Page 10 - Issue 79

ALEX MARTIN
250 MX / 2ND
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> When many think of Colorado, they picture a plethora of slopes and streams, with an abundance of rocks to scale. While all of that may be true, there are numerous tracks throughout the region that can be considered favorites by many; and none more so than that of Thunder Valley. Gigantic sweeping turns, coupled with drop-downs that will make even the strongest of riders stomachs’ turn, and jumps that force the fastest of machines to stretch to the depths of their power range. It’s why Alex Martin loves it, and has been eyeing this round for the precedeing months. Slashing his two-wheeled arsenal of weaponry through the clods of practice, he was spraying shards of dirt in every direction. Pellets, ricocheting off of all competition, he knew if he could set a tone early, and capture the force of this eld, he could be well on his way to a high placing. Clasping his hand in st like fashion once practice had concluded, he would wait patiently for the motos to commence soon. The gate would fall for the opening moto, and he would shoot out of the hole like a cannonball whose wick had just been lit. Steamrolling the eld for the rst lap, he would emerge fth. Capturing the attention of all in attendance, his force to the front would be that of the most powerful locomotives. As the laps would continue to be clicked off, he would remain near the fourth place ride. All hell seemed to break loose in the last few laps however, as a quick jump and leap frog from the fth place position, onto a podium spot would ensue; with a fading Jordon Smith, and a blown up bike on behalf of Joey Savatgy. Always striving for more, he was eagerly awaiting the sec- ond moto. Moto number two was now here, and the gate would imprint into the soft soil after a violent collapsing. Registering rst for timing and scoring, he would look to duplicate his rst moto performance, for a solid overall. It was all he and the track, a beam of vision liter- ally glaring through his goggle lens. Out front and blowing with the breeze, his parade would quickly be dampened by the Honda machine of his brother, who would stalk him. The two would go at it, ghting tooth and nail for the lead of the race; he would hold on for a tad while, but his younger brother would get the best of him, making the move near lap seventh. They would then proceed to feed off each other, holding strong in rst and second, leaving the likes of Jordon Smith and Austin Forkner. Going on to take second in the moto, his scores of third and second would land him in the silver medal position on the day.
10 GRITMOTO • JUNE 3, 2018