- Oct 20, 2000
- 2,969
- 2
Funds have been kind of tight the past month or so, I wanted to do the Season Opener at Lake Whitney but it just costs too much. I opted for my local track instead.
It's been 2 weeks since I did the AX and the last time I got to ride. I headed out Saturday to the Waco Eagles MX track to get a little warm up practice in, the weather was perfect. Not as many people there as I expected and that made it harder to push myself for practice. It worked out okay as I felt like I hadn't been on a bike in 20 years. I made sure I stretched real good and warmed up before hitting the track, didn't do any good. Before the 1st lap was done I had to pull off and shake the arm pump that had already set in. 15 minutes later I tried again, this time I made about 2 laps. I figured I'd make use of the time I was wasting and change my oil. After a long breather I stretched again and it was back on the track. I made about 4 laps and everything felt stiff again, my throat was getting really sore too.
I again pulled off and was talking to some guy when a friend pulled in, thank God Warren was here (a fellow DRNer). As he geared up, I hit the water bottle then the two of us hit the track. We did about 3 hard & fast laps, he's one of those cross-country riders that can go on for days. We pulled over and he suggested that we do some cruising instead of flying and that was okay with me. The track has two sections that we sometimes combine but no one was riding the back section, we figured we would include that part and just row with the flow. As we rode for a few laps it was time to pick up the pace. All of a sudden the riding skills seemed to come back, we both were clearing all the jumps and riding in auto pilot, it was 4pm by this time & I had been there since about 11am. It was time to eat so we left.
Sunday morning, 6:30 race day. Tigger didn't want to go so a quick delivery to her moms house and on to the track. There was a long line to get in which made it look like a good race day. I geared up and stretched, my throat was extremely sore and I was hurling lung oysters. I made all of one lap for practice before the black flag came out. 20 minutes later and several pretend jump rope impressions I took to the track for last practice, dang if I didn't fell pretty well. The race order was posted & I'm 2nd and 7th race. My 1st was the over 40 and there were 9 of us. I knew I didn't stand much of a chance against retired SX rider Edward Hayes. There were a lot of other fast riders that figured would take up the space between him and me. When the gate dropped I was right beside Edward into the 1st turn but another rider bumped into me and he had no place to go except into the tires or me, I let him in, Edward got the hole shot. 3 or 4 more riders poked their wheel in my line and I found myself eating the roost of a CR250. I turned it on and blew right past all but 2, the 125 was screaming! One other rider passed me and ended up in 5th I think for the finish, 6th was almost 20 seconds behind me.
Next race was over 30 and one of the guys that beat me in AX was in my class. The gate dropped and I again got a great start but had to dodge an outta control bike in the 1st turn. There were 6 in this class and I was in 3rd. I had a KX250 on my rear tire for 3 laps, I could hear every little noise it made and protected my inside line at every corner. He finally passed me on an inside line that I didn't know existed. :clue:
Ended up 4th in that race and over 30 seconds ahead of 5th.
2nd over 40 was next, I again got a great start but the guy next to me did a little flat track/speedway maneuver in front of me so I had to change lines. By this race it was as serious as it gets for me. I was showing no mercy and I was about to start taking names. I actually got to do what for me was a big whip to keep from over jumping a huge table in the hi-speed rhythm section. I was blitzing the whoops better than ever and doing the triple-double-triple rhythm section. In fact I caught myself in the air so much that I wanted to be on the ground accelerating. There is an off cambered faced tabletop that I even found myself turning in the air in order to setup for the next turn. Over the next short double, around the next few turns and a small step-up then to the finish line triple, I was kicking some butt! I never got out of reach to take the next position for about 3 & 1/2 laps before I got tired. The crowd was cheering and clapping, thumbs up and all but I just couldn't keep at the pace I was going. I ended up getting out of shape in the whoops and getting kicked around on some of the very same jumps I had been hitting flawlessly, it was time to back it down a notch. I just tried to keep enough distance that the guy behind me couldn’t catch me, had to save energy for the last moto.
Last race of the day, over 30 #2. I picked a gate on the opposite side this time. It's funny how I could hear my bike in all the other races sandwiched between 2 CRF450's but couldn't hear a thing with just one KX250 next to me this race. The gate dropped and I swear I was in 3rd gear, either that or my bike was too cooled down. I still managed to get a good start but got stuffed in the 1st turn. I was able to fly passed most of the guys rather quickly and the 1st lap was pretty good but I had no endurance left in me, it was all I could do to stay upright. Everything I did took twice the amount of energy as it did in the other races and I was making mistakes. By the 2nd lap I had gotten all out of shape in the whoops and bounced off of every other jump, somebody stick a fork in me. On the 3rd lap I actually stopped for a moment but still had enough of a lead on the guys behind me that I didn't loose any places. Each time I passed by the cheering section they tried to give me encouragement and I'd twist the throttle a little bit and pray for the checkers. Finally one more turn and on to the finish, I used only the required speed to get up the face and coasted toward the pits. I guess the guys behind me weren't in any better shape because they were still a long way behind me. This was the toughest day of racing I've had in a long time. I've come to the conclusion that I must ride every week if I'm gonna do two classes of mx and that's a fact what I'm tellin' you with my hand up. :thumb:
It's been 2 weeks since I did the AX and the last time I got to ride. I headed out Saturday to the Waco Eagles MX track to get a little warm up practice in, the weather was perfect. Not as many people there as I expected and that made it harder to push myself for practice. It worked out okay as I felt like I hadn't been on a bike in 20 years. I made sure I stretched real good and warmed up before hitting the track, didn't do any good. Before the 1st lap was done I had to pull off and shake the arm pump that had already set in. 15 minutes later I tried again, this time I made about 2 laps. I figured I'd make use of the time I was wasting and change my oil. After a long breather I stretched again and it was back on the track. I made about 4 laps and everything felt stiff again, my throat was getting really sore too.
