firecracker22
Sponsoring Member
- Oct 23, 2000
- 3,213
- 0
Well, I entered my first race of any type since Dirtweek 03. It is a 90-minute (for us short-course riders) GP on a dry lake bed. Really a cool place; it's too bad this is the last year for the race. The greenies won, I guess. They actually had sheriffs at the water crossings--even if you FELL off the bridge, they'd write you a ticket. Kind of extreme, but I prefer bridges to watercrossings (in a race anyway).
Well, overall, I always hate hare scrambles once I get there. There are masses of people, bottlenecks, holes getting dug, C riders yelling at me to get out of their way (dude, if you can't pass me like a man, sit back and enjoy the view) and dust. Oh well.
3rd wave start, and us and the super seniors take off. Long wide open field, up into some rocks, back to the field, and back into the rocks. Before I get too much farther into this report, let me point out: there are LOTS of rocks. Tons and tons. Some fist sized, some Volkswagen sized, most basketball sized. And I had forgotten to air my tires back up after letting them down for dunes riding . . . now there's preparation, huh? At least I remembered to put gas in the thing. lol So. Lots of rocks. Bottlenecks, tipovers, and stallouts in the rocks. Then a drop back out into the open, grab some throttle, and hang on until it's time to slam on the brakes and tiptoe through the rocks again. Actually, 2nd or 3rd gear standing up and relaxing was the most effective rock technique--too bad I was too tense to do it right.
So, more rocks, then out in the wide open fast stuff along the lake bed. It kind of sucks--you CAN go 35 or 40 or more, but there are these little tiny washouts and ditches that are shaped wrong to fly off. In fact one of them got me pretty good--I was going too fast to slow down right then, and too slow to jump over it. I bottomed out my bike HARD. I felt footpegs and frame scraping rocks. Ouch . . . after the lake shore . . . and then He said, "Let there be mud." Stinky thick slimy mud. Close to a mile of it. I only fell in it once--the rest of the time all I could do was hold on the throttle in 3rd gear, lean back, and ride in whatever zig zag pattern my bike decided to take through the mud. She didn't ask my opinion on what line we were going to take.
Next, we made friends with the rocks again. This time there was a steep nasty uphill, followed by a steep nasty downhill. Then more rocks. Even better--rocky whoops! FUN STUFF.
So, I managed to ride 3 loops in 90 minutes. Not horrible. One girl rode 4. Sandbagger. :| :think: :moon: One girl on an XR 250 traded spots with me a couple of times, but I got around her on the end of the second lap and didn't see her again. The girl in the lead, I never saw. In fact I didn't even know there were 7 of us until I saw the results sheet. I didn't see most of them out there except 2, and 2 others I had seen at the riders meeting. Wonder where the other ones were hiding. Most of them scooted right on home after the race too so I never saw them.
I didn't ride my best but I did ok. I fell a few times, stalled a few times. There was a trough out in the middle of a . . . take a guess . . . big rock field. There was something in the bottom of it that would stop you like a brick wall. The first time I hit it in 2nd, picked my line, set up for it, blipped the throttle just a hair as I dropped into it . . . and stopped VERY suddenly. If I was a guy, that would have ended my day right there since I hit extremely hard. Second lap, did it agian, different line, 1st gear and putting, same result. It was bizarre. 3rd time was the charm as I went WAY to the right where it was safer.
I had some shining moments; my infrequent passes went well. XR girl and I went back and forth a little but I had more horsepower and a little more technique than she. She was still a threat though, not bagging on her at all. That was fun to fight for my spot. I passed a few others too, they may or may not have been other girls. I just get a thrill going around people because it doesn't happen too much.
Overall, I guess it was a good day. Got my new helmet . . . new gear . . . formerly clean bike . . . and a 3rd place trophy.
Well, overall, I always hate hare scrambles once I get there. There are masses of people, bottlenecks, holes getting dug, C riders yelling at me to get out of their way (dude, if you can't pass me like a man, sit back and enjoy the view) and dust. Oh well.
3rd wave start, and us and the super seniors take off. Long wide open field, up into some rocks, back to the field, and back into the rocks. Before I get too much farther into this report, let me point out: there are LOTS of rocks. Tons and tons. Some fist sized, some Volkswagen sized, most basketball sized. And I had forgotten to air my tires back up after letting them down for dunes riding . . . now there's preparation, huh? At least I remembered to put gas in the thing. lol So. Lots of rocks. Bottlenecks, tipovers, and stallouts in the rocks. Then a drop back out into the open, grab some throttle, and hang on until it's time to slam on the brakes and tiptoe through the rocks again. Actually, 2nd or 3rd gear standing up and relaxing was the most effective rock technique--too bad I was too tense to do it right.
So, more rocks, then out in the wide open fast stuff along the lake bed. It kind of sucks--you CAN go 35 or 40 or more, but there are these little tiny washouts and ditches that are shaped wrong to fly off. In fact one of them got me pretty good--I was going too fast to slow down right then, and too slow to jump over it. I bottomed out my bike HARD. I felt footpegs and frame scraping rocks. Ouch . . . after the lake shore . . . and then He said, "Let there be mud." Stinky thick slimy mud. Close to a mile of it. I only fell in it once--the rest of the time all I could do was hold on the throttle in 3rd gear, lean back, and ride in whatever zig zag pattern my bike decided to take through the mud. She didn't ask my opinion on what line we were going to take.
Next, we made friends with the rocks again. This time there was a steep nasty uphill, followed by a steep nasty downhill. Then more rocks. Even better--rocky whoops! FUN STUFF.
So, I managed to ride 3 loops in 90 minutes. Not horrible. One girl rode 4. Sandbagger. :| :think: :moon: One girl on an XR 250 traded spots with me a couple of times, but I got around her on the end of the second lap and didn't see her again. The girl in the lead, I never saw. In fact I didn't even know there were 7 of us until I saw the results sheet. I didn't see most of them out there except 2, and 2 others I had seen at the riders meeting. Wonder where the other ones were hiding. Most of them scooted right on home after the race too so I never saw them.
I didn't ride my best but I did ok. I fell a few times, stalled a few times. There was a trough out in the middle of a . . . take a guess . . . big rock field. There was something in the bottom of it that would stop you like a brick wall. The first time I hit it in 2nd, picked my line, set up for it, blipped the throttle just a hair as I dropped into it . . . and stopped VERY suddenly. If I was a guy, that would have ended my day right there since I hit extremely hard. Second lap, did it agian, different line, 1st gear and putting, same result. It was bizarre. 3rd time was the charm as I went WAY to the right where it was safer.
I had some shining moments; my infrequent passes went well. XR girl and I went back and forth a little but I had more horsepower and a little more technique than she. She was still a threat though, not bagging on her at all. That was fun to fight for my spot. I passed a few others too, they may or may not have been other girls. I just get a thrill going around people because it doesn't happen too much.
Overall, I guess it was a good day. Got my new helmet . . . new gear . . . formerly clean bike . . . and a 3rd place trophy.
