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- Aug 13, 1999
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Did anybody else make it? We did and it was even muddier and nastier than last spring's harescramble.
I didn't see any other DRN'er's there but a lot of my family was there. Two of my cousins and a second cousin were in the Tag Team Pro Class, Karl and I ran in the Geritol Class (the winner of which was 1 lap behind my cousins that came in 1st & 2nd in the Pros) and my son on his CR80E with my brother on his KX250 in the Adult Child Class.
We didn't win a trophy, but I think I could have won longest time spent in the Pit Row Mudhole.
Started out with my son asking me if I had put his helmet in the truck. "Uh, no, that would by YOUR job son." So, I sent him around to the other members of the family and various friends in search of a spare helmet. We finally snagged one to borrow for just the Parade Lap as the owner of the helmet was going riding elsewhere after the pee wee race. So Karl, Pat and I joined the Parade Lap just after the second corner.
Made it through the Parade Lap without any mishaps, just a few taste tests of the mud from various roosting bikes and it was time to line up for the start. The Pro's took off first with the Geritols next (30 sec or so later). Karl had me start since that is the most exciting part of the race (he says, I think it's because I'm the one that always talks him into doing this race so it's my pay back).
It is a dead engine start (I get butterfly's now even just thinking about it) and I got a good start about 3rd or so out of 7 I think. Made it around the first turn, coming down in front of Pit Row and then I saw it - THE MUDHOLE (we had missed this part of the Parade Lap)! It was actually 3 mudholes about 15' wide and 100' long (at least that's how big they looked to me) with some berms between them. The center and right looked goooooooey, the left looked goooooey with a huge puddle at the end.
I took the one that looked best to me (at that time) and about half way through my front end washed and down I went SPLAT! I got my bike up as quick as I could, fired it up and took off. Phew, got THAT out of the way!!!
So I cruised through the gooey MX track portion, hit the first check and the guy asks me how the mud tastes today. "GREAT!" I tell him. Off I go to the next check and on and on.
I make the rest of the first lap pretty uneventful, even through the Pit Row Mudhole. Tag with Karl (the guys next to us have a great pit crew - their mom & dad and they keep us informed of each other's location from the roof of their box van.). My bro is at the pit and tells me that my son had just gone out a few minutes ago. The kid and my bro are sharing a helmet so they can do the race (bet he won't forget THAT again, luckily he has a big head so my bro's fit him.)
The neighbors alert me to Karl approaching, dang I always have a shorter rest than he gets.
I fire the bike up, Karl gives me the armband and off I go. It is getting MUDDIER.... I make it through the goooey track section and off to the backsection where I loose it in a muddy spot, at least it's not as painful to crash as it is on solid ground. I'm up and the bike is fine so off we go again until I stall in an extra gooey corner. Fire it up and the rear tire spins in deeper. So I pop the clutch and we exploded out of the hole. Somehow I manage to keep it upright and continue on the path.
This lap was making me very tired and I stalled out on another corner and didn't have enough energy (darn cold I've had for two weeks) to take off without walking the bike out of a precarious position. Finally got going again and was doing well until I arrived at the MUDHOLE. Which line, which line WHICH LINE?!!!!!
I picked the center again - big mistake. I was doing okay until I stalled in the deepest gooeyist yuckiest hole there was. I fired it up and spun deeper. Killed it, looked back towards our pit and saw my son. "Can I help you Mom?" he asked. I told him to tell Karl I was stuck and he headed back to our pit. I shut off my gas figuring the only way out was to drag the bike out, yeah right. It had found a nice home to sit in and it didn't want to leave. There was a group of kids in their 20's next to the mud and they were yelling "Get a picture, get a picture"!!!
Finally, they must have felt sorry for me because two of the guys came wading into the mud and another guy on the other side came wading over carrying a strap - what a great invention! Karl had finally arrived (unbeknownst to me) and saw that I was on my way to getting out so he headed back to his bike. As the 3 guys and I were tugging on my bike I heard a familiar voice on the side - it was my aunt yelling "Smile!" click. A little guy on a KX65 was cruising through the mud on the right about that time until he face planted in the goo. She was nice enough to snap a picture of him too (later realizing it was a kid that belonged to a friend of our family). We got the bike out and up on the berm (which was still plenty slimey), as one guy steadied it, I turned on the gas and fired it up. Off I went to the last check, checked, and tagged with Karl.
