B
biglou
St. Louis Supercross, or: "Ass-Clowns Invaded By Spodes!"
What a great weekend! Started things off Friday evening when Bswift and Darren arrived, followed closely by Jamie (Thunder 33) and family. How
Jamie tracked Swift from Oklahoma, I'll never know. After some handshaking and unloading (The Mamba was parked in my garage! ;-) ), we made the rounds through the neighborhood and I introduced Brian and Darren to Robert, who is not online, and picked up my parents' car for the weekend. Next, we were off to the Ameristar Casino. I watched Darren (a real high roller) play some Blackjack for a while, then Brian and I headed for the quarter slots where I proceeded to lose TWO WHOLE DOLLARS! I was up for a while, but managed to lose it all back again. Reeling from this hit
to the wallet, I extracted my revenge by drinking not one, but TWO free Pepsis from the soda fountain. That'll teach them! Once Darren had given
all of his money away at the 21 table, along with a little donation by Swift, we headed back to Casa Del Lou for about four hours of sleep. It was almost 2AM when we arrived.
Saturday morning had us up and about and over to Jamie's house by 715AM. Waiting for Brandon, we spent some time looking at the YZF Hurricane
project in Jamie's garage. Once Brandon arrived, we were off to Will's, where Jamie, Brandon and Will piled into Will's Suburban. After a pit
stop at Quik Trip for a biscuit and a potty break, we were East bound and down. Uneventful driving for three hours until we started to head South
on 270 (I think) towards Surdyke Yamaha for our free pit passes. We were treated to about 90% road construction over the next hour. Multiple lane closures had the highway looking like a parking lot for a mile at a time in spots. Finally arriving at Surdyke at 130PM (Far later than our projected
ETA of 11AM!), we were greeted by none other than Sgt. 1st Class Richard Grossnickle, AKA "sfc crash". Animated as always, crash explains that he has
been there for over two hours waiting on us! We claim our pit passes, chow down on some free burgers and soda, and decide to make our way North
to the dome. The trip North was uneventful, and we drove straight into the dome (not literally). The only exciting part was when I ALMOST led the
caravan across the Mississippi River bridge into Illinois! Luckily I dodged that bullet with some acrobatic driving. This is where, unfortunately, we missed Dan Howard by not hitting the TGI Fridays. My apologies to Dan, but after many hours of traffic and racing to locations that were as of yet unknown, we just didn't have the time.
Once inside the dome, we ran up to the first concourse in time to see the 250's practicing. Got some pictures of RC, MC and my new hero, Time Ferry
crossing the start/finish jump with the "EA Sports Supercross" sign over their heads. Things were pretty much a blur after that point. Many rounds of
qualifying, multiple crashes, none too severe, though, and just a generally great time being had by all. Ran into RJ Wohlburg in the stands with his group. Ran around the pits looking at all the factory rigs and grabbing what free swag we could get. Got some up-close spy shots of Ferry's 426. Then decided to head back to our seats to watch the final qualifiers and heat races. Stopped off and bought my obligatory one beer (it was gonna be a long, long day with a late night of driving back to KC to follow). Right around the five o'clock hour, we decided to make one last lap around the dome to see if we could find anyone we were supposed to meet up with. About half way around the perimeter, Swift spotted AJ, Speedy and TTR Guy. We got to visit for a while and then I went back to our seats to retrieve the rest of the gang for a few group photos. After that, we were back to our seats getting ready for the main events. The opening ceremonies were very cool and there was some great "hot-lap" riding demonstrations by MC, RC, Vuillimen, etc.
At one point during a bathroom break, I finally ran into "Old CR Goat" and had him come up to the seats to meet the rest of the gang. Also of coincidence was the fact that DRN member "Breeze" had seats right behind ours! I heard someone say "What's your screen name?" and I knew it had to be a fellow DRN'er. Crash even put to test my "Just yell out 'LOOOOOUUUUU!!!!!' if you want to get my attention" theory whilst walking around in the crowd. Sure enough, it worked!
No real surprises in the 125's. The 250 #2 qualifier saw a heated battle from the drop of the gate with MC getting the holeshot and managing to hold off
everyone through the entire moto. RC was back a few positions at the start, but did work his way into 2nd place and was putting some serious pressure on MC right to the end. That would be the most exciting battle of the night. The mains were great, with lots of battles for position, a few pile-ups and of course, some spectacular riding. For me, the night was like one big "This is how to take a corner" lesson! Simply incredible.
