FRIDAY
Thank goodness the race was so close to home, cause we had problems left and right on Friday. We planned on being at the track at least by 10am??????????????? and showed up around noon. We couldn??????????????????t get our hands on some Av-gas, we still needed to rinse off the bikes, and because of a knock-off battery, we had to drive back home to get the battery charger (which was sitting in plain sight before we left the first time around).
My quad..
After the hustle, we finally show up to the track. Krash and I were both going to be racing my newly rebuilt Cannondale (yeah!!), and CannondaleRider was borrowing krash??????????????????s Cannondale while his own quad is being built (will be ready for Round 2). I was the first to take the quad out on the MX track. My first thoughts.. ????????????????Wow, this front end feels really good?????????????????????????????? second thoughts (about a minute later).. ????????????????Holy crap, I??????????????????m gonna die.??????????????? I guess I??????????????????m in worse shape than I thought I was in, cause I was huffin?????????????????? and puffin?????????????????? and literally stopping to blow the snot out of my nose.. wonderful image, I??????????????????m sure. But, the snot wasn??????????????????t the problem for me.. there was a lovely spudder on the bottom end (mapping???), so every time I made a corner, the bike hesitated. Sh*tty.
The Maxxis Truck showed up.. It was sweet.
I take the quad back to our truck and let krash know how it??????????????????s acting.. and he gives me this look and giggle, like ????????????????well, that??????????????????s probably cause you spend all day in the bottom end, slow poke.??????????????? He takes it out for some practice, comes back, looks at me and says, ????????????????That spudder sucks!!??????????????? I couldn??????????????????t help but laugh, but at the same time I was pissed because we couldn??????????????????t do anything to change it. So, I??????????????????m thinking the odds are good that I??????????????????ll get my a$$ handed to me by race-time tomorrow.
Another problem? A bad batch of lock-tight was letting our tie-rod ends come loose.. So Friday night, freezing cold (well, cold for Arizona), we??????????????????re out in the front yard putting new lock-tight on all tie-rod ends while CannondaleRider stickers up his plastic.
SATURDAY
We get a late start on the 7:30am unclassified race??????????????? krash goes first to check out the off-road section. I get geared up and wait back at camp and, yet again, hear the announcer excitedly say, ????????????????The checkered flag is out for the unclassified race!??????????????? JEEZ! I need all the help I can get here! Little did I know, more sh*t was gonna hit the fan.
CannondaleRider needed to jerry-rig his starter solenoid, and krash jumped in to help. Their first race (Production A) was starting at 9:15am, so I got to the starting line to film the action. The green flag isn??????????????????t far away.. CannondaleRider is on the line, but krash and my quad are no where to be seen. Ohhh, no. CannondaleRider and the rest of Production A takes off without him. Ahhh, crap!! Turns out, the bike wouldn??????????????????t start. Fuel pump, relay?? We don??????????????????t know. On top of feeling bad for krash, my bike might not be ready for Race 7 (Women??????????????????s B/C) at 3:30pm. Long story short, it wasn??????????????????t. My only other option was to use krash??????????????????s quad??????????????? BUT, CannondaleRider??????????????????s next race on krash??????????????????s quad was right before mine. So, if the bike survives Open A, we??????????????????d have about 20 minutes to switch number plates and transponders, fuel up, etc. Plenty of time, until I find out my competitors are already lined up.. I wait near the start line, CannondaleRider comes rolling up, our wonderful racing buddies help get the bike ready to go (thanks guys!), and I line up??????????????? the last one there again. But, at least I was there, along with 9 others.
Finally, it??????????????????s time to race! I get my good luck kiss from krash, and he jokingly tells me that he??????????????????s gonna kick my butt if I lose to the Polaris sitting next to me. Off the line, I??????????????????m already earning that a$$-whippin??????????????????, cause the Polaris is in front of me!! Oh my.. I??????????????????m 5th into the holeshot corner. (I don??????????????????t really know what happened there..)
#161 on the right..
I don??????????????????t remember a lot of specifics from the race, except that I felt like I was behind everybody the whole time!! Probably because the bike kept dying on me (turned out to be a loose battery cable!). A few other things stick out for me, too.. The next Doug Eichner, a little racer that started in the 90cc class behind me actually passed me (YEAH! 90cc!! ******!).. God, I need a lot of practice. Anyways, I also remember getting passed by a girl that came outta no where!! The bike died on a turn and she passed on the inside.. I had already passed her up earlier in the race, but she came back to get me, sort of??????????????? turns out she cut the course. Not sure how the officials worked that out, but she ended up behind me in the race results. Lastly, I ended up lapping the Polaris!! So, no more beatings other than what I took on the track. Lol.
Getting ready to pass the Polaris..
Tired, and barely able to hold in the clutch, I came back into our camp. Friends and family are coming up to me giving hugs and congrats??????????????? I??????????????????m not sure the ????????????????congrats??????????????? are in order, but they keep saying I kicked butt. Well, even if I got last, they??????????????????d say that, right?? I didn??????????????????t talk as fast as I did after the last race.. But, everybody was getting a kick out of the fact that my idea of fun is snot, spit, and mud on my face, bumps, bruises, chaffing??????????????? and a 2nd place plaque!!! I guess I wasn??????????????????t as far back as I thought.
Jumping the step-up/tabletop after the finish line turn???????????????
I made it through 7 laps??????????????? (lap 1) 7:41, (lap 2) 7:11, (lap 3) 7:09, (lap 4) 7:16, (lap 5) 7:12, (lap 6) 7:12, and (lap 7) 7:18. By lap 7, I was 1:32 behind 1st place. I knew I was slowing down a lot, but my adrenaline was keeping me going pretty good. And that little kid passing me helped too!! I didn??????????????????t hit any fenceposts or other pole-like obstacles, so that??????????????????s always good. Hehe??????????????? And I found out quickly that going a little farther on jumps makes for a smoother landing.. in the end, I??????????????????ve learned where I need to make improvements and where I feel somewhat comfortable. I just hope I can get some more practice, build my endurance, and start getting those 1st place finishes!
More pics???????????????
Me needing to lift that elbow and lean!!
Getting tired...
SUNDAY
Awesome racing!! Logan Holladay dominated at first, leaving Eichner and Frederick in the dust. But, it ended in a complete 180.. Eichner??????????????????s endurance got the best of Holladay, but Frederick's speed got the best of both of them. Frederick got 1st place, Eichner 2nd, and Holladay 3rd.
It??????????????????s gonna be a great year!!!
