NMA Benefit Poker Run

[MACE]

OK a couple of things going on with the NMA. First this Sunday is the NMA Benefit Poker Run at Hannegan.

This will be the event where the new Suzuki will be given away and you must be present to win (that's new this year).

This event sounds fun because the course will be 7-10 miles and (I think) will include part of the MX track (I hope). The flyer is a bit misleading in that you will get to do multiple laps of the course - Hare Scrambles style - and draw one or two cards per lap.

Wow a poker run where you can get a snack at the truck every 10miles :yeehaw:

See the another thread for more NMA stuff.

 

[Highbeam]

I was gonna bag it because it is clear up in Bellingham and no riding distance was given. Pretty poor information.

So, gate fees? difficulty? how many times around the course? Is the course pretty nice or just a track?

Anybody going?

 

[MACE]

I put in a call to Todd Lynn to seek answers to these questions. I'll post what I find. I would assume that the course is quad-able and therefore can't be too difficult - or else there are easy short cuts.

I've never been to Hannegan so I can't really give a learned opinion. If I were to guess I would expect the course to be essentially a Hare Scramble course with a mix of fast and tight.

My wife is off to Sunday School teacher's school that day so I have kid duty and won't ride. I may drag the kids up for the kiddie course if they are up for it.

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks Mace.

It ends up being 140 miles and 2.5 hours each way.

I'm hoping for 5 laps min around the 7-10 mile course.

I suppose it is the last ride of the year.

 

[MACE]

I got more info from Todd:

-No riding except Sunday (day of event).
-There is NO gate fee.
-Saturday camping is free.
-The course will be part woods and part MX track. Todd wasn't sure of mileage. It sounds like he is personally doing a lot of track prep.
-Nominally it will be five laps. In reallity you can probably ride as much as you wish. No one has a problem with pulling more than one card if you are tired and normally if you finish early you can keep riding. Probably...

It is interesting that you have to be present to win the Suzuki. If only 100 folks show up and I'm there with two daughters then we'd have a 1/33 chance of a new bike. Pretty good odds. BTW, it was Suzuki's request to have the giveaway at the last event like that. Suzuki has donated what - $25k worth of bikes over the years. That gets your attention.

 

[vern#19]

IF they run on the land that MBMC owns it will be pretty easy as it is pretty flat . They also run HS here the Filthy pup and Dusty Dog :). I beleive their dust problems were solved a couple weeks ago.....with a touch of rain.
Hopfuliy Lyle or Dana laid out the course they are really nice men ?

 

[Tahuya Rat]

The "gotta be there to take the bike home" deal was pretty much decided @ last year's last event when the winner didn't do the last event and there was one whole lot of grumbling about it. I would expect the "gotta have points" rules still apply though, so unless you're up there in points, I don't think you should expect to have just as good a chance as someone who does. I really don't know, but I'd sure be surprised as it'd be a full 180 from what was talked about.

 

[MACE]

Yeah, you do get extra chances for more events run.

The drill is you get one entry for your first event, two more for your second event (total three), three more for your third event (total six) and so on.

The 'zook is a straight drawing from the total "chances" though and not related to accumulated finishing position points which are used for season championship trophies.

 

[Highbeam]

What a ride. The course was only 4.8 miles long. I only ran it twice before they started closing down big sections of it. By my fourth loop the course was so small that I punched out and went back to the truck. It was the muddiest, slimiest, rootiest, ruttiest, trail I have ever been on. The first time through was only greasy but all the folks stirred it up into goop. One particular section looked like a surface slime until your bike sunk down over the front tire all of the sudden, closest thing to quicksand I have ever seen. I witnessed a guy toast a KTM clutch trying to get through one pit.

Very challenging. I don't think the club expected the trail to turn into a kideater. All other trails will be easy from now on.

After clawing through one mud hole I sat there to rest and knock the mud out of the head fins and thought "what else would I rather be doing?" nothing. Pure painful pleasure. Not everybody felt that way though.

So who won the bike? Anybody dispute the unwritten rule that you must be an NMA member to win? Did anyone else ride it?

