truespode
Moderator / Wheelie King
- Jun 30, 1999
- 7,984
- 251
What can I say? An opportunity to ride in Oklahoma at Cooperland with 200 or so fellow enthusiasts was on my mind for months. Unfortunately, up until the last week my attendance was in jeopardy for a myriad of reasons.
Fortunately, the clouds cleared, the planets aligned and I was able to hop a plane and head for OKC airport mid-week. Flying out like a pro rider is cool. The bikes, gear and tools had been there for a day already and all I had to do was take my body and my id to the plane.
Driving to Stillwater from OKC was quite easy. The landscape looked great and the weather was looking good too. The only complaint I had up to that point was my rental car. I'm used to a truck and this thing was a little 2-door coupe. Before I knew it I was doing 110 up I-35! I couldn't believe it but more unbelievable was that there was another car in front of me that was still walking away!
Oh well, at least I would get to Cooperland in time to ride a few laps.
Driving into the pits I noticed that there were a lot of people. It is hard to imagine the type of people you can meet from an Internet site like Dirtrider.net but I have to tell you that each and every person there was great. People were jumping over one another to help someone if needed. Whether it was a tool, air pump or simply to pick the bike up off a fallen rider help was only a few steps away in either direction.
I quickly found my pit location and my bikes. The Gomer clan had hauled my bikes from SC with their Funmover RV and had my bike sitting out and calling me. I jumped in the back of the trailer, changed clothes and jumped out to start my bike but it was already idling! Someone had cranked her up for me so it would be warm by the time I got dressed.
Navigating Cooperland’s big track was a challenge. I'm used to flatter tracks with longer jumps but not higher jumps. For the most part Cooperland is all table tops and step ups. However, overjumping the table top is scary! Each landing has a long downslope so overjumping is a very real possibility if you forget where you are on the track.
There is one step up on the course that has a take off about 20 feet high and from there to the top of the landing is another 80 feet or so UP! I was immediately intimidated by that jump but the better riders were all hitting it by the end of the week. Gomer had it nailed by the second day.
That night was spent bs'ing and talking about what was going to go on the rest of the week. I spent a little time meeting old friends and making a few new ones. I hit the bed early and rose in time for the riders meeting and a quick shower. I didn't ride too much that day. We had a tag team MX and I got to watch a bunch of riders go around the track faster than I could ever think of. One of those riders was the owner of the place, Chris. The kid can fly.
He was washing his bike at the time they were lining up for the race but we talked him into going for a spin with the racers. His bike wasn't ready so I offered my new CR450F. He jumped on it and in less than a lap he was putting the bike and the track through its paces! I was in awe at the speed he and Billy Frank showed as they whizzed by my flagging position on the finish line jump.
Then I realized, in comparison to Dubach (who would show up later), Cooper (who was there earlier in the week) and the top pro's these guys were off pace. What a perspective to realize. What a realization of my own spodeliness!! If they were off-pace what does that say about me? I guess it says the same basic thing it said about all of us. We enjoy riding; whether it is at Mach 1 like Dubach or at 50 feet up in the air like Kenny Bartram (who created a double out of two table tops) or just putting around the track pretending to know what I’m doing… we are all there for the same fun and hair raising experiences that only dirtbikes can bring.
After the tag team MX race I did a few laps and overjumped one of the table tops. It was a long way to the bottom where my groin came in contact with the gas cap and air seemed to be a precious rarity! By the time I had climbed up a small hill I had caught my breath but remained sore in that region for another few days.
Back in the pits the Gomer clan told me they needed some water for the RV and some gas for the bikes. I jump in with them and we head for a short ride to a dumpstation and then into Stillwater. The land driving in was nice, the lake at the dumpstation looked relaxing and the women from the local college were jumping all around and looking like young college women do... good!
Back in the pits with some groceries and gas we sit around bs'ing while Mrs. Gomer kindly cooks up some dinner. I remember thinking "how great is it to have such good friends?" Later that evening we headed out to a bonfire where I got to talk to Tony Eeds who was limping around on crutches. He told me his story that caused the broken toes and we talked a good bit.
Shortly after that a group broke out a guitar and started singing. They all had some talent and it made for some nice entertainment. It was also then that I started to miss my wife who absolutely loves music. I couldn't help but think how much she would have enjoyed the fire and the singing. That night I slept well despite the rain storm that battered the top of the trailer so hard I thought a ton of rocks were going to cave in on top of me. In the morning the ground was damp but the sky was clear and it looked like we would have a great day of riding.
I was sitting in the pits when Eric asked if he could race my 250F in the team Harescramble. I wasn't riding it much since I was trying to get used to the new 450 so I had no problem with it. Then he tried talking me into running the Harescramble with him. After a few minutes of consideration I decided to jump in and run it but only if we used the 250F for the entire race since the 450 doesn't have bark busters and I am not that used to it yet.
At the start we are joking around and carrying on. Then the first row lined up. In a team harescramble one person does a lap then the partner does a lap. The person coming in has to tap the rear tire of the partner. Since we were sharing a bike we had to swap off instead.
The first row took off like a barrel of pros. Off the line they went and then all of a sudden a few people rattled side to side. One guy went down hard and almost everyone waiting took off running to help the fallen rider! Fortunately, he gets up and is ok. At first he wanted to get back on the bike but about 5 of us did not let that happen and instead we put him on the back of a 4-wheeler to ride back to the start line where someone could check him out. We later find out he had a concussion but no broken bones.
The first lap went by quick. The woods were tight enough but not too tight. It ended with a big grass track loop that allowed the bikes to stretch their legs; 5th gear tapped and then hard on the brakes. As the first few riders came around one guy (I believe it was SFO) popped a wheelie and started clicking through the gears and accelerated. He dropped the nose just perfect before the small gully. At that point I saw my partner coming out of the woods and heading for the exchange point. As he came in I stuck my rear end out and gave him a target to bump! In a quick instant he was off the bike and I was on. Then I was in the woods and feeling good.
It had been awhile since I rode the 250F but I couldn't help but remember just how great a woods weapon the bike is. I was quickly gaining confidence and speed. Before I knew it I had tapped out my confidence and went into overconfidence and dumped the bike into the ground! I saw a guy up ahead watching and he had a camera. The bike was on its side with me under it but the bike was still running. I revved and revved the engine while laughing my head off. As I got up I passed the guy with the camera and yelled "I hope you got a picture!"
Later in the lap I came upon a fallen rider, Danman. A few guys and I stopped and he seemed to be ok after a few moments. He hit a big root in the trail and then a tree. He shook it off pretty well from what I could tell later in the day. A mile or so after leaving him and I was on the grass track. Once in the open field I had a blast revving the little thumper as high as I could and clicking into 5th gear down the straights. I have not ridden on many grass tracks and rarely have had the opportunity to sustain 5th gear in any ride I've been on so the grass track was a lot of fun. Of course, my friends made sure to correct my hind-end-over-the-rear-fender riding style that I thought was pretty stylish.
Eric took off like a lightning bolt after the exchange and I believe he picked up quite a few positions for us. He sure is fast in the woods and I feel sorry that he was partnered with a spode like me but in the end we both had fun and that is what really mattered. When he came out of the check this time he sped up and took off aiming right for me. He hit the brakes and did a stoppie all the way to me before we swapped bikes.
A couple laps later I was again on the bike but with more confidence since my previous attempt at the trail didn't have anyone fallen, most importantly myself, and I seemed to have gone faster than the first lap. Eric was having a blast and kept making up for the time I'd lose during my run.
On the second to last lap for me I got lapped by the leaders and tried keeping up a faster pace. Unfortunately, the trees surrounding the trail seemed to think I was moving too fast and they took me off the bike a few times. Then the trees got greedy and took my number plate on the last encounter! Fortunately, Jeremy (SOLO) went in and found the plate for me (what a pal!) so I could re-attach it later in the day.
