Well, this weekend is where it all begins. A slow 42yo C rider and a his daughter, an enthusiastic yet inexperienced 13 yo, will race the first HS of the year in the FTR series (http://www.floridatrailriders.org/). We've been riding together now for 4 years now and both of our riding progression has been fun and steady. Haley had her first race last year (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=584170&highlight=Tbone and I haven't raced in a few years http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185460&highlight=Tbone http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206550&highlight=Tbone http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208017&highlight=Tbone but we've never raced the same course. My Sun. course will include hers plus a few extra miles, so we'll have plenty to talk about afterwords. We're both excited, and nervous, and if we weren't I'd be really worried:huh I'll be racing Senior C (40-45 yo) and Haley will be in Mini Girls (9-14 yo). She'll be on the same row as the Mini C boys, so 20-25 other kids on her row will ensure someone is always passing you or ready to be passed.I'm on a KTM 300 and she be riding a CR85R. Maintenance is done, bikes are loaded, so we'll be reporting back in on Monday with many stories, hopefully written with a smile on our faces!
Well, I was waiting for some photo's/helmet camera's to get posted but we had a great weekend !! Haley made it 3 laps within the 90 minute time limit (a first ) and I managed a 8th out of 14 riders on Sunday (Best finish yet and made 3 laps in the 2 hr limit!). I'll work on the ride report more tonight...just so sore.. .
Congratulations!!! So in the big picture of things, who covered more ground in the alotted time?!?!?!? Way to go!!! Looking forward to the Race Report.
The first race of the year brings us to the town of Lake City, Fl. The site of the race was a combined MX track and planted pines/woods. The race course was roughly 6 miles for the Sat. race and 8 for Sunday. Sat was dry and somewhat dusty.I went and rode the practice lap with Haley so I could see how she was doing and also talk about any unique areas when we got back to camp. The 2 boys shown here are brother's and this was their first race together in the 65C class. They finished 1st and 2nd, so seems nothing pushes you harder than racing a sibling.. A few hours after practice and it's time for the start. There were 3 other girls in Haley's class, plus the 20 or so boys that line up in her row. Before you know it..."10 seconds"....."Beeeeeeeeep"... Haley hops on the bike, starts it in one kick and nails the throttle. Only one problem, she wasn't in gear..:huh so after a sudden stab 1st she was off. heading into the first corner she was last, so little bit of work to do. I'll have her add to this report when she gets home tonight. Let's just say we had a talk about being a little more aggressive in the beginning and not to stop completely when letting people by...keep those wheels rolling! Which the next day meant it was my turn. I awoke to a wet parking lot and cloudy skies. Seems it had rained overnight and made the course much nicer. I debated riding the practice lap, as having ridden it with Haley and with my wife during the "Fun run" the night before I figured I had more to lose than gain energy wise. I got talked into riding just a few miles and then bailing. As I was out there I started making a few mistakes, breaking a sweat, and basically wishing I hadn't bothered. I shook those negative thoughts aside and got ready for the race... "10 seconds"...handle bars turned to the side...kick starter opened up and ready...1st gear engaged...Haley holding my bike not realizing she's about to be roosted head to toe with wet sand That deafening silence those last few seconds before the horn sounds are like nothing I've ever experienced. The excitement, fear, and the pressure of knowing my performance over the next 2 hours lays squarely on my shoulders are all fighting for an audience in my head... "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep" ..it a split second it all disappears. I throw my leg over the bike while kicking down at the same time, dump the clutch and I'm off. Hey, where is everyone else at? as I'm going to be one of the first few to the first corner.. I tip toe through the first small section of MX course and head off into the woods.(I'm 117C) Gotta be cool...relax..just follow the train the first few miles in the woods and wait for others to make mistakes. Actually it was 4 miles of woods to start off so not a lot of passing chances. I saw some people lose patience and try some questionable routes that hung them up and cost time. Right before we dump out to the first small open section I struggle to pass a VetC rider. Come one man, pick a line so I can use the other. Pop out in to the open and it's wet sand. I bog the motor down in a puddled sandy corner but my 300 pulls from doooown low to hold anyone off. We're looping around a pond and a rider from my class is coming in hot to occupy the same spot that I am. He hits a puddle splash's me with water/mud, then slightly makes contact with me. I kinda thought it was neat as neither one of really got to out of shape and I yelled "hey buddy!" more out of fun than anger , but he's in my class so bye goes one position. Back into the woods and I've got full on arm pump. Really something I need to work on if I'm going to go any faster..I've gotta relax my grip! Try a line and get sorta wedged between 2 trees and stall it. 5 guys go by before i can pull back in line. They all had to be in my class, but can't worry about that now. Soon enough and we're dumped out on the MX track and I'm taking the inside slower lines as I know my technique is horrible. I'm rolling the jumps as that's all I need to do is wad it up in front of everybody. Head into the woods, back out and through the scoring chicane. I'm feeling okay at this point, and head back into the woods. Somewhere in the next mile or so I came up on a Master C rider, but he was actually running a pace that was perfect for me, one that I could do without risking too much energy. I passed him a few times, only to make a mistake and give it back, so I settled in for the next lap and let him pull me along. He was taking good lines, and if I screwed up I could hustle to make it back to him. I get passed by 48C on the MX track, he's just too fast, but he pulls over after the scoring chicane and I hope that means he's out of gas. So through scoring and head off for the last lap. I'm getting tired, but in the woods it's harder to get passed so it evens out. Took an outside line to let a faster rider through and 818C from my class slides through. He's just too much faster at the this point so I don't try and keep his pace. I make it to the scoring chicane finally and my race is over. I'm tired now...really tired. I get a chance to congratulate the first place finisher and BS with my fellow Senior C competitors. Wait for the results and..hey, I'm not in the bottom 3rd for a change ! My best finish yet, and i rode the best I could that day (No wrecks, just lots of awkward moments ). Hopefully this weekend I can build upon what I've learned and keep having fun Senior C Place # Name AMA # Brand City, State Point Adv Laps Elapsed 1 757C Jorge Castillo KTM Hialeah, FL 50 10 3 1:39:49 2 21C Jorge Colon 1053545 KTM Orlando, FL 47 5 3 1:40:38 3 34C Ryan Turner KTM Casselberry, FL 45 4 3 1:43:47 4 828C Mike Hunter 744142 Honda Middleburg, FL 43 3 3 1:44:10 5 31C Tom Miller 696207 KTM North Port, FL 41 2 3 1:46:28 6 818C Irvin Kelly 942897 Honda Kissimmee, FL 40 0 3 1:47:05 7 15C Kevin Vaughan KTM North Port, FL 39 0 3 1:47:10 8 117C Troy Stainbrook KTM Odessa, FL 38 0 3 1:48:14 9 48C David Davis 854296 KTM Lake City, FL 37 0 3 1:48:53 10 38C Mark Boris KTM Lake City, FL 36 0 3 1:49:32 11 26C Robert Ryan 941623 Yamaha Lake Mary, FL 35 0 3 1:49:33 12 6C Don Brandl Suzuki Orlando, FL 34 0 2 1:14:39 13 919C Randy Bolen 987702 Honda San Mateo, FL 33 0 2 1:19:45 14 40C Chris Tolken 1064511 KTM New Port Richey, FL 32 0 2 1:21:27 15 469C Patrick Morrison KTM Deltona, FL 31 0 2 1:22:32
what a bad attitude! The crowd needs to be entertained! You have to take chances in front of the crowd. If you screw up, you get help picking your bike up (or getting yourself on the stretcher) and if you don't, you're awesomely cool!
