Deep Creek Report

[scar tissue]

We had a great weekend out in victorville. Thumbs Julie and 4 rent a kids showed up Sat AM in a borrowed 5th wheel with an arsonal of bikes. I was out early Sat with my boy Jake(Mini Scar) and his new Christmas present ride. Joker and family, Kelsorat, and Dean showed up slighlty later. Eel and Jeff made it out early Sunday.

Fun Fun Fun all weekend long. Thumbs and I, took the kids on a little mini trail ride. They all did great so they decided to enter the kids event. Jakes only been riding 3 times ever. The kids race turned out to be around 6 miles per loop and they were supposed to do 4 loops. They all did great, we rode next to them just off the trail through the rough desert. That was actually pretty tough, going that slow through trees rocks and washouts and staying off the course as the rules required. Conner (one of Thumbs rent a kids) set the quickest lap time on the first loop and was forth overall. My bike fouled a plug at the start of the 3rd loop ( I had left the choke on, and thought it was sounding funny :confused: ) Off went Jake with no way for me to stop him. I pushed my bike back to camp as fast as I could and hopped on Jokers 250f and Hauled A$$ to catch up. He had done almost the entire loop before I cought him. What a Stud! The rests of Sat was filled with Hiking, rock climbing, campfire and food.

Sunday The Adult race.

As usual we get a little fired up before race time. I had programmed my new Watchdog 2000 incorrectly so Eel was helping me out. Jeff seemed to be scratching his head a bit as well. The race was fun rocky (what else) with soom good hill climbs. They had some nice deep sand wash sections which are always a blast to open it up in. Most of the course wasn't to tough and we stayed ahead of our minute most of the time until the end of loop #2. They put us through this ridiculous rock boulder uphill and then down hill section This section ripped my pipe guard off :scream: and tossed me over once. Alot of people were laying down in in as I picked myself up bounced my way through. over all a good race. lots of fun.

Unofficial Results :

Eel 6th in Expert (he and Dean got bumped up this year and this is an outstanding finsh)

Thumbs 3rd in Nov (Not bad for sundial timekeeping)
Scar 5th in Nov. (damm rock section. picked up 2 minutes) :think:

Joker 1st in Nov X. :yeehaw:

Conner 4th in juniors (one of Tonys rent a kids. )

I don't remember where Dean, WRjeff, or Kelsorat Finished. sorry for the incomplete list.


The rest of the day was spent trial riding and some more hiking and rock climbing with the kids. Jake and I went to dinner with Thumbs and Julie and we left about dark on Sunday. Man was I worn out.


Next race is at El Mirage on Feb 15th. Mark your calenders.

 

[thumbs]

Good report Tim. Fun was had by all!

I think I might have to get me one of them 5th wheels.

 

[Boodac]

Good report, its great to see the crew do well. Congrads guys

 

[the Eel]

I was really glad to see so many Wrecking Crew members at the event .... and there were even some new "little" Crew members like Jake representing !

It was an outstanding weekend ... weather was unbelievable for this time of year.  Perfect riding weather.

The course was really fun ... the hill climbs stand out in my memory, as do the washes. 

WR Jeff was 8th Novice and Dean was 7th Expert ... and Private Joker topped his class ! And Kelso finished on his DRZ, which must have been a real bear !

Based on his score, Tony should at least be riding Amateur.  He only dropped a point ... which is exactly what I dropped through the same number checks.  Soooo ... move him up ! 

The expert split was humbling.  I crashed twice and stalled several times just in that section alone ... which was only 1.7 miles long!  It took everything I had just to get through it.  It was a long, steep off camber downhill through losse babyhead rocks, then it funneled into a series of three or four foot high tight downhill rock waterfalls (which I bulldogged, shame on me), then a blast through a sand wash, and then two really big, slippery hill climbs.  Almost made me want to go back to Amateur !  Somebody who helped layout the course said you would have had to average 36 MPH through that section in order to stay on time ... needless to say nobody did.

Hope to see everyone in February at El Mirage ... or even sooner, as the 1st D-37 enduro is this coming Sunday in Lucerne Valley !  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[the Eel]

Results are up !

http://mysite.verizon.net/sorudne/ghost.htm

 

[Pvt Joker]

Thanks for the great reports Scar & Eel.

It was really a lot of fun and for our first time out everyone made us feel very welcome.

Congratulations to all the enduro participants and my special thanks to Scar Tissue for keeping me on time throughout my loop.

