WORCS Round 2 - Taft, CA

[CannondaleRider]

We had a very fun weekend. Had a few problems, but it was a great time.

I finished my FX on Tuesday, with help on mapping from Harry Moto, broke it in Wednesday, changed the oil Thursday, along with loading everything up, and getting prepared.

We left a little later then expected, Friday morning at about 4:00. It was a 7 or 8 hour drive until we turned onto the road leading to the track. We couldn??????????????????t wait to get on the track for the Friday MX practice. We pulled into the gate, and saw my friend Devin(Z400) already preparing to go out for his first Moto.

We parked, unloaded the bikes, and went over to finish up registration. While standing in line, we had the great pleasure of witnessing Devin??????????????????s first jump of the weekend. Being a bike rider all of his life, and only having an hour or so on 4 wheels, he was less familiar with jumping then he thought, he came into the first jump, a 60 foot table, a little to hot, nosed down hard, and upon landing, ended up turning and sliding off the side of the landing. Needless to say, he slowed down.

After finishing registration, we headed to the truck and geared up. When we got to the line, they did our sound checks, he said I was at 107.???????????????.krash saw 114, lol. This was our last chance to quiet the bikes down, at Round 3, if your not at or under 101, you can't race. After a little wait, we took off. I found out real quick that I can??????????????????t take turns the way I did on the Utility, I got sucked into the mud on the outside, and was passed by Devin. Of course, Devin pushed hard (for reasons I do not know). He hit a lip on the next corner, and dumped it. Ended up having to spend about $300 dollars in parts, and again, took it easier the next day.

The way my front shocks were adjusted was causing the front end to bounce up real hard on whoops, and landings, which made me feel real unconfident about jumping. That, mixed with the Falicon Strokers torque, and the ungodly traction I get with Razr 2's, I COULD NOT keep that front end down. On starts, out of tacky turns, out of muddy turns, up hills, everywhere. After that practice Moto was over, krash and I were sitting at the truck, talking, and waiting for AMRsCdale450grl to finish her portion of the Moto. When she finally rolled around the truck, she had her right foot rested on the front of the nerf bar???????????????.Really tired? Broken peg????????????????nope, her first words? ????????????????I think I broke my ankle???????????????. Come to find out, she was pushing a little to hard on the table top, got kicked a little funny, and landed with her foot in the wrong spot, causing her ankle to roll real bad. She was out for the weekend. She found out yesterday that it was just a bad sprain.

While loading up, we noticed my left rear rim was loose, very loose, one more lap, and it would have came off. I had the same problem during the break-in run, and was confused as to why it was loosening. It oblonged the holes a bit, but nothing serious. I ended up torquing the rear lugs down really tight, then putting jam nuts over those. I figured that would prevent anything from loosening. I also lowered the front end, and did a few Comp/Reb adjustments.

[CannondaleRider]

Saturday morning, out the door, and off to the track at 7:00 or so. After looking over the bikes a bit more, we headed out for the Unclassified Practice. The track setup was very fun, lots of different obstacles. The MX jumps, some very steep, completely whooped uphills, fast asphalt sections, tight sections, etc. We could already tell it was going to get rough though. After 2 laps, krash and I both pulled off the track.

Unclassified


After many checks, it was time to line up for my first race, and krashs only race, Production A. We lined up right beside each other, and got ready to go. A new change that Sean Reddish at WORCS thought up (that he didn??????????????????t tell us about beforehand) was a variation of a ????????????????hand on helmet??????????????? start. Usually, we do an ????????????????in gear, revved up, dump the clutch??????????????? type start. Sean decided he wanted to keep the packed classes on there toes, and force them to be spread out at the holeshot corner. We were to put our left hand up in the air, and when the flag flies, make an attempt at grabbing the clutch, shifting into gear, and putting the hammer down. He didn??????????????????t actually tell us this, and we found out afterwards that that is the new start procedure on all packed classes. What screwed me up, is that the guy right next to me was confused, and wasn??????????????????t putting his hand up at all. Sean wasn??????????????????t able to get his attention for him to do it, so I was helping. I was waving at the guy, trying to tell him. I give up, look back, and my throttle hand is 4 inches from the grip when the flag waves. I scramble to take off, don??????????????????t give it enough throttle, and kill it on the line???????????????..again. My second time this season on the Production A line. Of course, my solenoid didn??????????????????t like me, and would just click, finally (with some foot persuasion), the solenoid starts working, the bike fires up, and I take off, as my class is out of the holeshot corner.

I pushed pretty hard the first lap, and made up a lot of time, along with passing a few people. I slowed down a little my second and third lap, as I was getting a little wore out, legs mostly. I had decided before the race, that I was going to pit after my third lap, and make sure the rim wasn??????????????????t coming loose again. I figured I??????????????????d pull in, my dad would tell me it was fine, and I??????????????????d keep chasing. Wrong, I slide in, he looks at it, and says ????????????????Its loose???????????????. ALL of the jam nuts had came off, along with one lug nut, and the other three were very loose. Another half a lap, and it would be rolling past me. I knew it would just come loose again, and quit. Another DNF for Production A. I believe the rim was loose before the break-in run, and the holes oblonged then. That slight slop in the rim apparently just loosened the lugs real fast.






