- Oct 13, 1999
- 2,807
- 0
Sunday's Flach's Farm Hare Scramble was a definite mud fest. I woke up to a light drizzle at my house, but by the time a arrived at dirtybkr's it was full fledged rain. We scarfed down some grub at a diner on the way and arrived at Flach's just after 9:30. The mini's and juniors were out on the course and it looked like conditions weren't getting any better. By the time we worked our way through sign-up and back to the truck, the weather was back to a drizzle. The drizzle continued all the way to the start of our race which had been postponed by 45 minutes.
Both dirtybkr and myself were in the Vet Novice which was on the last row. My bike desperately needs new rings which meant about a six kick start for me. I was last off the line heading into the woods, but it wasn't a big deal. The five rows ahead of us had all been seperated by only 30 seconds. When I arrived at the first hill there were bikes and bodies sprawled all over the place. I picked a line and began to torque my way up through the greasy mud. Every once in a while my rear tire would catch a small rock in the mud and spin out. This meant getting off the seat, rocking the bike over the obstacle and hopping back on to maximize traction. About half-way up my engine started to overheat and I was making quick moves to dodge all the stuck riders. Next thing I look over and see dirtybkr. Obviously I'd caught him. All of a sudden he darts off the trail into the woods. Not the best move considering wet leaves make for worse traction. I struggled and pin-balled off other riders until I finally reached the summit of mount grease, passing more than half of all the novice class riders in the process. By this time my engine is steaming like a Vietnamese whorehouse. I kill the motor and crack the radiator cap. Less than a pint spewed out of the radiator yet it was bone dry. I emptied the contents of my Camelbak which barely made a dent, so I relieved myself until it was topped off. This at least made the bike rideable, but the damage had already been done. The rings were definitely relaxed at this point and the power was down.
I continued on into the grass track portion which required keeping plenty of momentum. There was quite a bit of banner already missing so I took a few of the "hot" lines to get around stuck riders. At this point my goggles were down around my neck having blitzed through my three tear-offs on the hill. Mud was caking on my face. Nothing like the feeling of grit scratching up your contacts in your eyeballs. Once we got into the woods, the trails were in excellent shape. I actually got out of second gear and was keeping the bike cooled down. There were a couple of small hills covered with roots. I'd come up and there'd be three or four riders stuck. Always some guy would come charging through and add himself to the carnage. This method may work at a regular h/s, but at a slop fest you need to pick your lines carefully. I made it up these obstacles without any trouble.
In the woods I probably passed the same number of riders that passed me. Once in a while I'd hang with one of the faster riders until he'd crash out. The woods were excellent. Absolutely no rocks to speak of and very little mud. Had the club not thrown us at that first hill I would have continued on, but I decided to take the cautious approach and quit after my first lap. No use in doing any more abuse to my engine.
Fifteen minutes after I came in, dirtybkr completed (what I thought at the time was his second lap) his first lap. I hadn't seen him since mount grease and always figured he'd been ahead of me. I yelled at him telling him I wanted a steak dinner so he soldiered on for another lap... poor *******.
At the conclusion on the novice race I kept waiting for dirtybkr. He finally pulled up to the truck with a toasted clutch. He only completed one and a half laps. Due to my quicker lap time I ended up the winner and bought him lunch. Out of 30 riders in our class I only completed one lap and came in 11th or 12th place with dirtybkr right behind me.
Tolls - $1.00
Gate fee - $5.00
Sign-up - $35.00
Bar code sticker - $5.00
Lunch - $20.00
Wussing out and still spanking dirtybkr - Priceless :p
Both dirtybkr and myself were in the Vet Novice which was on the last row. My bike desperately needs new rings which meant about a six kick start for me. I was last off the line heading into the woods, but it wasn't a big deal. The five rows ahead of us had all been seperated by only 30 seconds. When I arrived at the first hill there were bikes and bodies sprawled all over the place. I picked a line and began to torque my way up through the greasy mud. Every once in a while my rear tire would catch a small rock in the mud and spin out. This meant getting off the seat, rocking the bike over the obstacle and hopping back on to maximize traction. About half-way up my engine started to overheat and I was making quick moves to dodge all the stuck riders. Next thing I look over and see dirtybkr. Obviously I'd caught him. All of a sudden he darts off the trail into the woods. Not the best move considering wet leaves make for worse traction. I struggled and pin-balled off other riders until I finally reached the summit of mount grease, passing more than half of all the novice class riders in the process. By this time my engine is steaming like a Vietnamese whorehouse. I kill the motor and crack the radiator cap. Less than a pint spewed out of the radiator yet it was bone dry. I emptied the contents of my Camelbak which barely made a dent, so I relieved myself until it was topped off. This at least made the bike rideable, but the damage had already been done. The rings were definitely relaxed at this point and the power was down.
I continued on into the grass track portion which required keeping plenty of momentum. There was quite a bit of banner already missing so I took a few of the "hot" lines to get around stuck riders. At this point my goggles were down around my neck having blitzed through my three tear-offs on the hill. Mud was caking on my face. Nothing like the feeling of grit scratching up your contacts in your eyeballs. Once we got into the woods, the trails were in excellent shape. I actually got out of second gear and was keeping the bike cooled down. There were a couple of small hills covered with roots. I'd come up and there'd be three or four riders stuck. Always some guy would come charging through and add himself to the carnage. This method may work at a regular h/s, but at a slop fest you need to pick your lines carefully. I made it up these obstacles without any trouble.
In the woods I probably passed the same number of riders that passed me. Once in a while I'd hang with one of the faster riders until he'd crash out. The woods were excellent. Absolutely no rocks to speak of and very little mud. Had the club not thrown us at that first hill I would have continued on, but I decided to take the cautious approach and quit after my first lap. No use in doing any more abuse to my engine.
Fifteen minutes after I came in, dirtybkr completed (what I thought at the time was his second lap) his first lap. I hadn't seen him since mount grease and always figured he'd been ahead of me. I yelled at him telling him I wanted a steak dinner so he soldiered on for another lap... poor *******.
At the conclusion on the novice race I kept waiting for dirtybkr. He finally pulled up to the truck with a toasted clutch. He only completed one and a half laps. Due to my quicker lap time I ended up the winner and bought him lunch. Out of 30 riders in our class I only completed one lap and came in 11th or 12th place with dirtybkr right behind me.
Tolls - $1.00
Gate fee - $5.00
Sign-up - $35.00
Bar code sticker - $5.00
Lunch - $20.00
Wussing out and still spanking dirtybkr - Priceless :p
