THE FLY RACING BLOG - THE KING OF THE HIGHWAY
Author: Rhonda Summers	Andrew Campo | Friday, 03 July 2009 15:44

THE FLY RACING BLOG - THE KING OF THE HIGHWAY

The first installation of the FLY Racing Blog was delivered to us yesterday from Rhonda Summers, Justin’s mom, and she brings us deep inside the commitment of a parent living amateur motocross. FLY Racing has a reputation for being a brand that truly focuses on building a family like relationship with their riders, and the Summers have been flying the FLY Racing flag for years. Look for bi-monthly installations of the FLY Racing blog moving forward.

Enjoy!

Okay, first of all this is not the first "on the road" thing that has happened to us this year, but I will use this one because it's the best.

Justin broke his thumb the week we got home from Vegas. Needless to say, we were worried about being qualified in more than one region so we started looking for area qualifiers that we could attend once his thumb was feeling better.  We missed our qualifiers down here in the southeast and the only one left for us to do was 23 hours away in Little Falls, Minnesota, but it was still only two weeks after he broke his thumb. I decided to let him fly up there and make the trip by myself as he had just endured the 40 hour trip home from Vegas and I felt sorry for him.

The trip up there was fine and he qualified for the regional even with the broken thumb. The Regional was at Millville two weeks after the area qualifier so we stayed up there with friends until we had to race again. After the Regional, Justin flew home and I started to make my way back to Florida. Here is where the fun really began!!!

I hadn't been on the road for more than an hour when I heard the loudest flapping noise I'd ever heard.  I thought for sure that I had a blow out and I immediately pulled over. What was strange was...even after I stopped the motor home, I could still hear this loud flapping noise.  Now, I am in "No Where" Iowa at this time and there is nothing but corn fields on both sides of the interstate.  The wind had to be blowing 40  mph across those fields and into the side of my motor home because it felt like it was about to blow slap over.  When I got out I realized that the awning had begun to unroll all by itself and was flapping across the top of the motor home.  I was all alone on the side of the interstate with no one but my dog, and about to cry wondering how in the world I was going to be strong enough to pull this awning back down in all this heavy wind and get it to roll back up.

When I would pull one side down, the other side would fly back up and nearly lift me off the ground.  It was hopeless.  I was always careful about traveling alone and trying to not come in contact with strangers, but after fighting this thing for over an hour, I was bleeding, bruised, and would have welcomed ANYONE that would have been nice enough to offer to stop and help.

I bet 100 or more people passed me that day and never even slowed down. One man stopped in a pick up truck right in front of my motor home and I thought. "thank goodness,  FINALLY, someone is going to help  me."  The guy got out, looked in the back of his truck as if he was looking  for something, then he got into his truck and DROVE AWAY!!!!   I was SO mad.  I was screaming at him and I won't repeat the gesture that I made in his direction for leaving me stranded there alone.  I kept asking God to  just let the wind die down for five minutes so I could get this thing rolled back  up and finally it slacked off enough for me to jump up as high as I could, grab the flap on the awning, and hang on for dear life.  It all came down really fast and rolled back up just like it was supposed to.  However, it was broken and would not stay rolled up so I had to get on top of the motor home with Semi  trucks passing by, hang head first off the side, and use DUCK tape to tape the  top of the awning arms so it would stay in place.  I know it sounds Ghetto, but that's all I had.  I felt so good about myself after that, because I did it without any help and although I was bleeding and bruised, I finally got it done.

I got back on the road and traveled for about five more hours before tragedy struck again.  I'm pretty sure it was following me the whole time. :-) I was actually on the phone with my husband letting him know where I was about to stop for the night when I had a blow out on the passenger side of the motor home.  It was the inside rear tire and it was SO LOUD.   I pulled over thinking to myself "THIS IS NOT HAPPENING TO ME." I used my GPS and found a wal-mart just 2 miles away.  I rolled at 4 mph into their parking lot and slept there until their tire and lube center opened the next morning. Yeah, I know what you are thinking...but it was all that I could find, ok?

They helped me put the spare tire on and I asked them to look and make sure that nothing was hanging down or damaged and that it was safe to drive. YEAH RIGHT.  They said it was all fine and I was once again, on my way. ONE HOUR later as I am again alone in the middle of a bunch of corn fields, I smell something burning.  It was a mix between rubber, plastic, and a trash fire.  I kept looking across the fields thinking that a farmer may have been burning something, not knowing the entire time that it was, in fact, my motor home that was ON FIRE !!!   When the smell got bad enough to start making me nauseous I pulled off at an exit and decided to check things out. OH MY GOSH.  This is where the real fun began.  There was smoke boiling out from under the coach. The exhaust had been damaged when the tire blew and it was not pointing in the correct direction. Instead it was pointing right into one of the damaged compartments and since there was now plywood exposed, it was ON FIRE!   It wasn't like big flames or anything, but more of a burning ember type fire.  Still quite scary since my Propane lines ran right in front of it. Thank goodness, I had turned off the propane when the tire initially blew!! I called my husband and he told me to take a set of old RENTHAL handlebars from the trailer and stick them in the end of the exhaust pipe and try to pry it back down where it belonged.  You will laugh at what happened next!   IT BROKE OFF AND THE ENTIRE EXHAUST SYSTEM FELL OUT ONTO THE GROUND.  Not just a little pipe....THE WHOLE THING.

I am standing there with my mouth hanging open thinking, "Oh my gosh, what  just happened?"   How in the world will I ever get this fixed? " I looked around and there was a Jiffy Lube next door to where I was sitting. I walked over there and told the guys what I did and they LAUGHED AT ME!!!  It was not funny at the time and I was ready to hurt them, but they were nice and offered to help me.  He picked up the exhaust and told me to drive it over to their shop and they would tack weld it for me.  When I cranked up the motor home it sounded like a monster truck.  Everyone in the parking lot of this shopping center stopped what they were doing and looked at me like I was crazy.  I've never been so embarrassed in all my life and  I sank down behind the wheel and pretended I was someone else.  :-)

I also noticed at this time that there was water going all over the place. My rear compartments were FULL of water and it was draining out of the compartment doors.  Thank goodness it was CLEAR water and not brown !!!  :-) The exhaust had gotten so hot that it melted the lines to my shower, the lines to the hot water heater, and melted a hole in my fresh water holding tank. The tank is lined with something similar to the heat resistant tape that we put on the bottom of Justin's gas tank on the race bike to keep the gas cool.  Well, it melted that stuff and still put a hole in the tank anyway.  I've since found out that the holding tank is bolted to the chassis and the only way to take it out and replace it is to either cut the framework of the motor home or cut through the coach itself!!  They have been working on it since we've been back and it's still not ready!!  So far, they are at $8,000 worth of damage and they aren't finished yet.

When I called my insurance company to report the claim, I just said " Hey guys, it's me again!"  It's pretty sad when you know your claim adjusters home phone number, cell number, and email address by heart!  As much as we travel, we have had to use our insurance more than any normal person would ever use in a life time.  I'm surprised we haven't been dropped all together!

So to bring a long story to a close, let it be known that I AM THE KING OF THE HIGHWAY and I am perfectly capable of taking care of things on my own. My son was 20,000 feet in the air enjoying a nice cold drink and watching a movie while I was sweating and cursing on the side of the highway alone, but that's just what we do as Motocross parents.  We sacrifice and suffer so that our kids can do what they love and it's all worth EVERY SECOND!! Be sure to Fly Racing @ www.flyracing.com