Riding dirt bikes takes a lot of practice and skill. It involves great balance, speed and agility. To make it far in the sport, it helps to start at a young age.

Scott Funston, 17, started dirt biking when he was 6 years old because his dad rode and he fell in love with the sport.

This past month, Funston was able to have a once in a life time experience. He traveled to Switzerland and Germany to compete in a dirt bike tournament. He participated in two races and stayed for 11 days.

The first race was the Vittoria-Fischer Cup and the second was the Swiss Bike Cup.

According to Funston he did not do very well his first race.

“I just didn’t have a good day at the first race,” he said.

He ended up placing 21 out of 36 racers.

During his second race, Funston said he thinks he did a lot better. He placed 15 out 50 in this race.

Funston said a vast majority of the race tracks were off road, while the other parts were on grass or gravel roads. This included steep climbs, jumps and navigating around giant tree roots and rocks, making the courses no stroll though the park.

Funston said his favorite part of the trip was participating in the second race.

“It felt good after the first race to have a good solid race and kind of prove to myself that I can rebound after having a bad race the first time,” Funston said.

Another part of his trip he liked was being able to tour around certain parts of Germany with Team USA. While they were there they went to local shops and toured a cathedral.

After high school Funston said he would still like to race dirt bikes. He plans on attending college outside of Washington, preferably Colorado because there is a large biking community there.

“I want to go to college (and) there are certain ones that have cycling programs,” he said. “Not sure I will end up at one with a cycling program, but that will impact my decision.”