Athlete Blog: Nicole Bradford

I headed to Round 3 of the National Hare and Hound on Friday night in the “Sportsmobile” with my friend Mandy.  It was refreshing making a turn and heading north this time rather than a straight shot west.  On Saturday Mandy spotted the Bruneau Dunes State Park about an hour from the race sight and suckered me into pulling over and climbing to the top of them, see photo!   We made it to the top only to get sand blasted when a gust of wind came up but we still had fun!

The race sight was quiet because the club had a signing with the Pro’s on Saturday in Nampa and not many people had arrived yet.   After my adventure to the top of the dunes I was a little tired and decided to hang in the van and watch a movie rather than walk the bomb run.  The movie was the Descendants…not good!  Generally we like to paint or nails the night before we race because we are girls and this is what we do but time got away from us.

Sunday morning we signed up visited with some friends and then got ready to race.  This would be the first time on my bike since crashing into a tree in Florida and injuring my thumb.  I decided to wear a thumb brace for protection over the top of my glove but was unsure if it would work or not.  Of course all it did was cut the circulation off my thumb and part of my hand so I pulled it off and got back to racing.  I was definitely hesitant to push it hard and since I am currently leading the series and I felt it was best to stay close to Shayla and not worry too much about winning but finishing.   I started behind her on the bomb and then followed her for about the first 25 miles until she went wide on a turn to let me by.   I went around her and she followed in hot pursuit.

At the first gas Michael Garvin and Shayla’s dad graciously pitted for me with my sorry one gallon gas can from Walmart and I was on my way.   When I got to the end of loop 1 they scanned my helmet and in typical fashion I tipped over in front of everyone watching.  Embarrassing for sure but I am thankful for slow speed crashes any day over the high speed ones.   At Gas Anthony DiBasilio, Caselli’s mechanic pitted for me as well as a member of the JCR crew with my sorry super slow fill gas can.   I swear most everyone at motorcycle races are so nice and helpful!


Loop 2 was a killer and took my breath away.   When I say killer I mean great trails with breath taking views!   There was a section where we came up over a hill and looked down on a valley with some tall rocks that pointed towards the heavens.  I wanted to take in the view but the trail was on the side of a hill and falling off the trail would have been bad news so I kept my eyes on the course.  The river crossing was refreshing and the course remained fun!  Near the end we went down a “waterfall” type gully with some deep pools of water at the bottom.  Of course you can’t see below the water and all the spectators are looking for some excitement so best not to ask them where to go.   As I dropped into the second pool I quickly realized it was pretty deep and then I somehow gave the bike a little too much throttle and almost looped the bike which would have buried it and me in the water.  Let’s say I was LUCKY and saved it and was able to cruise into the finish with wet boots!


After bad performance at the GNCC in Florida I was happy to return to the desert and come away with another win!  We have a few weeks before the next round so I will try to give my thumb a rest and get back to 100%.  See you then!