Cannondaleriders

i'm gonna try to run both days and derno's only running tomorrow. today could be called the practice race cause tomorrow is PA state round #8 and 5 FOOT TROPHY day. my bike was running real hot yesterday for some reason, like its too lean. it better hold together!

I wonder if you ever put antifreeze back in after losing all of it in the last race!

ok people, i'm back, and very sore!

arrived saturday about 12:30 to the hot sun(about 85 degrees) and a dry track. noticed they were running the track backwards. the grass switchbacks were gonna be tough with all that dust.

did some bsing with jlhughes750 and treebasher from exriders along with some other regulars, and worked on my tan till race time, which i think was around 5pm.

less than 20 quads and only 4 others in my class, 2ex's, a predator, and a ds650. was a little worried about one of the ex's. kid looked about 14 and weighted about 110. i've learned guys that look like that are usually fast! so much for my easy day...

they blew the horn and true to form, i didn't get the best of starts. at least i was infront of the ds:) got a little agressive in the first few corners before the dust got too bad. passed another ex and a blaster they started with us. was 3rd heading into the switchbacks, which were near brown out. was right on the predators tail and he decided not to fight the dust so he let me past.

i hit the woods second and O-M-G! this track set the new standard for rough! i think all the topsoil washed off the mountain side, due to all the rain we've been getting, and left nothin but rock. this was crazy rough, ****** and dirt and the loneracer are lucky they didn't come. the only spot to relax a little was in the switchbacks.

i was slowly catching the ex. i'd get him up the hills but he'd pull back away in the tight. he seemed to be doing alot of bouncing, so i knew i'd get him sooner or later...

follow the whole first lap with no opportunity to pass. got to the switchbacks and i was afraid he'd pull away cause of the dust.

he did a little but as soon as we hit the woods i was back on him. i think he was tiring cause his riding was getting a little sloppy, but everyone was sloppy due to the rocks, so who knows...

he hits a few whoops and the rear of his bike jumps way up in the air. he slowly gets to the top of the hill and pulls over with mechanical difficulties(hondas:rolleyes: )

thought i better get a good lead just in case. got almost to the end of the second lap and thought i heard it. the dreaded hissing of an overheated engine:mad: what to do what to do??

jesshamner told me to run it till it blows on the chat line plus, i'm in the lead!:head:

i was getting beat up out there, just trying to hang on, nobody around me. was praying for the white flag after the 3rd lap but no such luck.

came around on the 4th lap and still no flag:cry: . went thru the switchbacks and saw borich and hertz battling and closing fast. thank goodness, they must of got the white flag. they passed me in the woods. normally, it wouldn't take them 4 laps to get around me, 3 at the most, so it must of been rough for everyone. it took them exactly 2.4 seconds to disappear from my sight.

kept thinking it'd be a good time for my motor to blow, last lap with me leading. but it never happened and i cruised to an easy, but very rough, victory.

got to the truck and shut it off and discovered my fan wasn't working:( figured it burnt up again, so i called derno and asked if he'd bring the dernodale out tomorrow for me to putt around on. he said ok but it needed a little work to be a contender. i said i was so beat i wasn't gonna be a contender.

they had a cookout that night and amazingly they had food left over for us quad guys. bbq chicken with cole slaw, applesauce, and baked beans. tasted pretty good.

slept in the truck, or tried to. layed down at 8:30 and i think i got to sleep around 9:30. woke up figuring it was around 4am, looked at the clock-11:42! it's gonna be a long night. tossed and turned and flipped and flopped got very little sleep. not good.

started to walk the track at dawn to check out some new sections they added. the promoter caught up with me and i told him the track was way to rough. he laughed and said he was about to cut some "virgin trails". he rode around till he found a rocky section and hopped off the quad and started cutting. i informed him that was too rocky but he laughed at me again. no mercy on us today.:cry:

got back and checked out my bike. fan turned nice and free so i wiggled the wires and it came on. cool. got that problem straightened out and put some water in it. it took half a gallon to fill it up!!! thing only holds about that much. must've been almost dry. all i can think is that mobil 1 must be some good oil!

relaxed a little and got ready to race. was going to go to the staging area, but i pulled in my clutch and it came back to the bars:furious: after about 6 turns on the adjuster i got some feel in it.

they said they had to cut out the switchback section due to the dust and didn't want to dust the neighbors out. so now we have no place to rest and lost a great passing area.

we lined up, about 13 of us +-. told owen the track was rough, he said good he liked it that way. told derno but i think he thought i was being a wuss. i was hurting and they hadn't even started yet. i was hoping just to last the entire race, maybe get a top 5, but we had some fast company there and my clutch was about dead.

they blew the horn and i was last of the line, i think. don't know who was where and can't see much. pretty much in the dark till the woods, i think i got a few guys before we got there. stuck in last place in a 5 quad line and everyone was holding me up:mad:

saw derno up there but he got around the guy infront of him and took off. i was trying everything to get around this warrior but to no avail. the leader of the blaster class caught us and was yelling. no way i was pulling over to let a blaster by just to have to pass him again. started to get physical with the warrior and tapped him in a corner. then i jamed my front wheel into his back wheel and up into his fender. blaster got around us then. but i got around the warrior, who later, i found out was owens younger brother. was picking off the other guys slowly till it was me and the blaster. i've raced with him before and he's no joke. he pulled over when he saw he wasn't getting away from me, but in reality he was going just as fast as i was.