After riding to the camp, I watched krash finish the Production A race, then rested more. After some thought, I remembered that krash was not racing Open A like I was, so there was a possibility of using his wheels and tires, and required lug nuts. He agreed, and we threw them on. I topped off the bike with fuel, and checked over everything. I then watched Devin race in the Stock C class, he ended up pulling off a 1st place, in his first race. He was happy.

[CannondaleRider]

After Devin??????????????????s race was over, it was time for my second race in Open A. Now with motocross tires all around, and no swing-arm skids, I just hoped I didn??????????????????t hit anything and throw a chain. After lining up, krash and I shot the sh!t with Joe Rarey (aka Laptraffic), who was sitting on the Open Pro line. When the time came, I jumped on my bike, and went over a better start procedure. This time, do to the Open class being less packed, I didn??????????????????t have to deal with the unpracticed ????????????????hand raised??????????????? start. I decided to start in 1st to lessen the chances of stalling it again. When the flag waved, I didn??????????????????t kill it, but the front end came up, even though I was leaning forward. I had to let off. Got on the gas again, which again shot the front end up. Needless to say, I was at the back of the pack at the holeshot corner. Hey, at least I didn??????????????????t stall it again. I again pushed pretty hard, but being this was my second race, I couldn??????????????????t push all that hard. Most of the class seemed to leave me. After a few laps, I must have warmed up/caught my second wind, because I started catching some of the B(!!!!!) riders that had passed me. I passed a few racers following Eichner. He lapped me on an asphalt section, and at the bottom of the hill, where there were 3 riders on the inside of the corner, coming off the asphalt and into the dirt, Eichner took the outside line, and I followed his tracks to a T. That was the fastest I took that corner the whole weekend???????????????it felt great. But of course, Eichner left me in the next corner, and I was back to searching for a better line, lol. The grips I was running had a pattern that just killed my hands, so I could not push as hard as I did in the first few laps.




I didn??????????????????t do as well as I had hoped in Open A, but I was surprised to see that I was basically just as fast as a local rider that is known to be ????????????????extremely fast??????????????????????????????I can tell I??????????????????m improving. I hoped I could nurse my hands and be prepared for my third race on Sunday, Sport 15-29 A.

Later on, I was standing at the ????????????????Fast Photo Lab??????????????? booth, looking at the race pictures, when I heard the announcer say something about Pro-Am qualified riders???????????????.doesn??????????????????t apply to me, oh well. He rambled off some names, and the last one on his list was ????????????????Chance Mayfield??????????????????????????????WHAT!?!?!? HOW!?!?!?. I was in awe as to how I qualified, and instantly went back to camp to see what everyone else thought. They hadn??????????????????t heard it, but were equally surprised when I told them. Then they started asking ????????????????You gonna race it???????????????????????????????.An hour and a half of hard racing, against riders that I know are faster then me, on a whooped out track, with a sore a$$ body and shredded hands????????????????your **** right I??????????????????m racing it!!

We were all hungry, so we loaded up and headed back to town.

I really wanted to race the Pro-Am race on Sunday, but krash talked me out of it, because we??????????????????d be getting home at 1:00 or so Monday morning if we stayed for me to race it???????????????.****.

Sunday morning rolls around, we go to the track for me to get a refund for my Sport 15-29 race that I was also ????????????????unable to race???????????????. We ended up shooting the sh!t with Laptraffic again(on some odd??????????????????????????????deformed??????????????? topics I might add, lol) for the whole hour of the Sport 15-29 race???????????????so I could have raced it anyways.

As planned, we left before the Pro Race even started, so we were unable to witness that, sadly.

Like I said, it was an awesome weekend. I am VERY impressed with my bike so far. I can??????????????????t wait to get it dialed in, and get used to it. Thanks a lot Steve, it??????????????????s running great.

WORCS Round 3; Lake Havasu, AZ - March 10-12..less then a month away.

[CannondaleRider]

One more thing. I wasn??????????????????t able to witness it, but my sister got it on video, and I found some pics of it. Racer in the Production race came into the Tabletop WAY to hot???????????????launched it. Basically landed at the bottom. Forced him down and to the side. Him and the bike ended up tumbling. Not sure of how exactly he??????????????????s doing, we do know his face was a little busted up, but he seemed excited to hear that we got it on video.

[CannondaleRider]

I'll be posting more pics as soon as the rest are uploaded on Off-Road.com, and also when we develop our film.

[Psychosis]

Nice. That one wreck looks pretty bad. I think I'd be basically praying the whole time in the air, lol. Maybe your luck will turn around though. My last season started horrible w/a blown engine and then broken wrist and ended the year a completely different level than I was coming in.

But man does that sound like fun! Can't wait to get a chance to go out there. Was supposed to leave in June but ended up getting everything changed to November, and now it's August! I'll be out there w/you guys eventually, lol. Until then, good luck! :head: :usa

[cannondale27]

Great report!:clap:

[Derno24]

Good report!!!:head: :usa

[theJeStEr1340]

Great report... A rekluse would fix the starting with your hand in the air thing. Leave it in gear and just go... or just as soon as his hand drops drop it in gear while you are dropping your hand, byt he time you get your hand on the bar you are on the gas.

[CannondaleRider]

That may be his reasoning, Rekluse is a big sponsor of the WORCS Organization.....maybe he's trying to get a few more sales?

I like the idea of the Rekluse at times....but I also use engine braking down hills ALOT.