 

[MACE]

Originally posted by Highbeam
So who won the bike? Anybody dispute the unwritten rule that you must be an NMA member to win?

This is definitely a written rule. Page 38 of the calendar book is one place to find it.

Not great that the event turned out to be so challenging. Hopefully a lesson learned for next year. November is kind of tough. Tahuya has very limited event opportunities as an attempt to prevent over use. Basically if you want an event at Tahuya you better be able to show some solid volunteer hour logs. Capitol closes November 1st. Walker is a disaster zone due to logging. Reiter is a man killer if you do the proper trail work (My club used to do our enduro there. I had six pack abs from the polaski work).

Certainly with good planning we could find a good location.

 

[Highbeam]

It may be written somewhere in some bylaw book but it sure as heck wasn't on the poker run advertisement. It was however, prominently displayed that you must be present to win. If you are going to offer a prize for attending the event then you should say that only a select group is eligible. Even TV commercials have disclaimers in the displayed fineprint. Anyway, didn't bother me, I assumed there was a catch. I just wanted a good ride, and 16 miles of that trail was plenty.

I helped drag 2 kids on low XRs through the ruts that nearly hung up my xr400r. Those kids were not having fun.

So did anyone win the bike? Was it for real? Did they draw the name of a non NMA rider and then steal it away?

 

[Hondaxrguy]

I spent yesterday riding a lot of the course for next weeks HS at Reiter. There is some really good trail they're using. We only came across 1 mud hole, and there were several alternate lines. There's also some new trails beeing layed down with this event. Should be a lot of fun for those who race it. One of they guys marking the course said it's 11 miles.


Jeremy

 

[MACE]

Originally posted by Highbeam
So did anyone win the bike? Was it for real? Did they draw the name of a non NMA rider and then steal it away?

You're over the line, buddy. The rules are clearly stated in the Calendar Book, the Website and every issue of the Off-Roader for the last five years.

I guess we need to have lawyers review our event flyers. :|

 

[MACE]

And Highbeam, I was serious when I offered to buy you a membership. Send me your address.

 

[Highbeam]

Over the line? ....geez. Was there not a fiasco last year where the bike was stolen away from the winner because the flyer didn't say you must be present to win? Now the flyer does list some conditions but not the one about the nma membership requirement.

Like I said, it doesn't bother me. I've come to expect certain things in life. I paid for a ride and to support the NMA with my entry fee. I pay hundreds of dollars each year to various clubs throughout the state for the same reason. Thanks for the offer Mace, I may one day become a member but not because of guilt.

I am curious to hear if anyone won the bike. Did anyone? were they thrilled? funny how everytime I ask I get flak. Sure it may be the way I ask, but the answers have supported my feeling that there was another fiasco.

Sounds like nobody else rode the event or attended the awards part. It was a fun ride.

 

[fishhead]

Sounds like more fun than I had on Sunday.

For the record, last year the bike was awarded to the winner who was not present. There was a lot of whining about that so the rule was changed.

It might be appropriate to quit busting Mace's chop's here. He is trying to keep us up to date which is more than is occuring on the NMA site. That's another story and a problem that will only get better with help. However since Mace is an NMA rep and he shows up here he gets the "what for" from all sides. I'm guilty of it as well. So I'm sorry about that Mace, but it does underscore the necessity of communication as a means of reducing friction as we try to accomplish goals. We'd like to help.

The crux of the problem is the NMA needs help in the worst way. They are so overtasked that they can't even find the time to ask for help so we have the classic "up to your a$$ in alligators senario". I originally thought the organization was a bunch of loose cannons rolling on the deck but the fact is there is so much work on so many fronts that not all stations can be managed.

I've ridden quite a few guys who post here and there is not a bad apple in the bunch. Everyone wants more riding in the future and the only organization that is in place to accomplish that is the NMA. The problems with reduced access for events will only get worse. So the best solution is to spend a weeks latte money and join up and help out as you can.

Anything you could do would be a help. Highbeam, you ran the enduro seriers this year and it was your first crack at enduro's, how about writing a brief article on your experience for the offroader?