2009

Tucker crashed halfway through moto one, then pulled out of the race. He said he cartwheeled and smashed his face in the ground. He’s fine and so far his bike seems to be okay too. He came back to the trailer to regroup and get ready to “kill it” in moto two!

In moto two, Tucker had around a 30th place start.  He rode well and pushed hard the entire moto to finish in 18th.  His results certainly didn’t reflect how well he was riding!

It’s 55 and raining in Southwick, Mass. It feels more like a snocross race than a motocross race! Tucker finished 24th in the timed practice. He said he felt really good and is confident he can put together two solid motos this afternoon. There are a lot of snocross fans here so hopefully he can put on a good show for them!
You can watch the first moto live on www.allisports.com at 1 p.m. EST. The second moto will be on SPEED tonight along with the second moto from Budds Creek.

Tucker along with Tim Ferry will be at the Southwick Inn in Southwick, Mass. tonight from 6-8 signing autographs. If you’re in the area, make sure to stop by!

August 5 – Hey Everyone, it’s Mandi.  I wanted to give you an update on Tucker’s mountain bike racing.  On Sunday, July 26 Tucker and I raced our first Minnesota State Championship Series (MNSCS) mountain bike race.  It was actually my first-ever MTB race!  The race was at Elk River on a trail we rode the week prior with one of our friends.  It’s a great single track trail that Tucker felt really fit his riding style.  I raced in the women’s division in the Citizen class and Tucker raced the Comp class.  There is also an expert class but Tucker didn’t feel ready to jump into the expert class his first race.

My race was at 9:30 am and to say that I was nervous is an understatement!  Tucker reassured me that I would be fine and if I was too tired I could pull off after the first lap.  My class did two laps of sections one and two of the trail.  By the end of the first lap and after crashing once, I was toast!  I didn’t know it was possible to be so out of breath but there was absolutly no way I was going to quit…so I kept on pedaling and slowly started to feel better.  I was actually surpirsed to see the finish line and was a little dissapointed because I was finally feeling good again.

At 1 pm, Tucker lined up for his race.  He didn’t really set a goal set because he didn’t know what to expect.  His race was much longer than mine.  He had to ride sections one-four, twice.  I was only able to see him on a few sections of the course which was a huge change for me.  In snocross and motocross I can generally see him the entire race or have a radio with someone giving me updates when I can’t see him.  This made me a little nervous because I know how he likes to ride – wide-open, the entire time!  He managed to finish the race without crashing and to his surprise he finished ninth overall in the comp class and second in his age division!  He got a cool medal and stood on a little podium with the other top finishers.  I think he was prouder than when he’s on the top of a snocross podium at a national!  I even got a medal and stood on the podium for finishing third in my age division.

It was a great day and we already plan on racing the next MNSCS race on Sunday, August 9 at Buck Hill.

On last Wednesday, we both made the trek back down to Minneapolis to race the Thursday night Buck Hill race.  Tucker had an awesome race and got to battle with his good friend John Sandberg.  They were in a heated battle for 6th, when Tucker crashed pretty hard in a high-speed sand corner at the bottom of a big downhill.  Luckily, he was uninjured and was still able to finish 9th.  That’s his career best Buck Hill finish.  Sled Head 24/7 was there filming for a feature on Tucker’s “off-season.”  They got his crash on film so make sure to look for the show on Versus this Fall!

Next up for Tucker’s mountain bike racing…

August 6 – The final Thursday night Buck Hill race of the summer.

August 9 – MNSCS Race at Buck Hill.

September 19- The Fat Tire Festival, Chequamegon 40.  It’s a 40-mile race that he also did last year.

Below are a couple photos by Dana Schoppe of Tucker and I at the MNSCS Single Track Attack in Elk River, Minn.

Tucker at MNSCS Single Track Attack, By: Dana Schoppe

Mandi at MNSCS Single Track Attack, By: Dana Schoppe

Tucker on the podium at the MNSCS Single Track Attack. Sunday, July 26.

Tucker, John and Kale decided to go for a little cruise in rural Goodridge last week in the water truck.

Below is a newsletter from FCA about the camp Tucker did on July 19.  More photos will be posted soon!

FCAMX Trackside Training

On Sunday July 19, 57 riders converged on what is becoming one of the best known MX tracks in the Twin Cites, ERXMotorPark, for the first ever MN FCA Trackside Training.  These young riders had the chance to watch these top level professional riders compete on Saturday in Millville, MN at the AMA Spring Creek National.  It was an unbelievable opportunity to be trained by some of the best riders in the nation, right here in Minnesota.

