I am at a point in my life finding myself making up for lost\missed time. Doing my best to get in as much racing before I feel I’m “too old”. I suppose it’s best to back things up a bit and give some back story. My name is Andrew Gore. I’m 26 years old and I race dirtbikes. I’ve got a lovely wife, slightly spastic dog, and officially work as a Mold Designer\Machinist at my Fathers Injection Molding\Mold Making company. I have one goal ahead of me: to race national pro enduro by 2015 (or by the time I’m 30).
I began riding bikes when I was in elementary school. First ride I took, was on a 1974 Kawasaki 175. From then, I went into racing MX at a local track on a 1985 Yamaha YZ125 that was nothing but issues. At the same time I was dealing with that bike, I was also forced to deal with the reality that the area I had to practice\ride was being shut down. It was 1999, I was entering high school & found myself using any free time I had to go skateboarding, with the YZ sitting dormant in my basement. Through high school I went full blown into skateboarding, was shooting video non stop, and gained a great board sponsor out of Pennsylvania, and even managed my own signature board by the end of high school in 2003.
Unfortunately from there, the board company was going under, and I found myself in a position of owning a paintball company with my brother. From that point on, I just didn’t get competitive in much of anything. We had separated ourselves from our fathers manufacturing business to venture out on our own, we were both immersed in work, and at the time I just didn’t feel any draw back to competition or even motorcycles. This slowly began to change when I moved back in with my parents & back to work with my father.
Summer of 2004 (or maybe 2005?), I don’t remember exactly, but suffice to say, I got the bug to ride again. I picked up a 1974 RD350 & had all sorts of fun fogging the area on the thing. One thing led to another, and I found myself road racing a 2004 Yamaha R6. With the help of my brother coaching me, I was picking up speed at a great pace. Unfortunately, as my speed increased, as did the spending from my wallet. A weekend of racing was using up every bit of money I had, especially so after a triple digit crash sent me sliding directly towards my entire family there at the race to watch. I knew something had to give. My funds were essentially non-existent, but the desire to compete was extremely high.
At this point, my dad had seen some trials events, and inquired if I’d be interested in giving that a go. We made a deal that he’d front the money for a trials bike until I sold the R6. I found a bike (1994 GasGas JT25), and a week or so later, had the R6 sold. I entered my first event and was sucked in. The slow methodical approach to riding, with a delicacy that just drew me in. After my first event, I knew I needed some schooling and in the fall of 2008, I went down to the Trials Training Center in TN. The following year, I competed in the D-17 Advanced class, and won the overall for the season.
The following year had me feeling the need for a bit more speed. Early 2010, I competed in a couple trials events at the Sportsmen level, but I was feeling the need for some speed. Maybe it was me knowing I was getting married in a few months, I don’t really know. I do know that I needed some speed or change of pace from trials and began giving HareScrambles a go. I had tried a Harescramble in May of 2009. I made it 45 minutes into the event on a bone stock DRZ400S (yes, lights blinkers, everything). I wanted to die, and I was barely half way into the race. Things weren’t much different when I entered another event on a KTM 300. I got stuck in a terrible rut, sunk the bike down to its rear axle and just about lost my brain. It wasn’t until I entered my 3rd race that I even managed to finish.
I’ve spent the past 2 years competing in Harescrambles, dabbled into supermoto (finding I needed to be in the dirt), and finally giving an enduro a go this past fall (2011). I’ve made a HUGE mistake the past couple years, which has been not focusing on an ultimate goal for each season. This season is different. I aim to win the D-17 Open B Enduro class. I’ll be racing local Harescrambles as well to help keep my brain in race mode, but won’t be so focused on taking the “overall” for that. Something to keep me in shape and in the spirit of racing.
I’m stoked for what’s to come this year. I’m on a phenomenal bike (2006 Husqvarna WR250). I’ve got myself on a tasty diet, and have a workout plan going on. I’ll post as more comes up here.
-Andrew
