Welcome to another week of chaos in the Oehlhof household!  With Joe struggling to get the results that he desires and deserves, he took it upon himself to take some time away from the bike.  He spent this week training by taking bicycle rides with his friends. It was a relaxing week for him not to have to worry about the bike and what it needs.

Joe was hoping that the time off would allow him to relax a little on the bike.  Everyone keeps telling him that he is trying too hard and that his concentration on getting results is actually causing him to suffer more on the bike.  Weird, I know, but after seeing how changed he was this week, I don’t think it is such a bad idea!

With my schedule at the track, I am only there on the weekends from Friday thru Sunday.  Throughout the week, I spend my time between my work computer at the house and diaper changes!  Those things alone keep me busy enough, let me tell you!  It was nice having Joe around, but I know he was itching to get riding again.

Joe was ready to go this week for St Louis after a few days off the bike.  He left at 6am on Friday and arrived around 2pm.  He met his mechanic over at the dome to get the bike ready for Saturday.  With his valve issue happening last weekend that prevented him from racing the heat race, he decided to change some things up.  After the changes, the bike seemed to run a lot smoother for Joe come Saturday.

You may recall in the middle of this SX season that Joe was looking for help from anyone that was in the position to do so.  He needed financial help to get him to the races.  It just so happened that Joe had some fans that wanted to help.  We received an email from Mike Daley and his wife.  They said they wanted to send some money to Joe to get him to a race.  We were relieved to know that his flight would be covered for this race because of their generosity.  The Daley’s were able to make the drive to St Louis to attend Saturday’s race.  I was able to get them pit passes and make arrangements for them to be hooked up to meet some people within the industry.  Joe gave them a jersey and was happy to shake their hands and personally thank them for helping him out.

It’s neat that in this sport we have people like them.  Racing has always been a big part of our lives and we wouldn’t change it for the world!  I am happy to be a part of something so big that takes care of their own. 

With the Daley’s help, Joe was able to race in St Louis and not worry about having to cover his expenses.  He actually made some money this weekend instead of breaking even.

Joe started out in the second heat race with a bad start and wound up 16th.  He felt good in practice, but wasn’t able to move forward after banging some bars on the first couple of laps.  The LCQ didn’t go much better.  Joe was running 12th with 3 laps to go and was t-boned by another rider causing Joe to crash.  Joe wasn’t too happy with that and ended up 18th in the LCQ. 

Week after week, it always seems like something doesn’t go Joe’s way.  He thought that this weeks training would help him relax.  He is his toughest critic.  It makes it hard both mentally and physically when he was at the top of his game and now he is struggling to get back there after his neck injury.

We don’t know what the future holds for Joe, but all I can say is you haven’t seen the last of Joe…he will be fighting to the end for sure!