truespode
Moderator / Wheelie King
- Jun 30, 1999
- 7,984
- 251
First and out of the actual order I'll cover James and me battling in the +25c/d
I get to sign up and see James is running 3 classes so I decide to run the +25c/d with him in addition to 250D.
In the +25c/d heat James and I had a good battle for all 3 laps. He got a better jump out of the gate and I stuck with him on the rear wheel and kept hollering at him and he'd holler back but I could not get around him to save my life. He was riding really, really well.
In the +25c/d main James and I went at it. After the start I passed him then he pulled up on me in the whoops and I realized that he is faster through the new whoop section than I am. I kept him off for one lap but he made a pass shortly after as we went through the whoops again. I tried to get by him again and I would close here and there but in the whoops he would pull a bike length or two on me. Finally on the last lap I was too tired to push much more and he pulled away when I went out of control and almost took out a flagger with my left leg. My pace slowed and I finished about 5 or 6 bike lengths back.
James pushed me hard that entire race and it was a really fun race. I enjoyed that more than the 250D race b/c I had a really good battle going on with James and I felt safe racing him. I wasn't worried if he came underneath or if I closed in on him. I trusted him to race fair and knew that would keep it safe for the both of us.
James got 4th out of 5 and I got the final 5th (and a trophy) position. He ran hard and earned the trophy. He raced 3 classes and did well in 2 of them before his bike started to foul a plug and he had to pull off in his 3rd race.
I did accept my last place trophy in the +25c/d battle with James even though it was a last place. I wrote on the back of the trophy how I finished and wrote "Great battle with James who got 4th... lots of fun!" Sometimes a trophy marks more than a finish, it also marks a great time.
Now on to the rest of my racing evening...
First thing I notice is that the track is changed. There is a table top in the middle of the whoop section. It has a set of 6, the table top and then a set of 6. The whoops are bigger and it is hard to get rythm through it. Some of the A riders would double, triple and use the last whoop to jump ontop of the tabletop then jump from that onto the downside of the first whoop in the next section.
I felt really out of sorts on that. Also, they added a table top where the double used to be and it gives you more air. I felt out of sorts there too. Finally, it hit me. My suspension was 4 clicks in front and 3 clicks in rear too soft b/c of the HS I tried last week. I stiffened them up and hoped for the best in the heats.
On the line of the 250D I line up right beside the box. I get a great jump out of the gate and am 3rd or 4th going around the barrel. All of a sudden both wheels are OFF the ground and I am falling. I land right on the fork and front tire of a 426 who t-boned me. We both went down. I get up after the flagger picks my bike off of me and I leaned over and grabbed his front brake and told him like I was talking to a child, "this is the front brake, ok?" He asked if I was ok, I patted him on the back and told him good luck.
Turns out when the gate dropped he was asleep at the wheel and was in neutral. He panicked and dropped the clutch and came all the way over b/c there was nobody on the left and the other riders were going wide. He had too much speed and was overly aggressive and took me out. He apologized in the main b/c I made sure I lined up beside him to give him hell (in a funny way). He was a young kid and FAST. He and I were joking by the time we started the bikes up.
In the 250D main event I lined up more to the outside right beside the guy who took me out and I opened with "you better get the holeshot b/c I don't trust you being behind me." But I said it with a smile. At first he was a little nervous but we were joking shortly thereafter.
When the gate dropped #426 who took me out in the heat was gone and I saw to my left that there was a pile-up. I rode wide and was in 3rd off the start. Someone passed me and passed the guy was in front of me. I stayed in 4th for a lap and then on the second lap I set up the guy in front of me by going inside and then following right on the right side of him into the next corner. He got nervous and went wide so I cut under and held the line well.
I was able to pull him out of the next corner b/c it was the new table top that I was comfortable with. I held 3rd until the middle of the 2nd to last lap (they ran us 6 laps last night instead of 5). That is when one of the guys caught in the pile up on the first turn caught me and passed me. He went wide on the corner so I returned the favor in the next and pushed to stay on his rear wheel but he pulled from me in the corners.
I ended up with 4th out of 9 and was really, really tired. It was the best finish I've had but not the best I've ridden out there. With some of the sandbaggers being advanced and the small class I just lucked out for the most part with the first corner pile up. The top 2 in 250D were definately faster than the rest of the group. They gapped us really good.
Overall it was a fun night for the most part. There were quite a few things that could have been better but it did have some good moments to remember.