Race #2 brings us to the Strickland Ranch just outside Daytona. this is a new piece of land with a Sat loop of 8 miles and a Sunday loop of 11. The terrain is flat as usual with a sand/topsoil mix and several miles cut through palmettos and light woods. Haley and I did our usual practice lap to get a feel for it and talk about any riding issues. I noticed she wasn't covering the clutch in the slow stuff so the bike was deciding her speed through the corner. A suggestion to feather the clutch in the really tight corners, use corner speed to roll on through then release the clutch on the way out was met with the usual resistance, but after getting back in she admitted that I might be onto something( Not that I know what I'm doing, but for now it's more than she does) 1/2 before her 10:30 race the skies open up. Funny sight as all the experienced parents whip out their rain gear as my wife and I realize we never thought about racing/spectating in the rain. A quick trip to a vendor for a KTM umbrella and we're off to the start line, soaked but excited. Haley gets her bike on the line and readies for the uncertainty of a mud race. We've never ridden in real mud, period, much less raced in it, so this ought to be interesting. I gave her an old set of goggles with the instruction that at any point she can't see pitch the goggles and keep her head down. This advice was wrong I'm sure, but at the time we didn't have goggles with tear-offs, so I thought she'd get hurt worse wrecking from lack of vision verses getting roosted in the face with mud. "15 seconds"......"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep"...Haley gets the bike fired, dumps the clutch...and stalls it. A few kicks later and she's off, soon to be ran into by another rider and knocked over at the first corner. Undaunted she gets the bike up, started, and heads down the trail in 2nd to last. Nothing like having a challenge laid out in front of you. We hustle over to the first viewing spot before they head further out and the goggles are already gone, which seems to be what most of the kids did based upon the muddy faces passing by. It's still raining, and now the water has formed puddles on top of the black oozing mud. From our viewing position of what only amounts to 100 yds of track we saw 4 wrecks, which compounded over a 8 mile course means carnage must be taking place out in those woods. One rider dumps it in right in front of Haley, so she had to make a detour into the bushes. She didn't hesitate in wicking up the throttle and screaming right on through as I saw a look in her eyes i had not seen yet this year......determination. You see we had a talk about the subject of racing after the last race. It seemed she had went into "Trail Ride" mode early on in her last race. I told her afterwords that if we wanted to trail ride we could go to Croom, save the 50$ entry fee for tap dance lessons, and realize that racing just wasn't for her. Her mom and I talked with her about being aggressive, not to the racer's but to the course. We always ride respectfully towards others we said, but the course gives us opportunities to make moves on riders, so use them! Let faster people by, but don't come to a stop to do it. Always keep those wheels rolling! 13 yo girls don't generally get exposed to competing against their peers, mush less such a solo/physical sport like dirt bike racing, so I hoped we hadn't been to hard on her, yet made our point. Seems it might have sunk in. She's in 2nd place in her class! Now granted there are only 3 girls in her class, but she ahead of #14G who had beaten her in her first 2 races. Haley told the story afterwords of whole lakes that had formed on the course and seeing 6-7 kids all backed up and using a different line to get by. She fell many times it seems, but she had a point to make, to prove to me and her mom that she really wanted to race, and it worked... 2nd place !!! As she came through the finish at the end there wasn't a part of her that wasn't covered in black mud. The joy on her face wasn't one I'll soon forget, as I think we night have a racer in the family. (never mind Lori's affinity to awkward pics ) Haley did say our talk really helped, so we'll get this parenting thing figured one way or another Looks like she might have even beaten some of the boys that started on the same row. Mini Girls Place # Name AMA # Brand City, State Point Adv Laps Elapsed 1 153G Alyssa 284498 Honda Palm Springs, FL 50 0 2 1:04:40 2 169G Haley Schell Honda Odessa, FL 47 0 2 1:16:47 3 14G India McDonald Honda Newberry, FL 45 0 2 1:21:55 Mini C Place # Name AMA # Brand City, State Point Adv Laps Elapsed 1 144C Billy Cassidy 882855 KTM Sarasota, FL 50 10 3 1:15:59 2 33C Ty Thompson KTM Hawthorn, FL 47 5 3 1:19:22 3 15C Tyler Boris KTM Lake City, FL 45 4 3 1:22:28 4 48C Dylan Davis KTM Lake City, FL 43 3 3 1:23:08 5 12C Jack Frey Hansen Yamaha Big Pine Key, FL 41 2 3 1:25:37 6 444C Cory Nocera 897435 Suzuki Palmetto, FL 40 0 3 1:26:41 7 121C Ethan Dickson 691205 KTM Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 39 0 3 1:29:10 8 142C Kye Jacobsen 855185 Kawasaki Daytona Beach, FL 38 0 2 0:56:56 9 16C Jacob Ogden 215757 Honda Umatilla, FL 37 0 2 0:57:37 10 709C Jack Langford Suzuki Ft Lauderdale, FL 36 0 2 1:01:12 11 181C Clay James 213246 KTM Auburndale, FL 35 0 2 1:04:58 12 18C Alec Hermans 865858 KTM W Palm Beach, FL 34 0 2 1:08:47 13 31C Jake Alsup KTM North Port, FL 33 0 2 1:10:28 14 408C William Edgar 953806 Honda Sebring, FL 32 0 2 1:15:12 15 410C Mitchell Edgar 953805 Yamaha Sebring, FL 31 0 2 1:23:27 16 6C Kyle Blum 903804 Kawasaki Altamonte Springs, FL 30 0 2 1:25:55 8 17 1C Dakota Nix Honda Inverness, FL 29 0 2 1:29:42 18 188C Jonathan Gow 216180 Honda Sarasota, FL 9 0 1 0:33:34 19 78C Logan Branton Honda Mount Dora, FL 9 0 1 0:36:54 20 4C Beau Smith Kawasaki Ft. Lauderdale, FL 9 0 1 0:38:05 Most importantly she received a plaque ! Which was shown to anyone that would care to hear the story, and was clutched tightly in her hands as she fell asleep on the way home. Whew, Sunday dawns and now I have to live up this kind of pressure from my teammate... The dirt is perfect from the rain the day before so with excitement I wait.."Beeeeeeeeeep"..one kick, no start. 2nd kick and I get a response from the bike but by now the damage is done.(I'm #117 in the middle/back) 16th(out of 19) going into the first turn. Oh well, let's see how this plays out. See my friend Chris Tolken (#40) up ahead and I do a over/under move on him by the gas stop , yelling as I go by,to get one spot closer. I'm doing my time, trying to get in a rhythm. Racer 818 is up ahead and I shout at him as I pass by (He's kicking a hot/stalled 4 stroke...lucky him ) 818 had passed me on the last lap of the prior race, plus he has a Mohawk on his helmet, so I tend to notice him when I see him. After a while we get into the Sunday only section I hadn't seen yet (Only ran 3 miles of the practice lap). It costs me some by not knowing when a corner might dump onto a straightaway, but the extra energy I hope to have later should be worth it. I hear 818 back behind me after a while (his rear brakes squeal, so I know it's him). I let him go as I felt like I wanted to follow him for a while. I pass through the scoring chicane and look up...14th place. I'm disappointed, especially after getting an 8th place last race, but it's a long race so let's see what the next lap brings us. 1/2 mile in and I pass a racer picking his bike up (12th now) Dump out on a straightaway and pass another one on the gas (11th). I get passed by a Master C friend of mine (Jack Hatfield) who I follow for quite a while hoping to get pulled to the next guy. 818 appears in front of me picking his bike up after losing the front, so I get by until a bit later when i give it back. I come to a rider in my class who had fallen over trying to get between two palms trees. Another rider was sitting unsure whether or not to try and get by or wait for the fellow to pick his bike up. I yelled "Goooooooo !" as this is the last lap and I'm losing time. He nervously attempts to fit, and falls over onto the first guy...no way I'm getting through this gap now 2nd gets his bike up and pushes it by (10th). I see 818 up ahead and the race is on ! He swings wide on a left hander as I follow another rider through on a tighter line...I pass 818 (9th) , but the slower rider who was in front of me was weaving left and right so I yelled "pick a side!" and he obliged so I could some distance between myself and my pursuers. I'm really having fun at this point. I've never raced where I was catching and passing people. Usually It's the other way around I'm seeing helmets up ahead and hoping they might be guys in my cl;ass coming back to me. I see 26C ahead and