Eric did a lap and re-gained one position I think before coming in and giving the bike to me to finish up the race with. I took off and despite the slight arm pump I was determined to pick off at least one rider. On a turn I came up on a couple slower riders but I am not sure if they were part of the lead lap or with me one lap down or if they were a lap farther down from that. It doesn't really matter because I had finally passed someone!
A little later I passed a guy who was picking up his bike. Then a guy on a yellow XR400 passed me. I thought he'd leave me but his clutch had broken off so I was able to keep with him until we got to the grass track. In the open field I was only able to match his pace and because of my horrible turning prowess he was able to pull a few bike lengths on me. Still I put my head down and tried to catch him before the finish. At that point I really wanted my 450! In the end I could not catch him but I came in all smiles and everyone around seemed to be smiling too.
Even the scorer, Mully was having a good time and tallying up the dot marks on the sheet. One dot represented each time a person scared him coming through the scoring lane. Each dot also represented the number of beers that person had to buy Mully because they scared him coming through the scoring lane. From the looks of things Mully should have been toasted by the end of the night.
After the Harescramble I did a few laps and then went into town where I could get a signal on my cell phone. I had realized I had a great time and I realized two other really important things...
1) I missed my wife and was bubbling at the opportunity to tell her about the riding I've done and the people I met.
2) I had so much to do around the house. I have to travel for work this month and will be gone too long so I knew I'd have to get back to take care of things.
With those realizations I went ahead and changed my flight plans so I could go home a day early. I wanted to stay but I wanted to spend one day with my wife before getting back to the grind of work, bills and everything else.
I did get to ride a little more before I left. I rode the track a little but did not have any speed or desire to jump much. Gomer on the other hand was doing the large step-up like it was the easiest jump out there. One time he over-jumped it by 20 feet and came back around smiling.
I also rode around chasing Gomer’s middle son, Ricky around the track. He was moving! His older brother Danny was riding really well too. I even got a chance to ride with Jeremy (SOLO) a couple times. Each of them seem to have picked up a bit of speed since I last rode with them.
I did not get a chance to ride with Lemming, SpokerAce or Julius Pleaser. I followed Lemming around a little here and there but he was always doing something else… like going faster than me. I did ride the grass field with Wrench later in the day and we had a blast. Just buzzing around and seeing how fast the bikes would go was a lot different than the 2nd and 3rd gear trail and track riding we are used to.
Before calling it a day I had the pleasure to meet Nikki and Red. Nikki seems to have a lot of enthusiasm and looked pretty happy. If Nikki ever gets tired of Red she needs to give me a call. I’m not really sure what I’d do with Red once she got tired of him but I’m sure he could change my air filters, oil and adjust my chain <g>.
Later in the day Gomer took an over-the-bars excursion that left him sore in the back and knees. He also suffered a dented silencer on the bottom side of the silencer. How his butt hit that nobody knows!
I ended my DW with a trip through the pits trying to say hi to everyone I could. I met Jaybird and despite running at him with a fist he just sat there smiling. It was really good meeting him and everyone else that I met... BSWIFT, MX727, Oldguy, Danman, Zoomer, the many lurkers and hanging with all that I've met before. Also, Patman finally took the time to talk to me. Earlier in the day at the group picture I asked the pantless wonder for a hug and he rebuffed me! Of course, I’m not sure he realized who was under the helmet when I asked. Later that night though I got to see him, his wife and his son again. It was good seeing them and joking about Patman shunning me earlier in the day.
Special thanks goes out to the Gomer clan and Eric for all that they did for me through the week. What a great bunch of friends. Also, thanks to the Heartland Spodes for all that they did. Finally, thanks to Okie, Scooter, Pokie, Thump, Billy, Patman, Oldguy, Nikki, Speedy and the rest of the Moderators and Admins that have given me a home and a place where I feel like I'm part of a family. The comraderie and friendship that I have with you guys is important and played a huge roll in my realization that I should go home a day early to spend time with someone who should have been at DW too! Thank you very much.