I hope everyone else had a great weekend.
Ivan
I get to sign up and see James is running 3 classes so I decide to run the +25c/d with him in addition to 250D.
In the +25c/d heat James and I had a good battle for all 3 laps. He got a better jump out of the gate and I stuck with him on the rear wheel and kept hollering at him and he'd holler back but I could not get around him to save my life. He was riding really, really well.
In the +25c/d main James and I went at it. After the start I passed him then he pulled up on me in the whoops and I realized that he is faster through the new whoop section than I am. I kept him off for one lap but he made a pass shortly after as we went through the whoops again. I tried to get by him again and I would close here and there but in the whoops he would pull a bike length or two on me. Finally on the last lap I was too tired to push much more and he pulled away when I went out of control and almost took out a flagger with my left leg. My pace slowed and I finished about 5 or 6 bike lengths back.
James pushed me hard that entire race and it was a really fun race. I enjoyed that more than the 250D race b/c I had a really good battle going on with James and I felt safe racing him. I wasn't worried if he came underneath or if I closed in on him. I trusted him to race fair and knew that would keep it safe for the both of us.
James got 4th out of 5 and I got the final 5th (and a trophy) position. He ran hard and earned the trophy. He raced 3 classes and did well in 2 of them before his bike started to foul a plug and he had to pull off in his 3rd race.
I did accept my last place trophy in the +25c/d battle with James even though it was a last place. I wrote on the back of the trophy how I finished and wrote "Great battle with James who got 4th... lots of fun!" Sometimes a trophy marks more than a finish, it also marks a great time.
Now on to the rest of my racing evening...
First thing I notice is that the track is changed. There is a table top in the middle of the whoop section. It has a set of 6, the table top and then a set of 6. The whoops are bigger and it is hard to get rythm through it. Some of the A riders would double, triple and use the last whoop to jump ontop of the tabletop then jump from that onto the downside of the first whoop in the next section.
I felt really out of sorts on that. Also, they added a table top where the double used to be and it gives you more air. I felt out of sorts there too. Finally, it hit me. My suspension was 4 clicks in front and 3 clicks in rear too soft b/c of the HS I tried last week. I stiffened them up and hoped for the best in the heats.
On the line of the 250D I line up right beside the box. I get a great jump out of the gate and am 3rd or 4th going around the barrel. All of a sudden both wheels are OFF the ground and I am falling. I land right on the fork and front tire of a 426 who t-boned me. We both went down. I get up after the flagger picks my bike off of me and I leaned over and grabbed his front brake and told him like I was talking to a child, "this is the front brake, ok?" He asked if I was ok, I patted him on the back and told him good luck.
Turns out when the gate dropped he was asleep at the wheel and was in neutral. He panicked and dropped the clutch and came all the way over b/c there was nobody on the left and the other riders were going wide. He had too much speed and was overly aggressive and took me out. He apologized in the main b/c I made sure I lined up beside him to give him hell (in a funny way). He was a young kid and FAST. He and I were joking by the time we started the bikes up.
In the 250D main event I lined up more to the outside right beside the guy who took me out and I opened with "you better get the holeshot b/c I don't trust you being behind me." But I said it with a smile. At first he was a little nervous but we were joking shortly thereafter.
When the gate dropped #426 who took me out in the heat was gone and I saw to my left that there was a pile-up. I rode wide and was in 3rd off the start. Someone passed me and passed the guy was in front of me. I stayed in 4th for a lap and then on the second lap I set up the guy in front of me by going inside and then following right on the right side of him into the next corner. He got nervous and went wide so I cut under and held the line well.
I was able to pull him out of the next corner b/c it was the new table top that I was comfortable with. I held 3rd until the middle of the 2nd to last lap (they ran us 6 laps last night instead of 5). That is when one of the guys caught in the pile up on the first turn caught me and passed me. He went wide on the corner so I returned the favor in the next and pushed to stay on his rear wheel but he pulled from me in the corners.
I ended up with 4th out of 9 and was really, really tired. It was the best finish I've had but not the best I've ridden out there. With some of the sandbaggers being advanced and the small class I just lucked out for the most part with the first corner pile up. The top 2 in 250D were definately faster than the rest of the group. They gapped us really good.
Overall it was a fun night for the most part. There were quite a few things that could have been better but it did have some good moments to remember.
I hope everyone else had a great weekend.
Ivan