I again pulled off and was talking to some guy when a friend pulled in, thank God Warren was here (a fellow DRNer). As he geared up, I hit the water bottle then the two of us hit the track. We did about 3 hard & fast laps, he's one of those cross-country riders that can go on for days. We pulled over and he suggested that we do some cruising instead of flying and that was okay with me. The track has two sections that we sometimes combine but no one was riding the back section, we figured we would include that part and just row with the flow. As we rode for a few laps it was time to pick up the pace. All of a sudden the riding skills seemed to come back, we both were clearing all the jumps and riding in auto pilot, it was 4pm by this time & I had been there since about 11am. It was time to eat so we left.
Sunday morning, 6:30 race day. Tigger didn't want to go so a quick delivery to her moms house and on to the track. There was a long line to get in which made it look like a good race day. I geared up and stretched, my throat was extremely sore and I was hurling lung oysters. I made all of one lap for practice before the black flag came out. 20 minutes later and several pretend jump rope impressions I took to the track for last practice, dang if I didn't fell pretty well. The race order was posted & I'm 2nd and 7th race. My 1st was the over 40 and there were 9 of us. I knew I didn't stand much of a chance against retired SX rider Edward Hayes. There were a lot of other fast riders that figured would take up the space between him and me. When the gate dropped I was right beside Edward into the 1st turn but another rider bumped into me and he had no place to go except into the tires or me, I let him in, Edward got the hole shot. 3 or 4 more riders poked their wheel in my line and I found myself eating the roost of a CR250. I turned it on and blew right past all but 2, the 125 was screaming! One other rider passed me and ended up in 5th I think for the finish, 6th was almost 20 seconds behind me.
Next race was over 30 and one of the guys that beat me in AX was in my class. The gate dropped and I again got a great start but had to dodge an outta control bike in the 1st turn. There were 6 in this class and I was in 3rd. I had a KX250 on my rear tire for 3 laps, I could hear every little noise it made and protected my inside line at every corner. He finally passed me on an inside line that I didn't know existed. :clue:
Ended up 4th in that race and over 30 seconds ahead of 5th.
2nd over 40 was next, I again got a great start but the guy next to me did a little flat track/speedway maneuver in front of me so I had to change lines. By this race it was as serious as it gets for me. I was showing no mercy and I was about to start taking names. I actually got to do what for me was a big whip to keep from over jumping a huge table in the hi-speed rhythm section. I was blitzing the whoops better than ever and doing the triple-double-triple rhythm section. In fact I caught myself in the air so much that I wanted to be on the ground accelerating. There is an off cambered faced tabletop that I even found myself turning in the air in order to setup for the next turn. Over the next short double, around the next few turns and a small step-up then to the finish line triple, I was kicking some butt! I never got out of reach to take the next position for about 3 & 1/2 laps before I got tired. The crowd was cheering and clapping, thumbs up and all but I just couldn't keep at the pace I was going. I ended up getting out of shape in the whoops and getting kicked around on some of the very same jumps I had been hitting flawlessly, it was time to back it down a notch. I just tried to keep enough distance that the guy behind me couldn’t catch me, had to save energy for the last moto.
Last race of the day, over 30 #2. I picked a gate on the opposite side this time. It's funny how I could hear my bike in all the other races sandwiched between 2 CRF450's but couldn't hear a thing with just one KX250 next to me this race. The gate dropped and I swear I was in 3rd gear, either that or my bike was too cooled down. I still managed to get a good start but got stuffed in the 1st turn. I was able to fly passed most of the guys rather quickly and the 1st lap was pretty good but I had no endurance left in me, it was all I could do to stay upright. Everything I did took twice the amount of energy as it did in the other races and I was making mistakes. By the 2nd lap I had gotten all out of shape in the whoops and bounced off of every other jump, somebody stick a fork in me. On the 3rd lap I actually stopped for a moment but still had enough of a lead on the guys behind me that I didn't loose any places. Each time I passed by the cheering section they tried to give me encouragement and I'd twist the throttle a little bit and pray for the checkers. Finally one more turn and on to the finish, I used only the required speed to get up the face and coasted toward the pits. I guess the guys behind me weren't in any better shape because they were still a long way behind me. This was the toughest day of racing I've had in a long time. I've come to the conclusion that I must ride every week if I'm gonna do two classes of mx and that's a fact what I'm tellin' you with my hand up. :thumb:
