justalonewolf007
Member
- Apr 30, 2007
- 657
- 0
Yesterday's was epic! Larimore is a track that is built into/using a hill, kinda like a mini Millville for those of you who have ever visited it. But it was foggy as all get-out when I got there, so we had to delay practice. Also, half the track happened to be standing water.
I signed up anyways thinking the worst that would happen is I'd have to get off and push, or that they'd call the race and I'd get my jing back. As we looked over the track, and the fog stuck around, about 1/4 of the racers pulled out and/or left right after the drivers meeting. Finally, the fog lifted enough and we sent out the big quads to dry up the track.
Four of 'em got stuck in the first corner. Once that got unjammed, they couldn't make it up the hill. It was extra funny, but it also gave me the "oh...crap" feeling, since it wasn't exactly a steep hill. Finally, they pulled them off and started modifying the track a little. They pushed a ton of the mud off (they'd been doing that dangnear all night), and cut off that uphill loop, and shortened a couple corners. Then they sent out the quads again. They barely made it through, but things looked more hopeful.
Then they sent out the big bikes. Only 20 of them showed up to practice out of the 50 or more that were there. This was pretty lame because they didn't want to get their bikes dirty or ride in the mud, but we needed them to make a few lines and dry things out faster.
Then they sent the women out. This was pretty comical because I don't think I've ever ridden in such muddy conditions before, without any sort of a rut to follow. I rolled with it though, and hauled out of the practice line on my back wheel just to show that I wasn't a pansy. I made the first couple turns okay, then things got really silly.
I had reached the lower half of the track, and there wasn't a single line to be found. It was all cross rutted, and slick clay. My rear wheel kept swinging out at some random moments, and turning the front wheel didn't do jack beans. My poor braaper just pushed through, mostly sideways and never quite in the direction I wanted to go.
I finally got partially up on a berm (bike wanted to go there I guess) and I lost enough momentum that I was fully stopped in 2nd gear wide open. That's a pretty funny feeling. I took the power away, and idled for a moment to evaluate my situation, and just what the heck I should try next. "Go" seemed like a good idea so I dumped it into first and eased the clutch and tried to walk things out. My back wheel whipped down hill and now I was facing the berm at a 90 degree angle.
At this point, I was laughing my head off, because things were getting plain old silly. With a "well screw it." I decided to ride up over the berm and ride on the grass to get around the corner. That failed, and I finally started tipping. I tried to save it, but it was muddy enough that my foot slipped out too, and I found myself laying flat out in the mud with my bike.
It was a little struggle picking the bike up, since it was about 50 pounds heavier than normal with all the mud I'd acquired. They had about 4 guys on wheelers raging around to help all the riders out, but I was back on top of things by the time one of them got to me. I made the rest of the lap with a bunch of near crashes, still going almost sideways through the entire track.
I dumped it the next lap in the same friggan' place. This time the guy was waiting for me, and I let him help since I was getting pretty tired. My hands were already hurting from working the clutch and throttle since there was a stupid amount of shifting and slipping going on to keep things in the powerband. The next lap I made without crashing, which was a miracle (I happen to love miracles). The three laps I had just made were probably the three hardest laps I've ever done in my life, not to mention that I was the only one who managed to finish all three laps.
I had help pushing my bike back to the pits, but even that guy couldn't get my bike back on the stand with all the mud I'd picked up. It was just that heavy. I documented the mud, then started the long process of scraping it off. It took a full hour.
Yes folks, it was sure muddy.
Long story short is that we raged out for the 1st moto with kinda sloppy conditions, but good ruts. I got a crappy start, and hit the first corner in third, chick on a 250 in first place went down. I raged past the 2nd place chick a few corners later over some jumps, and it felt awesome. I haven't ridden in first place for years (two to be exact!)!
Turns out I held that 1st place and took the checkered flag. I was extra stoked to say the least.
In fact, my sponsor was there and saw it too. She was so excited she even cried a little, which was awkward. Lots of people that I've seen around but never talked to were also stoked for my win. That was pretty cool too.
By the 2nd moto, the track was actually perfect. I was still so stoked about my win that I didn't care if I went down and couldn't get things started and took last. In the end, I didn't fall, and I didn't take last, but I sure couldn't catch that 250 chick. She's been handing me my butt all year, so it was to be expected that she'd beat me. I was cool with second, and second is what I got overall for the day.
Awesome end of the season for sure. Despite being one of the series underdogs in the women's class, I usually come out on top somehow!
Thanks and full credit to #78 Coleby Viskup.
Moto 2 shots.
887 had a little struggle going on here. I didn't know about her crash until I saw these pics.