My whole family really enjoyed themselves and we're looking forward to more of these outings.

 

[JWW]

It felt good to be back in the desert riding with the club. I think that was one of the best rides I have ever had. I was actually giggling a few times while crossing the desert. Congrats to all for finishing..especially Kelsorat.

I will gladly take my 8th place trophy. A few more rides and I will figure out the dang computer. I was happy just getting it programmed.

I will miss the Feb event but I look forward to seeing everyone in March.

 

[2strok4fun]

Great Report guys!

Ill be in for the Feb ride for sure.

Eric, send me info on the D-37 ride at Lucerne. Is it worth "just trail riding" a D-37 enduro.

 

[Ol'89r]

Way to go guys. :thumb: You guys do us proud. :worship:

I was out there the week before on friday, the day it rained on the other side of the hill. Weather was perfect, even a little dusty. Looked like a really fun course.

 

[kelsorat]

That was a good time. I'm sure more of the Crew would enjoy riding one of the events. The terrain for this race as usual surprised me because a Saturday warm up ride with Scar,PVT Joker, & Mini Joker was on trails that were pretty much clear of rocks, but whooped out, which I can do all day. However once the race started I remember how TWMC likes to find the trails less traveled. Needless to say the loops led us through rocky terrain that my new rear Dunlop 756 was not well suited. Even the high speed sections went through sand and gravel beds. I'm sure I must have caught a jagged rock on one of the uphills. Halfway through the second loop I was running flat. I blew too much time stopped just contemplating what I should do. 15 minutes later I said to hell with the flat, I'll ride as far as I can, stay on the course, and if the tire comes off,I'll just rest trailside for the sweepers.I just wanted to finish since all my past enduros ended with a DNF. Thanks to the Dirt Gods for keeping my flat rear tire on the rim for the last 1.5 loops. I made it to the last check and back to the pits.

I hadn't seen PVT Joker or RMJeff since our Phelan group ride of a couple years ago, so it was cool to see more Crew members. I expected PVT Joker to wear the usual casual rider gear, and he didn't disappoint, showing up to ride in shorts and a windbreaker. Gotta love it. RMJeff somehow made it out on Sunday after driving to Pahrump, back home, and back out to the desert on Sunday AM. Wheew that's wanting to go riding with dedication.
Eel,Thumbs & Scar have become regulars out there and it's good to get to know these guys and form friendships with people who have similar interests and funny campfire stories to spin.
I can't forget Brett and Dean, we only met shortly, and I have no way of actually keeping up with them in a ride, but both were good guys, and must be damn good riders to win thier classes. Here's hoping that they both can give me some riding tips in the near future.

 

[oldandslo]

Great ride report guys. Sounds like it was a lot of fun.

Wish I could have made it out there.

Congrats to everyone. See ya at the next ride.

 

[bishop_d]

Now that I can finally lift my arms above my waist after riding that expert split, I'll throw in my .02. As previously posted, Eel and I got bumped to the Expert class after going 1-2 in the year end points. I've got to say thank you for that flat tire in November Eel, I'm sure you had me in that race, and probably would have taken year end honors. By the way, if you ran slime, it probably wouldn't have been so easy for me to flatten.

My wife was busy this weekend, so I took on the task of hauling my two boys, 6 & 11 years old, out to the event by myself. I've tried this once before, and swore I wouldn't do it again. How easily we forget. I had hoped to spend a little more time hanging out with the crew, but ended up chasing them around most of the weekend. Did a little geocaching in the morning. (If you guys have a gps and haven't tried this, check out www.geocaching.com. It's a blast.) After fixing lunch and playing Mr. Mom a little, we test rode both the kids courses to make sure the boys could make them. I really didn't expect to have to work at staying up with the older one yet, my how they progress. My 6 year old entered his first race where he finished around 14th or so, and my 11 year took third in the beginner class. Spend the rest of the night playing Mr. Mom a little more.

Come race morning, I was really missing the wife. Kids are wanting to ride first thing in the morning. Luckily all the friendly women of TWMC are nice enough to watch them during the race, but I still had to get them all geared up, and give all the bikes the once over. Once I got them going, I look around and notice that while I've been tending to my offspring, all the other riders are looking like they're ready to race. After some rushing to get bike and body prep'd for the race I made it to the line with time to spare. The last thing on my mind all weekend had been my own race.

At the line I find that two of the Crew, Scar and Pvt Joker, are on my min. Scar had told me about his new computer the night before, so I gave him a few tips about where to ride in your minute and what not. He listened to my advise much better than I did, since I went into the first two checks 10 & 16 seconds early. The course was a blast! I was riding with just a few seconds against me, until that nasty trick at the end of the second loop. There we were riding right at the 30 second mark, looking for a check any time and the course suddenly hangs a left where it use to go straight. From the lack of any existing trail, it didn't take long to figure out that this was a special, and we better hustle. I ended up being 7 seconds out of my minute. I was bummed at the time, but found that seven seconds, or even that minute meant very little when it came to the expert split. The third loop speeds were cranked up pretty good, so we were riding WFO most of the loop, then we get to the Ama. finish and the check crew points down the ugly virgin rocky canyon. I was really wishing I was still in the Ama class at this point! As Eel already stated, it was 1.7 miles of hell, and I was physically spent. As we approached the final hill climb, which happened to be back up the nastiest down hill of the regular course, I had nothing left to give. I spoded my way up the hill, stalled and fell over about 3/4 the way up, with all of the finished Experts and Ama's watching the newest member of the Expert class. I really wanted to just lay there and take a nap. It took everything in me just to get the bike up on two wheels, and there was no way that I was going back down that damn hill. I bulldogged it up the steep section that had wronged me, then was able to ride my way to my first Expert finish. The best part of all, later in Moore's RV, he shows the film footage he took with his new digital camera of me trying to start my bike on the hill while Eel effortlessly rides past. Looks like I’m going to need a little gym time if I’m going to ever have hopes of seeing a trophy again.

Sorry for the long rambling, I think I'm still recovering. What a great weekend, can’t wait until the next one!

 

[dingoe]

Good report guys, It sounds like it was a blast and we missed it. My bike is still down from the Last Knight Qualifier (enduro), I never made it past saturday. I got my swing arm re-welded by Tony Underwood (desert mc's)and I'm now waiting for my suspension to come in. I told Dick Wilks (Dicks racing) I needed it for the UEA on the 18th. Looks like he was thinking, get it to me by the 18th. So I guess I'll miss my minute. I was on with Larry Ensign and others. I do have a friends KLX300, but the pipe will not pass the sound test. I'll show anyhoo so my kids can play ride and I need to get my trophy from the Ghost rider. Should be a good raffle too.

Well I'll be up and running for the February event for sure.

See you all at the UEA or Feb weekend.

Ed Turner
Fallbrook CA
Husqvarna TE570

 

[the Eel]

2Stroke4Fun - check out the new thread in the Wrecking Crew forum. PM me if you want more details.

 

[placelast]

Excellent reports! Thanks, guys; really makes me miss the events, club camaraderie, DRNers and campfire chats - just can't do the long drive. You don't know how good it is until it's no longer possible to attend.

Originally posted by bishop_d I took on the task of hauling my two boys out to the event by myself. swore I wouldn't do it again. How easily we forget...After fixing lunch and playing Mr. Mom a little...Spend the rest of the night playing Mr. Mom a little more.

Come race morning, I was really missing the wife....I still had to get them all geared up, and give all the bikes the once over. Once I got them going, I look around and notice that while I've been tending to my offspring, all the other riders are looking like they're ready to race. After some rushing to get bike and body prep'd for the race...The last thing on my mind all weekend had been my own race.

...shades of my situation not so long ago...oh, where did those days go?

 

[Boodac]

Excellent report Bishop, makes me regret not being there.

 

[scar tissue]

Dean,

I was wondering if you'd recovered yet. It was good riding with you on our minute. I appreciate the timekeeping tips. Sounds like you and Eel have a fun season in front of you. See you in Feb.

 

[dingoe]

Dean, I tried to PM you, but couldn't for some reason. I was wondering if you and your family were going to be at the UEA this weekend. It looks like I've got loaner suspension (forks and shock) for the race. I may be in a situation like your were at the Deep Creek. I may have my 12 and 5 year old with me and no wife. My wife can't make it and I promised the boys I'd take them when I though I wasn't racing. Now that I'm racing it could be an issue.

If I'm not over stepping my welcome, maybe my boys could hang around with yours if your wife or other adults are there.

Please drop me a line and let me know.

Again I don't mean to push my welcome, so if I am just let me know.

It may be better to let them stay home after reading the stress you were under race day.

Thanks

Ed Turner
Fallbrook CA
Husqvarna TE570
Applied TWMC