A couple of weeks ago YZEater IM'd me and asked if I wanted to race the VA Championship Hare Scrambe Series round at Budd's Creek MD. I'd never raced anything like that or really been near a national level track, so was a bit nervous, but accepted. We agreed to meet at the track on race day and take it from there. My wife, son and some good friends loaded up all of our gear, the bike (after a minor hassle with a tire) and headed out late Saturday evening. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express a few miles away from Budd's Creek. Over night the temps dropped considerably from the comfortable 70's, but warmed up nicely as the sun came up. We got signed up and entered into the 200cc and below "C" class. The track was beautiful and a real rush to experience for a guy who usually stays in the woods. Our class was allowed a parade lap which helped out my case of the jitters since they didn't allow us any time for practice runs. The course was a full lap on the MX track, into the woods for about 4 miles, then out onto a dirt track oval and back on to the MX track. The start was a rush and for those of you who consistantly race MX/AX/SC my hat's off to you cause that first turn came up fast. I got stuck behind a small pile up, managed to get around them and on my way. It seemed like every other person on the track was passing me but things settled down a bit by the time I hit the woodline. I had lost YZEater at the start and figured that he was ahead of me someplace. I got behind a dude on a 2 stroke KTM and managed to run a good pace once I got in the trees and back into my comfort zone. The trail was really great and pretty fast every thing was going well, except that I wasn't really pacing myself very well and started to fall behind from the Ka-Toom rider. We passed a couple of downed riders, one kid missed a turn at the top of a hill, his bike kept on going but a tree cleared him off the bike, it was a bad get off. I popped out of the woods and onto the dirt track oval, which was a great place to wind it out and shake out my pumped up arms. I couldn't imagine throwing my bike sideways and skidding around the oval! The second lap on the MX track was a little bit quicker for me and the traffic was a bit thinner. When I hit the woods I was a little bit tired, the trail had deteriated a lot and I got sloppy. I crashed three times that lap. The worst one for me was as I was coming down a hill where the trail was a tight single track. At the base the marked trail was a very narrow and deep rut with roots in it. My bike stopped on a dime and I went over the handle bars landing in the soft stuff more than a bit surprised. I rolled over and sat up and a dude rolled up and asked me if I was alright. I managed to get to my feet without incident and he took off. I spend the next ten minutes trying to free my bike while digging with a stick. I finally got it loose and remounted feeling drained. I took off again and got to the worst part of the trail where it crossed a creek and immediatly went up a decent sized hill. The creek was now a mud pit and the hill was very slick to climb. There was a decent bottle neck while we took turns throwing ourselves at the hill, I welcomed the short rest and somehow managed to make it up the hill. The third lap came pretty quickly and would be the last one. I managed to make it all the way back to the creek crossing without crashing. By the time I hit the creek again the hill was crowed with spectators who were helping riders up. I sat for a moment looking for an alternate way up when YZEater showed up, he'd crashed 8 times which had done much to slow down his time. But, he looked like he was having a blast and nothing was broken on him or his bike so off we went. It took me two attempts to climb the hill but managed to make it and get back out on the dirt track and then the MX track where I crashed. I laid the bike down on the inside of a corner and managed to get my leg stuck under the bike for a moment, I got free but not before having another rider run over my back tire. I got to my feet and got going again, timed in and was told the race was over. I'm pretty sure I placed closer to last then middle, but I was smiling like I placed first. I had a great day and really appreciate YZEater and his family and friends who really helped us out with learning our way around and explaining to my wife what was going on. Thank you very much! I'm looking forward to doing this again sometime soon!
VCHSS-Budd's Creek(my first HS)
- Thread starter Moose95
- Start date
That was awesome Matt! We got there at 9AM (we arrived at 7AM last year, and that was just too much time). The registration line took us until 10:25 (ya...rather long), so I just had time to put the EZ-UP up and change. 0 time to do a check of my bike (It's all good ;)). The parade lap was lots of fun, it's really cool to be able to take it easy on the mx track. I tried hitting the first table (I'm not generally a jumpin kinda guy), and I went completely vertical. The start was dead engine, and we didn't use the gates (unlike the past two years). I got in mid pack, relatively good for ole Stephen here. The mx section was just fine for me...no crashes. I had a slightly harder time in the woods :flame: . 5 crashes on my first lap.
My problem is that when people are around me (there were 270 ppl in the race), I get stressed, and I tend to rush, which leads to more crashing. In general they weren't too bad, but one in particular scared me. A couple faster riders wanted to get by me on this uphill section. So I did the curtious thing, I pulled over to the right of the trail. On this particular trail, there was a downed log off to the right. Once the faster riders passed me, I went to cut back across the log. Front end didn't want to, and I ended up with my back on the log, bike across my chest, and my head and shoulders in the middle of the trail. Not the MOST fun! I managed to slide the bike off and get going before long. The first time we hit the flat track section, I tried to brake slide corner 1. Not a good idea, fyi. I high sided and almost completely lost it. By the end of the race I'd lost all energy (Matt can attest to this, he had to lift my bike onto the stand for the pic). I finished 47 out of the 61 in our class. I'm not unhappy with that at all, because it was just for fun. Your group was awesome Matt, thanks for making it out with me!
