“DeLong ranked one of the top motorcyclists in U.S.” |
| DeLong ranked one of the top motorcyclists in U.S. Posted: 13 Dec 2010 06:08 AM PST Photo Courtesy Russ Brown of dirtriderphoto.com Andrew DeLong is one of the top ranked off road motorcyclists in the U.S. At the age of 20, Andrew DeLong is one of the best professional off-road motorcyclists in the United Sates. The Twin Valley graduate was the top American Motorcycle Association amateur rider in the nation in 2010, and finished as the ninth-ranked pro rider in the U.S. DeLong competes in Hare Scrambles and Enduros - Hare Scrambles are, typically, a 2 to 3 hour sprint race through rugged terrain, and the Enduros - not surprisingly - are much longer. "(Enduros) are normally anywhere from six hours to 120 miles," explains DeLong, "It is a time trial - you get a piece of woods that you have never seen before and you try and go as fast as you can. They time you for six (sections) and whoever has the fastest time after the six sections wins." In a year filled with success, DeLong's crowning achievement came during the 2010 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Morelia, Mexico - an annual event held since the early 1900s which is considered by many to be the 'Olympics of Motorcycling'. Once the dust cleared and the times were tallied, DeLong finished the event as the top American Club Team rider, third in his class, and 66 out of 700 competitors from 32 countries. "A lot of people were shocked (by my finish) because it was my first time there, and I beat a lot of top riders," he said, "Every day is 150 miles and you are not off the bike all day except for maybe fifteen minutes total. Throughout that 150 mile day you have nine tests, and these tests are sprint tests - they are about four to five minutes long and you have to go as fast as you can through them because (that's) where you make your time." DeLong first impressed the U.S. Club Team with his top finishes in the American Motorcycle Association amateur class, and he continued to make impressions with top ten overall finishes in AMA competitions where he was going up against seasoned pros. He raced on courses in Texas, Wyoming, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Michigan, Maine, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Missouri. "I really liked Missouri, and Texas was definitely one of the cooler ones - it was totally different - you're out in the middle of nowhere. Each state is almost totally different. The texture of the dirt is different. You can have red clay, black clay, or sand - it's crazy," Delong said. Some of the races were qualifiers for the U.S. Club Team, and DeLong's performances got him hand-picked for one of eight U.S. Club Team positions. There two tiers to U.S. Team racing - Trophy Team and Club Team - with the Trophy Team riders considered the more skilled of the two. For DeLong, the 2011 goal is to qualify for the Trophy Team. Trying to "make it" as a professional rider means total dedication to the sport he loves. His plans will have him on the road for months at a time, driving from state to state, training hard and racing every weekend. Continued... Photo Courtesy Russ Brown of dirtriderphoto.com Andrew DeLong is one of the top ranked off road motorcyclists in the U.S. Bud Matto, the owner of Matto Cycle in Pottsville, sponsors DeLong and helps the twenty-year-old out with bikes, products, parts and accessories. He remembers when DeLong first came to him as a kid. "When he won the youth championship a couple years back he told me that his goal was to turn pro - and he sure enough made his goal." Matto said, "In my eyes he is as fast as anyone in the off-road world right now. He is a hard-working guy and he is really good with people - people really like him and other riders really admire him." Matto describes DeLong as someone who puts a 100 percent effort into racing, and points out that it is great to see the young man's family 100 percent behind him. DeLong grew up near the woods, and his father got him riding when he was just four. "My Dad used to ride, and he made me a good enough rider to ride the trails around here - which are tough," he said, " and when he thought I was good enough I entered into my first race and it just went from there." He said that he grew up with a lot of friends who rode bikes, and that this area has a tradition of strong riders. "There's lots of good riders in this area, Shane Hufford - he's a (high school age) pro rider and he is really talented. I have rode with Shane a lot, Bobby Lapinski - from Honey Brook, and Josh Yanchocik. They are the ones racing," said DeLong. He also has a younger brother Craig who, at 14, is already being considered as a force to be reckoned with. "He's going to be really good, probably one of the best in the U.S.," DeLong said of his younger brother, "He and I are racing fifty races each year - which is basically every weekend." DeLong acknowledges that off-road racing requires toughness, but says that respect for the cycles and the terrain are just as important. "It's definitely a dangerous sport. I'm dodging trees that are thirty inches wide at 30 mph. There have been plenty of times when I have hit the ground, and it is not grass - it is gnarly rocks. It is a pretty tough, gnarly sport and if you mess with it the wrong it will end up hurting you." Continued... Photo Courtesy Russ Brown of dirtriderphoto.com Andrew DeLong is one of the top ranked off road motorcyclists in the U.S. shoulder surgery over Thanksgiving in which doctors removed a quarter sized piece of bone and cartilage that had broken loose and was 'floating around'. Yet even when he is not riding, he stays busy. He is currently outfitting a van for his upcoming road trips and working on the upkeep of his bikes. He says that he can fix just about everything on a bike, but when getting into the internal engine parts he gets guidance from his Dad - who worked at Penske and built championship Indy car engines. "I have to give so much credit to him for giving me that competitive edge," he said, "Plus there are a lot of people who help me out around here." Among the others he wishes to thank are: Dave Sparr and Sparr Metals, Haser Equipment, Tom 'Doc' Ebesole, Bannon Metals, NAPA, DeLong Exxon, Matto Cycle, Risbon Excavating, the East Coast Enduro Association (ECEA), MSR, Kenda Tire and Tube, Solid Performance, All Balls Racing, PowerSeal USA, his family and friends, and more still. Visit www.MattoCycle.com and www.isde2010.com to learn more about Andrew DeLong and off-road cycling. Photo