Kris Keefer Podiums at Vet Nationals!

Dirt Rider Magazine Associate Editor, PulpMX host and well established industry test rider Kris Keefer fought valiantly for the 3rd place spot in the 31st Annual Dubya World Vet Motocross Championships at Glen Helen on November the 8th. This wildly popular event attracted over 1200 riders from 20 countries and everyday hero Kris Keefer carded a podium spot in the ultra competittive 30+ Pro Category aboard a stock Yamaha YZ 450.

Kris is keyboard warrior for Dirt Rider Magazine, a full time position, and also is front man for Keefer, Inc., a long running and well respected R&D and bike/parts evaluation service for OEM manufactuers and aftermarket companies. Kris also hosts the PulpMX show on a regular basis, which attracts almost a cult following within the moto industry. Kris is also a family man, raising his son Aden with his wife Heather in the high desert of southern California. I have known Kris for a long time and can attest to him being a straight up, stand up, super nice guy. I feel special kinship to him in that we both stuck it out in sports that we love. We may have not been "factory pro" in ability but we had the drive to figure out how to earn a living in those sports. I have to guess that he also got plenty of "advice" to pursue "more successul" means of supporting our families, so Kris, here's to us!

Kris does get to ride a lot for work but in a way, that makes training more difficult as we have to carefully manage motivation and recovery to ensure quality training time, both on the bike and off. The Vet World Championhips was high on his priority list and he juggled a full work and family schedule nearing the event, but prevailed. As his long time online coach, I couldn't be more proud and excited for him to acheive a goal admist his hectic schedule and full life. Way to go my friend!

In his own words:

"I knew coming into this year's Dubya USA World Vet Nationals that I could get on the podium. I have been sticking to my plan that Seiji had laid out for me and I had a great bike underneath me. First moto I came back from a mid pack start and worked my way up to 4th, by the time the checkers fell. Actually, I worked my way up to the rear of third place and almost up to Ryan Morais who was second. So I knew my fitness would be good for the second moto. The second moto I had a much better start and tried to freight train with Sleeter and Morias (which were right in front of me). They gapped me a couple seconds, but I held in there and managed to score third for the moto and third overall on the day. I tied for second place on the day, but on a tiebreaker from the second moto, it put me in third place."

Andrew Short Off Season Update

"Off Season" is a misnomer to most in this sport. Although the motocross series came to a close at the end of the summer, some one off events gap the calendar in a way that presents training challenges if they are high on the priority list. Andrew got to do the RedBull Straight Rhythm the weekend of October 10th for the first time; it was HOT in southern California that week but Andrew had fun in a realm that I wouldn't consider his forte. He won his first bracket but got beat by Roczen in the next bracket. That was followed up immediately the next weekend with Monster Cup in Las Vegas where he went 13-15-16 for 17th overall. Andrew will also compete in the Geneve Supercross in Switzerland the first weekend in December.

The real breakthrough has been finally resolving his knee issue from his NJSX incident and surgery. The broken kneecap healed but Shorty had some adverse reactions to the internal stitching that was used as a scaffolding to limit stress on the bone as it healed. It is very rare to have a reaction to Vicryl stitches, but Shorty was that guy! He did sleuth out himself that he always struggles after surgeries, and this reaction may have always been the cause, so good to know! I am glad to finally get over that hump, that he no longer has mysterious swelling, the pain has finally subsided and we can go on with training plans vs. working around knee issues.

Texas has provided some rather extreme conditions locally this winter. We had a local large fire, bringing back memories of four years ago when we had a fire of epic proportions that caused tragic losses and damages. Both of us had to pack up and get ready to bail on our ranches during that horrific blaze. This fire was not as big, but at 4500+ acres and in the exact same area, it was concerning. As soon as that fire was contained, we got epic rains that caused local flooding and damages rivaling those of the fire. My thoughts go out to those that suffered losses during the fire and the flooding in Texas.

Shorty managed to ride when and where he could around the rains, sometimes riding a grass track (which I think is super productive) and sometimes riding a less than optimal Supercross track. No complaints really, he did get to ride plenty, had some great training weeks, and he gets to walk out his back door, get on his bike and roll right to the track! So nice compared to the California routine of loading up, driving, unloading, riding, reloading, driving (at times in incredible traffic), and finally unloading again. This is his family's last week on their ranch as the entire program will move to CA for final preparations for SX 2016.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my little world! I wish you the best in your training, racing and other athletic endeavors! Also wishing you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons! If you can make a supercross race in 2016, please stop by the BTO/KTM pits and say hi! Until next time, keep it on two wheels and really try to enjoy the ride!