- Aug 2, 2000
- 13,504
- 19
I finally dun did it. I took Vic up to Airway Heights and raced the annual Spring Mud Fling tag team hare scramble, and I just gotta say "WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING RACING THAT XR400!?!?!?"
Anyhow, we get all signed up and it's time to do the sighting in "parade lap". I notice how much more whooped out the course is getting, but I feel a lot less of it than I used to on the XR. We get to a straight section and I decide to open Vic up a bit. Well, lemme tell ya, it don't take near as long to get up a few MPH with the 525 as it did with the ol' 400. I am lovin' it!
So we get to the MX track portion of the course. The track is laid out with some fairly tame rhythm sections and tabletops. I get up to one tabletop, and I discover it's not! It's a freakin' double and I've committed! I brace for impact, and feel none! "What the hell?!?" I'm thinking, "I just jumped and it didnt' hurt!" Gotta love suspension.
So we get done with the lap, and I get to start. Dead engine start. And I got the happy button :) Turns out I need to work on my technique a bit, but even though I came off next to last, I was in third by the first turn. I held my own for the lap, got passed by one guy, passed another, and tagged off. I lost count of how many laps I rode (it's a 3 hour race), but I for damn sure noticed how I can jump and hammer through whooped out rocky sections with ease, where I used to plod along on the Ol' Earth Pig.
After all was said and done, this is one of the few times my "team" came in something other than last, and it wasn't even because someone broke down! Now I got the bike, it's time to work on the rider :eek:
Anyhow, we get all signed up and it's time to do the sighting in "parade lap". I notice how much more whooped out the course is getting, but I feel a lot less of it than I used to on the XR. We get to a straight section and I decide to open Vic up a bit. Well, lemme tell ya, it don't take near as long to get up a few MPH with the 525 as it did with the ol' 400. I am lovin' it!
So we get to the MX track portion of the course. The track is laid out with some fairly tame rhythm sections and tabletops. I get up to one tabletop, and I discover it's not! It's a freakin' double and I've committed! I brace for impact, and feel none! "What the hell?!?" I'm thinking, "I just jumped and it didnt' hurt!" Gotta love suspension.
So we get done with the lap, and I get to start. Dead engine start. And I got the happy button :) Turns out I need to work on my technique a bit, but even though I came off next to last, I was in third by the first turn. I held my own for the lap, got passed by one guy, passed another, and tagged off. I lost count of how many laps I rode (it's a 3 hour race), but I for damn sure noticed how I can jump and hammer through whooped out rocky sections with ease, where I used to plod along on the Ol' Earth Pig.
After all was said and done, this is one of the few times my "team" came in something other than last, and it wasn't even because someone broke down! Now I got the bike, it's time to work on the rider :eek:
