Mountaineer GNCC September 2021

It is September and we are off to round 10 of the 2021 GNCC!! Heading to the Summit Bechtel Reserve in Beckley, WV for the Mountaineer!

Thursday after school the camper is loaded and ready to go! About a 3 hour drive for us. The Summit Bechtel Reserve is an amazing place in the mountains that offers outdoor activities. We get to use their services while having the GNCC on their grounds! Awesome! You think you‘ve made it when you see the entrance :

But then you drive.. and drive … few miles down a gravel road. (David hates it!) It is a nice well kept wide gravel road, I’d say one of the best ones for getting into a GNCC race! BUT small gravel.. so when we left here in 2020 there were rocks stuck in tires that put little dents in the front of our camper!😧 David is prepared this year.. he brought us all screwdrivers so we could stop and pick all the rocks out at the end of the gravel road! 🤨

This years there is an Adventure Freedom Festival and a hunting/fishing show taking place across the bridge ..a part of the grounds that we aren’t using.. this place really is huge!

7:00pm we are here! 😍 these mountain views!

Freshly mowed grass and fields.. ready to be filled with racers!

Not too many here yet so it’s wide open to pick our camping lot! Awesome! We usually stay close to either the start or the finish.. not very many races you can be close to both as they are spaced out. Here we are close to the finish, pro pits, and vendor row.

We drove straight down the road pictured above past the buildings you see on the left.. and backed in on the left side of the road.. easy in, easy out, large spots, nice grass rather than the rough fields for Lynlee girl! We save the lot beside us for the Shafers.

We still have our race set up down .. 20 minutes and we are usually good to go for the weekend! The boys help outside and I get the inside. You have to unload the bikes last if you want their help or Hayden is known to sneak off real fast!

We stopped for dinner on the way in.. that’s covered ✅

Hayden is off on his bicycle to find friends to hang out with. Luke and Lynlee are playing on the camper rug. It is a nice warm evening! and the rest of the weekend is looking pretty good too! ☀️

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FRIDAY

Good Morning from GNCC Nation! Sun is shining bright.. going to be a warm one today!

Lynlee is loving the sunshine and playing in the grass…

We still have plenty of room but eventually there will be trucks/ trailers and campers piling in!

We’ve had a lot of breakfast skillets with all of our camping lately.. today I brought GF everything bagels from ALDI to make sandwiches ..eggs & bacon cooked on the grill, top with cheese, and Mayo 😋

It’s almost officially fall and everyone else has had their pumpkin vibes since August so I decided to break mine out this trip… although fall camping is nice after the 80-90 degree summer .. it’s the ugliest season to me.. I dislike fall oranges/browns .. the leaves falling.. I love green trees and grass.. fresh flowers and everything about Spring and Summer. Winter is pretty when there’s snow.. otherwise I‘m not a fan of the freezing temperatures, leafless trees and muddy brown grass! So the point I got side tracked from is I don‘t like to say it’s fall until October when you can’t deny it anymore..

anyway sorry .. back to the Mountaineer! .. because it sure feels like summer today! .. starting my morning of with the fuel I need to keep up with the kiddos..

Coffee, Sunshine, and the smell of race fuel … that’s how you bring in the weekend…

It is almost noon, we are going to head over across the bridge to check out the festivities.. Hayden has already been across on his bike with his friends.. and is begging to do this scooter park!? We have to check this out first…

This is walking to the bridge from the GNCC side.. the other side of the bridge is the festivities..

Across the bridge.. to the adventure on Freedom Festival! On the right is Royal scooter park, a bike track with rentals ..

Royal is a camp in Glen Jean, WV where Youth can learn from the pros.. BMX, MTB, Skate, SCTR! There are BMX pros here today doing flips 🤩.. and offering autographs! However, they WILL be here tomorrow to..

That being said mom said he didn’t need to do the park until after his race… Dad didn’t think it was a big deal and let him… ok it’s 12:30pm in the 80s, full sun ..you know he won’t drink water over here and he races tomorrow? 🤷🏼‍♀️

Ok.. we will see I made it clear it would effect his race and it wasn’t a good idea.. normally maybe not, but 3-4 weeks ago we are pretty positive we had covid again.. The delta or whatever they are calling it at this point.. lost our taste and smell.. I know we are not at our 💯 best! #1 it‘s too hot to be jumping around all afternoon #2 only took 1 bottle of water #3 hasn’t ate good today, and won’t eat while he’s at the skate park .. I‘m a nurse and know that your body can only take so much but they don’t believe me.. he’s a kid he’ll be fine!

anyway.. Luke wants a frozen ice.. we head the other direction .. food trucks and other vendors are set up along the road..

after walking through the vendors there were hunting and fishing expos set up.. one to help learn casting a fishing pole, targets to practice shooting arrows..

I‘ve mentioned in a few blogs I have pictures missing.. this is another one that I know I took video of the pro BMX doing flips off of a bus, some of the hunting expos.. Hayden jumping at the scooter park, and Luke riding his stacyc at the scooter park.. none to be found 🤔 I’d really love to know what happened to my phone! 🥺

We walked up to a large pavilion that had bass pro shop and other hunting/fishing retailers set up with give aways.

There is a concert and fireworks over here Saturday night!

David, Luke, Lynlee, and I head back across the bridge to the camper.. Lynlee is ready for a nap. David tells Hayden he can stay a little longer.. 😒

Leaving the festival heading back to the GNCC side..

4:00pm.. Hayden hasn‘t returned to the camper.. I send David over after him.. there’s no choice at this point he’s to be done at the scooter park!! umm… he still has to bike his track yet tonight?!

David rides his bike back over the bridge to the scooter park and of coarse Hayden was just on his way back 🤔.. anyway I make him get something to eat/drink and they are off to ride the track!

The Shafer‘s arrive somewhere in here .. and get set up for the weekend.

We hang out at the camper.. make dinner.. enjoy a fire.. and to bed early! I’m not impressed that Hayden really never ate, drank water or anything for that matter as he usually would without an argument. Hopefully a good nights rest will do!

GoodNight 💤

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SATURDAY

7:00am Rise and shine it’s race day!! ☀️The sun is coming up, another warm sunny day! But thankfully not too warm yet during race time!

David says “oh shit!“ Didn’t fill the race bike up with fuel before we left home.. Hayden already raced it at a WEXCR for 30 minutes on this tank..and I believe he rode in the field a bit at home 😳 YOU BETTER FIND SOMEONE THAT HAS FUEL!

David is off to a few friends to see if they can help us out.. no luck, no one has extra.. we understand as we don’t usually bring it either.. we fill it at home then good to go!.. there’s a vendor that sells VP racing fuel but they aren’t open yet…

8:30AM 😅 the vendor opened and David was able to get fuel… that was a close one! And it was pretty low, but thankfully we are good to go now!

8:50am Hayden is off to the start!

Today is 9/11/2021.. 20 years after the 9/11 attacks. GNCC made sure to remember, have a moment of silence, and a story to share before each group of racers took off today! 🇺🇸

That was really nice! The national anthem..say a prayer.. please let them have fun and keep them safe! and..

Teeeeennn Seconds!

Mt start video is… well ends quick because I don’t see Hayden.. yep there he is sitting on the line 😒.. nope bike didn’t start.. could be him, could be the bike it is hard to tell.. but likely him.. anyway he takes off shortly.. last as that seems to be his norm this year 😒.. starts to pass a few in turn 2…

and they are off.. only 17 in his class today .. there has been 20+ in previous races!

We head down the hillside to the left of the start and wait for him to come through..

There he comes… looks like he checked in 10th for lap 1! .. Heidi, Luke, Lynlee, and I head on over by the finish to hang out for the rest of the race.

Lap 2 he checks in 9th! Yay! Keep it in the top 10 please .. would like to see another 5th or 6th like the beginning of the year but top 10 is great.. this is a tough class for his first year in the youth.

Lynlee is chillin in the stroller as long as she has food!

Lap 3 he checks in 11th.. then pulls off to the side where we are standing.. says he can’t go anymore. I ask why not? He tells me his arms and legs are shakey and he keeps getting dizzy; sometimes he can’t see where he is going. His face is beat red but really pale around his mouth. He pulls off the track to cool down and get a few drinks of water. Takes his helmet off.. I’m just not sure that he should go back out.. I want him to, but the dizziness makes me nervous with us just being sick and all these crazy things you hear with covid.. and being a nurse I just can’t!

