Cody Schafer- Off Season Success

Hey everyone its been awhile but here is what I have been up to!  First of all the family packed up the van and we were on our way to LACR for the Day in the Dirt.  I was super excited because this was my first time attending the race.  I was far from disappointed.  The whole environment at the race made the weekend worth it, not to mention how much I enjoyed the track.  It was pretty sandy and the track running in and out of the working sand/gravel pit was awesome! Dropping in and launching out of the pit provided a feeling that I had rarely felt before on a dirt bike.  The G.P. racing on the course was stress free and just let me focus on the fun of racing again.  I ended up breaking my 09 in the first race and went back in the middle of the race and grabbed the 2010 and I guess it was time to break it in.  The second race I got a decent start and worked my way to the front and just pushed all the way to the end not because of a battle, but just because I was having so much fun.  Later that day the Moto-a-GoGo team race was on the line and I was racing it with my brother which was such a great time.  From the third row Kyle and I worked our way to 7th overall I believe which we were super proud of!  So if you ever get a chance to do Day in the Dirt I would seize that opportunity.  It was the most fun race I have ever done and the environment of the whole thing is what made it worth it.

After Day in the Dirt we packed up and shipped my brother home and the rest of us headed to the AM Open at ACP.  After stopping in Blythe, CA for a round of golf we pulled into the park fairly late at night and pretty much passed out.  The next day brought practice and the track was fun but kinda easy.  The racing was a new experience for me and it was a fun thing to try but it also reminded me why I will stick to off road.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of the 100 dollar per class entry fees two 6-lap motos… After the week of being at the track I was more then ready to see running water and a bed.

From ACP I threw my bike in with Ian Blythe and we headed to Scottsdale, AZ to do a week of training with Steve Hatch.  The time I spent with Steve was amazing for me.  He pretty much fixed my entire riding style and helped show me what I was doing wrong and how to fix my problems.  The first day we were there was one of the highlights for me.  We got up in the morning and went to Steve’s wife Denise’s yoga class and in the class was Mark Miller.  Mark is a Factory Volkswagen driver who has raced Baja and was preparing to leave for The Dakar Rally.  After yoga we sat down with Mark and talked about how he got to where he was and it was just really enjoyable to get to know him and his mindset on racing and life.  After the days training with Steve needless to say I had a serious cause of monkey butt so my butt made the decision that I wouldn’t ride a couple of days while it was healing. 

The most recent adventure I have participated in was the Hangover GP at Speedworld.  After getting home from a Christmas vacation two days earlier we decided we had enough of the snow already so we took off to Phoenix, AZ.  The race started out way too early in the morning with the team race where Kyle and I teamed up again and with a dead engine gate start we were off.  I took the first lap because Kyle was still finishing putting a new set of chain and sprockets on as the gate dropped!  I got a second place start but was kinda picked off one by one because I was riding like a grandma and was scared of the icy/muddy conditions.  I traded the hair tie with Kyle in what I believe was a  6th  position and he was off.  When he came back around he was in 5th.  On this lap I made one pass and put us into 4th all alone for the rest of the race.  Later in the day was the normal GP and all the Pros and Experts and Intermediates stared on the first gate.  Of course I was late to the line so my gate was pretty much the worst possible.  It pretty much consisted of soupy mud on concrete so a good jump wasn’t gonna happen.  It didn’t and I was looking at a bunch of back tires into the first corner so I just put my head down and tried to pass as many as possible.  I was able to avoid what seemed like 5 crashes leaving the motocross track so I wasn’t in too terrible of position.  I was behind my little brother and I still kinda feel bad about the pass I put on him where I pretty much pushed him off the track and nearly took out his front wheel… Sorry little man!

A little later in the same lap, I passed my teammate Cory Dry but he stayed right with me until the finish line where I almost went through the ribbons and he passed me back.  Later that lap I was able to get by him again and get a little breathing room.  I pretty much was on my own in 4th or 5th overall the rest of the race until on the last lap my chain fell off and after putting it on I took it easy the rest of the lap and Cory got back by me.  He rode a really good race and I was really glad he made it all the way to the end because he usually has more issues then I do.  Good job Cory!  The Valcom Team had a great showing at the Hangover GP we had 4 riders finish inside the top ten overall.