my dirtweek ride report

[mx547]

thursday: i started out on a bad note in the poker run. i was having fun and riding a pretty good pace with tx246. as we got to the gp track, i noticed the bike felt squirrely--flat rear tire. i went back to the trailer and pulled out my extra tube. it had five patches on it already:scream: i decided to patch the one on the bike. i got the bike ready for the tag-team mx. i got teamed up with sir reel and motoxsparks. i got elected to run first. man was i naive. i thought that they were being nice letting me go first. i guess they knew about the impending dust cloud. all i could see were the backs of helmets, couldn't see the track or any bikes, almost like riding blind. once we got spread out a little it wasn't too bad. i won't say what place we finished but it wasn't very good.:o
friday: i went trail riding with justql, lorin, tx246 and motometal. i got to hear motometal's cuckoo call when we got seperated from the real trail riders (justql and lorin). i think those guys actually like mud. i rode the team hare scramble with tx246. it was the first hare scramble for both of us. i went first again (what was i thinking?) got plastered with mud and water down that long, puddle-filled straight away (didn't wear tear-offs, of course). later, i was riding along second in a group of about six bikes. i was following the bike in front of me and the next thing i knew we were off the course and on the trail next to the open field. one bike turned around and i followed him back to the course. i chased him all the way back. i finally got around him on the gp track. i think i actually scared him out of the way down the choppy downhill as i had my rear brake locked up with the bike kicked out about 45 degrees right in front of him. it turned out to be bob brooks (thanks bob, fun ride). all three laps i missed the course once (sorry julius pleaser for leading you astray) but didn't lose nearly as much time as the first lap off-course excursion. at least we finished. i felt like we rode pretty good. i didn't ride the night poker run (be sure to ask justql about his poker run boots). next year i think i'll try the flashlight on fender technique. did anyone see that guy in the woods wearing the scream mask?:scream: (i know who that was).
saturday: i let tx246 "guilt-trip" me into riding the a/b mx class. at 42 years of age, it was my first b race. needless to say, i got smoked. i got pretty tired, too much riding, i guess. i thought that there would be thirty bikes in the class. i was surprised at the small turnout. it was a fun ride anyway.
i'm ready to do it all over again.

but next year someone else is going first!!!:p

 

[Okiewan]

Funny... 60 + in the C class, 9 in the A/B :) ... We'll do something about that next year!

 

[biglou]

I shoulda raced A/B class. Guaranteed top 10 finish! And probably only would have had to ride 3 laps to get it! :p

 

[justql]

Good report mx547.I do actually have a picture of the cr250 with mud on it:eek: I'll make a woods rider out of you yet.

 

[JuliusPleaser]

Originally posted by Okiewan
Funny... 60 + in the C class, 9 in the A/B :) ... We'll do something about that next year!

Yeah! The first 21 finishers in the C Main were all sandbaggers! ;)

 

[Lorin]

Mud is your friend! Just be extra careful to keep from getting all wet and cold or you can catch a serious cold. I will take the trails over the mx track, even when muddy. For what it is worth, those jumps you do take more talent than bouncing off of trees in the woods. That must be because I have learned to bounce off of trees but havent learned how to land WITH the bike on those larger jumps. You see doubles, I see two singles!

 

[KC_BigDog_51]

Originally posted by Julius Pleaser

Yeah! The first 21 finishers in the C Main were all sandbaggers! ;)

You are only saying that since you got 22nd which would have given you 1st!! I feel bad about wrecking the YZF but not enought to agree with you on that one.

Now in my case, the first 12 were sandbagging it, Protest!!

 

[motometal]

MX547, You forgot the part about being able to take a shower and go to the bathroom with a fan!:scream:

I don't wear tear offs either, I always figured if I needed them, I was following too close!

 

[tx246]

santa came early this yr

just to show what great people we have at this event.....id been eyeing the carbon fiber stinger that was on the giveaway table since thursday am. wait there are two that fit 96-98 yz250s ahhh i might have a chance at drawing one. no winner on thursday, friday they were still there but my name went without being called........no carbon fiber for me........or so i thought as i returned to camp to do a little cooking. i was hunched over the fire when a jolly man pulled up on a really clean 00cr 250 which is for sale by the way.....he said ho ho ho do you really ride that blue bike? i said why yes santa why do you ask? santa mx547 said here try this maybe it will make you faster!! he pulled that carbon fiber toy out of his sack of goodies and handed the coveted object to me. he commented that they drew his name and they didnt really have anything he wanted. I was stunned .....my bike looks cool now. then an elf walked up or should i say limped .......he was on a green bike something he called mamba and he gave me some hand guards. IT REALLY WAS XMAS IN SEPT. thanks guys............its people like you that make events like this worth it.

