zio
Mr. Atlas
- Jul 28, 2000
- 2,291
- 0
I did my first race in over a year yesterday. It was the Phantom HS at Hollister Hills, CA. The forecast called for rain, and it did rain, though not the deluge we had the last time I raced it. This was more like a steady on & off rain, sometimes hard, sometimes just a drizzle. I don't know how much it rained the night before, but it looked like A LOT! There was a log of mud. Watching the A & B race in the morning, it looked like it was going to be hard. I saw angryjim on my way to the riders meeting, after he had just finished the morning race, and he said it wasn't actually that bad. He said just to take it easy, which I had already decided was the best way to have fun.
At the start, I was lined up in the 4th row, out of maybe 8. I was racing the Open class, but they lined us up with the 4 stroke class too, so there were probably 50 guys I had to tangle with on the start, which took place on the motocross track. There was a long 25 min. delay (they were taking out a few sections from the morning race that they said were too hard for us C riders) and I was getting sleepy by the time we started. And, just like last time, I had a bad start. It took me two kicks to get it fired up, the first one my muddy boot slipped off the starter. But I got off okay, made it through the first right, then left, then right again to a big uphill, got squeezed too far left & into the rear tire of a stalled rider, tipped over, got ran over, got back up, around the rest of the track & into the real trails. From there, it got interesting.
This year, I had a Rekluse auto clutch. Last year, I DNF'd with a fried clutch. This year, I was passing guys left & right who were stalled and crashed. 2nd gear allowed me to motor my way up any hill, through any section of foot-deep mud, and around any tight, super-slick corner without stalling. I did get badly stuck once while trying to get around a bottleneck, but after a minute got myself free.
The first lap was mainly a survival session. There were so many guys to get caught behind, stalled somewhere on a hill... that was my biggest problem. This auto clutch rules! I was giggling, being able to motor around stalled thumpers, even if the line was not good (off camber, maybe). It was tiring, for sure. But not nearly as tiring as those guys who were trying to pull their bikes up a hill.
According to the results, it took me 37 minutes to finish the first 8.5 mile loop. It felt like it, too. There were so many sections that were made so much more difficult by the thick, gloppy Hollister clay. Being in the 4th row didn't help much, either. I was trying to be conservative, and got passed by a lot of faster riders who didn't seem to be too intimidated by the slippery conditions. It was rewarding, though, when I'd see one of them all sprawled out around the next corner. I swear, there were about 5 guys who were genuinely faster than me, but I kept them in sight the whole race just because they kept crashing.
When I came around to the scoring checkpoint, I was feeling beat. But then, I saw my friend Kelly & uncle cheering me on. That was really cool. Jim may have been there, too. But it was hard to see as my goggles were pretty hard to see out of. And I was trying not to crash. They're pretty reserved, my uncle especially. So to see him pumping his fists & shouting "Go, Jeff!"... that really got me motivated. And yes, my real name is Jeff.
The second lap was more spread out. And I actually felt good. My rear brake was gone, and the bike was starting to bog a bit, but I was starting to enjoy myself. I wasn't tired anymore, and feeling better riding the mud. I got behind a few guys who were going at what I thought was a good pace, and basically stayed with them for the rest of the race. I know the Rekluse had a lot to do with it. I've been riding a lot more lately, but I'm not in that great of shape, endurance wise. Not having to clutch on those hills was awesome. I could get stuck behind a slow or stalled rider, and maybe stab it down into 2nd, and motor up the hill with a lot of pedalling, but no sweat otherwise. Actually, I think the hardest thing at this point was holding myself on the slippery bike if it was a steep uphill & I had to stay seated to dab with my feet.
I know I improved my speed on the 2nd lap, but did start to feel a little tired on the 3rd. And the slight bog had turned worse. It was if my air filter was totally clogged, or there was a banana shoved in the silencer. The motor sounded really funny, and felt way down on power and sluggish. I thought maybe I was overheating the clutch, but it felt fine. I still have no idea what it was.
It didn't take long to get passed by someone I had already passed to realize I was lagging. I still had plenty of juice in me so I picked up the pace again. It's really wierd, how in most sections going faster was actually easier, just like riding sand. I only wish I had realized this earlier on the 2nd lap. But at this point, I was just happy to be having fun.
I only got 3 laps during the 90 minute race. I knew I wasn't going to do well overall, but I didn't think I'd have this much fun. I've never had fun in a race. But my results definitely didn't jive with how well I thought I did. 14th out of 19 in my class, 102 out of 179 overall. Yeah, I let a lot of fast guys by, and yeah, I got a really crappy start, but it just seemed like I kept a good pace going on laps 2 & 3, and didn't fall much at all. My lap times improved each lap, from 37 minutes to 34 mintues to 32 mintues.
