From Red To Orange On The Way To Number One

Welcome back to one of my favorite things…the ‘Featured Athlete’ story. I met a youngster a couple of years ago by way of his fathers racing in the 125 class. Dad was a hot shoe on a pipey CR125 busting moves against the oncoming tide of thumper 250f’s and he was doing quite well.

We met by the usual way out on the track…”Hey get some pictures of me!” So I did.
I got some decent ones of him and then I met his wife who would stop by to say hello and check out the Honda book or shout a hello over the fence during the moto’s.

So where does our young rider fit into all this back story? Well it just so happens that lots of kids stop by on race day to look at the contact sheets in the books hoping to get a glimpse of a cool shot of them or a friend or someone they know. Sometimes we strike up a conversation and if there’s a Kodak Moment I might snap off a shot or two. It just so happened that one of these kids had a great smile and he loved getting his picture taken.

Not shy at all. Period. If I remember correctly he was usually decked out in an mx jersey but not riding anything but his bicycle. I just remember he was not bashful, came around often to gaze at the book and I’m sure dreamed about racing mx himself.

After a while I stopped seeing the Mr. and Mrs. at the races, guess the Mr. was hanging it up but eventually I caught sight of them. Funny thing though…no screaming CR underneath Dad and what’s more, no gear on Dad - he wasn’t riding. So why sweat it out on a hot Sunday in the dust if no one is racing? AHA! Their son is racing! He was CR mounted like Dad and sporting a number eight on the front plate of the little thumper. Of course I would take some shots of him I told the ‘Mrs.’, now known as ‘mom’ yet I still didn’t make the connection who the son was.

Finally it all came together when I saw Mom and Dad with their son with his helmet off. Hey! It’s the boy with the smile. How about that! I know you!

So lets introduce them all if you haven’t already figure it out. Dad = Adrian, Mom = Cheryl and our rider is none other than Hanalei. The Lanoza’s.

If you’ve followed this website for any length of time you have to have seen them. One of the best sequence shots I have is of Hanalei in the heat of his moto coming up over a hill only to find a downed rider right in his path. With no time to maneuver or slow down he ran right over the downed bike, bending his front forks back and getting launched over the bars. It was all caught on camera. Oftentimes you can see one of them in the slide shows including Dad in his street clothes and Mom caught unawares cheering in the Faces In The Crowd.

I have watched Hanalei go from a timid beginner rider all the way to the point of riding the wheels off the CRF 50 trying to keep pace with the KTM’s and now he’s KTM mounted himself. From his last couple of events his confidence has grown and he’s developed a style. He likes to stand and he’s jumping that little Honda. Both good signs of experience and confidence though I think that bike was taking a beating. On Sunday after Hanalei’s last moto we sat down to talk and do a little photo shoot with his new ride.

So lets get right into our Featured Rider for October 2009, Hanalei Lanoza.

Hanalei Lanoza is the 8 year old son of Cheryl and Adrian Lanoza and his hometown is Wahiawa. Being an 8 year old that puts him in the 3rd grade and while you might think he should be doing whatever 8 yr olds do he’d rather be darting around on a dirt bike although he does have a DS and a PS 3.

He started out on the Honda CRF 50 about 4 ½ years ago…(hey do the math, that would put him on the bike at 3 ½ to 4 years old…what were you doing at that age?) and his first taste of the concrete start pad at Kahuku MX Park came last season as he was a regular on the gate as the # 8 in the 50 Beginner class.

Cheryl and Adrian can be seen in the pits and on the track offering their encouragement during the motos and Adrian is always one of the first Pit Dad’s to the starting line to eyeball the lines, pick the gate position and sweep it clean.

I know, from my close up experience, that the 2 strokes have a significant advantage over the little 4 strokes but Hanalei seemed to be able to maximize what the Honda could do best while overcoming and making the best of its short comings. His favorite thing on the track are jumps which are most peoples but his second most favorite thing is turns and that’s where the Honda shone brightest. It may not jump well but on that hard pack it turned well.

Hanalei says that ‘jumps’ are his favorite “because it feels like I’m flying an airplane and falling from the sky!” The least favorite are the whoops and he thinks “they are deadly!” When asked what is the most scary thing about racing it was a very adult answer, simple and straight to the point… “falling”. Too right on that one ‘eh.

I think we can all agree that the 50’s class is one of the most exciting to watch especially with the large gate. Last year it wasn’t uncommon to see 15 to 18 bikes and this year it can still get up to about 14. So Hanalei is surrounded by a lot of competition and as he put it, “anything can happen”. I think from Dad, Hanalei developed a sense that the fastest way to get good is to practice, practice, practice because he’d rather ride the track than just joy ride around the park. That practice paid off today as he won the 50 Beginner Class.

The Honda which came from Pflueger Honda has recently given way to the KTM which seems to be the tool of choice for the fastest riders out there in the 50’s class. From Hanaleis point of view “the KTM has more power and it jumps better”. All that power and suspension hasn’t gone to waste either because he says that he’s definitely faster on the orange bike and he’s not one bit scared of going faster.

Every rider wants to get “sponsored” and through the fine efforts of Hawaii Rides in Wahiawa, Hanalei’s bike stays tuned, race fresh and sports a custom graphics package.

With bike support from Hawaii Rides he gets loving support from Mom on the sidelines who can be seen cheering him on under a watchful eye. Mom also buys all his gear so he stays color coordinated. I think there’s some change’s coming since now the colors have switched from Honda Red to KaTooM Orange!

Hanalei sometimes helps dad out with keeping his bike clean but mostly it’s Dad minding that chore and the regular wrenching. Dad is also at his side on the starting line so he’s never nervous and just can’t wait for the gate to drop. It’s a great thing that Dad has almost certainly lined up a good spot for the holeshot and points out the good lines during the moto. You go Dad!

During his off time at home he said he watches TV and of course he watches the X games and all the SX and Nationals. What’s really surprising is that his favorite Pro Rider is none other than Ricky Carmichael and not Bubba or one of the other current crop of the youngest Pro’s.

To close out our talk Hanalei, Cheryl and Adrian wanted to express all their appreciation to their Aunties and Uncles who watch him race and most especially Uncle Darren.

Summing up Hanalei Lanoza, let me just quote his response to the question “Who’s the fastest rider up at Kahuku?” His answer… “me!”

- See ya next time…scott