- Oct 20, 2000
- 2,963
- 2
Mx547 & I have been sending PM’s to each other about his daughter Kendall’s upcoming LL qualifier at Freestone that happens to be about an hour from my house. Kendall and Jay have invited my daughter Tigger (Hailey) to come race with her that day. I told Jay that Tigger raced a couple of times after DW03 and sort of lost interest in racing. She loves to ride but said she cares nothing about racing anymore. I know Tigger would love to see Kendall but there’s no way she will race. After several more PM’s Jay suggested I post this in the open forums for all to see. Here it is and it’s long.
Even though Tigger hasn’t been riding much at all she was rapidly out growing her 65. Those of you that have met Tigger know she’s tall on spirit but short everywhere else. She must have hit a growth spurt because she was beginning to resemble that dude on the tricycle on the old TV show “Laugh In.” I found a guy that had purchased an 85 for his son but it was too big for him. We swapped her 65 even up for it in January. 20-degree weather and she had no problem leaning it over to kick-start it. After a few fast runs in the field behind their house, we closed the deal. We brought the bike home where it sat ever since. Oh sure it went to the track every time we did but she never wanted to ride when we got there. Back in the trailer it would go. It finally got to the point that I told her I was going to sell it. She rebutted with the “I love to ride!” I told her she’d better get with it then. She’d come back with a “I don’t want to ride it at the local track!” I knew why, she talks a lot of smack with the boys out there and she for sure didn’t want them to catch her learning to ride all over.
Another PM between Jay & I and I came up with a plan. It was a little after 10pm Friday night when I woke up Tigger on the couch and told her we were going camping. She said "when?" I said "Right Now!" I had already loaded everything up and we hit the track about midnight. Not much to do at that point but go to sleep. Before we drifted off I told her we were getting up early and we both were riding. She said "sure!" :fft:
Saturday came bright and early and it was a beautiful day. I shook her a few times and said "get your gear on, your bike is ready." She hem-hawed around and complained that her boots were too tight, her pants were too short, her goggles were scratched and she hated her gloves. Out to the bike. The bike that she had no problem test riding in the 20-degree weather all of a sudden now was too tall for her to start. I carried my bike stand over to her and said to prop one foot up on it. After fumbling around a bit she finally kicked it over and started her 2-stroke warm up process. Now Tigger always starts out in 2nd gear, 1st is for wussies. She pulls in the clutch and shifts into 2nd and it dies. "I hate this thing,” she said. After rocking it around for what seemed like an eternity she gets it back into neutral, all the while I'm patiently 20' from her waiting with a smile. She gets it running again, all the while sounding like the dog Mutly. I couldn't hear what she was mumbling but it was probably just as well. The two of us take off toward the back section of the rear track where no one would see us. We took a couple of slow laps before heading on to the other track. After a lap or two she headed back to the RV. I followed. I said what are you doing? That's when I was informed she had to pee. I didn't think she had enough time to take care of business before she was back out the door and on the bike. A few more laps and she was running at a pretty good pace, even managed to catch a little air on a few jumps. I asked if she felt comfortable on the bike and she said "yes, it's great and I love it." I told her I was going to take a few hot laps and the next thing I noticed she was chasing down a couple of boys on the track. One was on a 65 and the other on a 150. Every time she would pass they would cut the track to get back in front of her for her to only pass them again through the whoops. By this time it was afternoon and I was in need of a nap. The two of us peeled off gear and quickly drifted off to sleep. I woke before her and headed up to the front of the track to visit with friends. When I came back she and her bike were gone. She was chasing down the boys again and getting frustrated that they were cheating as she put it.
I began to follow and push her a bit and every turn she hugged the inside and rode wide. She had to have gone to the Mx547 School of offensive riding. Then came the dreaded moment. Over the double and to the inside she went with me taking the outside at a much quicker pace. Her natural competitiveness started to shine through as she washed out in the turn from waiting way too late to brake. Road rash on the forearm, bars to the sternum, and graphics peeled from the radiator shroud, she was on the ground gasping for air. She didn’t appear to be a happy camper! I thought perhaps that was the end of the day but I was surprised. It took her a littler while to catch her breath and back to the track she went. It was time to school the 2 boys before they went home. Darkness was approaching and I flagged her down. My initial plan was to only spend about half a day riding because I had so many other things to get done at home. I told her it was time to load up and head to the house. Now I couldn’t get her off the track. She said she wanted to stay another night so she could ride Sunday. I didn’t bring enough food I told her. How can you argue with a 13-year-old girl? In to town we would go.
We got back to the track Saturday night about 10pm and Tigger cooked Salisbury steak while I built a campfire. After a great dinner around the fire, somewhere around 1am, Tigger said "Watching the campfire is better than any show I have ever seen on TV!" She also said it’s so quiet and peaceful here and she never wanted to leave. I was also informed it was the happiest day of her life spending time alone with the person that means the most to her. Made me feel kind of special. :cool: Don't know what time we went to bed but I'm guessing it was after 2am.
Sunday morning came much too early, I was sleepy and groggy. We ended up going through almost 7 gallons of C12 and any reserve energy this old fart had left before she lost a plug. Bike didn’t quit but it sure was coughing and sputtering to the point that she was complaining. It made her upset that her bike wasn’t running good because she wasn’t finished riding. Go figure???
It’s Monday night and she has already made me take her to the auto parts store so she could get a plug, with a spare, for her bike. She put it in herself too. She has a party to go to next Friday but I’ve been informed that it gets dark later now and we have time to ride during the week and we have all day next Saturday and Sunday. Better get some more gas!