Normally I don't wear the pink jersey. It's too big, so I stretched it on over my chest protector/roost guard to try keep it clean since I knew things were going to get really dirty. It's a lot easier to throw that in the wash than try scrape out all the venting holes on the CP. I figure it brought me good luck beings as it was actually a gift.
I signed up anyways thinking the worst that would happen is I'd have to get off and push, or that they'd call the race and I'd get my jing back. As we looked over the track, and the fog stuck around, about 1/4 of the racers pulled out and/or left right after the drivers meeting. Finally, the fog lifted enough and we sent out the big quads to dry up the track.
Four of 'em got stuck in the first corner. Once that got unjammed, they couldn't make it up the hill. It was extra funny, but it also gave me the "oh...crap" feeling, since it wasn't exactly a steep hill. Finally, they pulled them off and started modifying the track a little. They pushed a ton of the mud off (they'd been doing that dangnear all night), and cut off that uphill loop, and shortened a couple corners. Then they sent out the quads again. They barely made it through, but things looked more hopeful.
Then they sent out the big bikes. Only 20 of them showed up to practice out of the 50 or more that were there. This was pretty lame because they didn't want to get their bikes dirty or ride in the mud, but we needed them to make a few lines and dry things out faster.
Then they sent the women out. This was pretty comical because I don't think I've ever ridden in such muddy conditions before, without any sort of a rut to follow. I rolled with it though, and hauled out of the practice line on my back wheel just to show that I wasn't a pansy. I made the first couple turns okay, then things got really silly.
I had reached the lower half of the track, and there wasn't a single line to be found. It was all cross rutted, and slick clay. My rear wheel kept swinging out at some random moments, and turning the front wheel didn't do jack beans. My poor braaper just pushed through, mostly sideways and never quite in the direction I wanted to go.
I finally got partially up on a berm (bike wanted to go there I guess) and I lost enough momentum that I was fully stopped in 2nd gear wide open. That's a pretty funny feeling. I took the power away, and idled for a moment to evaluate my situation, and just what the heck I should try next. "Go" seemed like a good idea so I dumped it into first and eased the clutch and tried to walk things out. My back wheel whipped down hill and now I was facing the berm at a 90 degree angle.
At this point, I was laughing my head off, because things were getting plain old silly. With a "well screw it." I decided to ride up over the berm and ride on the grass to get around the corner. That failed, and I finally started tipping. I tried to save it, but it was muddy enough that my foot slipped out too, and I found myself laying flat out in the mud with my bike.
It was a little struggle picking the bike up, since it was about 50 pounds heavier than normal with all the mud I'd acquired. They had about 4 guys on wheelers raging around to help all the riders out, but I was back on top of things by the time one of them got to me. I made the rest of the lap with a bunch of near crashes, still going almost sideways through the entire track.
I dumped it the next lap in the same friggan' place. This time the guy was waiting for me, and I let him help since I was getting pretty tired. My hands were already hurting from working the clutch and throttle since there was a stupid amount of shifting and slipping going on to keep things in the powerband. The next lap I made without crashing, which was a miracle (I happen to love miracles). The three laps I had just made were probably the three hardest laps I've ever done in my life, not to mention that I was the only one who managed to finish all three laps.
I had help pushing my bike back to the pits, but even that guy couldn't get my bike back on the stand with all the mud I'd picked up. It was just that heavy. I documented the mud, then started the long process of scraping it off. It took a full hour.
Yes folks, it was sure muddy.
Long story short is that we raged out for the 1st moto with kinda sloppy conditions, but good ruts. I got a crappy start, and hit the first corner in third, chick on a 250 in first place went down. I raged past the 2nd place chick a few corners later over some jumps, and it felt awesome. I haven't ridden in first place for years (two to be exact!)!
Turns out I held that 1st place and took the checkered flag. I was extra stoked to say the least.
In fact, my sponsor was there and saw it too. She was so excited she even cried a little, which was awkward. Lots of people that I've seen around but never talked to were also stoked for my win. That was pretty cool too.
By the 2nd moto, the track was actually perfect. I was still so stoked about my win that I didn't care if I went down and couldn't get things started and took last. In the end, I didn't fall, and I didn't take last, but I sure couldn't catch that 250 chick. She's been handing me my butt all year, so it was to be expected that she'd beat me. I was cool with second, and second is what I got overall for the day.
Awesome end of the season for sure. Despite being one of the series underdogs in the women's class, I usually come out on top somehow!
Thanks and full credit to #78 Coleby Viskup.
Moto 2 shots.
887 had a little struggle going on here. I didn't know about her crash until I saw these pics.
Normally I don't wear the pink jersey. It's too big, so I stretched it on over my chest protector/roost guard to try keep it clean since I knew things were going to get really dirty. It's a lot easier to throw that in the wash than try scrape out all the venting holes on the CP. I figure it brought me good luck beings as it was actually a gift.