wait for a place to try and pass. We get dumped onto a straight and drag race to the entry back into the woods. I'm hoping this guy let's up soon as I'm getting nervous how fast the single track entry ahead is coming at me:eek1 . Thankfully he relents and i merge in front to push towards to the end (8th) One minor tip-over and I'm there....8th!!! Same place as last race, but much more rewarding. First time I've been stronger the last lap vs. the first. I can only think this must be due to the 20 lbs I lost (Acid reflux. I'd like to thank my sponsor Nexium ) and just riding more. Until the next race, go riding would ya ! Master C video of Sunday course http://blip.tv/file/4204891 1 21C Jorge Colon 105354 KTM Orlando, FL 50 10 3 1:55:29 5 2 8C David Jensen 893182 KTM Orange City, FL 47 5 3 1:57:05 3 757C Jorge Castillo KTM Hialeah, FL 45 4 3 1:57:11 4 18C Vernon Hackett 223505 KTM Port St Lucie, FL 43 3 2 1:19:24 5 34C Ryan Turner KTM Casselberry, FL 41 2 2 1:20:09 6 828C Mike Hunter 744142 Honda Middleburg, FL 40 0 2 1:21:18 7 48C David Davis 854296 KTM Lake City, FL 39 0 2 1:22:45 8 117C Troy Stainbrook KTM Odessa, FL 38 0 2 1:23:25 9 26C Robert Ryan 941623 Yamaha Lake Mary, FL 37 0 2 1:23:42 10 818C Irvin Kelly 942897 Honda Kissimmee, FL 36 0 2 1:23:44 11 716C Jerry Bentley 108764 Yamaha Tallahassee, FL 35 0 2 1:25:05 0 12 15C Kevin Vaughan KTM North Port, FL 34 0 2 1:25:08 13 919C Randy Bolen 987702 Honda San Mateo, FL 33 0 2 1:25:11 14 6C Don Brandl Suzuki Orlando, FL 32 0 2 1:26:09 15 41C Eric Sanders 846487 KTM Gainesville, FL 31 0 2 1:27:26 16 38C Mark Boris KTM Lake City, FL 30 0 2 1:28:15 17 40C Chris Tolken 106451 KTM New Port Richey, FL 29 0 2 1:35:06 1 18 411C Tim Mosley 439312 KTM Middleburg, FL 9 0 1 0:45:23 19 96C Todd Comeens KTM Deland, FL
Hey Tbone, Im driving up from Key West this weekend to the race, you gonna be there??? Im #c42 on a 450 exc. Hope to meet you and your daughter. Cheers Brent.
We were unable to make the ACMC race due to a change in the team dynamic After discussing her riding with fellow club member's it was decided that Haley was a little just big for the CR85 (and developing bad habits, like not standing enough). I now present to you the next evolution (CR144 equipped) in Junior girls racers.. Now granted, no one has raced this class so far this year I believe, but she'll be lining up right along all the boys. We ordered her #'s with a "C" in case she should decide later on to race the boys class. After riding croom last weekend she has taken to the new bike quickly and we'll both be at the next Bartow race. See you there!
Have you ever looked at the finishing times for your class with bewilderment? Have you sat there and wondered how you were going to find those 5 or 6 extra minutes of speed to run with the big dogs? Well, this is a story where I found them.... The "Salute to Veterans" HS took place in Bartow,Fl. The course is ran on land from a reclaimed phosphate mine so it's unique in that it has some interesting elevation changes. The parking area is on a large extended plateau that lends to excellent viewing as the race course is laid out 80-100ft below. The course had received some rain prior to the race weekend so the course was in great condition. Open fields, mature plated pines, motocross elements, and off-camber lines offered something for everyone. The quads ran on their own track for a change so the lines that formed were true single track in many areas and new acreage had been opened up for the club to use for the course. (Sat mileage was 7 miles and Sunday was 8.5-ish) Haley and I went and did the practice lap before her race. Since she was new to the bike so I wanted to see how she handled the course. She seemed tentative but handled it all with no real issues. We talked prior to her race about how we were back to racing one lap at a time. This was riding with adult sized people, with adult sized bikes at speed.There was another young lady that showed up in her class, so now we had a race. I think when the gun went off (something new I'd never seen used before) I think the realization that this is the deep end of the pool might have set in. She went into the first corner last (on purpose) and 2 corners in missed a simple off camber corner she had done in practice no problem. A loss of momentum created a bike laying on the downhill side. Some nice course help and she was