<BTW, that cocky guy on the 200EXC behind us before the parade lap had a bike failure :)>
My problem is that when people are around me (there were 270 ppl in the race), I get stressed, and I tend to rush, which leads to more crashing. In general they weren't too bad, but one in particular scared me. A couple faster riders wanted to get by me on this uphill section. So I did the curtious thing, I pulled over to the right of the trail. On this particular trail, there was a downed log off to the right. Once the faster riders passed me, I went to cut back across the log. Front end didn't want to, and I ended up with my back on the log, bike across my chest, and my head and shoulders in the middle of the trail. Not the MOST fun! I managed to slide the bike off and get going before long. The first time we hit the flat track section, I tried to brake slide corner 1. Not a good idea, fyi. I high sided and almost completely lost it. By the end of the race I'd lost all energy (Matt can attest to this, he had to lift my bike onto the stand for the pic). I finished 47 out of the 61 in our class. I'm not unhappy with that at all, because it was just for fun. Your group was awesome Matt, thanks for making it out with me!
<BTW, that cocky guy on the 200EXC behind us before the parade lap had a bike failure :)>
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Glad to see you had a great time. It was a great day. It was good to meet you and talk with you at the race. The guy with me (Keith) won his ever first trophy, and was pumped. The VCHSS series is a great series. Check out their Web site for results, schedule, lap times, there is even a message board: http://www.vchss.org We are probably going to try and hit all of the events in mid and eastern Va. The next one is on the 27th around Richmond. Catch you soon, Howlan
The results from the race were just posted on VCHSS's site...
Place, Number, Laps, Finishing time, Difference, Name, Avg Speed, Lap 1, 2, 3
043 842 3 12:57:13.91 03:54 MATTHEW 11.62 23:42 21:23 40:08
047 854 3 13:01:14.27 00:14 STEPHEN 11.09 27:54 21:00 40:20
Here's Dan's (the guy who came with me) info...he's better than us ;)
007 855 4 12:42:48.30 00:03 DANIEL 18.64 17:56 16:42 16:54 19:16
Notice how slow our last laps were, I think we both know why that was (can you say mud pit?) :p
Place, Number, Laps, Finishing time, Difference, Name, Avg Speed, Lap 1, 2, 3
043 842 3 12:57:13.91 03:54 MATTHEW 11.62 23:42 21:23 40:08
047 854 3 13:01:14.27 00:14 STEPHEN 11.09 27:54 21:00 40:20
Here's Dan's (the guy who came with me) info...he's better than us ;)
007 855 4 12:42:48.30 00:03 DANIEL 18.64 17:56 16:42 16:54 19:16
Notice how slow our last laps were, I think we both know why that was (can you say mud pit?) :p
Yes, that was us with the two KTMs. I spoke with Moose95 a couple of times. Enjoyed talking with Moose95, don't think I met you? We had a blast. We are from Wilson, NC right off I-95. We can get up to the races in VA faster than most of the NC races as they are in the western part of NC. We hope to make a few of the races in the VCHSS series this year. We rode a couple of the races last year, and had really enjoyed it.
Does this look familiar Howlan?
It was in the corner of one of our pics :)
http://members.cox.net/steverdog/DSCN1570.jpg
It was in the corner of one of our pics :)
http://members.cox.net/steverdog/DSCN1570.jpg
- Thread starter
- #13
Hi Howard good to hear from you! I just sent you the pics that we managed to get sized down. I'm still having trouble getting them to fit on this page though :| I'm working on getting a bunch of folks together for the Petersburg Race, looking forward to seeing you and Keith again, Thanks for the help with the goggles!
Hey guys glad to hear you had a good time! :thumb: I raced MX at Budds for about 4yrs, and have raced the HS race twice. Jon Beasly does do a great job w/the MX track, but as you guys I'm sure noticed he could do something alittle bit differently about the mud holes/creek crossings. I couldn't help but noticed that neither one of you guys had bark buster........brave men! :scream: Again glad to hear you had fun it is a blast to race there, and if you get the oppertunity the VCHSS series is a great one. I raced w/them off and on for a couple yrs, very well organized and a great bunch of folks.
High Lord Gomer
Poked with Sticks
- Sep 26, 1999
- 11,788
- 35
Great write up...I got nervous just reading it!
- Thread starter
- #16
Hi Bryan, I do have a set of FRP BB's, but it came down to either fixing the front tire or installing them the day prior to the race. I opted for the tire, but during the race cursed that decision, next time I hope to be better prepared ;)
- Thread starter
- #19
Glad to hear that you got the pics Howard. It looks like there are three possibly four of us here that will do the Petersburg race. How about it Steven, can you make it down here in June for this one? We may not hang together but we can all pit and bench race at the same pace! :)
I didn't know there where so many people from this site at the race. I'm glad everyone had a good time. I've done a couple h/s's there before, but that was my first time on the mx track. Talk about showing up late, Budds Creek didn't post the change in time for a seperate C race on there site. We didn't show up till 10:30, my buddy who rode in the A race had to sign me up. I didn't get my bar code for my helmet till after the parade lap. The big mud hole got so bad they rerouted the course for the A/B race. Anyway I wish Budd's had more than one race a year that covered there entire complex.
Yeah, I was the one. I rode in 250c on a kdx 220, my D7 no. on my bike is 902. I don't rember my VCHSS no. I believe I took 30th in my class, not that great. But I still had a blast out there can't wait till next year. If it wasn't for that mud hole swallowing my bike on the last lap, I might have done better. It took three people to help me pull it out. I'm glad they split up the race's. I enjoyed watching the AA riders fly over the mx track.
