| 2001 Race Reports |
February 25, 2001
Lebanon, Missouri
5th of 13 in Open B
The first race of the year always gets me fired up, and sometimes clouds my sense of
logic. The race schedules come out and I circle the first date on the calendar and
convince myself that I have to be there. Racing in February? Last time I did that was
Kahoka, Missouri in 1996. Frigid, biting wind, numb hands, two inches of slop and
frozen ground underneath...but that wasn't so bad, right? It's a new year and a new
location. Besides, Lebanon is in balmy southern Missouri, so it has to be warmer
down there, right? And the drive, well, the last time I was there in 1999 it sure
seemed like a long way, but heck, it wasn't that far, right? Oh, and the rocks, yes they
were challenging, the dust was horrible and the heat nearly intolerable. But it's a new
year and a new racing season, so I packed up the truck with barely working fingers,
drove to Wentzville to pick up Matt, and headed down to the first round of the Missouri
Hare Scrambles Championship.
Lebanon is really just a point of reference for this race. The actual race site is over 20
miles from the town and the last few miles of gravel road are painfully harsh, giving
just a small flavor of what the trail will look like. Thanks to a bunch of rain, the formerly
grassy parking lot was a quagmire of slop that would have made a hog farmer proud.
Fortunately my 4WD guided me to the last patch of grass still intact, right next the
Leivan truck (I gotta get me one of those). The owner of the property was adequately
prepared with a John Deere tractor that was ready to go at the first sight of a
two-wheel-drive vehicle attempting to spin through the center of the mud bog.
The race turnout was larger than I had expected, considering the recent rains and the
fact that we were racing in February. While on the starting line I counted 13 in the
Open B class. When the flag dropped, I jumped out to a pretty good start and went
into the first corner in about 4th or 5th before settling into something resembling a
rhythm. I had made an effort to get as much riding in as possible in the weeks
leading up to the race, and for the first time this year I didn't get a massive case of arm
pump in the first half-hour. The course didn't seem anything like the '99 race, but then
the conditions were completely different. Being from Illinois, I will take mud over dust
any day, and this day was full of mud. The club guys did a great job of re-routing the
original course after the main creek swelled up to about 5 feet deep. I was
impressed with the amount of tight single track mixed in with a few high-speed
sections.
The rocks were as sharp-edged as ever, but the mud kind of softened things up so I
didn't feel too beat up after the first lap. I felt like I was on pace for 4 laps, although I
had absolutely no way of knowing that since my wristwatch was covered with about 25
layers of mud. One of the rock "sections" (you could call the whole loop a rock
section) was just gnarly, with outcroppings of the most horrifyingly jagged boulders
sticking up from the ground. Of course they were immovable and the only way to get
through was to weave in and around them and pray for minimal pipe damage. On the
second lap a few more alternate paths developed (thanks, A riders) in the narrow,
muddy sections. For a few brief moments I actually felt as if I was back in Illinois
riding the ruts like old times. But then I was brought back to reality by the massive
need to pee. They say hydration is key before the race, but I think I'd rather dehydrate
than have to go so bad that I actually considered doing it in my pants. Heck, it was
muddy and wet, who would know?
On lap 3, things went from bad to worse. A Number 2 alert came on like Mt. St.
Helens, circa 1980. Although way worse than a pee-pee problem, there was one
added side benefit: I really didn't want to sit down...ever. I can see it now, "The new
training method proven by KaTooMer...half a bottle of Colon Blow in the morning and a
couple of hours of riding in the afternoon. Throw away that seat--you won't need it
anymore!!" Anyway, I finished my third lap and cruised to what I thought was the finish
at the end of lap 4. Scanned the board, searched for the Open B class, but wait a
minute...every other B class was done except Open B. Lord have mercy on my large
intestine, I was going to have to do another lap.
As I began lap 5, I started thinking, and for me that's a dangerous thing while I'm trying
to go fast (actually, I mean less slow). I must have passed through the main check
about 30 seconds before my 2 hours was up, so what could be the odds of someone
else in my class coming in after me but prior to the two-hour mark? That's when I
decided I would stop and take care of some business. You do NOT want to know
what happened next, after I parked the bike and bolted for a dense area of the woods
out of sight from the trail. So as I was walking back to my bike and feeling a couple
pounds lighter, a sweep rider came around and asked me if I wanted to continue, and
of course I said no friggin' way. He gave me directions back to the staging area where
Matt was already changed and loaded up. On the way back I came across a guy on a
Kawasaki who had dumped his bike in the creek and had it upside down, trying to
drain the water from the engine. Been there, buddy.