 

[skin290]

sandbagging

I addressed this in a previous post, but I just want to say that you guys cannot call it sandbagging when the race is called a C class main. I won the race(1st time I ever won any race in the C class). I am a card carrying District 18 mid-pack to top-ten finishing 125 C rider. I have only 25 points or something like that this year, check district18.org if you want proof. Now, if it would have been called beginner class, I wouldn't have entered it, but C/Novice class is a somewhat known level of riding ability. I know the moderators have said that they have set up guidelines for next year, and that is the best thing to do. I think that when they got that many riders the best thing to do was find out who would divide up into a beginner class and who would go into C class. It still would have been two motos, which would have been one less than was actually run (given that there would have been 44 riders at most in one class) and people racing for the first time might have been more comfortable on the start. I personally hate it when all of the C riders I race against are beating B riders and keeping up with A riders over some of the local tracks I race on, so I won' t sandbag just to get a trophy. Just some stuff to think about.

Ryan

 

[slo' mo]

Re: sandbagging

Originally posted by skin290
I addressed this in a previous post, but I just want to say that you guys cannot call it sandbagging when the race is called a C class main.

Ryan, you are missing the point! It's all about having fun. The competitive spirit comes out in everyone and yes we would all like to win, but the main thing is for people to have fun. If someone got off their bike without smiling I think they had the wrong attitude starting the race. Heck, I didn't even qualify for the main (dead engine start didn't help) but it was a blast.
Don't be so self conscious about defending yourself! You won and that's good. Next year you can move up with the big boys.:cool:

 

[skin290]

Thanks Slo mo

I did have fun, but I just don't want anyone to think that I came and entered a class I didn't belong in just to get a trophy because no one knew me. I just want the respect of fellow racers, because I have little respect for the people who sandbag at the races I attend. I did have fun, though and I thought everyone was nice and friendly.

Ryan

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Ryan - I was flagging during your race. You did a good job and deserved to win but (no offense intended) you ARE a C rider. :)
Ignore the whiners. Someone had to win and someone will always complain. Enjoy the trophy you EARNED it, and as Slo Mo pointed out this was just a FUN race so don't let the naysayers beat the fun out of it for you.

 

[KawieKX125]

Why not make a D class? Sounds like some of the "c" riders were really D riders? (No offense intended!)

 

[Mully]

Maybe if there was an "E" class I just might try motor-cross instead of wandering around in the woods all day. :)

As with anything in life, no matter how well you plan something there is always room to improve. Just wait till DW02.

Mully

 

[slo' mo]

Originally posted by KawieKX125
Why not make a D class? Sounds like some of the "c" riders were really D riders? (No offense intended!)

There really should be a D class, but it's tough enough getting anything organized because it's all done for fun. If it was going to be that serious Okie should charge for running the race and that could go to the cost of organizing one.
The other thing we have to remember is the admins and mods are there for the fun also, not just to try and entertain us. Maybe next year Okie can enlist some volunteers early and therby create more classes. Sort of like he did with Nikki and the tag team thing.
If it ever ceases to be fun it will probably cease to be an event. Let's make sure it's always fun and not get too caught up in competitiveness. :cool:

 

[Papakeith]

I used to think that I was a "C" rider. . .

'till I found out they weren't grading us on a bell curve. :confused:

 

[MrMXer]

Dirt Week impression

Well, I must say for the 4 of us in the Eagle-Racing trailer had a blast. We never expected to have that much fun and had pretty much felt that we were going to try to make the best of it when we pulled in and the rain was pouring down (Were we ever in for a surprise). We hooked up with the North East Caravan somewhere around Columbus and headed west. Day one saw us mostly ride the GP track, hit a few trails and get to know our neighbors. (What an awesome group they were) We pretty much just rode together as a group and had a good time doing it. Day 2 saw the Tag-team motocross put on by Nicki. The four of us ended up on 3 different teams and what a blast that event was. Reguardless of where we finished, everyone enjoyed the race and made a few new friends. ( I managed to get my picture taken with Nicki after she signed the Tag-team tropy) BillyWho and Rayovac put in a fine ride to help us earn that one, but it was an intense battle with the lead changing every lap. The only scary part was the speed differances between the event participants. Good call on moving it to the GP track, it could have been ugly with the speed differences, especially when you start throwing in double jumps and stuff. Day 3 saw the 4 of us competing on 2 different hare scramble teams. The course was awesome and well done. Enough things happend to us in this event to take up the space of a whole web page, so I'll keep it short and say we ended up finishing one after the other. We found it ironic that we would be that close after 6 seven mile loops or whatever the distance was. Day 4 brings us to the MX event and all three of my friends had never raced an event in their life (with the exception of the GP and Harescramble ealrier at Dirtweek) They finished 2 - 3 and 9. I couldn't get them to fit under the canopy later on due to the swelling of their heads. I ran the A-B class and held my own in third until lap three when age and lack of riding prior to dirtweek caught up to me. I went into full block mode on Motometal on lap 4, but even that wasn't good enough to hold off Motometal. He was yelling and screaming for me to let him by, but I just kept laughing and blocking for as long as I could. What a blast. At the end of the week... We went thru sever bike parts, blown motor (yea, BillyWho isn't the only one who blew stuff up), battered and bruize body parts and the best one of all "THE BEST DISMOUNT AWARD" won by my buddy Dave. Once we knew he was ok.. It was the funniest thing you ever saw. Tore his pants and undies off.. had mud shoved where the sun doesn't shine, riped his helmet off (weighed close to 30lbs with all the mud caked in/on it) and had a few good dismount marks about his body. Needless to say.. We all are looking forward to Dirtweek 02. AWESOME JOB TO ALL THAT HELPED PULL THIS OFF !

 

[MXSparx]

Originally posted by mx547
i won't say what place we finished but it wasn't very good.:o

but next year someone else is going first!!!:p

Sorry man it was my fault. You 2 made up time each lap, as I lost time (crashing and stalling the bike).
But the you 1st deal wasnt because of known dust cloud. I figured all the fast guys were going 1st and I had no business getting in the way. :eek:

 

[Jaybird]

I promised the wife I wouldn't get hurt racing, and I kept my promise! :)

There was such a different feel to the races at DW. More like buddies racin each other than the out-for-blood thing you see sometimes.

I had a blast riding and racin with y'all.

Maybe we can have an "old guy" class next year. :p

 

[mx547]

Re: santa came early this yr

Originally posted by tx246
he pulled that carbon fiber toy out of his sack of goodies and handed the coveted object to me.

i figured that you earned it since you did all the cooking.

but then if you'd ever had my cooking, you would have insisted on doing all the cooking anyway.:)

 

[mx547]

Re: Re: my dirtweek ride report

Originally posted by MotoXsparx


I lost time (crashing and stalling the bike).

no problem, i've been on the ground countless times.:scream:

 

[oldguy]

Originally posted by Jaybird
Maybe we can have an "old guy" class next year. :p

Yeah like that would be really interesting to watch:confused: Kinda like watching the paint dry but a little slower.

Skin 290 I also flagged your moto and altho you are fast like rich I saw moves that denote you as a fast C rider in any district. I do not mean this asw an insult but you did not sandbag you were in the proper class for this year. The race is for fun and I believe everyone had fun (my son got 21st and it is still a highlight of the weekend for him).
It is being discused by the mods that next year there will probably be better defined classes to sort out the true never raced before from the C's and the B's from the C's. There could also be a rule that never raced before a nd C's aren't allowed to double jump just to make sure they are in their proper classes.
Enjoy your trophy you earned it fair and square

 

[justql]

While the c class riders were in the right class, how about a first timers or Dirtweek only race. I would think a couple more classes would be doable. 60 riders in a class at Dirtweek was too many.

 

[mx547]

Originally posted by Jaybird



Maybe we can have an "old guy" class next year. :p

works for me.

then i could ride two classes. or i could just borrow justql's headlight that doesn't work, put it on my cr and ride the lighted bike class.:D