Let me start with the prep a few days before the race. I posted a bad luck thread to show some of what happened.
Bent rear axle, worn clutch plates, overheating, and bent steering stem. Well, remapped and fixed my fuel issue. Replaced a few metal plates and reshimmed the rekluse. Removed my LSR axle and put on a stocker. Well, now I was 43 inches in the rear and 46 inches in the front. I took it for a test ride and I could slide the rear end around ok and seems ok with it.
Now, on to the race. I get there in the morning and unload. Remove a little more fuel from the bottom end and do a couple practice starts. Very little bog now so I was happy with the dead engine starts. Go up to start practice and we head out. This trail was freaking horrible!! bad narrow with little 1" and 2" stumps all over the place. The first mile is horrible weaving in and out of little 2" sapplings that loved grabbing the front tires. Then we hit a little more open area then back into the tight trails. Then large ruts in offcamber areas. This was a very bad thing for us skinny boyz and I was on 2 wheels fast. 30 minutes of practice and we hadn't finished the lap. We all get waved back to go to the start. Robert and I complained to each other and said this is not going to be fun at all. Very few areas where you can actually get any kind of speed. And we had no idea of the rest of the track.
Well, we line up and the flag drops. I hit the start button and it fires right up. Slam the throttle and BURP! Stalled. I throw out an explative and hit the start button again, BURP! stalled again! At this point everyone was off the line. It cranks but hesitates so I throw it in nuetral. Start it up and rev, drop it in 2nd and get going. By the time I left the line everyone had already made the turn and was in the woods. Not good!!! Robert had made it in ~4 in front of me so I had to settle into a fast pace to play catch up. I catch up to the 1st guy pretty fast and he pulls over for me pretty quick.
AHSCS rnd 4--Superlift park
So, I was happy I started catching up that fast but I had a long way to go. A few minutes later I see my next victims, a couple of people stuck in the trail. Very tight stuff and I guess the guy on the raptor caught a sapling. Well, Robert was right behind him!! Stuck, had no where to go. I look around and see there are no trees to the right but its got lots of vines in it. I go off roading and trail blaze through it. I caught a nice thorn vine under my visor across my nose. I thought it was going to catch and rip my nose off. I drug it for a few seconds then I stopped and ripped it off me. Then took off leaving Robert and the raptor behind. Come out on the fire road and there is another guy just pulled over so I zip around him and get hauling. Make another pass before we jumped back into the trails so now I am sitting like 5th I thought. Now we come back through the start area and the real 1st lap starts. 
The 1st 2 miles had lots of ruts and off camber ruts on it. I was dieing here as I was 2 wheeling it alot. But, I took it slow and made it through with noone behind me at all. I make it to the back check point and go through and for the next 3/4 mile it was damned fast. The suspension made this place my catchup/leave area as I wasn't worried about bouncing off the trail so I stayed 3rd gear most of the way. Couple of nice fire roads and I pass another guy hung on a tree. 2 minutes later he was on my butt and passed me. I couldn't believe he caught up so quick. Made me kinda wonder actually.
So, that was the last person I saw till the 3rd lap. When I finished the 2nd lap I stopped and asked the guys the time. It had been just over and hour!! 30 minute lap times. Wow, maybe 3 laps only. Shortly after I finished my second lap and I hit the rutted off camber area here comes Robert. I had been wondering if he blew a tire or something. Couldn't beleive he was going that slow!!
So me just cruizing on 2 wheels he caught me pretty fast. I felt myself pushing too hard to stay ahead and that never leads to good results. So, I pull aside and let him bye. He starts to leave me and I was like, wow I am going slow. Then boom! Not a minute after he passes me he find a big tree just sitting there with his name on it. Gets hung up and I walk bye laughing.
About 3/4 the way through the 3rd lap exhausted and wondering if Robert was going to find me again I hear antoher quad. A class riders caught me!! I was way too nice and pulled over where I shouldn't have. I got hung on a tree. Pushed off of it and got unhung pretty fast. Got going again and another A rider caught me. We hit a fire road and I let him pass right before we duck back into the trails. He makes the turn bad slow and I yell hurry up to him. He guns it and damned 25 yards in he slams a tree and it throws him sideways. LOL, I go around thinking "Dang, slow down!". He catches me like 10 seconds later and I let him by. I was worried about holding up the A's too much. And it almost got me in trouble in a second. We hit a down hill and there is another A class behind me. I turn out of his way real fast thinking I can squeeze between these 2 trees, WRONG!! I couldn't fit. On a down hill! What had I done!??!! Another A class rider passed me and I was getting pissed. I was stuck, expecting Robert to come over the hill at any time.
Well, he didn't. I got unstuck and got moving again. 10 minutes later here is the finish. I come up to it and there is the white flag!! NO!!! Time has to be up! I don't want to go again! Well, off I go. Through the off camber stuff again with noone around. I started wondering if Robert had made it through before the checkered flag. About 10 minutes later I see him in the distance behind me. Trying to play catchup. Then we hit the check point and I was gone! I love my suspension for places like this. Now it was my turn to go fast. The last sections were tough but nothing really interesting happened. Finished and 30 seconds later Robert comes through.
We both had no idea where we finished. After sitting around for a while we find out I got 4th and Robert got 5th. I missed the 3rd place guy by 2 minutes. If I hadn't messed up with the A class riders I prob could have caught him and got 3rd. Oh well. I was happy after that horrible start. Caught 6 riders. When we finally got to see the full results it looks like there was very little passing going on. Too tight of an area and too little WOT areas.
And the only areas for pics were across the start thats all we got. I will post a pic of my ugly mug tonight.
The 1st 2 miles had lots of ruts and off camber ruts on it. I was dieing here as I was 2 wheeling it alot. But, I took it slow and made it through with noone behind me at all. I make it to the back check point and go through and for the next 3/4 mile it was damned fast. The suspension made this place my catchup/leave area as I wasn't worried about bouncing off the trail so I stayed 3rd gear most of the way. Couple of nice fire roads and I pass another guy hung on a tree. 2 minutes later he was on my butt and passed me. I couldn't believe he caught up so quick. Made me kinda wonder actually.
So, that was the last person I saw till the 3rd lap. When I finished the 2nd lap I stopped and asked the guys the time. It had been just over and hour!! 30 minute lap times. Wow, maybe 3 laps only. Shortly after I finished my second lap and I hit the rutted off camber area here comes Robert. I had been wondering if he blew a tire or something. Couldn't beleive he was going that slow!!
So me just cruizing on 2 wheels he caught me pretty fast. I felt myself pushing too hard to stay ahead and that never leads to good results. So, I pull aside and let him bye. He starts to leave me and I was like, wow I am going slow. Then boom! Not a minute after he passes me he find a big tree just sitting there with his name on it. Gets hung up and I walk bye laughing. About 3/4 the way through the 3rd lap exhausted and wondering if Robert was going to find me again I hear antoher quad. A class riders caught me!! I was way too nice and pulled over where I shouldn't have. I got hung on a tree. Pushed off of it and got unhung pretty fast. Got going again and another A rider caught me. We hit a fire road and I let him pass right before we duck back into the trails. He makes the turn bad slow and I yell hurry up to him. He guns it and damned 25 yards in he slams a tree and it throws him sideways. LOL, I go around thinking "Dang, slow down!". He catches me like 10 seconds later and I let him by. I was worried about holding up the A's too much. And it almost got me in trouble in a second. We hit a down hill and there is another A class behind me. I turn out of his way real fast thinking I can squeeze between these 2 trees, WRONG!! I couldn't fit. On a down hill! What had I done!??!! Another A class rider passed me and I was getting pissed. I was stuck, expecting Robert to come over the hill at any time.
Well, he didn't. I got unstuck and got moving again. 10 minutes later here is the finish. I come up to it and there is the white flag!! NO!!! Time has to be up! I don't want to go again! Well, off I go. Through the off camber stuff again with noone around. I started wondering if Robert had made it through before the checkered flag. About 10 minutes later I see him in the distance behind me. Trying to play catchup. Then we hit the check point and I was gone! I love my suspension for places like this. Now it was my turn to go fast. The last sections were tough but nothing really interesting happened. Finished and 30 seconds later Robert comes through.
We both had no idea where we finished. After sitting around for a while we find out I got 4th and Robert got 5th. I missed the 3rd place guy by 2 minutes. If I hadn't messed up with the A class riders I prob could have caught him and got 3rd.
Oh well. I was happy after that horrible start. Caught 6 riders. When we finally got to see the full results it looks like there was very little passing going on. Too tight of an area and too little WOT areas.And the only areas for pics were across the start thats all we got. I will post a pic of my ugly mug tonight.
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Ryanstones
- Posts: 0
- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
WooHoo! Great report Happy! Glad you kept it together to finish this race! 
