Kain here,

It was nearly time for the regional Crusty Tour to start, so after i finished up at the Sydney Royal Easter Show I headed to Jacko Strong's place to get a bit of practice flipping the Harley Davidson. The first day at Jacko's place I did a bit of normal jumping testing out different ramps to find out what can and can't be done on a Harley, that was interesting.

Day 2 it was time to get into the foam pit and get that big girl upside down. The swingarm was extended 6 inches for distance jumping and i didn't think that would have been a problem for flipping but i was wrong. I landed upside down on my head with the 280 kg bike on top of me. We took the bike back to Jacko's amazing work shop and put it back to the way it was when i first flipped it last year. All my flips then were perfect.

Come day 3 i thought I would get one more day in the pit before the weekend. My flips started to get worse and worse eventually landing on my head and getting stuck under the bike a few times. We worked out that the clutch had tightened up and was slipping on the ramp which meant it had no torque to bring the bike around. After we fixed that I did 4 perfect flips into the pit and was ready for the first stop at Gosford.

I was way more nervous than the first time i had flipped the bike, cause of that i came in to fast and landed at the bottom of the down ramp. The shock of the landing went all through my back and I ended up spending 6 hours in hospital getting x-rays and scans to finally get out and go to the after party on alot of pain killers.

The next weekend was the Darwin show I was in so much pain but I still wanted to flip the Harley. I landed it perfect but bounced and hit my ass on the seat again and i spent the rest of the show icing my back.

We then had 2 weekends off before the next round at Bundaberg, so there was alot of physio for me. Luckily I have the best physio on the Gold Coast as my sponsors (BACK IN MOTION,) without them I wouldn't have been able to ride at the Bundaberg show.

It was time for my jump, it came around perfect then when i landed, it bounced and i fell off the back of the bike and watched it go straight into the fences and nearly took out a couple of people in the crowd. I was stoked that no one from the crowd was hurt and that i walked out of it to ride the rest of the show.

That brings me to right now, sitting on my couch with my sexy girl (Gemma) writting this story.

Next stop Cairns :)

• By Allan H

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It seems like every 2nd day we are getting race reports from Caroline Buchanan, and we can't even keep up with her! While juggling her busy BMX schedule, and aspirations for the 2012 Olympics, Caroline has managed to fit an international 4X round in, and it sounds like some intense racing.. Read her latest blog below...

It felt so nice to be back on the Mountainbike World Cup scene again.. Seeing old friends and racing without pressure and criteria to make. Slovenia’s weather was not on our side... It rained for 4 days heavy on and off making the worst mud conditions that I have every road in.

I felt very confident leading into the event with lots of BMX training behind me, having the rainbow World Champ stripes on my back and riding my new Commencal Bicycle. In Time trial I didn’t have a perfect run but posted the fastest qualifying time. I knew that the muddy conditions did not suit me very well and my tactic was to get good starts in every race.

In the quarter final I lead from the start and pushed the limits in the conditions to see what passing lines would be possible for the final. I progressed through to the Semi final with Beerten NED and Horakova CZE. Beerten lead from the 1st turn and I followed her down. I knew that if I got caught behind her again in the final that the 2nd corner would be my only chance of making a move. We both progressed through to the final joining Fionn Griffiths GBR and Sarsha Huntington AUS.

As top qualifier and winning the World Cup in Maribor last year I really wanted to be on the top step of the podium... In the final I got a great gate and was winning to the 1st corner, Beerten just got a wheel in front and took the lead. I didn’t want to sit for 2nd best and made an inside move on Anneke... I pulled it off, she slid off the track and unexpectedly as I was pedalling away I felt a big hit from behind, throwing me off the front of my bike and landing on my handle bar in my leg. I tried to get up faster than Anneke but was to sore and winded to complete the race.

I was very happy with 4th position at my 1st international 4x race since winning the World Title. With a hectic busy Olympic BMX schedule ahead of me,  I am looking forward to competing in 4x again at the USA World Cup and defending my World Title in Canada at the end of the year :)

Next race is a European BMX round in Germany next weekend and BMX World Championships in South Africa

xxx CB

• By Allan H

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We headed out Toowoomba over the weekend to catch up and film with all the Unit MX Team athletes, and I don't think we could have picked a better round! 'Domination' is the only word that comes to mind, and it is exciting to think where the season could go from here.

We will take you through the Unit athlete results, but for all the full race reports head over at MXDAILY.COM.AU

In the Under 19's Unit / Kawasaki Racing Team athlete #121 Luke Arbon took the win overall with some very smooth riding and great starts. We are especially stoked for Luke, as we have been following him for a few years now, and since he moved to the 19's, Luke has been struggling to find the winning form he had in juniors. But hopefully this is the beginning of something great for Luke.

In the Lites, #41 Ford Dale took a swag of holeshots, and was a front runner most of the day, even taking the win in the re-started first race and the final race of the day. Unfortunately, a bad start in the 2nd race and a crash while trying to fight his way back to the lead cost him alot of points, and relegated him back to 3rd overall for the day. However, KRT's #33 Cody Mackie had a super consistent day, and although he didn't win any races, had enough points to take 2nd overall for the day!

In the Pro Opens, all eyes were on Tye Simmonds who was running the #7 of Andrew MacFarlane Andrew McFarlane, and he did not dissappoint. A great fightback in the last race saw the JDR KTM rider grab 2nd overall for the day, only behind fellow Unit athlete Billy MacKenzie who won the first 2 races of the day, and took it easy in the last to rest a broken hand from a previous round.

Overall, a really good day for Unit and our friends at Kawasaki Racing Team!

Check back to the Unit site soon for videos of the day, including a cool behind the scenes look at the Kawasaki Racing Team of Arbon, MacKenzie and Mackie.

MAIN PHOTO: #7 Tye Simmonds by Kajx COMMUNICATIONS

• By Allan H

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