

I agree, Larry, we need to even the playing field.  We either need to change the events here or send our best guys to Europe to ride their series.  When Drew Smith was US team manager he ran a few mini-ISDE training camps to try to better prepare our guys for the types of things they would face at the Six Days.  Great idea, but a week or two training cannot compete with riding like that every weekend year after year.  Jack Penton said it took him 6 or 7 ISDTs before he felt comfortable at it.  
Another advantage the Euros have is that they are racing for their country every weekend, whereas our guys are racing for their individual factory or privately sponsored team...and their fellow countrymen are doing the same.  Then they are thrown together for one week a year during which they are expected to be team mates instead of opponents.  For example, at a Czech event, an Italian on a Husky may beat an Italian on a KTM to win the E1 class, but in the end it is a win for Italy...if that makes sense.  
We've got a long way to go.

Jeff DeBell

As long as North America sticks to the time keeping system,they will not win.
Its that simple.You can not train 75 meters sprints and go to the Olympics to run 100 meters.
In the past ISDT,s the best results where archived by Nations who rode the same bikes.
Czechs on JAWA,s,
East Germany on MZ,s
Germany on Zuendapps
They use to be NATIONAL teams,not individual manufactory teams.
Same training,same gasoline and oil,same tools,same food,same discipline,same everything.Each of this riders where like born with there bikes.
In 1970 when I run a ISDT training school in Canada,riders would pack it in when it begun to rain.[V]

[firstturn]

Listen to the Pro.  Very simple and true and Speedy has the credentials to prove it.

Ron Carbaugh