4-9-2000
“Ouch… this is gonna hurt!”
I remember thinking that right before my tire slammed the tree and sent
me flying 20 feet down the trail. Up
to that point I was having a great time.
Let me go back a little.
I was really excited to be able to race my first NCHSA race.
I have done a HS before but this will be my first series in which I race
the majority of races. I was actually nervous before the race and that has NEVER
happened to me before. Not even in
High School during Varsity Basketball when I started my first (and only) game.
Friday before the race I got to watch dirt bike video “Terrafirma” with my 2 year old niece. She saw Doug Henry and said, “He go Bye Bye!!” Obviously Doug Henry is fast but I was thinking, “yeah… on Sunday I will go Bye Bye.” Well, it didn’t turn out the way I had hoped.
My wife and I traveled to Beechnut Park the night before
and camped out in sub 30 degree weather with wind chill. The only bright spot of the night was the help I got putting
up the tent from the Kirks and McCrary’s… plus the brownies and cookies from
Julie McCrary (that lady can cook… no wonder Bruce has such a spare tire
<g> just kidding Bruce… you are just big boned <vbg>, like I have
room to talk).
We get up, we were going to take a shower but were informed
that there was not any hot water. Instead
we drive up and watch the mini’s… my wife helps do scoring for the Pro/AA/A
races. She is having a good time.
I warm up my bike and head to the start for my race.
I am in the 250 C class along with about 30 other riders.
I decide my starting strategy will be to go out slow and catch people as
I can. Good idea in theory.
When the flag went up I suddenly realized what a stupid idea it really was. The dust cloud was tremendous. Funny, I didn’t notice the other classes having that problem… that is because I didn’t watch them as they went up the hill after the start.
We go into the woods and I am catching a few riders.
It gets tight and I put her in second and am carving pretty good.
Not as good as Vealy in the Pro class but good for a C rider.
I go pass the barrels and back into some tight stuff before I get my card
punched. Whooo Hooo, I am feeling
good. I can see a few riders ahead
of me that I think I can catch.
Keep in mind, I was not really going that fast… matter of
fact I was probably slower than I normally am but considering I was all nerved
up and I was keeping it on 2 wheels I was stoked.
I go through the rest of the course up to a hill.
There were about 4 people on the hill trying to get around a downed
rider. There were about 15 or 20
bikes at the bottom just watching. One
bike takes up to the left around a down tree.
I think that he is going around the bottleneck.
Then 2 other riders go. Then
a guy on a blue Yamaha goes up through, I follow.
It wasn’t until the 2nd lap I realized that I had cut the
course. Didn’t matter too much
because by the time I got to the 2nd lap I was going so slow that I
lost all the positions I had gained… and then some.
I finish the 1st lap a little frustrated. I had over ran a turn and instead of going down the creek I almost ended up in the spectator area, ooops. I go through the barrels, hit some tight stuff… see a little opening, I know the hole punch is near. I gas it and shift up to third, the bike is hitting the fat part of the mid-range and then all of a sudden “Ouch… this gonna hurt!”
I get up and the forks are tweaked.
The handlebars are not straight. It
is not too tight or rutted after the hole punch so I am not noticing it too bad.
As a matter of fact, I don’t notice it at all until I get up to race
speed or hit a rut where proper position is of greater importance.
On the second lap I fall a good bit.
The bike is not getting much traction and I think it is because of my
riding style. Found out after the
race I was running 18lbs of pressure in the front.
Ooops again.
After completing the third lap I am going really slow.
So slow, Bruce McCrary laps me. I
am much much faster than I showed. I
don’t want to blame the bike but I had absolutely NO confidence when I hit the
ruts. I would bang the front end
around the entire rut because the handlebars felt off center… which they were.
I go around, after the barrels and head into the woods.
I hear a guy behind me. I am
trying to give him room and he starts to pass me, I see a rut and I brace myself
trying to hold my line so he can get by. Then
the front end hits the side of the rut, I over-correct and next thing I know
both of us are down. It seems that
I t-boned a guy on a KTM right in his front tire.
I think I hear him cussing at me which was deserved.
I quickly find the next area to get off the trail and go back to the
truck.
Physically, I could have gone on. Mentally I couldn’t. I
felt like I was a hazard to the other riders on the course and I was completely
frustrated.
The week prior I tweaked my rear sub-frame because I was
showing off with a wheelie. This
week I tweak the forks. I was
extremely upset with myself. When I
get mad, I am less talkative, give only excuses when I speak and have trouble
keeping my thoughts. This was one
of those times. I tried giving out
some free No-Toil samples after the race but I couldn’t find the desire to
speak up and say there were freebies. Luckily
Daniel Fowler and Julie McCrary took up the slack <g>
On the ride home I come to two conclusions.
First, I love HS racing… it is a great event and if you are feeling
good you can do well, if you aren’t you could be on your tail quick.
The terrain changes, the riders compete hard but don’t go looking for
you after the race (thank God <lol>).
Second, I am not getting a new bike yet.
Later this year maybe but not right now.
My ’93 WR is the perfect bike to torture during my first season. Once I get comfortable I will get a new bike but I don’t
want to be banging a brand new bike off of tree’s… well, not yet anyways…
Today I wake up and notice about 4 bruises – one right
across my belly – that I didn’t notice the day prior. I am extremely sore. I
can only hope the tree that caused the bruises has a few scars of it’s own
<g>
I can’t describe how great of a time I had and at the
same time I can’t describe how MAD I got at myself and on top of that I got
mad at myself for being mad for a stupid reason… DOH!! I need therapy.
Luckily there is another race next week.
That should be therapy enough.
Overall, my wife and I had a GREAT time.
Jenni’s only concern is that the races are on Sunday and she doesn’t
like to miss church. She will go to
more and she said she’d like to help out again too.
Everyone was so kind and helpful that now that Monday has hit I can’t stop thinking about the next race.