I'll add my version of what happened
Practice lap....sucked....bad un-organized. We get back to the truck, and people are saying to us "Better get up there...race is going to start in 5 minutes or so". I look down and my rear tire is low. crap. do i have time to air it up? I hesitate, head for the pump in the back of the truck, and air it up. I take off to the start line...get a horrible spot to start from. I am on the very inside lane on the left, and the first turn is to the left. So I knew I was going to get caught in the bottleneck. Flag drops and the quad fires up, and I usually wait on sean to go in front of me, but he stalled it, so I took off without him. We go through the woods up the hill to the fire road and start up the road. Everybody seems to be just staying where they are at position wise, so I go to the inside and hammer it! I pass one guy, and then have to get hard on the brakes to make the turn into the woods. Rear brakes are locked up, and I'm sliding on the gravel...I look to the left and here comes a guy on a raptor completely sideways sliding past me. He gets in front of me going into the trails. 10 feet later, he makes out with a loving oak tree. He backs up to get free, doesn't come back far enough...so he does it again. This is the part where Happyboy gets stuck with the vines. The raptor gets freed and we take off again. A guy on a yfz takes happyboy's route as well and gets in between me and the raptor. About a minute later, the raptor is upside down in the middle of the trail. I don't have a clue what he flipped on, but the yfz stopped to help, so I went around both of them and never saw them again. I passed a couple other people that were having problems on the trail for the remainder of the first lap and the second lap. The third lap I see a quad in the distance, I don't know who it is at this point, so I just decide to keep the pace that I have and not to panic. For me, panic makes mistakes. Well, I get closer, and its happyboy. I think he bicycled half the trail with his rear width as narrow as he was. I was happy that he was still racing. The previous races, at this point, he usually has his cheerleader outfit on and is cheering me on We play the slinky game for awhile, where he would pull away and I would catch up, rinse later repeat. Finally he pulls over and lets me by. I try to go back to the pace I had before and was doing good, but the stock front tires on my 450R have seen better days. Downhill turn to the left and the front tire just slides the entire way instead of tracking like it should, and I slide right into a tree. Happyboy gets back in front of me, and I play catchup the rest of the race. We finish the third lap, and I didn't see any white flag, so I figured this means that I have at least two more laps to go (the one I just started, and the white flag lap). So I don't press myself, I just keep my pace. I get to where I can see happy a couple more times, then I make out with a tree...rinse later repeat that too. That was the story of the end of the race for me. Get to where I can either see happyboy or see the dust cloud he leaves me on the fire roads to slow me down, and then I check a tree. The honda worked out great, but I definitely need to go up a front sprocket size so that I can get this bad boy out of first gear in the woods.
Hard track, wonderful weather, good company, good time had...can't complain one bit.
Practice lap....sucked....bad un-organized. We get back to the truck, and people are saying to us "Better get up there...race is going to start in 5 minutes or so". I look down and my rear tire is low. crap. do i have time to air it up? I hesitate, head for the pump in the back of the truck, and air it up. I take off to the start line...get a horrible spot to start from. I am on the very inside lane on the left, and the first turn is to the left. So I knew I was going to get caught in the bottleneck. Flag drops and the quad fires up, and I usually wait on sean to go in front of me, but he stalled it, so I took off without him. We go through the woods up the hill to the fire road and start up the road. Everybody seems to be just staying where they are at position wise, so I go to the inside and hammer it! I pass one guy, and then have to get hard on the brakes to make the turn into the woods. Rear brakes are locked up, and I'm sliding on the gravel...I look to the left and here comes a guy on a raptor completely sideways sliding past me. He gets in front of me going into the trails. 10 feet later, he makes out with a loving oak tree. He backs up to get free, doesn't come back far enough...so he does it again. This is the part where Happyboy gets stuck with the vines. The raptor gets freed and we take off again. A guy on a yfz takes happyboy's route as well and gets in between me and the raptor. About a minute later, the raptor is upside down in the middle of the trail. I don't have a clue what he flipped on, but the yfz stopped to help, so I went around both of them and never saw them again. I passed a couple other people that were having problems on the trail for the remainder of the first lap and the second lap. The third lap I see a quad in the distance, I don't know who it is at this point, so I just decide to keep the pace that I have and not to panic. For me, panic makes mistakes. Well, I get closer, and its happyboy. I think he bicycled half the trail with his rear width as narrow as he was. I was happy that he was still racing. The previous races, at this point, he usually has his cheerleader outfit on and is cheering me on
We play the slinky game for awhile, where he would pull away and I would catch up, rinse later repeat. Finally he pulls over and lets me by. I try to go back to the pace I had before and was doing good, but the stock front tires on my 450R have seen better days. Downhill turn to the left and the front tire just slides the entire way instead of tracking like it should, and I slide right into a tree. Happyboy gets back in front of me, and I play catchup the rest of the race. We finish the third lap, and I didn't see any white flag, so I figured this means that I have at least two more laps to go (the one I just started, and the white flag lap). So I don't press myself, I just keep my pace. I get to where I can see happy a couple more times, then I make out with a tree...rinse later repeat that too. That was the story of the end of the race for me. Get to where I can either see happyboy or see the dust cloud he leaves me on the fire roads to slow me down, and then I check a tree. The honda worked out great, but I definitely need to go up a front sprocket size so that I can get this bad boy out of first gear in the woods.Hard track, wonderful weather, good company, good time had...can't complain one bit.
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dalewannbe
- Posts: 0
- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
QUOTE (kiils @ Apr 14 2006, 07:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
pics happy!!!! pics!!! post the pics!!!
pics
checkpoint
cruising to checkpoint
hauling butt!!
was i supposed to powerslide here? ****** forgot to pose!!
nice and easy through the creek
Dang there was a creek there!!