I honestly don’t thing she has any intentions of racing with Kendall at the LL qualifier but she did say she needed me to help her with her starts. Regardless what happens, she will be there to cheer on Kendall, be it from the sidelines or two gates over at Freestone
Even though Tigger hasn’t been riding much at all she was rapidly out growing her 65. Those of you that have met Tigger know she’s tall on spirit but short everywhere else. She must have hit a growth spurt because she was beginning to resemble that dude on the tricycle on the old TV show “Laugh In.” I found a guy that had purchased an 85 for his son but it was too big for him. We swapped her 65 even up for it in January. 20-degree weather and she had no problem leaning it over to kick-start it. After a few fast runs in the field behind their house, we closed the deal. We brought the bike home where it sat ever since. Oh sure it went to the track every time we did but she never wanted to ride when we got there. Back in the trailer it would go. It finally got to the point that I told her I was going to sell it. She rebutted with the “I love to ride!” I told her she’d better get with it then. She’d come back with a “I don’t want to ride it at the local track!” I knew why, she talks a lot of smack with the boys out there and she for sure didn’t want them to catch her learning to ride all over.
Another PM between Jay & I and I came up with a plan. It was a little after 10pm Friday night when I woke up Tigger on the couch and told her we were going camping. She said "when?" I said "Right Now!" I had already loaded everything up and we hit the track about midnight. Not much to do at that point but go to sleep. Before we drifted off I told her we were getting up early and we both were riding. She said "sure!" :fft:
Saturday came bright and early and it was a beautiful day. I shook her a few times and said "get your gear on, your bike is ready." She hem-hawed around and complained that her boots were too tight, her pants were too short, her goggles were scratched and she hated her gloves. Out to the bike. The bike that she had no problem test riding in the 20-degree weather all of a sudden now was too tall for her to start. I carried my bike stand over to her and said to prop one foot up on it. After fumbling around a bit she finally kicked it over and started her 2-stroke warm up process. Now Tigger always starts out in 2nd gear, 1st is for wussies. She pulls in the clutch and shifts into 2nd and it dies. "I hate this thing,” she said. After rocking it around for what seemed like an eternity she gets it back into neutral, all the while I'm patiently 20' from her waiting with a smile. She gets it running again, all the while sounding like the dog Mutly. I couldn't hear what she was mumbling but it was probably just as well. The two of us take off toward the back section of the rear track where no one would see us. We took a couple of slow laps before heading on to the other track. After a lap or two she headed back to the RV. I followed. I said what are you doing? That's when I was informed she had to pee. I didn't think she had enough time to take care of business before she was back out the door and on the bike. A few more laps and she was running at a pretty good pace, even managed to catch a little air on a few jumps. I asked if she felt comfortable on the bike and she said "yes, it's great and I love it." I told her I was going to take a few hot laps and the next thing I noticed she was chasing down a couple of boys on the track. One was on a 65 and the other on a 150. Every time she would pass they would cut the track to get back in front of her for her to only pass them again through the whoops. By this time it was afternoon and I was in need of a nap. The two of us peeled off gear and quickly drifted off to sleep. I woke before her and headed up to the front of the track to visit with friends. When I came back she and her bike were gone. She was chasing down the boys again and getting frustrated that they were cheating as she put it.
I began to follow and push her a bit and every turn she hugged the inside and rode wide. She had to have gone to the Mx547 School of offensive riding. Then came the dreaded moment. Over the double and to the inside she went with me taking the outside at a much quicker pace. Her natural competitiveness started to shine through as she washed out in the turn from waiting way too late to brake. Road rash on the forearm, bars to the sternum, and graphics peeled from the radiator shroud, she was on the ground gasping for air. She didn’t appear to be a happy camper! I thought perhaps that was the end of the day but I was surprised. It took her a littler while to catch her breath and back to the track she went. It was time to school the 2 boys before they went home. Darkness was approaching and I flagged her down. My initial plan was to only spend about half a day riding because I had so many other things to get done at home. I told her it was time to load up and head to the house. Now I couldn’t get her off the track. She said she wanted to stay another night so she could ride Sunday. I didn’t bring enough food I told her. How can you argue with a 13-year-old girl? In to town we would go.
We got back to the track Saturday night about 10pm and Tigger cooked Salisbury steak while I built a campfire. After a great dinner around the fire, somewhere around 1am, Tigger said "Watching the campfire is better than any show I have ever seen on TV!" She also said it’s so quiet and peaceful here and she never wanted to leave. I was also informed it was the happiest day of her life spending time alone with the person that means the most to her. Made me feel kind of special. :cool: Don't know what time we went to bed but I'm guessing it was after 2am.
Sunday morning came much too early, I was sleepy and groggy. We ended up going through almost 7 gallons of C12 and any reserve energy this old fart had left before she lost a plug. Bike didn’t quit but it sure was coughing and sputtering to the point that she was complaining. It made her upset that her bike wasn’t running good because she wasn’t finished riding. Go figure???
It’s Monday night and she has already made me take her to the auto parts store so she could get a plug, with a spare, for her bike. She put it in herself too. She has a party to go to next Friday but I’ve been informed that it gets dark later now and we have time to ride during the week and we have all day next Saturday and Sunday. Better get some more gas!
I honestly don’t thing she has any intentions of racing with Kendall at the LL qualifier but she did say she needed me to help her with her starts. Regardless what happens, she will be there to cheer on Kendall, be it from the sidelines or two gates over at Freestone
