wfodbiker

Member
Mar 27, 2001
118
0
Come one, Come all!!! The AMA D17 race is in Glasford, which is about 20 miles west of Peoria. You can pick up the arrows on Route 24 or Route 116 to locate the Bessler Farm. Or if you are using Mapquest, the farm is located on Fuller Lane. We are expecting some rain this week which should only make the track better. If there are any questions, ask away.

This is not a wide open cross country type race, but it is also not a log infested, swamp eating, river swallowing Gusse type race. It is 100% rideable for C level riders(at a very slow pace).

If you do race, let me know what you thought of the course. We want to know what you guys like to run for next year. Personally, I'm tired of hare scramble courses which use mostly four wheeler trails, but thats my opinion. I'll probably be handing out trophies. The ponytail should give me away.
 

wfodbiker

Member
Mar 27, 2001
118
0
Oops.....
The race is Sunday, August 26th.

Start Times:
50cc at 10:00am
80cc at 10:30am
Big Bikes at High Noon

Two hour race covering 4.3 miles.
 

LoriKTM

Super Power AssClown
Oct 4, 1999
2,220
6
New Mexico
If the trail is anything like last year's, it should be a good ride. I remember it had been pretty dry, and all the trails held up well. Couple logs, some roots, but no killer obstacles, just fun trail.

The only part I didn't like was getting told at the barrells that I had to go out for one more lap-- with only 2 minutes left! D'oh! :eek:
 

AnneBrooks

Member
Jan 17, 2001
313
0
Bob and I and Woodchuck did the hare scrambles today and here are my thoughts:

1. This was DEFINITELY NOT a 100% rideable course for a C rider! True, it was not log infested, etc, but there were several drop offs and hills that were WAY above my level.

2. I did not think the trail was marked very well. There were sections that did not have enough arrows and it was very easy to get off the trail.

3. The race, however, was not completely bad. Had it not rained so hard yesterday, the trail would have been great! The dirt was in great condition, just a few major muddy sections.

The riders were EXTREMELY polite and the Officials were TERRIFIC! Had it not been for the 2 that helped me, I would probably still be stuck out there in the valley. The officials were not only helpful, but glad to be helpful. That is awesome to riders in need of assistance.

Anyway, good race and congrats to all for racing!
 

Baked

Member
Apr 6, 2000
48
0
I to attended the "Mini-Late-Summer Moose Run" :p and let me tell you... I'm not sure what class everyone rides in... but I was 3rd off the start in the Big "B" class... moved to 1st quickly... only to be dead last when they decided that they were going to put Mt. Saint Helen in the trail. I had a great lead when I got to the "HILL"... and seeing my good buddy (who is an "A" rider) coming back down the hill, only lowered my hill-climbing-ability-confidence. After several attempts to ascend this "HILL" they re-routed the course letting all the riders behind me, in front of me.

I have to agree with you on the drop-off parts. I can handle most anything they throw at me... but some of the drop-offs (she didn't mention the 90 degree turns required within 3 ft of the drop-off otherwise you go off a 5 foot cliff into a creek) were a little out of hand.

100 percent rideable... uhhh... yeah... if you're Jeff Fredette... anyway... I ended up DNFing after I quit caring about winning and worried about hurting myself...

Oh... by the way... there was a mud crossing in a wide open area... on the left side about 8 inches under the mud there was a STEEL railroad beam... I caught my foot under it, wide open in 4th gear. So now I've got a nice little bruise. Oh well... this is supposed to be fun... I think I've lost my sense of humor! :confused:
 

KaTooMer

~SPONSOR~
Jul 28, 1999
435
0
Ah, the memories...another gool 'ol Illinois race for survival. We get maybe two of those a year in Missouri, which is probably why we get such large beginner and C-class turnouts. Odds are pretty good that everything is rideable. But we have our own trail demons here - rocks. Hard on bikes and bodies.

Baked - you should make the trip down here for the National hare scramble next month, if you're up for a new kind of challenge!!
 

Bob Brooks

Member
Jan 6, 2001
367
0
Baked, I thought you said you could ride! ;)

Actually, I couldn't agree more with your post. As Anne mentioned, I rode in the race yesterday also and I thought it was a real bear! On the first lap, I got stuck on Mt. St. Helens also, or Mt. Olympus or the Matterhorn or whatever you want to call it! Several riders were stuck on that hill so I tried another line up a stick and log infested ravine...big mistake on my part. I got stuck in that ravine for probably ten minutes. After a considerable amount of wrestling with the motorcycle, most of my energy was zapped and I wasn't even halfway through the first lap. Of course, after I finally made it out of the ravine, they re-routed the course away from the big hill.

Some of the drop-offs on the course were definitely frightening. You would ski down a really steep hill, sliding in between trees in the goo, and then have to make a 90-degree turn and down a three-foot inverted drop-off. I did a lot of "puckering" on that first lap. The original post in this thread about the course being rideable for a C rider was an absolute joke. Most of the C riders didn't make it a lap. Their idea of a rideable course and mine are as different as daylight and dark.

I only rode four laps before pulling off. At that point, I wasn't having fun, and that's why I ride these things. That's not to say it was all bad though. I really liked a lot of the terrain and I think under different circumstances, it could've been a lot of fun. I just thought some of the obstacles there were a little on the ridiculous side. I still can't believe Anne made it as far as she did. This was a course that had many A riders struggling.
 

wfodbiker

Member
Mar 27, 2001
118
0
I expected to be flamed today and I guess I deserve it. What can I say? On Saturday the course was excellent. We were expecting a great race, but then the rains came and we weren't properly prepared for the reroutes. I agree that the drop-off into the off camber right hander was a bit much. Especially when I went over the bars and performed a near perfect face plant while I was course marshalling. Mt. St. Helen should have been cut before the race started. It is a fun hill when there aren't other riders stuck throughout the hill.

