LTM HS 5/26 Sordid Details

[MrLuckey]

I trudged on over to Casey Sunday morning by myself. The drive only took about 2.5 hours and there weren't any incidents with law enforcement so I thought that must be a good sign. That pretty much sums up the good for the day with the exception of 2 events. I was forced to park as far from the HS start as possible and I was 2 hours early! I made the long trek to the sign up table and attempted to sign up for the "+30, beginner, 250cc, 4-stroke, air-cooled, yamaha, model year 2000" class and the lady in charge was not very co-operative. I settled for the +30 B class and then proceeded to feel very ill, when I looked down and found a $20 bill! Another good sign I thought. In the next 90 minutes I formulated my race plan. I had decided that I would go 100% for the first 2 laps, then settle into a nice pace and then pick it up again toward the end if anything was left. The race was to be 2 hours with approximately 5.5 mile laps. I figured with the lack of riding lately that I had about 7-8 laps in me. RACE TIME.... I started in the second row and was running around 3rd or 4th in my class for the first 2 laps but upon arrival at the grandstand area after the 2nd lap they flagged everyone down and made us stop! It seems that they forgot to take down a couple flags from the mini's and half the pack only ran half the course. It figures that the guy I was following lead me through the entire course.... 20 minutes in the heat and they decide on a total restart, and we're still gonna do 2 hours. WHOA, I just wasted 35 minutes of my race pace, hadn't planned on that, oh well at least I had pulled up right behind a CR450 on the line and had a nice roost to look forward to. First lap of the restart seemed to go well, 17 minutes a few odd seconds. Second lap was going well until I came to a very sandy creek crossing with a small but steep hill on the other side. I had blasted this thing quite a few times before with no mishaps and knew the secret. Pin it! Somewhere around the middle of the creek I noticed a downed rider in the fetal position with about 8-9 people in their 20's around him looking him over. I was really wondering what happened to him but I guess I rubbernecked about a 1/4 second too long because the next thing I know my front tire dropped about 2' and stopped cold. Big time tank slapper, with the much dreaded knee/thigh slapper, wrist bender, over the bars and back of bike coming over on top of ya coming milliseconds thereafter. While I was dazed the 20 somethings got my bike off of me and move us both out of the way. Nice people. I had a strong suspicion what had happend to my compadre. The young folks then decided to flag people down and warn them of the impending danger. Why they didn't think of that after the 1st guy I don't know. After clearing the cobwebs for about 5 minutes I was gingerly on my way. Pretty much everything was hurting but my glove and right grip were so muddy I could barely twist the throttle anyway. By then end of the 2 lap I was starting to feel human again and felt like I was picking up speed. I was really starting to wonder where the guys from the other race came from though. There were about 4 spots in the course where I would follow the arrows off a road and into the trees for about 2 minutes, pop out onto the same road and then back into the trees and I had noticed that damn near everyone was just skipping the woods (ARROW MARKED SECTION). Hmmmm....Oh well they must be in another race or have special rules. I figured going into this deal that I had about 2 hours in me. With the 35 minute pre-race fiasco that was going to leave me a little short. I stopped once to help a fellow in dire need, face planted in a deep sandy corner due to exhaustion, got stuck in 2 muddy ruts that seemed to beg for 30" wheels and got in 5 laps (plus the 2 'practice' laps. I knew I wasn't in race shape before going in so all in all I don't feel as badly as I probably should. Ended up 7th (with only 9 in the class). The 2 practice laps hurt and the 2nd lap crash took about 4 minutes off every lap after that. Did I mention that I think about 90% of those guys only rode about 80% of the course? I am familiar with a 50 ft. rule but damn! I really want to race some more D17/D16 HS but is it all about who can cut the most course? I'd say 50% of my body is seriously sore today so we'll see how I feel about it later. Did I mention that on the 3rd lap I stopped and let about 4 guys go ahead of me at the sandy creek crossing? Hehe, I figured they all wad it up and then I'd pick a good line around them. Those ornery 20 somethings (who were now gone, evidently to find a new spot with lots of carnage) had either filled the hole in or it had disappeared on its own. I felt just plain stupid watch everyone blast right across whilst I sat there :) A great day of fun actually!