Until next year.
Ivan
Fortunately, the clouds cleared, the planets aligned and I was able to hop a plane and head for OKC airport mid-week. Flying out like a pro rider is cool. The bikes, gear and tools had been there for a day already and all I had to do was take my body and my id to the plane.
Driving to Stillwater from OKC was quite easy. The landscape looked great and the weather was looking good too. The only complaint I had up to that point was my rental car. I'm used to a truck and this thing was a little 2-door coupe. Before I knew it I was doing 110 up I-35! I couldn't believe it but more unbelievable was that there was another car in front of me that was still walking away!
Oh well, at least I would get to Cooperland in time to ride a few laps.
Driving into the pits I noticed that there were a lot of people. It is hard to imagine the type of people you can meet from an Internet site like Dirtrider.net but I have to tell you that each and every person there was great. People were jumping over one another to help someone if needed. Whether it was a tool, air pump or simply to pick the bike up off a fallen rider help was only a few steps away in either direction.
I quickly found my pit location and my bikes. The Gomer clan had hauled my bikes from SC with their Funmover RV and had my bike sitting out and calling me. I jumped in the back of the trailer, changed clothes and jumped out to start my bike but it was already idling! Someone had cranked her up for me so it would be warm by the time I got dressed.
Navigating Cooperland’s big track was a challenge. I'm used to flatter tracks with longer jumps but not higher jumps. For the most part Cooperland is all table tops and step ups. However, overjumping the table top is scary! Each landing has a long downslope so overjumping is a very real possibility if you forget where you are on the track.
There is one step up on the course that has a take off about 20 feet high and from there to the top of the landing is another 80 feet or so UP! I was immediately intimidated by that jump but the better riders were all hitting it by the end of the week. Gomer had it nailed by the second day.
That night was spent bs'ing and talking about what was going to go on the rest of the week. I spent a little time meeting old friends and making a few new ones. I hit the bed early and rose in time for the riders meeting and a quick shower. I didn't ride too much that day. We had a tag team MX and I got to watch a bunch of riders go around the track faster than I could ever think of. One of those riders was the owner of the place, Chris. The kid can fly.
He was washing his bike at the time they were lining up for the race but we talked him into going for a spin with the racers. His bike wasn't ready so I offered my new CR450F. He jumped on it and in less than a lap he was putting the bike and the track through its paces! I was in awe at the speed he and Billy Frank showed as they whizzed by my flagging position on the finish line jump.
Then I realized, in comparison to Dubach (who would show up later), Cooper (who was there earlier in the week) and the top pro's these guys were off pace. What a perspective to realize. What a realization of my own spodeliness!! If they were off-pace what does that say about me? I guess it says the same basic thing it said about all of us. We enjoy riding; whether it is at Mach 1 like Dubach or at 50 feet up in the air like Kenny Bartram (who created a double out of two table tops) or just putting around the track pretending to know what I’m doing… we are all there for the same fun and hair raising experiences that only dirtbikes can bring.
After the tag team MX race I did a few laps and overjumped one of the table tops. It was a long way to the bottom where my groin came in contact with the gas cap and air seemed to be a precious rarity! By the time I had climbed up a small hill I had caught my breath but remained sore in that region for another few days.
Back in the pits the Gomer clan told me they needed some water for the RV and some gas for the bikes. I jump in with them and we head for a short ride to a dumpstation and then into Stillwater. The land driving in was nice, the lake at the dumpstation looked relaxing and the women from the local college were jumping all around and looking like young college women do... good!
Back in the pits with some groceries and gas we sit around bs'ing while Mrs. Gomer kindly cooks up some dinner. I remember thinking "how great is it to have such good friends?" Later that evening we headed out to a bonfire where I got to talk to Tony Eeds who was limping around on crutches. He told me his story that caused the broken toes and we talked a good bit.