He was back soon enough and I was on my merry way again. This time it was even gooeyer so I tried to just stay upright and moving forward as best as I could. It was such a relief to get out of the mud and onto the back section that I found myself happy to bounce over the rocky sandy whoops.
The lap was uneventful as I tagged off (didn't even get stuck in the mudhole) with Karl. Then he was back AGAIN!!!! I took off saying I will NOT get stuck, I will NOT get stuck. I had a good lap this time a little faster than my previous cautious lap (still extemely slow) with a couple of the Pro Riders yelling woohooo's at me as they roosted more goo at me in passing (thanks a LOT guys, that's what family is for I guess :think ) until I got to, yep, the MUDHOLE. I slowed down (not much because then I would have been stopped!) and decided to take the left line and cut over to the right just before the huge puddle at the end of the left (it looked really deep) since there was no one behind me for quite a distance.
That was the plan and that's what I did except I cut over too soon and got stuck in the SAME spot as before. I didn't even try to get out. I killed it, shut off the gas and looked back towards our pit. My bro was on his way and the guy with the strap was almost there too. We pulled it out, and I took off again to tag Karl hoping that he wouldn't be fast enough to make it back in time for me to go again!
I hadn't seen my son except once since we started and my bro told me that he had decided not to do the last lap so my son did two in a row. The little guy was doing awesome especially since the CR80 is still a little tall for him, we hadn't been on the bikes since last November and he had started the race concerned about being on the 80.
Finally, Karl returned (time was up) and my son was there shortly afterwards. Karl had found him stuck in a goo hole on the back section and stopped to pull him out. I guess he had help from some other guys a couple of times throughout the race but other than that he was doing better than me.
My son asked how I did and why I didn't just go to the left through the Mudhole. I told him I didn't like the looks of the puddle, that's when he told me that he had been riding through it ALL DAY!!! It was solid on the bottom and only a few inches of water. Hmmmmm next time I'm going to have to watch that kid closer! :cool:
We hung around for the awards and talked to all the people we knew. Karl and I got in 8 laps (4 each), my bro and my son made 7 (3 and 4), the winner's of the Geritol Class got in 12 (6 each) and the Pro's (my cousins) made 13 laps (at least that's what I think they all said). :confused:
It was a great fun muddy day and I don't know if anyone else from DRN made it! :think
I didn't see any other DRN'er's there but a lot of my family was there. Two of my cousins and a second cousin were in the Tag Team Pro Class, Karl and I ran in the Geritol Class (the winner of which was 1 lap behind my cousins that came in 1st & 2nd in the Pros) and my son on his CR80E with my brother on his KX250 in the Adult Child Class.
We didn't win a trophy, but I think I could have won longest time spent in the Pit Row Mudhole.
Started out with my son asking me if I had put his helmet in the truck. "Uh, no, that would by YOUR job son." So, I sent him around to the other members of the family and various friends in search of a spare helmet. We finally snagged one to borrow for just the Parade Lap as the owner of the helmet was going riding elsewhere after the pee wee race. So Karl, Pat and I joined the Parade Lap just after the second corner.
Made it through the Parade Lap without any mishaps, just a few taste tests of the mud from various roosting bikes and it was time to line up for the start. The Pro's took off first with the Geritols next (30 sec or so later). Karl had me start since that is the most exciting part of the race (he says, I think it's because I'm the one that always talks him into doing this race so it's my pay back).
It is a dead engine start (I get butterfly's now even just thinking about it) and I got a good start about 3rd or so out of 7 I think. Made it around the first turn, coming down in front of Pit Row and then I saw it - THE MUDHOLE (we had missed this part of the Parade Lap)! It was actually 3 mudholes about 15' wide and 100' long (at least that's how big they looked to me) with some berms between them. The center and right looked goooooooey, the left looked goooooey with a huge puddle at the end.
I took the one that looked best to me (at that time) and about half way through my front end washed and down I went SPLAT! I got my bike up as quick as I could, fired it up and took off. Phew, got THAT out of the way!!!
So I cruised through the gooey MX track portion, hit the first check and the guy asks me how the mud tastes today. "GREAT!" I tell him. Off I go to the next check and on and on.
I make the rest of the first lap pretty uneventful, even through the Pit Row Mudhole. Tag with Karl (the guys next to us have a great pit crew - their mom & dad and they keep us informed of each other's location from the roof of their box van.). My bro is at the pit and tells me that my son had just gone out a few minutes ago. The kid and my bro are sharing a helmet so they can do the race (bet he won't forget THAT again, luckily he has a big head so my bro's fit him.)