After the show, we slowly made our way back onto I-70 West, then proceeded to become tangled in another traffic jam when there was a major accident in the East-bound lanes that had I-70 East shut down completely. The cops were routing cars off the highway completely. It probably didn't help that, of course, the highway was just riddled with construction and barriers and closed lanes, etc. After a few minutes of being caught up with the "rubberneckers", we were on our way again. A stop in Columbia at the Denny's for some fuel and much-needed coffee was quite welcome. What wasn't welcome was being in an over-crowded, after-hours restaurant packed with fresh-out-of-the-bar college students (Columbia is the home of Missouri University-Go Tigers!). We arrived safely at home right around the 5AM hour, thanks to Daylight Savings Time. It took us about 90 seconds to find our way to slumber land.
Sunday greeted us with a fairly chilly, overcast morning (well, 10AM is technically still morning), but luckily, no rain. After realizing that we may actually get a chance to ride today, I set out to gather up my gear, get the air filter for the kTm oiled up and installed, and getting my gear loaded into the truck.
I made a couple phone calls to see who was going, we slowly loaded up and we were on our way to beautiful downtown Merwin, MO, population 75.
What little rain had fallen made for much better than normal traction with no mud. We had the usual "Great Bike Swap" going on, as well as some grudge
matches on the track and a couple of woods loops thrown in. Swift took the 426 for a spin and quickly proceeded to jump the double that I won't do
(That's just bad manners, man! ;-) ). I got to take the infamous "Mamba", a KX310, for a quick lap, and Swift's friend Darren had a ball on the kTm. Jamie, Jason (Blue Thunder) and Pat (KC Husky) also met us there. The nice thing about the impending rain heading up from the South was that not too many folks ventured out that day. Unfortunately, that same rain also kept Sawblade from making the trip North to join us. Once the rain started in earnest, about 3PM, we decided to call it a day and head out. Swift and Darren loaded up, we shook hands and agreed that this was one great weekend. Riding, gambling and supercross along with getting to meet a lot of new friends and to see some old friends again. I led Brian out to Hwy 71 where he headed South toward Oklahoma and I went North back towards KC, where I collapsed into bed around 7PM!
The nice thing is, I get to do it all again in two weeks for the Dallas Supercross! Get to meet a whole bunch more DRN'ers and get some riding in some more new locations. Yet more chances to embarrass myself in front of another new crowd of people! I can't wait.
What a great weekend! Started things off Friday evening when Bswift and Darren arrived, followed closely by Jamie (Thunder 33) and family. How
Jamie tracked Swift from Oklahoma, I'll never know. After some handshaking and unloading (The Mamba was parked in my garage! ;-) ), we made the rounds through the neighborhood and I introduced Brian and Darren to Robert, who is not online, and picked up my parents' car for the weekend. Next, we were off to the Ameristar Casino. I watched Darren (a real high roller) play some Blackjack for a while, then Brian and I headed for the quarter slots where I proceeded to lose TWO WHOLE DOLLARS! I was up for a while, but managed to lose it all back again. Reeling from this hit
to the wallet, I extracted my revenge by drinking not one, but TWO free Pepsis from the soda fountain. That'll teach them! Once Darren had given
all of his money away at the 21 table, along with a little donation by Swift, we headed back to Casa Del Lou for about four hours of sleep. It was almost 2AM when we arrived.
Saturday morning had us up and about and over to Jamie's house by 715AM. Waiting for Brandon, we spent some time looking at the YZF Hurricane
project in Jamie's garage. Once Brandon arrived, we were off to Will's, where Jamie, Brandon and Will piled into Will's Suburban. After a pit
stop at Quik Trip for a biscuit and a potty break, we were East bound and down. Uneventful driving for three hours until we started to head South
on 270 (I think) towards Surdyke Yamaha for our free pit passes. We were treated to about 90% road construction over the next hour. Multiple lane closures had the highway looking like a parking lot for a mile at a time in spots. Finally arriving at Surdyke at 130PM (Far later than our projected
ETA of 11AM!), we were greeted by none other than Sgt. 1st Class Richard Grossnickle, AKA "sfc crash". Animated as always, crash explains that he has
been there for over two hours waiting on us! We claim our pit passes, chow down on some free burgers and soda, and decide to make our way North
to the dome. The trip North was uneventful, and we drove straight into the dome (not literally). The only exciting part was when I ALMOST led the
caravan across the Mississippi River bridge into Illinois! Luckily I dodged that bullet with some acrobatic driving. This is where, unfortunately, we missed Dan Howard by not hitting the TGI Fridays. My apologies to Dan, but after many hours of traffic and racing to locations that were as of yet unknown, we just didn't have the time.
Once inside the dome, we ran up to the first concourse in time to see the 250's practicing. Got some pictures of RC, MC and my new hero, Time Ferry
crossing the start/finish jump with the "EA Sports Supercross" sign over their heads. Things were pretty much a blur after that point. Many rounds of
qualifying, multiple crashes, none too severe, though, and just a generally great time being had by all. Ran into RJ Wohlburg in the stands with his group. Ran around the pits looking at all the factory rigs and grabbing what free swag we could get. Got some up-close spy shots of Ferry's 426. Then decided to head back to our seats to watch the final qualifiers and heat races. Stopped off and bought my obligatory one beer (it was gonna be a long, long day with a late night of driving back to KC to follow). Right around the five o'clock hour, we decided to make one last lap around the dome to see if we could find anyone we were supposed to meet up with. About half way around the perimeter, Swift spotted AJ, Speedy and TTR Guy. We got to visit for a while and then I went back to our seats to retrieve the rest of the gang for a few group photos. After that, we were back to our seats getting ready for the main events. The opening ceremonies were very cool and there was some great "hot-lap" riding demonstrations by MC, RC, Vuillimen, etc.
At one point during a bathroom break, I finally ran into "Old CR Goat" and had him come up to the seats to meet the rest of the gang. Also of coincidence was the fact that DRN member "Breeze" had seats right behind ours! I heard someone say "What's your screen name?" and I knew it had to be a fellow DRN'er. Crash even put to test my "Just yell out 'LOOOOOUUUUU!!!!!' if you want to get my attention" theory whilst walking around in the crowd. Sure enough, it worked!
No real surprises in the 125's. The 250 #2 qualifier saw a heated battle from the drop of the gate with MC getting the holeshot and managing to hold off
everyone through the entire moto. RC was back a few positions at the start, but did work his way into 2nd place and was putting some serious pressure on MC right to the end. That would be the most exciting battle of the night. The mains were great, with lots of battles for position, a few pile-ups and of course, some spectacular riding. For me, the night was like one big "This is how to take a corner" lesson! Simply incredible.
After the show, we slowly made our way back onto I-70 West, then proceeded to become tangled in another traffic jam when there was a major accident in the East-bound lanes that had I-70 East shut down completely. The cops were routing cars off the highway completely. It probably didn't help that, of course, the highway was just riddled with construction and barriers and closed lanes, etc. After a few minutes of being caught up with the "rubberneckers", we were on our way again. A stop in Columbia at the Denny's for some fuel and much-needed coffee was quite welcome. What wasn't welcome was being in an over-crowded, after-hours restaurant packed with fresh-out-of-the-bar college students (Columbia is the home of Missouri University-Go Tigers!). We arrived safely at home right around the 5AM hour, thanks to Daylight Savings Time. It took us about 90 seconds to find our way to slumber land.
Sunday greeted us with a fairly chilly, overcast morning (well, 10AM is technically still morning), but luckily, no rain. After realizing that we may actually get a chance to ride today, I set out to gather up my gear, get the air filter for the kTm oiled up and installed, and getting my gear loaded into the truck.
I made a couple phone calls to see who was going, we slowly loaded up and we were on our way to beautiful downtown Merwin, MO, population 75.
What little rain had fallen made for much better than normal traction with no mud. We had the usual "Great Bike Swap" going on, as well as some grudge
matches on the track and a couple of woods loops thrown in. Swift took the 426 for a spin and quickly proceeded to jump the double that I won't do
(That's just bad manners, man! ;-) ). I got to take the infamous "Mamba", a KX310, for a quick lap, and Swift's friend Darren had a ball on the kTm. Jamie, Jason (Blue Thunder) and Pat (KC Husky) also met us there. The nice thing about the impending rain heading up from the South was that not too many folks ventured out that day. Unfortunately, that same rain also kept Sawblade from making the trip North to join us. Once the rain started in earnest, about 3PM, we decided to call it a day and head out. Swift and Darren loaded up, we shook hands and agreed that this was one great weekend. Riding, gambling and supercross along with getting to meet a lot of new friends and to see some old friends again. I led Brian out to Hwy 71 where he headed South toward Oklahoma and I went North back towards KC, where I collapsed into bed around 7PM!
The nice thing is, I get to do it all again in two weeks for the Dallas Supercross! Get to meet a whole bunch more DRN'ers and get some riding in some more new locations. Yet more chances to embarrass myself in front of another new crowd of people! I can't wait.
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