zio
Mr. Atlas
- Jul 28, 2000
- 2,291
- 0
Had to try it. Been driving by it for years. Now, I guess having our own little track has got me all confident. Because I've ridden motocross tracks before, but this was different. I guess it's normal. At least the kid I talked to says it is (but he was riding one of Mike Alessi's old CR 125's, which should tell me something).
The track was pretty well groomed, and they had the hoses out watering dry spots. It wasn't too crowded, either. And they had separate 15 minute sessions for kids. At least I wouldn't knock someone's little baby over (most of whom were faster than me, though).
The track doesn't look very long from HWY 99, but they managed to get quite a bit of track in a small area. Most of the turns are big bowl types, and only one fast, flat sweeper. But that one was pretty tacky & had good ruts. The rest was a mix of hardpack, sandy soil, and more chunked up hardpack.
The the two big tables were fine. The first big table was preceded by a small table that came after a big bowl turn that was easy to carry speed out of. I never cleared the big table, but came close and landed hard each time. I just couldn't get the courage up to hit the first one fast enough & carry the speed into the second. Oh well. After the big table was a series of gentle, fast jumps that killed me. I'd get the timing wrong & twice did a flying W, one resulting in a slapper to my testes.
The next section had small to medium jumps, but they were all one after the other & demanded the right rhythm. I guess that's why they call them rhythm sections. And I couldn't get it right. Especially this one that started off right out of a turn with a medium sized step up, but with lots of steps. More like whoops. I couldn't get enough speed out of the turn & just got hammered on it each time. Then I'd lose the momentum & pogo through... the next one was a small, rolling one, followed by a little bigger, but steep one, another roller, another steep one, then the last roller before the next turn. I hated that part.
After that was a long straight, the fast sweeper, then another rhythm section that I never got. And once, I took the inside line to stay out of the way of a pair of 450's screaming up the straight behind me. Wrong. The inside is too slow (for me) and the first jump is abrupt & steep & I did a Bubba Scrubba & barely avoided a trip over the bars.
After that last jump section, it wound around into a more traditional motocross track with more turns than jumps, and the few jumps were easy tables I could clear. One whoop section was my favorite I've ever ridden, and made me feel like a hero. The other was like stadium whoops & a lot of dudes rolled them doing the teter toter dance.
I liked that last section the most, obviously, but forced myself to keep practicing the three sections I mentioned above, thinking I'd eventually get it. I never did & just got worn out after 15 minutes. I was worked. Going slow on a motocross track like this one is hard work. And it was only a matter of time before I got frustrated & tried to clear a jump & killed myself.
So all in all it was a humbling and expensive ($25) experience. I'll never be back. And I definitely won't be doing the amateur day at Hangtown. This just scared me, and reinforced my preference for trails and harescrambles.
The track was pretty well groomed, and they had the hoses out watering dry spots. It wasn't too crowded, either. And they had separate 15 minute sessions for kids. At least I wouldn't knock someone's little baby over (most of whom were faster than me, though).
The track doesn't look very long from HWY 99, but they managed to get quite a bit of track in a small area. Most of the turns are big bowl types, and only one fast, flat sweeper. But that one was pretty tacky & had good ruts. The rest was a mix of hardpack, sandy soil, and more chunked up hardpack.
The the two big tables were fine. The first big table was preceded by a small table that came after a big bowl turn that was easy to carry speed out of. I never cleared the big table, but came close and landed hard each time. I just couldn't get the courage up to hit the first one fast enough & carry the speed into the second. Oh well. After the big table was a series of gentle, fast jumps that killed me. I'd get the timing wrong & twice did a flying W, one resulting in a slapper to my testes.
The next section had small to medium jumps, but they were all one after the other & demanded the right rhythm. I guess that's why they call them rhythm sections. And I couldn't get it right. Especially this one that started off right out of a turn with a medium sized step up, but with lots of steps. More like whoops. I couldn't get enough speed out of the turn & just got hammered on it each time. Then I'd lose the momentum & pogo through... the next one was a small, rolling one, followed by a little bigger, but steep one, another roller, another steep one, then the last roller before the next turn. I hated that part.
After that was a long straight, the fast sweeper, then another rhythm section that I never got. And once, I took the inside line to stay out of the way of a pair of 450's screaming up the straight behind me. Wrong. The inside is too slow (for me) and the first jump is abrupt & steep & I did a Bubba Scrubba & barely avoided a trip over the bars.
After that last jump section, it wound around into a more traditional motocross track with more turns than jumps, and the few jumps were easy tables I could clear. One whoop section was my favorite I've ever ridden, and made me feel like a hero. The other was like stadium whoops & a lot of dudes rolled them doing the teter toter dance.
I liked that last section the most, obviously, but forced myself to keep practicing the three sections I mentioned above, thinking I'd eventually get it. I never did & just got worn out after 15 minutes. I was worked. Going slow on a motocross track like this one is hard work. And it was only a matter of time before I got frustrated & tried to clear a jump & killed myself.
So all in all it was a humbling and expensive ($25) experience. I'll never be back. And I definitely won't be doing the amateur day at Hangtown. This just scared me, and reinforced my preference for trails and harescrambles.