Shortly after that a group broke out a guitar and started singing. They all had some talent and it made for some nice entertainment. It was also then that I started to miss my wife who absolutely loves music. I couldn't help but think how much she would have enjoyed the fire and the singing. That night I slept well despite the rain storm that battered the top of the trailer so hard I thought a ton of rocks were going to cave in on top of me. In the morning the ground was damp but the sky was clear and it looked like we would have a great day of riding.
I was sitting in the pits when Eric asked if he could race my 250F in the team Harescramble. I wasn't riding it much since I was trying to get used to the new 450 so I had no problem with it. Then he tried talking me into running the Harescramble with him. After a few minutes of consideration I decided to jump in and run it but only if we used the 250F for the entire race since the 450 doesn't have bark busters and I am not that used to it yet.
At the start we are joking around and carrying on. Then the first row lined up. In a team harescramble one person does a lap then the partner does a lap. The person coming in has to tap the rear tire of the partner. Since we were sharing a bike we had to swap off instead.
The first row took off like a barrel of pros. Off the line they went and then all of a sudden a few people rattled side to side. One guy went down hard and almost everyone waiting took off running to help the fallen rider! Fortunately, he gets up and is ok. At first he wanted to get back on the bike but about 5 of us did not let that happen and instead we put him on the back of a 4-wheeler to ride back to the start line where someone could check him out. We later find out he had a concussion but no broken bones.
The first lap went by quick. The woods were tight enough but not too tight. It ended with a big grass track loop that allowed the bikes to stretch their legs; 5th gear tapped and then hard on the brakes. As the first few riders came around one guy (I believe it was SFO) popped a wheelie and started clicking through the gears and accelerated. He dropped the nose just perfect before the small gully. At that point I saw my partner coming out of the woods and heading for the exchange point. As he came in I stuck my rear end out and gave him a target to bump! In a quick instant he was off the bike and I was on. Then I was in the woods and feeling good.
It had been awhile since I rode the 250F but I couldn't help but remember just how great a woods weapon the bike is. I was quickly gaining confidence and speed. Before I knew it I had tapped out my confidence and went into overconfidence and dumped the bike into the ground! I saw a guy up ahead watching and he had a camera. The bike was on its side with me under it but the bike was still running. I revved and revved the engine while laughing my head off. As I got up I passed the guy with the camera and yelled "I hope you got a picture!"
Later in the lap I came upon a fallen rider, Danman. A few guys and I stopped and he seemed to be ok after a few moments. He hit a big root in the trail and then a tree. He shook it off pretty well from what I could tell later in the day. A mile or so after leaving him and I was on the grass track. Once in the open field I had a blast revving the little thumper as high as I could and clicking into 5th gear down the straights. I have not ridden on many grass tracks and rarely have had the opportunity to sustain 5th gear in any ride I've been on so the grass track was a lot of fun. Of course, my friends made sure to correct my hind-end-over-the-rear-fender riding style that I thought was pretty stylish.
Eric took off like a lightning bolt after the exchange and I believe he picked up quite a few positions for us. He sure is fast in the woods and I feel sorry that he was partnered with a spode like me but in the end we both had fun and that is what really mattered. When he came out of the check this time he sped up and took off aiming right for me. He hit the brakes and did a stoppie all the way to me before we swapped bikes.
A couple laps later I was again on the bike but with more confidence since my previous attempt at the trail didn't have anyone fallen, most importantly myself, and I seemed to have gone faster than the first lap. Eric was having a blast and kept making up for the time I'd lose during my run.
On the second to last lap for me I got lapped by the leaders and tried keeping up a faster pace. Unfortunately, the trees surrounding the trail seemed to think I was moving too fast and they took me off the bike a few times. Then the trees got greedy and took my number plate on the last encounter! Fortunately, Jeremy (SOLO) went in and found the plate for me (what a pal!) so I could re-attach it later in the day.
