You guys missed a great time racing. This year’s race was even more fun than last year. Scar, my buddy Bart and I all raced the unclassified on the front line. I was a little hesitant about being upfront with the experts behind us but nonetheless Scar wanted to see what being in the front was all about. The course consisted of starting in the motocross section and then heading out along the south ridge and eventually over to the north ridge were you returned into the REM track. The flag dropped for all and approximately 10-12 lines and we all raced for the first corner. Man that had to be interesting to see that many bikes pile into a corner. Scar, Bart and I decided that we were going to take it easy and joy ride to learn the course. With that many, riders, keeping track of Scar and Bart was difficult. It wasn’t until the second loop that I found Scar along the south ridge. Of course the plan for joy riding always goes out the window when you have people racing by you so like a fool I took off in pursuit. Scar and Bart on the other hand were smart. Scar had to race back to back races so he was taking it easy learning the course. My buddy Bart on the other hand pulled off after the first lap. I ended up doing three laps but it seriously helped to learn the track. The second race was Scar's Vet race. They had a lot of riders on all the lines so this was going to be good :aj: . Scar was running mid-pack from the start and was dueling it out with four other Vet racers. Without a doubt Scar did most of his passing up in the ridges. I guess all that enduro racing paid off. He seemed to be dicing it out with the same four guys when he came back into the motocross section of the track. Scar ran a smooth and consistant race and finished well. Scar showed up at the truck just as we were getting back and was smiling ear to ear. :) I guess he liked it more than he expected. The next race was the Over 40 (semi old man race) that Bart and I were entered to race. As we were pushing the bikes into the starting line, who should show up but Ol89er. I asked Ol89er why he didn’t have his gear on for the next ride but he was still nursing remnants of the crash from last year. Terry, Eel and Thumbs you really missed a good race this time. Anyways, Bart and I lined up maybe 3 lines from the back row as usual when row after row they started each line and eventually came to us. This was a live engine start and I love these types of starts. The flag drops and we race for the first turn. At this time I’m running second right behind the leader and make the next two corners and jumps. Did I forget to mention how much I like the new red bike especially after a nice second place holeshot? I was so stoked to be in second when I came around a corner and gunned the throttle a little too soon and started swapping the back end of the bike. I really thought I was going to save it but sure enough I hit the ground. Hitting the ground was the easy part. It was the 14 or so bikes that used me for traction that was difficult. All I could do was roll up in the fetal position while someone rode over my back and another used my helmet for a ping pong ball. Anyways, that ended my 15 seconds of fame and so I managed to get the bike up and running and went off riding dead last. The rest of the race was spent trying to make up for lost ground. By this time the ridges had some serious braking bumps. This made it extremely entertaining not to mention hard to pass when coming down some of the steeper hills. There were some deep ruts in some of the corners of both the motorcross and REM track that bit some of the riders but for the most part, most just picked up their bikes and continued riding. I'm the first one to admit that I need to learn the new bike because like always I stalled it a few times. I’m so used to being able to bog the 2 stroke a little without stalling the bike. That 4 stroke don’t like to be bogged when you’re riding slowly. Oh well, it’s my second ride on the thing Ill learn it eventually. Im guessing I placed somewhere around mid-pack which was ok with me. Scar if you liked this race, you would have really like the Taft race last month. The 29 Palms race is in April and was, in my opinion the best race last year. This year 29 Palm has some serious competition.
Next year Scar, Ol89er, Eel and Thumbs and all you other stragelers have to do this fun race. Its close to home and all the jumps are douable. We can have some fun racing each others in the prior days unclassified race as well.
Terry thanks for coming out and if you have any good pictures of scar, bart or myself, make sure you forward them. The only prerequisite is that they cant be of us falling and we have to be at least 12" of the ground if taken at a jump ;)