Over lunch, the riders heard what it was like to be a pro from Andrew Short, Gavin Graycik, Tucker Hibbert, Jimmy Povolny, and Jesse Strege.  Each one of our pro instructors shared about their relationship with Jesus Christ and what their personal faith meant to them.  Jake Vanada, FCA West Metro Staff, presented the gospel “MX Style”.  God showed up.  Big time.  Over 30 riders and family members prayed to repent and ask Jesus into their lives.  It was…well…totally AWESOME!!  Praise God.

World Class Track.  Premium Professional Instruction.  Lots of bikes/engines/noise!  And the Word of God.  It was an awesome day for sure.

FCA MX Camp in MN

August 24–28

TraxNorth/Breezy Point Resort

Cost: $695 (scholarships available)

We are proud to bring 1 of 5 national camps to our state this summer.  3 of the 5 camps have sold out.  Help get the word out to people you know who ride.  This is an unbelievable opportunity to share the message of the gospel of salvation…the hope of LIFE in Jesus name with MotoCross Athletes.

FCA MX Camp

Click the link above.

Call Jake Vanada if you need more information:  651.485.0207

When we see God at work…it is an awesome thing.  Thank you for your support, prayer, resources and encouragement.  It is what allows me to do what God has called me to do…reach this generation with the power and love of Jesus Christ!  May God be praised and may He get the glory.

Lovin’ Jesus

Havin’ Fun,

Jake Vanada

Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Moto 1: 17
Moto 2: 14
Overall: 15

Saturday, July 18 – Hey everyone, it’s Mandi with a practice update.  Tucker just finished his two practices for the day.  He said he felt “pretty good.”  His lap times in both practices were right around 20 place.  With the two practices combined, he ended up with the 21 fastest lap time.  That gives him 21 pick for both motos.  Like I said in my Red Bud update, he generally finishes ten positions higher in the motos.  That would put him close to the top-ten and his goal this weekend is to finish inside the top-ten.

Tucker did press day yesterday and signed autpgraphs at Fan Fest last night.  Press day a great opportunity to talk to the local and industry media and as a bonus he was able to ride the track for 20 minutes.  Fan Fest was a huge hit last night.  It’s a free event the evening before the Nationals.  He signed autogtaphs under the FMF tent and went through over 200 posters!  After he ran out of posters, he signed whatever fans would give him.  I think I even saw him sign a little girl’s Hannah Montana hat!  He had a great time seeing some familiar faces and visiting with his local fans.  Below are a couple photos from last night.

His first moto starts at 2 p.m.  Make sure to log on to www.allisports.com to watch it live!

Here’s your chance to spend a day riding and training with Tucker!  On Sunday July 19, Tucker, along with his friends Andrew Short and James Polvony, will be at Elk River Extreme Motor Park to help YOU become a better athlete on and off the track.  Don’t miss your chance to train one-on-one with Tucker and to experience a life changing truth what will inspire you to ride harder, faster and with a new purpose!

For more info. and to register online go to www.erxmotorpark.com!

Hey everyone, it’s Tucker.  I wanted check in and give you an update on my mountain bike racing.  This summer I’ve been racing at Buck Hill in Burnsville, Minn.  I’ve been able to race six of the eight races so far and am having a blast.  Penn Cycle puts on the races and it’s a great opportunity for the whole family to hang out.  It’s been a nice break from racing, even though it’s still racing!

Mandi, with the help of Mellow Johnny’s (Lance Armstrong’s bike shop in Austin, Texas), hooked me up with an awesome bike for my birthday – check out the photos on my website.  I’m just getting used to it but am already noticing huge improvements.

This past week I finished 13.  It was my second best finish and my second race with my new Trek.  I haven’t made any changes to the bike but plan on switching out the suspension for Fox Racing Shox and might change the tires.  I’m learning a lot about bike set-up and how much it can make a difference.  I guess it’s just like any other type of racing.

I’m going to skip Buck Hill this week because the Spring Creek motocoss national is this weekend.  After this weekend, I have a three-week break from racing motocross so I should be able to get in more mountain biking.  My goal is to continue to improve each week and hopefully tighten the time gap between the leader and I.  It’s a new sport to me so I’m learning something new everyday.  I love it and am completely addicted.  Good thing Mandi likes riding too.  She hasn’t raced yet but is signed up for the Short and Fat at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival in September.  It’s a 16-mile race that both Mandi and my best friend Rob are racing.  I’ll be in the 40-mile race with my buddy John.  I raced it for the first time last summer and it was the gnarliest race I’ve ever been in.  Sometimes I wonder why I signed up again!

Okay, back to work.  There’s a lot of stuff to get done for this weekend.  If you’re in the area, I hope you plan on being at Spring Creek in Millville, Minn on Saturday.  It should be a great race!