However, I really think the problem is he’s dehydrated from yesterday and now the adrenaline of racing, he’s soaked in sweat. He had nothing to eat or drink before the race.. maybe a few sips of water from his hydration pack. Come to find out he has a thick long sleeve shirt on under his jersey.. he NEVER does that unless it’s winter racing.. he was supposed to take it off before the race! No wonder he’s sweating even more!

There comes dad.. uhoh .. he’s not happy.. he tells him to get back out there of coarse! He’s mad I didn’t tell him to keep going. I jumped in and said he’s not going back out right now.. it’s not worth it at this point..safety comes before any race to me, the white flag is already out, he’s not likely to catch anyone at this point anyway.. He has NEVER ask me to quit a race, maybe David BUT NOT for these reasons.. so it is what it is and I’d rather be safe and make sure he’s better.

The race is over and we head back to the camper.. mad dad, worried mom, pouting Hayden.. thankful for Heidi, she has taken care of Luke and Lynlee for me during all of this! Lynlee fell asleep .. tellin‘ ya the sound of racing = nap time 😴 😂

A few pics from

Stacy Mundy Photography!

and the final results… first race ever to finish last…

Results from GNCC Racing

Yep, there it is.. that didn’t go over well with Hayden .. finishing last.. it seemed to really bother him.. he admitted he was too tired and wasn’t ready for that race.. it is one of the toughest due to all the rocks.. the bumps and jolting around.. he couldn’t take it.. not being prepared. hmmm.. wonder who said that was going to happen!?

Well it is done now and can’t be changed. I just hope that Hayden learned the importance being hydrated and eating healthy before a race to be able to perform the best!

Hayden has had a good racing record until now ..2 races now that he hasn’t finished 😔.. Let’s hope the rest of the season is better than these last 2 races!

Back to the camper to get lunch and cool down..Hayden is to go to the camper and do nothing.. no bike or scooter riding for him today!

2:00pm We are off to the FMF PowerPoint to watch the pro race.

Hunter Hart claims the win today with Jarrod McClure coming in 2nd and Devon Feehan 3rd!

Fowler and McGill put on a good race! There were accidents that pushed them back today.

Back to the camper to hang out and get ready for the Stacyc race! Luke says he’s going to rest up for his race .. he’s not going to be like Hayden 🤣 6:00pm #210 is ready to go..

We head up to the finish area for the stacyc races… they have to wait for the eMTB race to finish.. they have a little KTM section set up for practice. 7:19pm and they are off..

The kids love these stacyc races.. and the announcing really makes it’s so fun!

You can see the smiles on his face as we cheer him on! It‘s such a nice evening!

Now back to the camper to get supper! We are all starving!! We thought we would be good to wait but then it ends up they were behind a good bit. Thankfully, I had a quick super planned. Frying up some thin shaved steak for philly‘s tonight! 😋

David had to get the fire burning for Luke while I was cooking super.. Luke races he gets a fire!!

And light up our race bucket 😍

9:00PM we are ready to head in for the night.. Even camper showers are awesome after a hot sweaty day! We’ll be up and ready to go early to watch the Shafer boys race!

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SUNDAY

GOOD MORNING! ☀️ It’s a little chilly this morning but the sun is coming up and it will be a warm one! 7:40AM We are all off to the start to watch Logan take off!

And then 10:00am Conner is off for a 2 hour race!

Conner is first around turn 1.. a little sliding then straightens it out.. yay Awesome start!

We went down in the woods to get shade and watch for Conner to come through.. Lynlee is having a good time playing..

after 3 1/2 hours of racing this morning we are all tired and ready to head home.. back to school tomorrow!

Another weekend in the books.. racing with friends!! Time to pack up and head home to get ready to do it all again in 2 weeks!

We are on the road again.. home bound until next time… cya in 2 weeks as GNCC returns to Ohio for the Burr Oak with a goal of finishing the race!

Thanks for Reading!!❤️

Disclaimer: My full throttle blogs no are for entertainment purposes only. These are my families stories to share for fun, and our opinions only. I am not giving professional advise or recommendations. Thank you for reading!