Well, I went MX'ing today. A fun natural terrain track. Did I enjoy myself? Nope. Will I go back? Heck yeah.
Practice was under-200's all-in, so I felt totally intimidated. We were being shown the track by someone, but as I'd left last & was slower than everyone else, I spent half my time trying to work out whether I was going the right way or not, the other was getting out of the way of the faster riders (or holding my line even if I really didn't want to be where I was).
After 3 laps, I decided to call it quits & wait for the first race - we were 2nd to last running with 4-6 classes ahead of us. Well, just as we were on the starting line, the heavens opened. Wahoo, this'll be fun - a heap of novices, a muddy paddock. I spotted the only other chick riding down in a heap, so slowed down to make sure she was okay (see, my killer instinct cuts right in). Carried on for a bit, saved it quite a few times, then dumped it. Got going again for 5 metres, if that & dumped it again. Okay, I don't like this uphill with the corner on it (hell, what do cambered corners look like?), I'll cut across it. Got to the finish line again (I'd cut the finish-line corner before) and bummer, it's the checkered flag. Going into all the corners had been fun, as you had to watch the bike in front & work out whether he was going to dump it or not - with a 95% chance he would. You also had to stop yourself from dumping it or sliding into someone picking their bike up. I had a huge grin on my face the whole time, that was a hoot.
Second race rolls around, by this time I'm frozen - it was raining off & on all day, with a chill factor of -10000 - that wind was cold & didn't stop blowing. (yeah, I'm exaggerating, but it was cold).
The one thing that got me, was where I was sitting I could see my parents' house & I knew they had a hot shower. Oh, right, back to the race.
The ground had dried out, the traction was good, no one fell often. It was boring. I got spooked by a guy who'd stalled on one of the many corners I didn't like & stalled it myself. As I came into yet another corner I didn't like, I couldn't go wide as I'd cut across the guys coming up to lap me, so went real tight & dumped it, causing my bark-busters to move up & not really leaving me enough room to put my hand in. Got going again, found the nearest place to leave the track & went back to the van.
I then decided I'd rather sit in the warm van than ride again and called it a day.
If I could've ridden more often, I'd have had more fun, but 1-1/2 hours between races in the cold & wet is too much, especially when I was only managing a couple of pathetic laps.
I dunno, I just ain't got it, but I'll try something else next time & won't run barkbusters on a MX track ;) hehehe
So that's the story of my sorry day, oh, mum & dad's shower was brilliant afterwards ;)
Michelle
Practice was under-200's all-in, so I felt totally intimidated. We were being shown the track by someone, but as I'd left last & was slower than everyone else, I spent half my time trying to work out whether I was going the right way or not, the other was getting out of the way of the faster riders (or holding my line even if I really didn't want to be where I was).
After 3 laps, I decided to call it quits & wait for the first race - we were 2nd to last running with 4-6 classes ahead of us. Well, just as we were on the starting line, the heavens opened. Wahoo, this'll be fun - a heap of novices, a muddy paddock. I spotted the only other chick riding down in a heap, so slowed down to make sure she was okay (see, my killer instinct cuts right in). Carried on for a bit, saved it quite a few times, then dumped it. Got going again for 5 metres, if that & dumped it again. Okay, I don't like this uphill with the corner on it (hell, what do cambered corners look like?), I'll cut across it. Got to the finish line again (I'd cut the finish-line corner before) and bummer, it's the checkered flag. Going into all the corners had been fun, as you had to watch the bike in front & work out whether he was going to dump it or not - with a 95% chance he would. You also had to stop yourself from dumping it or sliding into someone picking their bike up. I had a huge grin on my face the whole time, that was a hoot.
Second race rolls around, by this time I'm frozen - it was raining off & on all day, with a chill factor of -10000 - that wind was cold & didn't stop blowing. (yeah, I'm exaggerating, but it was cold).
The one thing that got me, was where I was sitting I could see my parents' house & I knew they had a hot shower. Oh, right, back to the race.
The ground had dried out, the traction was good, no one fell often. It was boring. I got spooked by a guy who'd stalled on one of the many corners I didn't like & stalled it myself. As I came into yet another corner I didn't like, I couldn't go wide as I'd cut across the guys coming up to lap me, so went real tight & dumped it, causing my bark-busters to move up & not really leaving me enough room to put my hand in. Got going again, found the nearest place to leave the track & went back to the van.
I then decided I'd rather sit in the warm van than ride again and called it a day.
If I could've ridden more often, I'd have had more fun, but 1-1/2 hours between races in the cold & wet is too much, especially when I was only managing a couple of pathetic laps.
I dunno, I just ain't got it, but I'll try something else next time & won't run barkbusters on a MX track ;) hehehe
So that's the story of my sorry day, oh, mum & dad's shower was brilliant afterwards ;)
Michelle
