GP Series coming back for 2022.....

Beans Bike Park GP Recap

We have a lot to say in this post. So strap in folks.

* Our racers - thank you. A million times wouldn’t be enough to show our appreciation for everyone that came to compete today. So much work has gone into putting on this GP and you came out of the woodwork to show your support. Motocrossers, Off-Roaders, old racers, young racers, people at their first race, people that haven’t raced in 15 years, weekend warriors and hardcore racers. You all showed up. The support from the motorcycle community was overwhelming today. You can’t be thanked enough. 191 rider entries - unbelievable.

* The course - wow. The course ended up being absolutely BRUTAL. Ruts, bumps, jumps, roots and most notable 2 mud holes that formed as the day went on. The rain this week really backed us into a corner on how our course was going to shape up. So many hours went into layout, clearing and banner. We learned a valuable lesson when it comes to course design - it seems so obvious now but water flows downhill! We know the mud holes were brutal. We rushed to reroute the course to miss the mud 3 times during the day today and just kept finding more. While the rest of the course was shaping up, these spots dug deeper and deeper. We know these spots really left some racers frustrated. All we can say is we learned some valuable lessons in course design and anyone that tackled that course today was a warrior.

* People had fun. MERP strongly believes our format is the future of local motorcycle racing. Overwhelmingly the response from the racers was positive. The atmosphere was great and today felt like the old races of yesteryear. Riders bench racing, chopping it up about the course and their bikes. We are thrilled to have this kind of feeling in our pits. We want to have fun at the races - and most importantly we want you to have fun at the races.

* Time to brag on ourselves a bit - even with some mayhem on the course our race program clicked off as efficient as could be. Our latest moto started 7 minutes past it’s scheduled start time. (Which was the Open Pro Sport moto that included a transponder check) We are proud to show out like that at our first race - let’s keep that machine going so you folks can get home right on time.

* Lastly and most importantly - thank you to everyone that has helped support us along the way. From sponsors, track owners, workers, our sign up team, our scoring team, track sweeping team, the mud fleas pulling bikes out of the muck. This was round one for the MERP crew as well - when the gates opened this morning that was our green flag - and we were wide open until the last bikes crossed the checkers at 3:45.

I promise we will keep tweaking our program.
This thing will continue to grow and improve.

A personal thank you to each and every one of you that were a part of the Beans Bike Park GP. See you at Crow Canyon Track and Trail on July 31st.
 
They did a great job and put in a ton of effort. I'm glad to see them get such a good turnout. Seriously I've raced a Beans a ton over the past 20 years and I've never had to hunt for a spot to park before! People were parked all the way around to the other gate that was at one point used for the mountain bike events.

MERP clicked off the event perfect and everything ran smooth. Signup was a breeze, announcing was great, everything super well organized and running like a machine and it was only their first event ever!

"You can't prep the woods" is always a factor at these types of cross country events, and with all the rain lately the woods were just really, really tough.

Kudos and thanks to MERP for all the work and effort.
 
Fun event. All the staff I encountered were friendly and working hard.

Caught up with quite a few people I haven't seen since last year, good vibes all around.

Mx track was perfect.

I stayed off the ground and made it through my first session. Second session Jack had to rescue me with the tow quad haha. Buried it about 30 seconds in.

Looking forward to the next.
 
What an awesome day of racing! I ran the pitbike at 8am, skill at 10am, and age at 1pm.

Note: running the 8am pitbike race gave me a huge advantage for my 10am race. For the extra $15 it was worth it alone to just cruise around and learn the course/pick lines.

The entire MERP crew did a phenomenal job running a race day. Everything was on time and smooth. You would have never guessed it was their first event!

Jack, I give you props for being out there buried 3ft in mud helping riders. I don't think I've seen anyone that muddy at a race... who wasn't racing!

In the spirit of constructive criticism, here are a few things that I noticed and could have been improved (in my opinion):

- Less woods. The split was about 50/50, but with riders being much slower in the woods, it ended up feeling like a 80/20 split. The woods really separated the riders, I would have loved to see more bar to bar racing out on the moto track.

- Easier woods? Some sections were wide/fast/flowy, but also there were some very tight and technical stuff. I personally don't mind that, but I know some of the "moto" guys may get scared away in the future.

- Starting area. The riders left of center were at a severe disadvantage due to having to cut across to enter the track.

- The 2 mud pits. You've already hit on this, but wow those were rough!

Honestly other than those few things, I can't think of anything else that could have been better! Overall it was an amazing event and I can't wait for the next one!
 
Thanks for the kind words Kreps - I know some folks were not thrilled with the track and I don’t blame them.

When I was knee deep in muck with Trent yanking his bike out I was are you kidding me how did this hole get so bad.

But the vibe in the pits was good! I didn’t really have anyone stop and chew me out. I was honestly surprised. People were like yeah dude track was gnarly and give me a high five. I’m really really proud of how the whole thing went.
 
Matt - thank you for the kind words as well. The course fell apart and came back together a couple times.

