My weekend

Friday night we had a twilight ride, so a friend & I took the kids out riding, which was mainly gravel roads, but some fun parts. The kids are improving by leaps & bounds & the little girl has really become keen - it's fantastic watching them. I left the forest about 10.30pm (drinks & food afterwards), knowing full well we had to be out the house by 6.30am to head down the line to a race.

Saturday morning rolled around, we managed to get out the house by 6.30, but realised up the road we'd left our riding gear in the drier, so it ended up being a 7am start. The race was a 2-man 1 bike race, unless you were female, then it was a 2-female 2 bike race. There were 12 women lined up with a lot of nerves flying around.

My partner went out for the first lap & did well. I went out for the 2nd & sucked. We went down a huge hill, to be greeted by a corner & a big uphill. I've barely ridden the KDX lately & kept stalling. Anyway, on the uphill I ran out of power, stalled, fell over due to not being able to reach the ground, picked the bike up, dropped it again because I couldn't quite reach, picked it up again, waited for a gap in traffic, turned it back around, went back down the hill, waited for a gap in traffic, went back up the hill. The funny thing about the downhill leading to it was the world just disappeared - you usually can see a little bit, but it just looked like the world ended at this point. Cool.

Anyway, my partner went out for her 2nd lap & someone on a Honda hit her, she went down hard - bit of whiplash, haematoma (large) on her arm, grazing on her hip & red paint/plastic on her bike. The a*hole didn't even slow down to ask her if she was okay (that was the bit that pissed us off).

I didn't like the way the guys were passing us females & was ready to quit but didn't want to let my partner down. At one point, a guy on a YZF? came up behind me, so I just held my line (leaving room on either side for him to pass), he took such a long time about it, I thought I'd move over (dumb) to let him pass - naturally I went the same way he'd decided he was going to pass me - thankfully neither of us went down, we just clipped bars & my hand got a bit wedged. I laughed about it, but would've felt really bad if he had've gone down, as that was totally my fault.

I thought the guys were rancid in passing, but in hindsight, they weren't. Once they were about a bike length ahead of me, they'd get on the gas & spray me with dirt/dust/stones. It felt like they were doing it on purpose, but it would've been they didn't realise how badly I was getting roosted & they thought they were being nice. Some of the guys were obviously being consistent in their power when passing, so I didn't get roosted as much - I think it would've been the guys who'd slowed down a bit to figure out if I could hold a line before passing me that I had the problem with. Some of these trails you didn't want to go too wide or you'd end up way down there.

My 2nd lap was even worse. I'd really been enjoying myself & had started to drift into dreamland & then the fun started. I stalled, dropped the bike, etc etc. I had a sweep guy help me at one point (thank you), I just kept stuffing up. I was laying under the bike at one stage, with my head facing downhill, thinking, I should pick the bike up, it's leaking gas, but when I went to move had the worst ever calf-muscle cramps & couldn't. I finally got there & another sweep guy came along & helped me. At this point, I just wanted to get back to the pits & call it.

I can't remember much else, except stalling & picking up the bike, stalling & not dropping the bike & generally stuffing up everywhere. At one point, there was this cool corner & a few fast guys had just gone by me, so I tagged onto the back, then thought to myself, what the hell are you doing, you can't ride that fast, just as I'd railed the bike into a berm, so I let the gas off, the bike spun around & fell & I had to figure out how to pick it back up again, without going down into a gulley. At that point, Henk came along & sorted me out (he wanted a rest & was riding iron-man class).

I think I got into a bit of trouble once or twice more (at least once, that I do remember). There was a creek crossing near the end & spectators there had a few signs "honk your horn" "fall down" & "look behind". The first time they'd shown me the fall down sign, this time it was the honk your horn & they thought it was great when I yelled out honk, honk.

Back at the pits, my partner took off again. She had problems with the front brake sticking, so thankfully she came back in after the race over flag was up. I'd been in tears, I'd talked myself in/out of going out again, I just wasn't having much fun. Looking back on it, I'm glad I did it, but I don't know I'll do that again. There were many top NZ riders there & it was just fast. I'd also said to someone that my bikes were going up for sale, I was giving up riding.