Courtesy Russ Brown of dirtriderphoto.com Andrew DeLong is one of the top ranked off road motorcyclists in the U.S. At the age of 20, Andrew DeLong is one of the best professional off-road motorcyclists in the United Sates. The Twin Valley graduate was the top American Motorcycle Association amateur rider in the nation in 2010, and finished as the ninth-ranked pro rider in the U.S. DeLong competes in Hare Scrambles and Enduros - Hare Scrambles are, typically, a 2 to 3 hour sprint race through rugged terrain, and the Enduros - not surprisingly - are much longer. "(Enduros) are normally anywhere from six hours to 120 miles," explains DeLong, "It is a time trial - you get a piece of woods that you have never seen before and you try and go as fast as you can. They time you for six (sections) and whoever has the fastest time after the six sections wins." In a year filled with success, DeLong's crowning achievement came during the 2010 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Morelia, Mexico - an annual event held since the early 1900s which is considered by many to be the 'Olympics of Motorcycling'. Once the dust cleared and the times were tallied, DeLong finished the event as the top American Club Team rider, third in his class, and 66 out of 700 competitors from 32 countries. "A lot of people were shocked (by my finish) because it was my first time there, and I beat a lot of top riders," he said, "Every day is 150 miles and you are not off the bike all day except for maybe fifteen minutes total. Throughout that 150 mile day you have nine tests, and these tests are sprint tests - they are about four to five minutes long and you have to go as fast as you can through them because (that's) where you make your time." DeLong first impressed the U.S. Club Team with his top finishes in the American Motorcycle Association amateur class, and he continued to make impressions with top ten overall finishes in AMA competitions where he was going up against seasoned pros. He raced on courses in Texas, Wyoming, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Michigan, Maine, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Missouri. "I really liked Missouri, and Texas was definitely one of the cooler ones - it was totally different - you're out in the middle of nowhere. Each state is almost totally different. The texture of the dirt is different. You can have red clay, black clay, or sand - it's crazy," Delong said. Some of the races were qualifiers for the U.S. Club Team, and DeLong's performances got him hand-picked for one of eight U.S. Club Team positions. There two tiers to U.S. Team racing - Trophy Team and Club Team - with the Trophy Team riders considered the more skilled of the two. For DeLong, the 2011 goal is to qualify for the Trophy Team. Trying to "make it" as a professional rider means total dedication to the sport he loves. His plans will have him on the road for months at a time, driving from state to state, training hard and racing every weekend. "If I don't make it over the next year or two and get picked up I'll probably cut back and just stick to doing more local stuff," he said, "I'm going to school right now studying to become an electrical linesman. My mom is a real big push on schooling." Bud Matto, the owner of Matto Cycle in Pottsville, sponsors DeLong and helps the twenty-year-old out with bikes, products, parts and accessories. He remembers when DeLong first came to him as a kid. "When he won the youth championship a couple years back he told me that his goal was to turn pro - and he sure enough made his goal." Matto said, "In my eyes he is as fast as anyone in the off-road world right now. He is a hard-working guy and he is really good with people - people really like him and other riders really admire him." Matto describes DeLong as someone who puts a 100 percent effort into racing, and points out that it is great to see the young man's family 100 percent behind him. DeLong grew up near the woods, and his father got him riding when he was just four. "My Dad used to ride, and he made me a good enough rider to ride the trails around here - which are tough," he said, " and when he thought I was good enough I entered into my first race and it just went from there." He said that he grew up with a lot of friends who rode bikes, and that this area has a tradition of strong riders. "There's lots of good riders in this area, Shane Hufford - he's a (high school age) pro rider and he is really talented. I have rode with Shane a lot, Bobby Lapinski - from Honey Brook, and Josh Yanchocik. They are the ones racing," said DeLong. He also has a younger brother Craig who, at 14, is already being considered as a force to be reckoned with. "He's going to be really good, probably one of the best in the U.S.," DeLong said of his younger brother, "He and I are racing fifty races each year - which is basically every weekend." DeLong acknowledges that off-road racing requires toughness, but says that respect for the cycles and the terrain are just as important. "It's definitely a dangerous sport. I'm dodging trees that are thirty inches wide at 30 mph. There have been plenty of times when I have hit the ground, and it is not grass - it is gnarly rocks. It is a pretty tough, gnarly sport and if you mess with it the wrong it will end up hurting you." He is currently recovering from a shoulder surgery over Thanksgiving in which doctors removed a quarter sized piece of bone and cartilage that had broken loose and was 'floating around'. Yet even when he is not riding, he stays busy. He is currently outfitting a van for his upcoming road trips and working on the upkeep of his bikes. He says that he can fix just about everything on a bike, but when getting into the internal engine parts he gets guidance from his Dad - who worked at Penske and built championship Indy car engines. "I have to give so much credit to him for giving me that competitive edge," he said, "Plus there are a lot of people who help me out around here." Among the others he wishes to thank are: Dave Sparr and Sparr Metals, Haser Equipment, Tom 'Doc' Ebesole, Bannon Metals, NAPA, DeLong Exxon, Matto Cycle, Risbon Excavating, the East Coast Enduro Association (ECEA), MSR, Kenda Tire and Tube, Solid Performance, All Balls Racing, PowerSeal USA, his family and friends, and more still. Visit www.MattoCycle.com and www.isde2010.com to learn more about Andrew DeLong and off-road cycling. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Content Keyword RSS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment