A racing story.

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

I sold my Kaw and bought an old Gixxer in pieces 1/3 of the way through this season.  Friends loaned me their bikes so I could continue to compete while I rebuilt my new bike.  Somehow, I stayed in the points.  For sixty straight days, I was either working on that old SRAD or at the track.  Sleep was a distant memory.  I've never worked so hard for so long on a project as I did on this old Gixxer.
I built a motor.  It lasted two races before a valve stem failed at the keeper and tore it up.  I built another.  I struggled and crashed repetedly on suspension set up for the previous owner.  Paid for the day I bought the bike, my new springs took 6 weeks to arrive.  Four trips to Trackside Engineering in Milwaukee got the suspension together.  It had been a grueling, two-month marathon, but the bike was finally finished.  Well, not quite.  The battery tray broke, allowing the battery to bang on the shock until it leaked.
Now I'm usually a pretty mellow guy.  Some people marvel at how I simply refuse to quit, doing whatever it takes to get the bike going again.  But this was the LAST STRAW!  I started throwing tools, kicking over lawn chairs and swearing that I was going to throw the bike in the dumpster and quit.
Kim Olsen took me by the hand and led me over to Slider Jack's trailer.  I continued to fume.  I was done with the whole damn sport.  Jack pulled up my photos.  There it was... the money shot.  Knee down, sick lean angle, hard on the gas.  Real hero stuff.  I bought two copys and headed back to fix my bike.
With help and tools from Kim's man John, I got the shock off the bike.  Hot, smelly and exhausted, I had to drive from Blackhawk back to Milwaukee.  Ed from Trackside dropped everything to give my shock an emergency rebuild, then invited me in for dinner!  Then he didn't even charge me!  I got lost in a construction nightmare and couldn't get out of Milwaukee.  By now it was midnight, and I was falling asleep at the wheel.  Lost in the suburbs, I finally realised that I was blocks from Roger and Alexa Kreuger's place.  One quick phone call and I had a couch to crash on.
While I was gone, bad weather moved through at the track.  Kim, Lonney Michaels, Steviebee, the Buxtons and God only knows who else broke down my camp and stashed my gear.
This sport can be frustrating.  Sometimes it seems that the racing gods have a personal vendetta against you.  No matter how dedicated, hard working and passionate you are, there will come a time when it's just not worth it any more.  When that time comes for you, pray that you have friends like these to set you straight.
Thanks Guys!

[Steviebee]

Anytime i can help out,   im willing.

K3 has given me advice that would have taken years to learn.  Did i ask fo it ?  No, he just came over and said "Hi,  Im Kris  they call me K3" the very first blackhawk weekend.  I was new, never raced, never been at blackhawk, arrived late at nite to find only a few people there.  Ever since then K3 and several others have been more than nice to me.  Most of the time im traveling to the track alone, by myself, worring about what happens when shit happens.  Now i feel good about going to blackhawk cause of guys like K3 !!!!!

Now i gotta go finish glueing my body work back together !!  Cause im going to BARBER !!!!

[StumpysWife]

On behalf of another newbie team, I just have to say how great of a pit buddy K3 is to Stumpy and all of us.  It always puts a smile on our faces when we hear his gangantuan laugh from across the way. K3 has the hardest stuff to deal with but being that he's K3, you know he'll get it done!

In fact, judging by the work completed on Joe's bike in a day, this dedication runs deep with the Hustlers!

Think of your troubles this way:  whenever all your little mentees are having troubles, they can always think of what you've managed in a day, weekend, or month!!  

Sing it now, You're the inspiraaaaation....

Heather

PS - Plus, how would I know if my hair was any good if you weren't around?  

[Jeff]

I think we've all had experiences of a similar nature, and if you haven't had one, you will.

The winners are those who tough it out when the chips have fallen off the table and through the sewer grates (much worse than the chips simply being "down").  Eventually things come around, and when they do, it makes it all worth while.

Last year on the old BHF track (where high 18's ruled the amateur ranks), I broke my losing streak by running a 1:17.2.  It put me on such a HIGH that I didn't care about my highside in Ike's oil slick on the bus-stop during the very next lap since I was LEADING the race and knew my lap was going to be in the 16's.  I went down and out with a smile on my face knowing I just ran the fastest lap of my life and I could have still gone faster.

In life/careers, it has been stated that all "atta-boy's" are erased by a single "aw-sh1t".  In this sport, it seems exactly the opposite (for me anyhow).  One lap, hell, one perfect corner will erase WEEKS of horrid performance/experiences...

Jesus loves you K3...

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

K3 has given me advice that would have taken years to learn.  Did i ask fo it ?  No, he just came over and said "Hi,  Im Kris  they call me K3" the very first blackhawk weekend.  

It's all about Karmic payback.  My first weekend, Don De Chant and Mike Studelska decided to take me under their wing for no other reasion than that I pitted near them.  They are two of my best friends to this day, and their mentoring was crucial to my learning curve.  My second weekend was my first big crash, a highside exiting Five that resulted in endless endos.  The bike was totally wadded.  (Forks, rim, caliper, lines, pipe, gauges, all the bodywork, ect...)  I was pretty banged up, and the only piece of riding gear left that I could still use was my boots!  I was out of the game.
Don came over to see how I was doing.  I looked at the pile and said, "I'm done."  He replied, "I hope this doesn't discourage you, because I think you could be really good at this."  I've been trying to prove him right ever since.
  Mentoring is a gift from God when you get it, and an absolute joy when you give it.  Eventually, I got faster than Don.  Steviebee is already faster than me.  I believe that you get what you give.  I've had some good teachers.

[tigerblade]

Racers are good people.   ;)