Story Tools

Email this story | Print this story

Indexes

Today's Stories

Last 7 Days

Top Blogs

• Anti-death penalty signs upset mother

• School district earmarks $8 million for mold cleanup

• Bad birds?

• Tour companies enjoying Lodi wine boom; still no regular tours in area

• Motorcyclist found alive two days after accident

• Regional Roundup

• Collaborative effort brings 'Sylvia' to play at Hutchins Street Square

• Deputies recover $1.6 million worth of ag chemical

November 2nd, 2009

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

November 7th, 2009

• Lodi High graduate was at Fort Hood

• Lining up for flu shots in Lodi

• Tour packs buses as birdwatchers admire Sandhill cranes

• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks

• Daytime thieves targeting Lodi homes

• Lodi High School rally featured on 'Good Day Sacramento'

• Out of control

• Homicide suspect Anthony Hubbard arraigned

• Regional Roundup

• New Lodi Memorial rule to combat spread of H1N1: Visitors must be older than 16

November 6th, 2009

• Short sales make up nearly half of Lodi market

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi man accused of smuggling drugs, weapons for inmates at state prison

• 'I-5 Strangler' sentenced to 6 terms of life

• Jury convicts Acampo man of torture, assault of his girlfriend

• Young girl is 200,000th person to assemble AIDS, HIV care kit

• Woman in wheelchair struck by car

November 5th, 2009

• A lower Lodi Lake

• Streetside scarecrows

• San Joaquin County considers moratorium on new Williamson Act contracts

• Speakers address Lodi Unified School District budget shortfalls, plea to keep programs

• Armed robbers still targeting Lodi shops

• Regional Roundup

• California voters have final say over $11 billion water bond

• Weekend bus service to continue until Lodi City Council makes decision

• Paul Tebbel shines spotlight on sandhill cranes

• Your complete guide to Sandhill Crane Festival

• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy

• Man wanted in Acampo homicide gives up to San Joaquin County Sheriff's detectives

November 4th, 2009

• Candle fire

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi City Council weighs raising fares to restore some bus service

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

• San Joaquin County sues state over prison hospital planned for Stockton

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

November 3rd, 2009

• 500 attend service for Kyle Coumas

• Correction

• Galt considers ordinance that would require city contractors to hire locally

• Regional Roundup

• Have you seen a missing guide dog puppy in Lodi?

• Galt man dies after weekend Highway 12 crash

• Jason Behrmann is top candidate for Galt city manager

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

• Clarification

November 2nd, 2009

• Downtown Lodi trick or treat

• Public Meetings

• Correction

• Kyle Coumas funeral today

• Regional Roundup

• Sandhill Cranes Festival comes to Lodi next weekend

• Lamborghini lovers gather for show, fine wine, luncheon in Woodbridge

• Lodi's 'Biggest Loser' Christy Richesin runs 5K Halloween race

• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home

• Group investigates reports of haunting

October 31st, 2009

• Area schools have no plans of closing due to H1N1 virus

• Tokay High evacuation

• Gated communities in Lodi

• Finishing touches on Hill House replica

• Regional Roundup

• In remembrance of Kyle Coumas

• Lodi-area Halloween events

• City of Lodi settles case of mistaken identity

• Lodi a reflection of Halloween's retail emergence

• Izzy Laviola and Seth Siddle-Mitchell crowned Tokay homecoming queen and king

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Bible is entwined with American civic life (135)
• I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (71)
• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (70)
• The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (58)
• Universal health care solves big problems (58)
• Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (35)
• Stuck in neutral? Hardly! (32)
• Words from our forefathers (27)
• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks (20)
• Majority cannot deprive the minority (20)

ADVERTISEMENT

Riding high

Eight-year-old Cobe Lehnertz of Lodi is on the fast track to success

Lodi's Jim and Michele Lehnertz have sacrificed a lot to give their son, Cobe, a chance to follow his dream.

Jim sold the family's three monster trucks, which he, his older brother and father used to ride at exhibitions every Friday night. Now the parents spend their weekends taking their only child to the latest motocross race, where 8-year-old Cobe flies down the dirt track on his bike at some 40 miles per hour, typically blowing away the competition.

In the last two years, there have only been three weekends when Cobe didn't attend a race, be it as close as Turlock or as far away as Texas.

"He started to get so good at it and we couldn't do both," said Jim Lehnertz, who rode motocross bikes as a child, but never at the level of his son. "He's only a kid once."

Of course, Lehnertz says, if Cobe ever wants to start driving monster trucks, he can do that, too.

"We have a new one sitting in the shop," Lehnertz said.

But for now, Cobe has visions of one day competing as a professional motocross rider, following in the footsteps of racing idols Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath. And the way Cobe's riding, he's likely to accomplish that goal. In April, Cobe took fourth at the World Mini Grand Prix in Las Vegas and he was one of 1,386 out of 20,000 hopefuls to qualify for the Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Tennessee later this month.

Cobe's won so many trophies at this point, no room at the Lehnertz home is spared.

Lodi's Cobe Lehnertz is interviewed by Miss Supercross after winning the KTM Jr. Supercross Challenge at San Francisco's AT&T Park in January. (Courtesy photo)

"In the bedroom, the family room, the shop, the garage," Michele Lehnertz said. "They're all over the place."

When Cobe wins medals now, he simply leaves them at the race, unless it's a national competition.

Or, added Cobe, "Unless they're good looking."

But Cobe's been accumulating more than trophies, garnering national attention on the racing circuit with appearances in racing magazines such as Racer X and Final Lap, as well as the interest of numerous sponsors who've come to Cobe and his parents to offer their support.

Cobe has come a long way since he got his first bike, a Yamaha PW-50, at the age of 3 and he hasn't stopped riding since. His arsenal of bikes is now up to seven, though he has others he just rides for fun.

He even has a regular bicycle, which his mom says he rides all the time — though it's hard to imagine he has the time, considering his weekends are booked and he practices motocross throughout the week at the track his father built for him off Harney Lane.

Cobe's travels have taken him everywhere from Las Vegas to Arizona to Washington, causing him to miss 61/2 weeks of school last year at Lodi Seven Day Adventist. But the school was understanding, allowing him to bring his homework on the road.

"The school's been really flexible," said Michelle Lehnertz, whose son is about to begin fourth grade. "And he's gotten all A's and a couple B's."

Cobe's commitment to racing may seem a bit extreme for an 8-year-old, but his parents don't push him to compete; he simply loves to do it and they don't mind spending the time to make it happen.

"I don't really wish I did anything else," Cobe said.