The neighbors alert me to Karl approaching, dang I always have a shorter rest than he gets.
I fire the bike up, Karl gives me the armband and off I go. It is getting MUDDIER.... I make it through the goooey track section and off to the backsection where I loose it in a muddy spot, at least it's not as painful to crash as it is on solid ground. I'm up and the bike is fine so off we go again until I stall in an extra gooey corner. Fire it up and the rear tire spins in deeper. So I pop the clutch and we exploded out of the hole. Somehow I manage to keep it upright and continue on the path.
This lap was making me very tired and I stalled out on another corner and didn't have enough energy (darn cold I've had for two weeks) to take off without walking the bike out of a precarious position. Finally got going again and was doing well until I arrived at the MUDHOLE. Which line, which line WHICH LINE?!!!!!
I picked the center again - big mistake. I was doing okay until I stalled in the deepest gooeyist yuckiest hole there was. I fired it up and spun deeper. Killed it, looked back towards our pit and saw my son. "Can I help you Mom?" he asked. I told him to tell Karl I was stuck and he headed back to our pit. I shut off my gas figuring the only way out was to drag the bike out, yeah right. It had found a nice home to sit in and it didn't want to leave. There was a group of kids in their 20's next to the mud and they were yelling "Get a picture, get a picture"!!!
Finally, they must have felt sorry for me because two of the guys came wading into the mud and another guy on the other side came wading over carrying a strap - what a great invention! Karl had finally arrived (unbeknownst to me) and saw that I was on my way to getting out so he headed back to his bike. As the 3 guys and I were tugging on my bike I heard a familiar voice on the side - it was my aunt yelling "Smile!" click. A little guy on a KX65 was cruising through the mud on the right about that time until he face planted in the goo. She was nice enough to snap a picture of him too (later realizing it was a kid that belonged to a friend of our family). We got the bike out and up on the berm (which was still plenty slimey), as one guy steadied it, I turned on the gas and fired it up. Off I went to the last check, checked, and tagged with Karl.
He was back soon enough and I was on my merry way again. This time it was even gooeyer so I tried to just stay upright and moving forward as best as I could. It was such a relief to get out of the mud and onto the back section that I found myself happy to bounce over the rocky sandy whoops.
The lap was uneventful as I tagged off (didn't even get stuck in the mudhole) with Karl. Then he was back AGAIN!!!! I took off saying I will NOT get stuck, I will NOT get stuck. I had a good lap this time a little faster than my previous cautious lap (still extemely slow) with a couple of the Pro Riders yelling woohooo's at me as they roosted more goo at me in passing (thanks a LOT guys, that's what family is for I guess :think ) until I got to, yep, the MUDHOLE. I slowed down (not much because then I would have been stopped!) and decided to take the left line and cut over to the right just before the huge puddle at the end of the left (it looked really deep) since there was no one behind me for quite a distance.
That was the plan and that's what I did except I cut over too soon and got stuck in the SAME spot as before. I didn't even try to get out. I killed it, shut off the gas and looked back towards our pit. My bro was on his way and the guy with the strap was almost there too. We pulled it out, and I took off again to tag Karl hoping that he wouldn't be fast enough to make it back in time for me to go again!
I hadn't seen my son except once since we started and my bro told me that he had decided not to do the last lap so my son did two in a row. The little guy was doing awesome especially since the CR80 is still a little tall for him, we hadn't been on the bikes since last November and he had started the race concerned about being on the 80.
Finally, Karl returned (time was up) and my son was there shortly afterwards. Karl had found him stuck in a goo hole on the back section and stopped to pull him out. I guess he had help from some other guys a couple of times throughout the race but other than that he was doing better than me.
My son asked how I did and why I didn't just go to the left through the Mudhole. I told him I didn't like the looks of the puddle, that's when he told me that he had been riding through it ALL DAY!!! It was solid on the bottom and only a few inches of water. Hmmmmm next time I'm going to have to watch that kid closer! :cool:
We hung around for the awards and talked to all the people we knew. Karl and I got in 8 laps (4 each), my bro and my son made 7 (3 and 4), the winner's of the Geritol Class got in 12 (6 each) and the Pro's (my cousins) made 13 laps (at least that's what I think they all said). :confused:
It was a great fun muddy day and I don't know if anyone else from DRN made it! :think
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