justalonewolf007
Member
- Apr 30, 2007
- 657
- 0
I made it through my first Moto of the year!!
Here’s the (yep it’s probably going to be long…) report:
I have never felt so rushed in my life!!
Since the track is about two hours away from where I live, I decided to prep the bike and head out the day before the race. Luckily enough, my boyfriend’s dad lives about a half hour from the track, and always has a spare bedroom or two if the need arises.
I got help wiring trailer lights and had installed the hitch on my little ford escort (“the ‘scort”). We ran into quite a few problems – No solder to “weld” the wires together. Then the solder gun stopped working for an hour.
Half-way through that hour, I realized just how loose my chain was on the CR…The adjuster was at the farthest setting too. Crud. I had to pounce on the (my very unsuspecting) older brother to have him try take a couple links out of it while I tried to fix the soldering gun. It took him quite awhile, but he did it! I managed to fix the soldering gun by giving it a few good AIEYAH!!!!s. My martial arts instructor said that yelling that particular word at anything would make it work, or make it break into several pieces…Let’s just say I’m a firm believer in giving anything or anyone a “ninja yell” now! :)
Again, the dad came out to the shed and began being too helpful with making adjustments five minutes before I needed to leave. So, it was dark when I left. It was my first time pulling a trailer so I was quite nervous. Additionally, the drive was long, and full evil-ditch-dwelling-glowey-eyed-deer-and-skunks!
I made it safely to my designated pillows and blankets without any trouble, but it was 11pm, and I had to be up at 6:30 am so I could make it to the track by 7:30am when the gates opened. I was almost too excited and nervous to sleep! I found the track with no problems, and parked the motorcycle bearing ‘Scort in the line of pickups and trailers.
I found out early on that I wasn’t going to be the only woman racing, and I felt quite a bit better at that point. The last thing I wanted was to be the only one on the track with everyone watching my not so great track skills. However, as I registered, it registered to me that I had completely forgotten my ramps! I’m not big enough to lift the bike down by myself, so I weakly asked the person at the front desk if she knew where I could get some ramps. This guy pipes up from the background that he’d love to help me…he was pretty hot too :)
The people who parked next to me were quad rider families. The riders themselves were incredibly nice to me, but their dads wouldn’t leave me alone for even a second! I was offered drinks, food, chairs, help pushing my bike to and from the gates (no riding in the pits), offered to rake in front of the starting gate for me, and future practice sessions with them and their sons at different tracks. One of them even offered to go through my entire bike before the races!
Women were given a separate practice session, and all went pretty well. There was a Crf150, a Ktm85, and a Crf250r in addition to my Cr80expert. I focused on keeping my head up, and looking ahead in the turns. At first, I tried to keep up with the other women in order to see which lines were best, but lost concentration and nearly wiped out. I decided to focus on my own riding from then on, and actually managed not to crash!
All went well for the next couple hours. The Women’s class was about 4 races from the end, so I had a lot of time to sit in the sun and bake. When the time came for my race, the (now stupid and annoying) quad dads were trying to talk to me as I started pushing my bike to the gate. I was almost late because they were trying to help me! I also had to “run” the bike because everyone else was at the line already.
I jump on the bike and start it, still puffing from my mad dash and scolding myself for not trying to park closer to the gates (I parked way too far away as it would seem). It was at this point that I looked down to see the very unfamiliar metal starting gates. “What the heck!?! How am I supposed to get over these things!?!?”
I decided it would be best to copy the others, so I waited at my place (picked the #2 clothespin) and did my best to copy the other women who apparently knew what they were doing. From my previous experience on the Xr100, I began looking for a guy with a number sign. Usually they’re supposed to hold it sideways 30 seconds from the start. “Ohhhhhh crap!! Where’s the guy where’s the guy where’s the guy!!?!?!?!”
By now I was just about panicking, then the 250 beside me started holding her rev and crouching for the start. I decided to go when she did, and just fling myself at the stupid metal things. If I could get the front wheel over, it would only be a matter of jumping off and lifting the rear of the bike over it too…
Suddenly (like magic!!) the metal gates fell, and I didn’t need to worry about wheeling over them. I’m pretty sure the operator guy standing in the middle heard me yelling “OH!! They go down!!!” as my bike flew past.
I floated nicely over the first friendly jump, then screwed up the first double by approaching too fast so I jumped myself into the face of the landing instead of rolling the take-off and jumping the landing. The fork seals on my CR were so bad that I nearly flung myself over the first (about 8 feet high) berm because the steering was so slow and mushy. The next corner I tried the inside, and that had the same effect. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t slowing down enough with my brakes.
I went for each jump with an almighty “AIEYAH!!” I just hope no one heard me.
I got lapped by the 250 on my second to last lap just before the finishline, so I got the checkered flag too. She was FAST…and doing all the doubles. I definitely need more work there. The others were a ways behind, so I know that I just need to pick it up a little my next time around so I can finish.
The second race everyone was faster, including myself. I was able to navigate the doubles and triples with more efficiency, and managed to use the berms instead of fighting them, but the 250 still killed me.
Everyone said I did a pretty good job for being a newbie woman racer, and I had an incredible time. I finally started packing up, and then faced the challenge of loading the bike again. The track had instantly turned into a ghost town!! The quads were already gone, and there were literally no people in sight! So I started walking down the line of trailers, seeing absolutely no one. When I got to the starting gates and had still found nobody, I started feeling pretty miffed and pouty. It really sucks being cute and small when there’s no one to use the cuteness and smallness on!
I turned around and started walking back, only to stop dean in my tracks because the bike is sitting perfectly ON the trailer, leaning on its stand as if to say “Where ya’ been? Let’s go!”
I still don’t know who did it or how it happened. Maybe DRN has a guardian angel or something :)
It was all very awesome!