off. Watching from above the bluff it's obvious this is going to truly be a challenge for her to run the speed the rest of the class is. It's nerve wracking waiting there as the rest of the class streams through and she's no where in sight. My wife exclaimed "I think I see her!", followed with "I think she's off in the bushes" . I asked where and she says "See that tree that's moving around? That's her" Minutes go buy and she's up and moving. We cheer as she rolls over the step-up jump...and dumps the bike 2 corners from the finish. So 33 minutes after her adventure began it was over. It seems a beginner rider from 2 rows behind her caused an issue with a right hand uphill which knocked her off-line and caused the bike and her to go their separate ways. Landing on something hard had caused some back pain, rolled in with the reality of the day was enough. Tears were flowing, but the acknowledgment of what lays ahead was taken away from the day and she's excited about the race after next (grades will cause the skipping of the next one). Which brings me to my race. Went out and ran the practice lap. Course was so enjoyable I ran the whole thing...and I felt good, I mean REAL good. I don't know why, but a sense of confidence came over me. Either it was the course, the weather, or fate but I was so excited for the race to start, which it did with a kick, and another kick, a wheelie, another wheelie, and the first corner. The beginning of my race was not going to plan at the moment, but I set off to start passing people in front of me. As simple as this sounds, sometimes it seems a lot harder than you'd think, except for today:huh .As we strung out along the side of the bluff weaving up and down the side I counted at least 8 helmets strung out in front of me.Then I noticed it..I wasn't worried. I started picking people off one at a time. I was opportunistic as 2 guys had slow wrecks in the pines. I looked for more efficient, smother lines, and kept passing people. I rolled through the chicane to end the first and looked up at scoring...it read "3rd":eek1 Now at this point I'm feeling great. I'm going fast when the course lets me go fast, not taking chances in the MX areas as I'm horrible in them, and almost seeming like I'm riding one gear faster than I'm used to. Soon I see him...34C. Ryan Turner is fast on a dirt bike, to the point he started last in the first race of the year (forgot to turn his gas on..oops ) and still finished 3rd. He won the last race so now I'm thinking...He must be the leader! Now the revelation at this point is one that pays dividends beyond the race, the day, the season. I can do this ! I can run this pace, at least on this day, and that's a shot of energy that you don't find in a energy bar, bottle, or pill. I'm following 34C and we get dumped onto a straight with a few chicanes thrown in. I pulled up along side Ryan and yell "Come on 34C" as I passed him hard on the gas and into woods. It doesn't really settle in at this point, as I'm too busy trying to go fast, but I'm in first place. First place !!!!:huh The mere fact that I'm typing those words still seems strange a week later. Having spent 3 years on and way-off trying this racing thing, I only gave this possibility a fleeting thought. So little that It really isn't on my mind as I am coming up on straggler's from classes that started in front of me. I've run across the occasional one in races before, but never in the amount and at the level of rider ability of what I'm seeing now. I'm thinking "what do I yell?" as usually I'm the one getting hollered at. One comes to a stop, right in the bottom of a sand whoop. I kill my speed until I can figure out what he's doing when I miss the next whoop and "down goes Frazier" as 2nd.....3rd.... 4th...and a couple of straggler's go by. Crap. I run back to the bike , fire it up and start back -off. Thus begins a cycle of not knowing how to lead a race. Seems there's more to it than I would have imagined I actually thought to my self that I must be going fast cause I keep crashing.. I spend a couple of miles catching back up and I'll be danged if I'm back up on the lead group with 3 riders in front of me. Start out the 3rd lap and try to get back to Ryan. Manage to pass him on another straight and I'm back in first, until I hit a tree trying to pass straggler's in some planted pines. Back by goes 2nd...3rd.."sigh"...pass them both back again and I start to think...I can win this thing !!! Now I'll be honest to say I started to get a little emotional as it's starting to settle in. I try not to screw up as I roll over the step-up and hit the last few corner's before the scoring chicane. All of a sudden I see him out of the corner of my eye..34C. Ryan executed the best looking block pass I've ever been involved in. He squirted off after stuffing me and I thought "Why you SOB!"