Our goal was to provide a race that was mostly single track and try to get the most mileage we could out of the land available. I guess we were overly optimistic. It was not our intention to promote a survival type race. Believe me, the other course marshalls and I didn't find any enjoyment in pushing bikes up hills or pulling them out of gullies.

We realize the course needs to be rideable for all levels and that the C riders are the future of our sport. I know of one C rider that rode Sunday in his first race ever. I will be visiting him and his parents this week to ensure them that the race was not typical and should not be used to as a benchmark for future racing activities. We did have a C rider in his first race since moving up from the 80s who got 6th place and a trophy.

I'm sticking to my guns on the C rider thing. We had a C rider mileage the track on Saturday. Of course it was Saturday when the track was dry.

We had a meeting after the race and discussed the good and bad things. Our future races will be laid out under the belief that it will rain and we will not arrow a track that we might have to change during the race.

I pretty much knew what kind of feedback I would get, but none the less, I'm glad you all posted and aired your opinions. The CMC members will get a copy of all communications on this topic. I hope this didn't sour you too bad on the CMC. We were invited to check out a 500 acre strip mine for a race next year and would like to have everyone back to ride a completely different and much easier course. We may even have a quad class.

Baked, can you give me some more detail on the steel railroad beam. There were only two fourth gear wide open sections. I want to remove the beam if possible.

Anne, my hat is off to you for giving it your best on the xr.

On the plus side, we did have 61 riders and were able to turn a profit. Our bank account is now approaching a whopping $1,600. The pace we are on should allow us to purchase some land of our own in 75 - 80 years. We are a very small club, just trying to keep our sport alive and have some fun at the same time. Many thanks to those who attended and congrats to the survivors.
 

WoodsRider

Sponsoring Member<BR>Club Moderator
Damn Yankees
Oct 13, 1999
2,812
0
wfodbiker - Although I wasn't at the HS I definitely know how you feel. It seems when you make a course too easy, some people complain about the lack of a challenge. When you make a course challenging, other people complain that it's too difficult. Of course the weather plays a big part in making a race difficult and nobody has control over that.

Maybe the answer is to run a seperate race just for the C riders. Run them for an hour over the same or a shortened course that the A & B riders compete on.
 

wfodbiker

Member
Mar 27, 2001
118
0
Woodsrider - The club president and I have discussed a similar idea for C riders. We thought about running everyone together, but posting a club member at a certain point where the C riders would be routed to a different trail that would eventually connect to the main trail. The problem with that idea is I think it would be to confusing and too hard to make sure only C riders took the easy route. The seperate race idea you propose may be an option. It will certainly make for a long day if we run 50ccc, 80cc, big bikes, C class and quads. I'm open to any other creative ideas?

Thanks,
 

WoodsRider

Sponsoring Member<BR>Club Moderator
Damn Yankees
Oct 13, 1999
2,812
0
Only raced one HS when I lived in the midwest and worked the '99 Hill & Gully Nat'l (I was the guy wearing the knee brace collecting gate fees). I certainly agree that trying to hold all those races makes for a long day. Some organizations have gone to running Junior events on the Saturday before their HS's.

At the '00 Summer Bummer Enduro, we held a beginner/junior enduro the day before. Sure this makes for an extremely long weekend for the club members, but it's one of those things you have to expect with the current popularity of off-road racing, especially HS racing. Like you stated before:
... C riders are the future of our sport.
 

woodchuck

Member
May 2, 2000
123
0
Wow what a course!

Hello Wfodbiker,

Holy Cow batman, what a course! Your post led me to thinking, "aw this should not be too bad".

Sidenote:
I (WoodChuck) have been riding for about 2 1/2 seasons. I ride a GG EC300 and consider myself pretty decent in the steep and technical stuff. Prior to this race I ran in Rockton, ( near Rockford) no other races.


Just before I went to the starting line some one mentioned the words "steep and technical". Steep and Technical is what I found, along with slick and Hair Raising (don't get me wrong better to be too tough than too easy). I new things were going to be tough when 2 minutes into the race I spotted a bunch of B riders the Alpine valley of slime (darn that rain) . The course was certainly challenging, and enjoyable in retrospect,( I did not think that while racing). The course would have been fantastic if it had not rained and a few of the cliff like drop-offs were tempered. Some of the ledges were near inverted (undercut) :eek: and required large gonades.

Sharing one experience:
I had to launch my bike riderless up a creek bank just to get to the top of it. It landed on top and stayed there so I was pleased. Then a couple A guys (lapping me) came thru, launching thier bikes like frisbees into the air , all riderless :eek: . A new GasGas SE even landed upside down, hitting the ground handle bars first." I felt like I was watching an extreme freestyle motocross event (cool). I then thought to myself " my technic wasn't to bad after all.

My lack of ability to follow the trail lead me to repeating a large section of the trail before going thru the main check point :( oh well. This discouragement, a lack of cardio ability (hot day), and some sense of practicallity lead me to stop after one hour (i.e. one long tough and confused lap).

I had a great time and I can't wait till next year.

Thanks to you and your club for putting on the event.

The WoodChuck.
 
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