(The end)
Here’s the (yep it’s probably going to be long…) report:
I have never felt so rushed in my life!!
Since the track is about two hours away from where I live, I decided to prep the bike and head out the day before the race. Luckily enough, my boyfriend’s dad lives about a half hour from the track, and always has a spare bedroom or two if the need arises.
I got help wiring trailer lights and had installed the hitch on my little ford escort (“the ‘scort”). We ran into quite a few problems – No solder to “weld” the wires together. Then the solder gun stopped working for an hour.
Half-way through that hour, I realized just how loose my chain was on the CR…The adjuster was at the farthest setting too. Crud. I had to pounce on the (my very unsuspecting) older brother to have him try take a couple links out of it while I tried to fix the soldering gun. It took him quite awhile, but he did it! I managed to fix the soldering gun by giving it a few good AIEYAH!!!!s. My martial arts instructor said that yelling that particular word at anything would make it work, or make it break into several pieces…Let’s just say I’m a firm believer in giving anything or anyone a “ninja yell” now! :)
Again, the dad came out to the shed and began being too helpful with making adjustments five minutes before I needed to leave. So, it was dark when I left. It was my first time pulling a trailer so I was quite nervous. Additionally, the drive was long, and full evil-ditch-dwelling-glowey-eyed-deer-and-skunks!
I made it safely to my designated pillows and blankets without any trouble, but it was 11pm, and I had to be up at 6:30 am so I could make it to the track by 7:30am when the gates opened. I was almost too excited and nervous to sleep! I found the track with no problems, and parked the motorcycle bearing ‘Scort in the line of pickups and trailers.
I found out early on that I wasn’t going to be the only woman racing, and I felt quite a bit better at that point. The last thing I wanted was to be the only one on the track with everyone watching my not so great track skills. However, as I registered, it registered to me that I had completely forgotten my ramps! I’m not big enough to lift the bike down by myself, so I weakly asked the person at the front desk if she knew where I could get some ramps. This guy pipes up from the background that he’d love to help me…he was pretty hot too :)
The people who parked next to me were quad rider families. The riders themselves were incredibly nice to me, but their dads wouldn’t leave me alone for even a second! I was offered drinks, food, chairs, help pushing my bike to and from the gates (no riding in the pits), offered to rake in front of the starting gate for me, and future practice sessions with them and their sons at different tracks. One of them even offered to go through my entire bike before the races!
Women were given a separate practice session, and all went pretty well. There was a Crf150, a Ktm85, and a Crf250r in addition to my Cr80expert. I focused on keeping my head up, and looking ahead in the turns. At first, I tried to keep up with the other women in order to see which lines were best, but lost concentration and nearly wiped out. I decided to focus on my own riding from then on, and actually managed not to crash!
All went well for the next couple hours. The Women’s class was about 4 races from the end, so I had a lot of time to sit in the sun and bake. When the time came for my race, the (now stupid and annoying) quad dads were trying to talk to me as I started pushing my bike to the gate. I was almost late because they were trying to help me! I also had to “run” the bike because everyone else was at the line already.
I jump on the bike and start it, still puffing from my mad dash and scolding myself for not trying to park closer to the gates (I parked way too far away as it would seem). It was at this point that I looked down to see the very unfamiliar metal starting gates. “What the heck!?! How am I supposed to get over these things!?!?”
I decided it would be best to copy the others, so I waited at my place (picked the #2 clothespin) and did my best to copy the other women who apparently knew what they were doing. From my previous experience on the Xr100, I began looking for a guy with a number sign. Usually they’re supposed to hold it sideways 30 seconds from the start. “Ohhhhhh crap!! Where’s the guy where’s the guy where’s the guy!!?!?!?!”
By now I was just about panicking, then the 250 beside me started holding her rev and crouching for the start. I decided to go when she did, and just fling myself at the stupid metal things. If I could get the front wheel over, it would only be a matter of jumping off and lifting the rear of the bike over it too…
Suddenly (like magic!!) the metal gates fell, and I didn’t need to worry about wheeling over them. I’m pretty sure the operator guy standing in the middle heard me yelling “OH!! They go down!!!” as my bike flew past.
I floated nicely over the first friendly jump, then screwed up the first double by approaching too fast so I jumped myself into the face of the landing instead of rolling the take-off and jumping the landing. The fork seals on my CR were so bad that I nearly flung myself over the first (about 8 feet high) berm because the steering was so slow and mushy. The next corner I tried the inside, and that had the same effect. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t slowing down enough with my brakes.
I went for each jump with an almighty “AIEYAH!!” I just hope no one heard me.
I got lapped by the 250 on my second to last lap just before the finishline, so I got the checkered flag too. She was FAST…and doing all the doubles. I definitely need more work there. The others were a ways behind, so I know that I just need to pick it up a little my next time around so I can finish.
The second race everyone was faster, including myself. I was able to navigate the doubles and triples with more efficiency, and managed to use the berms instead of fighting them, but the 250 still killed me.
Everyone said I did a pretty good job for being a newbie woman racer, and I had an incredible time. I finally started packing up, and then faced the challenge of loading the bike again. The track had instantly turned into a ghost town!! The quads were already gone, and there were literally no people in sight! So I started walking down the line of trailers, seeing absolutely no one. When I got to the starting gates and had still found nobody, I started feeling pretty miffed and pouty. It really sucks being cute and small when there’s no one to use the cuteness and smallness on!
I turned around and started walking back, only to stop dean in my tracks because the bike is sitting perfectly ON the trailer, leaning on its stand as if to say “Where ya’ been? Let’s go!”
I still don’t know who did it or how it happened. Maybe DRN has a guardian angel or something :)
It was all very awesome!
(The end)