We came last in the women's teams & 3rd from last overall (I guess those 2 bikes broke down lol). However, we finished (left up to me we wouldn't have). I have decided I have to spend more time on the KDX just to keep used to it, eat breakfast before a race (even if I feel I'm going to throw up), make sure I'm hydrated properly & have an early night - basically do everything opposite to what I just did.

I'm not pleased with myself, in fact, I'm disappointed in myself - both my riding & my attitude on the day. I just don't have a race-head mentality, but as I'm married to one & hate sitting on the sidelines doing nothing, I'm going to try to persevere with it.

Sunday we were spectators at speedway & that was quite fun, but choice between spectating & riding, spectating loses out ;)

Hope everyone had a more fun weekend (nah, it was fun sometimes). Oh, one thing I noticed on the first lap - the views were awesome, but I wasn't going to stop & pull out the camera sorry. You could see the sea & farmland & it was just neat. Oh, one more thing, this is how bad the calf cramps were - 2 days later, I'm still suffering - feels like my muscles have shrunk - damned hard to walk lol (hopefully it feels better tomorrow).
Michelle

Henk was 67th, with 3 of the women's teams just behind him, followed by a mate. His mate stopped for a rest for a while (i.e. bike on trailer), otherwise he'd have been 68th or so ;) Not sure of his placing in the iron man's, but there were 8 others behind him.

The more I think about it, the more determined I am to give it another go, but at least I'd be a bit more prepared (honestly, I didn't think before getting into this. I felt it was too early for breakfast, so thought I'd grab some milk on the way down to eat some cereal, but by the time I remembered, we'd gone past the last shop to be seen - a banana had to do).

Next time I'm going to have to do the start, it's not fair on the woman I was riding with as she's done both starts from the races we've done together. Thankfully that won't be for a while ;)

I've told Henk that if I'm even going to race the KDX, I have to have some seat time on it, just it's too different from the TTR. I just kept being too slow on the clutch going up hills & that was my problem & lost me lots of time (and energy).

Ah well, you live & learn. Our goal was to finish, probably last, anything else was a bonus. As the saying goes, "to finish last, first you must finish".

I have to say I felt very alone down there, as all the other girls knew each other & everyone else was racing. Us girls had our own pit area, due to us using our own bikes. To go talk to someone I knew who was pit-bitch meant crossing over where some of the guys were going & I couldn't quite spot where he was. I did talk to the others (they were friendly, but serious, I just wanted to have fun) and it's different when you see each other all the time (bit like here, really lol).

Scarey, as time goes by, I think I might even enjoy racing - even if it means coming last.

Zharra, racing is not for everyone. I'm married to a race-head, so I'm trying to get into it as I really dislike being pit-bitch (and am hopeless as I keep wandering off to talk to people or just go for a walk).

In some ways I had fun (the trail was fun), but after only doing a couple of club races where everyone knows me & watches out for me - yelling as they go past, or waving - I just didn't realise what this race would be like.

I'm presuming you're younger than me (isn't everyone), as I'm coming up 38, I also have pretty much no competitive bone in my body. We were talking up at the forest yesterday about the difference between males & females (no, not the obvious ones, heck, we're all adults we know about that & don't need to discuss it) - one of the women had a new bike, so all the guys had to take it for a ride. They then tried to pressure me into taking it for a ride, but I'd had enough for the day, I had started on a beer & just didn't want to go out again. One of the guys commented "that's the difference between men & women - women just don't get the peer pressure thing, we try to push them into it & they just tell us to stuff off, we try to push one of our mates into it & they're, oh well, I have to do it, even though they don't really want to".

I've had a few days that I've been ready to sell the bikes, but it doesn't happen often anymore.

As for racing, give it a go, you'll either hate it or love it & if you hate it, try again & if you hate it again, try it again & if you still hate it then, well, don't do it, or find another type of racing you may enjoy. Don't let me put you off, because to be honest, if I knew then what I know now about the day, I'd say I'd still do it. I'm disappointed in myself in some ways, but I'm also happy in other ways. I'd said to Henk that I don't want to do it again next year, but.... I'd guess I'm going to. Heck, to be honest, I'd like to do it again. I may have sucked (no "may" in that, I did), but I know I did have fun some of it. Unfortunately it's the crappy parts that stick in the memory for me.

There was the hill where the world ended, I rolled over the top & looked, absolutely horrified & went down (slowly, but I did it). The 2nd time round, I looked forward to doing that again (even though at that point the cramps had set in and I'd stuffed up the uphill after it - doh). It was just freaky - you saw the ground ended - it had that sort of cliff look to it, but the marks on the ground lead over it & all you could see was the distant horizon, with trees in the foreground hiding what you had to ride through (the trees were to the side of the track, which you could see once you were comitted to the downhill).

I will be trying more races in the hope I enjoy them, I'm just not sure about the racing thing yet - but I'm stubborn enough that one day I might. Don't be put off by my report, you have to try if you want to. There are others here who love it first off, I just don't, it's going to be a battle for me, the bikes will be threatened, the marriage on the rocks and at the end of the day, the beers will be drunk (usually by me). And then, next time a race is mentioned, I'll be keen to give it another go ;)

I also spend a lot of time following learner riders & kids, or leading them, so I stop often, don't push myself & racing is so different to that. I've decided that this year I'm going to take some time out for myself & push myself, instead of cruising all the time.

When you do give racing a go, tell us all about it, good or bad - it helps puts things in perspective (never mind it being a good read) & some advice/encouragement also helps. (Believe me, I read each reply & thought, hmmm, that's not what I meant, but it's true - I did have fun).

I'm glad I did the race, I'm not proud of myself or my results, I'm proud of my team-mate's. She did real good & she finished the race. I've also worked out I'll never be happy with myself, I always let myself down. I guess I take it too seriously (wierd considering how badly I suck).

I'd talked to Henk about him taking me riding on Sundays, but he fell off last Sunday & broke his metacarpal by the little finger. No riding for him for a while. So selfish (j/k). So my plan now is to go riding on Sunday morning by myself, set a goal or something (i.e. stay upright, don't get stuck, time limits or something, I dunno, will play it by ear) and then ride with the kids in the afternoon.

Bbbom, snowmobile stories are cool (I love reading your reports). So they all go now? How much snow you got? I saw about the storms over the other coast & wondered how your side's fairing.

Anne, we've got two forests nearby. One is sand & fun in winter but sucks in summer & the other is clay & we only use it in summer. I'm not comfortable riding ruts & bog holes on the KDX - I drop the bike more, I fall off more, I get stuck, so I ride the TTR there as it's easier to manouevre. My plan is to get comfortable with the riding there & then hopefully move back onto the KDX. We also do farmland rides over summer, which the TTR is just too slow (and underpowered) for & I enjoy the KDX on them - we just haven't been on any as yet, so I hadn't ridden the bike for a while. I've been asked if I want to sell it due to Henk being broken & me riding the TTR, but that ain't happening ;) Heck, I'm tempted to take both bikes up at some stage & see how the KDX goes in comparison (I've wanted to do this, but couldn't figure out how to steal her from Henk). I guess I'm going to have the opportunity to do that in the next couple of months (the dr. reckons he'll be riding in 3-4 weeks, but I think it may be longer).

Oh, the funny thing is the club now has a new pit bitch hehehe but it also means we won't be going to some races that we had booked :ACK:

Hmm, straight whisky - that's Henk's drink, I'm more a beer person - I guess I shouldn't have had the beers on Friday night, but they went down well hehehe

70marlin - I, personally, think nothing bad about anyone who doesn't race & never has. Some of us just aren't that sort. There is a lot of peer pressure to race & non-racers are looked down on by a lot of the racers, which I think is sad. I got asked how come my partner & I managed to not finish last & pointed out that the two guys behind us didn't do the full four hours - otherwise we would've been (excluding the guys who didn't even make a lap, as they aren't on the results). I didn't point out that one of the guys who beat us didn't do the full four hours either - he did more laps than us in a shorter time - we're slow, but watch out next year :YeeHaw:

wayneg said:

Was that the 'Dead Toad' that you were riding in?? I've never been to it myself, but have watched several videos from the late '80s when a friend was riding in the Waitemata club - it looked like a pretty tough event to me. Good on you for finishing. Remember a team has more than one person, and you're just as valuable for getting through your laps without getting completely stuck out on the track, or having a mechanical failure (or getting completely lost as I seem to have a habit of doing).

By the way - hows the trials coming on?? Have you sold the Honda?? Any thoughts about giving it another go?? The cross training thing will help with your confidence in difficult terrain such as the downhill.

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Dead Toad is the first real harescramble I attempted & failed miserably. My aim this year is to at least do more than one lap & maybe not finish last. It's the 30th anniversary, so we're hoping for a good turnout.

This was Raglan Rocx, run by the Raglan club. It was nearer Kawhia than Raglan and the road leading to it was interesting, to say the least. I know some of the girls were saying it was great to see all the women's teams finish with no serious injuries or breakdowns (one bike got a flat, so she rode her partner's bike, at least we had that option, unlike the guys).

The trials thing, well, I'm going to get something done to the Honda so I can start it easier and then start riding it but that won't be for a couple of months at least. I've been asked if I want to sell it, but it's not worth anything, so I may as well hang onto it.

Lol, I do get him to start the Honda for me. I just don't want to crash on a section & have to wait for him to sort it out again. He's really bummed out as we've got a race next weekend he's been looking forward to for ages. Well, we've got an enduro (Operau) this weekend coming & he's bummed out about that, but the following weekend is a 50 frenzy race. I thought the guys were going to let me on the team, but I think they've kicked me off again.

We had a trailride yesterday & he had a good day as one of of his riding buddies' bike is broke so the two of them played nicely together - building shelves & I dunno what, I was playing with my friends & going riding by myself & just having a great time.

I'd thought, finally, he'll actually listen to what I say, but no, he had his own stories. Ah well, I should be used to that. I guess in some ways that is why I bore you guys with my thoughts, at least I know you can ignore me or actually listen if you want. Ah well, it takes all kinds to make a world go round, be pretty boring if we were all the same.

I think knowing Henk is broke is actually really good for me, as my safety-net is gone. I'm also having to take the road bike to work as he needs the car.

bbbom said:

Yep, all the sleds are up & running with a little work off & on of course. Pat's is getting a motormount rewelded but he'll be back on the snow this weekend. Karl's carb is being tempermental but I think he likes playing with it! :laugh: Mine is running great and we modified the suspension so it handles the deeper snow much better i.e. I don't get stuck nearly as often. Randi's little 250 is the kid mobile, it needs some TLC on the starter recoil but she doesn't like riding the trails too well anyways, she's still pretty small for manhandling a snowmobile on our trails. We had about 2 feet at home and 3 - 4 up on Mica (at least that was how deep I sunk in it in some areas) but it's warmed up and has been raining - hopefully it will snow in the next weeks cause Randi wants to have a sledding party for her birthday the end of the month.

Last weekend Karl & I did a nice fresh powder ride. We dropped down a long steep hill, hit a logging road and as I came around a corner saw a big ol momma moose with her big ol baby right in the middle of the logging road. I slammed on the brakes, hoped Karl wouldn't run over me and momma & baby turned and galloped away - for about 100 feet, just around the bend. Then they stopped and stood there looking at us.

We couldn't decide what to do and she wasn't planning on leaving too soon. I suggested turning the sleds around but that would have involved us dragging them around while she was still standing there watching us. I started looking for a quick get away in case she decided to take a run at us. Karl laughed at my idea to climb a tree. We knew we couldn't make it back up the hill we had come down since the powder was way too deep.

Finally, she walked up the hill towards the right side of the fork in the road. So we took off, towards her, she ran a bit further up the right fork & we bailed off down the left fork.

This is about the 3rd time we've run into moose up there. It's almost as bad as the bears we keep seeing when we are on the bikes! It's not as bad as the road grader that made us turn around & head back home the last time out though. Now THAT was a battle to get back up the OTHER hill we had dropped down.

Just another Karl ride I keep telling myself!!! :laugh:

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End of month, huh. I have to get my **** together.

In theory I envy you seeing the moose & bear (oops, spelt that wrong first off hehehe) but I dunno. Deer are plenty to hit.

Would a moose go you? Road grader? Lol, that'd be fun on some of your trails :) Oh, we bought a cheap digital camera the other day (supermarkets are starting to sell them). I'll have to take some pix of the clay forest to show where some nutter has been mowing the gorse. We're trying to figure out who he is so we can direct him to other trails ;)

Great report, as always :) (I read it & then forgot to reply & then forgot I'd forgotten - hey sieves have less holes than my domkopf).