..then I realized he deserved it for pulling off that move so close to the end..but what's that ahead...the white flag? Seems we're going out for another lap and that's when I realized maybe it wasn't quite over yet. Now I've got to figure where to make my move. One section of the track we raced up the side of the bluff to a double green at the top and back down. I hugged the post so close my bark buster smacked off of it as Ryan went up higher and I led him back down the hill. Now it's always easier to follow someone than it is to lead, so I'm thinking I've got to get enough distance between us where he loses sight of me and hopefully slows down a little. I race into the pines, desperately trying to get some distance between us, maybe too desperately. Out of the corner of my eye I see it as I rush by...a green arrow. Now the problem with that is I'm supposed to ride between them, not to the outside of one like I just did...aaagghhh ! As I spin around to go back through you-know-who zips past. He either let out a cry of joy or compassion as I now had given up the lead. I circled back through only to miss them again, so after performing a figure 8 I was back on track. Up until now I had been feeling out of this world. Not tired, riding well other than the crashes, and basically feeling the groove. Then the damn broke, or more specifically, the blisters. I've never raced 4 laps, or as many as the leaders even. The speed, race time, and genius move of wearing brand new gloves all contributed to some big blisters on my left hand popping half-way through the last lap. Now I've got to salvage 2nd so I'll just grin and bear it.Bad line choice and I'm down again. Pick the bike up and try to hold on. Roll through the scoring chicane, 2nd place !!! I'm getting wood! Seems Ryan put 40 seconds on me after we last parted ways and took the win on his way to advancing up to Senior B. Afterwords he talked about the race and he commented he felt bad for me when he saw me circling around for the missed double green. He wouldn't have protested my finish if I hadn't went back as I hadn't gained any advantage. I replied that without rules we don't have a sport, plus I wasn't disappointed with 2nd. I just wasn't ready to win a race it seems, but after tasting the front it's not something I want to forget! Now get out there and ride! Video of race...Vet B rider. http://www.dirtysouthmx.com/FTR1011HS4SalutetoVeterans_HC.php Senior C Place # Name AMA # Brand City, State Point Adv Laps Elapsed 1 34C Ryan Turner KTM Casselberry, FL 50 10 4 1:56:22 2 117C Troy Stainbrook KTM Odessa, FL 47 5 4 1:57:00 3 18C Vernon Hackett 223505 KTM Port St Lucie, FL 45 4 4 1:57:41 4 31C Tom Miller 696207 KTM North Port, FL 43 3 3 1:29:30 5 48C David Davis 854296 KTM Lake City, FL 41 2 3 1:29:50 6 27C Brian Brannigan 941420 Yamaha Winter Garden, FL 40 0 3 1:32:02 7 15C Kevin Vaughan KTM North Port, FL 39 0 3 1:32:05 8 818C Irvin Kelly 942897 Honda Kissimmee, FL 38 0 3 1:33:41 9 26C Robert Ryan 941623 Yamaha Lake Mary, FL 37 0 3 1:34:24 10 20C Charles Nix Suzuki Inverness, FL 36 0 3 1:36:07 11 94C Steve Skinner KTM Spring Hill, FL 35 0 3 1:37:22 12 51C Eric Rasberry KTM Geneva, FL 34 0 3 1:39:25 13 522C Kevin Witkowski Honda Sarasota, FL 33 0 3 1:51:12 14 133C Richard Malmberg 941161 KTM Winter Garden, FL 16 0 2 1:01:10 15 40C Chris Tolken 106451 KTM New Port Richey, FL 16 0 2 1:03:47 1 16 75C Darryl Siemer 930978 KTM Tampa, FL 8 0 1 0:30:50 17 704C David Sommers Honda St Petersberg, FL 7 0 1 0:34:10 18 812C Kurt Miller Suzuki Springhill, FL 7 0 1 0:46:10
Cool! My sis won the overall women's championship in AMA D7 years ago at age 14 (I think) on a seriously clapped out '91 KX80 big wheel. Congrats on your 2nd place, go train and such and hit up the B class next year, sounds like you are ready for it! That course looks like a lot of fun, what's the name of the event? Maybe I'll come down for a race there sometime :)