Eric did a lap and re-gained one position I think before coming in and giving the bike to me to finish up the race with. I took off and despite the slight arm pump I was determined to pick off at least one rider. On a turn I came up on a couple slower riders but I am not sure if they were part of the lead lap or with me one lap down or if they were a lap farther down from that. It doesn't really matter because I had finally passed someone!
A little later I passed a guy who was picking up his bike. Then a guy on a yellow XR400 passed me. I thought he'd leave me but his clutch had broken off so I was able to keep with him until we got to the grass track. In the open field I was only able to match his pace and because of my horrible turning prowess he was able to pull a few bike lengths on me. Still I put my head down and tried to catch him before the finish. At that point I really wanted my 450! In the end I could not catch him but I came in all smiles and everyone around seemed to be smiling too.
Even the scorer, Mully was having a good time and tallying up the dot marks on the sheet. One dot represented each time a person scared him coming through the scoring lane. Each dot also represented the number of beers that person had to buy Mully because they scared him coming through the scoring lane. From the looks of things Mully should have been toasted by the end of the night.
After the Harescramble I did a few laps and then went into town where I could get a signal on my cell phone. I had realized I had a great time and I realized two other really important things...
1) I missed my wife and was bubbling at the opportunity to tell her about the riding I've done and the people I met.
2) I had so much to do around the house. I have to travel for work this month and will be gone too long so I knew I'd have to get back to take care of things.
With those realizations I went ahead and changed my flight plans so I could go home a day early. I wanted to stay but I wanted to spend one day with my wife before getting back to the grind of work, bills and everything else.
I did get to ride a little more before I left. I rode the track a little but did not have any speed or desire to jump much. Gomer on the other hand was doing the large step-up like it was the easiest jump out there. One time he over-jumped it by 20 feet and came back around smiling.
I also rode around chasing Gomer’s middle son, Ricky around the track. He was moving! His older brother Danny was riding really well too. I even got a chance to ride with Jeremy (SOLO) a couple times. Each of them seem to have picked up a bit of speed since I last rode with them.
I did not get a chance to ride with Lemming, SpokerAce or Julius Pleaser. I followed Lemming around a little here and there but he was always doing something else… like going faster than me. I did ride the grass field with Wrench later in the day and we had a blast. Just buzzing around and seeing how fast the bikes would go was a lot different than the 2nd and 3rd gear trail and track riding we are used to.
Before calling it a day I had the pleasure to meet Nikki and Red. Nikki seems to have a lot of enthusiasm and looked pretty happy. If Nikki ever gets tired of Red she needs to give me a call. I’m not really sure what I’d do with Red once she got tired of him but I’m sure he could change my air filters, oil and adjust my chain <g>.
Later in the day Gomer took an over-the-bars excursion that left him sore in the back and knees. He also suffered a dented silencer on the bottom side of the silencer. How his butt hit that nobody knows!
I ended my DW with a trip through the pits trying to say hi to everyone I could. I met Jaybird and despite running at him with a fist he just sat there smiling. It was really good meeting him and everyone else that I met... BSWIFT, MX727, Oldguy, Danman, Zoomer, the many lurkers and hanging with all that I've met before. Also, Patman finally took the time to talk to me. Earlier in the day at the group picture I asked the pantless wonder for a hug and he rebuffed me! Of course, I’m not sure he realized who was under the helmet when I asked. Later that night though I got to see him, his wife and his son again. It was good seeing them and joking about Patman shunning me earlier in the day.
Special thanks goes out to the Gomer clan and Eric for all that they did for me through the week. What a great bunch of friends. Also, thanks to the Heartland Spodes for all that they did. Finally, thanks to Okie, Scooter, Pokie, Thump, Billy, Patman, Oldguy, Nikki, Speedy and the rest of the Moderators and Admins that have given me a home and a place where I feel like I'm part of a family. The comraderie and friendship that I have with you guys is important and played a huge roll in my realization that I should go home a day early to spend time with someone who should have been at DW too! Thank you very much.
Until next year.
Ivan