Mother Nature definitely did not do us any favors last week and looking forward we are going to have better course designs that give us options if things get squirrelly. I also think beans has the toughest terrain of all the venues we are going to. Those hills are so gnarly to navigate and we did so much scouting trying to find a fun away to get from side to side and tie into the moto.

The girls in sign up crushed it - this was their first go around and we had a few hours training with them at the Legget’s house the week prior - they do not come from racing either which is even more insane, They crushed that whole process.
 
I could write a damn book on this race but another thing that was awesome was a girl in the 65cc senior class - she did all the laps the whole course for her moto. Second moto of the day after pit bikes.

Her name was Lauren and she absolutely killed it. I want her autograph.
 
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I dipped my pen in company ink at the end of the day. At 2:50 me and two of our guys finished the final reroute - literally running through a trail with loppers and a weed whip to get connected back to the moto. Course was the best it had been all day.

Got back to my truck threw on boots and helmet and went straight to the line.

After dragging bikes out of mud all day - running around putting out fires. I thought I earned a few minutes to go out and race. Did the whole moto - dead tired. My body is wasted today.
 
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B Class Boasts Big Turnout at Beans GP - Barn Burning Battles ensue.





Dennison, Ohio

June 17, 2022

Words : Bierbower

Photos : GWP



The B Class racers showed out big time at the first MERP GP at Beans Bike Park. With over 30 riders on the line we had an impressive showing of riders with diverse backgrounds and skill sets. David Antulis of New Franklin, Ohio grabbed the win. I’m going to be honest - this is some B rate journalism here because I have practically no information on David. I dug through the web looking for results - best I could find is an old Cycle News that has results from a Malvern Motocross race in 2004 that mentions him and some GNCC results. I’ll get a word with Dave at Crow - PROMISE. Taking the second spot on the podium is Niles, Ohio’s own Gavin Putnam. Gavin is a young up and coming local hotshot motocross racer. Early in his B class career Gavin is showing serious speed for someone that doesn’t spend much time in the woods. He has qualified for the prestigious Loretta Lynn National Motocross championship posting impressive results for our local Northern Ohio scene. On the moto track it was easy to tell Gavin felt at home slicing through the pack and greasing all of the technical jumps at Beans Bike Park. I expect Gavin to battle for wins and podiums the rest of the season. The third and final spot on the box goes to Clark, Ohio’s Everhett Myers. Son of Team Green fast guy Ty Myers (you might remember the name from mid 90’s moto results) - so we know Myers has speed. Lots of nasty raw speed he was able to use to quickly slice his way through the pack and get off to an early lead. Dead engine starts aren’t Myers specialty on his late model YZ450f - but once he engages the Millersburg Mule Kick the machine is off and headed to the first turn. Myers must have found a bad barber in the woods because he hit a nasty fade mid moto and slid back to third position. However, Myers is a five-tool rider and he dug deep in his tool box using skills from his regional motocross, gncc and enduro background to maintain third place. All of that east coast racing and riding Myers has done over the years paid off. I spoke with Myers and he let me know that fitness wasn’t going to be an issue the rest of the season - he is spending the next 6 weeks in the cardio pain cave and will come out swinging (literally) at Crow Canyon.



Honorable Mention to Joe Klemp of New Franklin, OH. Joe has been tearing up the local scene racing anywhere and everywhere. In addition to chasing the GNCC series he has a ton of seat time and I look forward to a strong ride at Crow Canyon next month.



Crow Canyon GP July 31st.

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Boy wants to try the crow canyon race.
After about a year and a half, he got the go a head to race from his mother. Never did any woods stuff before. Just going to give it a try lol

We went to fast traxx last weekend and they canceled when we were 1.2 miles from the track after a 2 hr drive...
 
4DAIVI PAI2K5 said:
Boy wants to try the crow canyon race.
After about a year and a half, he got the go a head to race from his mother. Never did any woods stuff before. Just going to give it a try lol

We went to fast traxx last weekend and they canceled when we were 1.2 miles from the track after a 2 hr drive...
Click to expand...

Your boy gets around good - I honestly think the transition moto to off-road goes smoother than the other way.
 
Jack Bierbower said:
Your boy gets around good - I honestly think the transition moto to off-road goes smoother than the other way.
Click to expand...
He is coming back from injuries, and is making progress but he doesn't have that aggressiveness or fire back yet. Which is fine, as long as he is having fun. He seems really excited to try gp style races.
 
If I can make a really cool suggestion, at the sprint enduro the way they bannered the track…was awesome….they used white banners and yellow banners the white banner was always on your right.

now on the riders meeting they told us that’s how you get track orientation so you don’t end up going the wrong way. Cocky me was like “how can you get turned around?” I said this in my head of course not out loud. But then once I cartwheeled down a friggin hillside and had no idea which way was right left or up I was able to get back on the track and thankfully…..the banners were missing but if I looked far up enough in either direction I could see the white. This is important because I almost went backwards. White was on my left and I go oh s**t white supposed to be on my right….

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notice I’m missing my hand guard from
Multiple cartwheels.
 
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