 

[AJ Waggoner]

Cool report Eddie
thanks!

 

[mxbundy]

Dude,
I knew you had it in you! It will only get easier from here.
Man that is awesome. You do realise that by not finishing last that you totally kicked 2 guys asses, in the B class no doubt.
Ladies and gentelman, a star is born! :p

I am serious, to be able to jump into the B class at your first race and doing well is something to be proud of. And it sounds like you were hauling too.

Congrats man.

Bundy

PS. Just wait until trophy lust sets in, until youve been there, you would not believe what a man or woman ( okay girls ) will do to get one of those 5 dollar plastic and marble things with a model of a rider and bike from the 60`s on the top! ;)

 

[MrLuckey]

Uhhh... Bundy it was the PLUS 30 B class :) The two guys I beat proboably had mechanical failures or something LOL.

 

[mxbundy]

Yeah,
I guess I did go a little over the top, i`ll blame it on too many beers at the BBQ yesterday! LOL
But neither the less, you still did awesome.
I dont know about Casey, but everywhere else that I have raced the age classes are the most competitive. You see guys that are in there 30`s have been at this a while and they have a lot of exsperiance.
To put it in perspective, I race the "B" class at the present time. I hope to be able to move back up to the " A " class next season, just depends on how many races I make it out to. With me its a fitness issue. I feel that I have the speed for the expert class, but only in short bursts. Not ready for a 2 or 3 hour hare scramble yet at that speed.

Bundy

 

[MrLuckey]

My real goal for the weekend was to get a good idea of two things:
1. My fitness level (Need to work on endurance at speed, but I already knew that)

2. Speed compared to the other guys (Unfortunately with all the course cutting I have no idea how many of the guys in my class (if any) were stealing 4-5 minutes off of every loop).

Now I'm unsure whether I should run the plus 30 class again next time to get a better idea, run the C class, cut the course :( (like most of the other guys) or what! Sure makes me wonder how anybody could win their class without cutting the course.
It'd sure be cool to use rf transmitters (like pike passes)on each bike and hide the receivers (with about a 50' range) in 4-5 hidden locations on the course. Computerize the whole scoring system and you could penalize different amounts of time for each check missed. Miss too many and you're DQ'd. $$$

 

[Timr]

Eddie,

The course cutting at Casey should not be the norm. Both years that we've been at Casey for DW, locals have told me that course cutting goes on in a huge way there at Casey, and that the promoters do nothing about it. They don't set up the courses in a way that would discourage course cutting, they don't use OB checks, they don't have officials in the woods looking for course cutting.

I've never been to an official HS at Casey, just the two DW events, but the locals have told me stories about how the promoters don't want to hear protests about course cutting.

Go to some other races, and get a feel for the quality of the events. Course cutting in the different series down here in the southeast is really not an issue. SERA, SETRA, Mid-South, and GNCC all use computerized bar code scoring. These systems generate a ton of data that will show if someone is putting in lap times that don't jive with their riding abilities. Also, any glaring inconsistencies in lap times show up too.

On long race courses, 9+ miles per lap, there's usually an OB at the farthest point out from the scoring tent, and the woods usually aren't as open as Casey. It's hard to cut the course, if you can't tell where to go.

I'm a mid-pack B rider, and you can hang with me, so you're up to B level. The C class is loaded with sandbaggers.

Good luck at your next race.

 

[Battered Sav]

Thanks for the report TTRguy.
I think you did well for your first H/S, you finished.
Personally I couldnt live with knowingly cutting the course, thats cheating. At least you know YOU put in honest laps.
I'm a little surprised there was no course marshall to check on things like that!
Once again, well done and thanks.

 

[MrLuckey]

Thanks Timr & Sav. I was really kinda down about not placing better and was really hoping that course cutting like that was NOT the norm. Too bad it was my first official HS as it kinda put a bad impression in my mind. I'll try a couple of other places and let you know how things turn out. Hopefully I can get rid of the 270 lb blue beast before too long :) I may borrow GSR's KTM200 for my next race if she isn't using it.