I guess I could have gone faster. None of it was hard. Slippery, yes. But not hard. I just didn't want to crash too much, which I didn't. Actually, other than getting used for traction on the start, I only did a few slow tip-overs in bottlenecks. And I didn't want to get too worn out & hate it, which I didn't. I had fun. Lots of fun. Gotta do this one again next year.
At the start, I was lined up in the 4th row, out of maybe 8. I was racing the Open class, but they lined us up with the 4 stroke class too, so there were probably 50 guys I had to tangle with on the start, which took place on the motocross track. There was a long 25 min. delay (they were taking out a few sections from the morning race that they said were too hard for us C riders) and I was getting sleepy by the time we started. And, just like last time, I had a bad start. It took me two kicks to get it fired up, the first one my muddy boot slipped off the starter. But I got off okay, made it through the first right, then left, then right again to a big uphill, got squeezed too far left & into the rear tire of a stalled rider, tipped over, got ran over, got back up, around the rest of the track & into the real trails. From there, it got interesting.
This year, I had a Rekluse auto clutch. Last year, I DNF'd with a fried clutch. This year, I was passing guys left & right who were stalled and crashed. 2nd gear allowed me to motor my way up any hill, through any section of foot-deep mud, and around any tight, super-slick corner without stalling. I did get badly stuck once while trying to get around a bottleneck, but after a minute got myself free.
The first lap was mainly a survival session. There were so many guys to get caught behind, stalled somewhere on a hill... that was my biggest problem. This auto clutch rules! I was giggling, being able to motor around stalled thumpers, even if the line was not good (off camber, maybe). It was tiring, for sure. But not nearly as tiring as those guys who were trying to pull their bikes up a hill.
According to the results, it took me 37 minutes to finish the first 8.5 mile loop. It felt like it, too. There were so many sections that were made so much more difficult by the thick, gloppy Hollister clay. Being in the 4th row didn't help much, either. I was trying to be conservative, and got passed by a lot of faster riders who didn't seem to be too intimidated by the slippery conditions. It was rewarding, though, when I'd see one of them all sprawled out around the next corner. I swear, there were about 5 guys who were genuinely faster than me, but I kept them in sight the whole race just because they kept crashing.
When I came around to the scoring checkpoint, I was feeling beat. But then, I saw my friend Kelly & uncle cheering me on. That was really cool. Jim may have been there, too. But it was hard to see as my goggles were pretty hard to see out of. And I was trying not to crash. They're pretty reserved, my uncle especially. So to see him pumping his fists & shouting "Go, Jeff!"... that really got me motivated. And yes, my real name is Jeff.
The second lap was more spread out. And I actually felt good. My rear brake was gone, and the bike was starting to bog a bit, but I was starting to enjoy myself. I wasn't tired anymore, and feeling better riding the mud. I got behind a few guys who were going at what I thought was a good pace, and basically stayed with them for the rest of the race. I know the Rekluse had a lot to do with it. I've been riding a lot more lately, but I'm not in that great of shape, endurance wise. Not having to clutch on those hills was awesome. I could get stuck behind a slow or stalled rider, and maybe stab it down into 2nd, and motor up the hill with a lot of pedalling, but no sweat otherwise. Actually, I think the hardest thing at this point was holding myself on the slippery bike if it was a steep uphill & I had to stay seated to dab with my feet.
I know I improved my speed on the 2nd lap, but did start to feel a little tired on the 3rd. And the slight bog had turned worse. It was if my air filter was totally clogged, or there was a banana shoved in the silencer. The motor sounded really funny, and felt way down on power and sluggish. I thought maybe I was overheating the clutch, but it felt fine. I still have no idea what it was.
It didn't take long to get passed by someone I had already passed to realize I was lagging. I still had plenty of juice in me so I picked up the pace again. It's really wierd, how in most sections going faster was actually easier, just like riding sand. I only wish I had realized this earlier on the 2nd lap. But at this point, I was just happy to be having fun.
I only got 3 laps during the 90 minute race. I knew I wasn't going to do well overall, but I didn't think I'd have this much fun. I've never had fun in a race. But my results definitely didn't jive with how well I thought I did. 14th out of 19 in my class, 102 out of 179 overall. Yeah, I let a lot of fast guys by, and yeah, I got a really crappy start, but it just seemed like I kept a good pace going on laps 2 & 3, and didn't fall much at all. My lap times improved each lap, from 37 minutes to 34 mintues to 32 mintues.
I guess I could have gone faster. None of it was hard. Slippery, yes. But not hard. I just didn't want to crash too much, which I didn't. Actually, other than getting used for traction on the start, I only did a few slow tip-overs in bottlenecks. And I didn't want to get too worn out & hate it, which I didn't. I had fun. Lots of fun. Gotta do this one again next year.