Naturally I wrongly assumed that nobody could have checked in after me at the end of
lap 4. A guy behind me squeaked in about 15 seconds before the end of our race. So
instead of a possible 4th place finish, I ended up 5th. Once again, Matt and I finished
one place apart, with him in 6th place. We talked with Steve Leivan for a while after
the race, who along with his whole family spent many days preparing the course (as
they do most years at Lebanon). They really earn their "work average" points and
should be commended for re-routing the course after heavy rain and still keeping it
challenging and fun.
March 11, 2001
Belleville, Illinois
1st of 2 in Open B
Nice weather plus a dry course equals two hours of pure joy. I got to the club early
and walked the entire 4.5-mile course, noticing some interesting changes to the
course layout. On the southeast corner of the club grounds, the BET guys had
hand-dug some nice off-camber trails around one of the lakes. In one spot, there
were actually two levels of trails running parallel, one just above lake-level and
another higher up on the steep hill. Pretty cool, technical stuff. Another highlight of the
course was the "levee" built through the middle of a lake. The trail dropped about 30
feet straight down, went across the lake, and then came straight up on the other side.
A longer, less steep route was available up the other side and during the ATV race we
watched for awhile as all but a couple fast guys took the easy way up the hill. They
also laid out a grass track on the north side, parallel to the highway. So there was
enough tight stuff to make the course challenging and some fast trails to make the
ride fun. Good job, BET.
Matt and I were the only guys who showed up to race the Open B class and our
starting row was combined with a 4-stroke class. One of the guys on our line was on
an old Honda XR (or could have been an XL) that was a relic from the 1980's. Later in
the race we would see that Honda hanging off the side of the levee going through the
lake...not sure if he didn't make it up the other side or had problems going down the
hill. On the start, we went about 100 feet to a 90-degree lefthander that had a double
jump (motocross track) which I didn't even attempt to double. After the double was a
180-degree turn that came fast and I smacked Matt's rear wheel trying to slow down,
just about taking myself out early. I followed him for awhile until he got off the course
in an area where the ATV's had passed through but on a slightly different path.
Naturally I knew exactly where to go because I [am anal and] walked the course
beforehand and left the suckas behind, eating my dust. Hey, who inserted those
brackets? Anyway, I didn't see Matt again until near the end of the race when I caught
him just before the grass track. I didn't see the lap times afterward but can only
assume that I was lapping him, but usually we're very close in speed, so I don't know
what happened. We raced hard on the grass track, which was fun. But by that time
the silicon seal on my exhaust head had disintegrated, meaning bottom end power
was weak and the darned thing was loud. Probably time to replace that bent
pipe...CHA-ching. I was revving the thing so hard that on the last lap I had to switch
the gas tank to reserve after it started bogging.
Bottom line, this was a fun race, I got the win, and took home an Olympic-style gold
medal.
Lebanon, Missouri
5th of 13 in Open B
The first race of the year always gets me fired up, and sometimes clouds my sense of
logic. The race schedules come out and I circle the first date on the calendar and
convince myself that I have to be there. Racing in February? Last time I did that was
Kahoka, Missouri in 1996. Frigid, biting wind, numb hands, two inches of slop and
frozen ground underneath...but that wasn't so bad, right? It's a new year and a new
location. Besides, Lebanon is in balmy southern Missouri, so it has to be warmer
down there, right? And the drive, well, the last time I was there in 1999 it sure
seemed like a long way, but heck, it wasn't that far, right? Oh, and the rocks, yes they
were challenging, the dust was horrible and the heat nearly intolerable. But it's a new
year and a new racing season, so I packed up the truck with barely working fingers,
drove to Wentzville to pick up Matt, and headed down to the first round of the Missouri
Hare Scrambles Championship.
Lebanon is really just a point of reference for this race. The actual race site is over 20
miles from the town and the last few miles of gravel road are painfully harsh, giving
just a small flavor of what the trail will look like. Thanks to a bunch of rain, the formerly
grassy parking lot was a quagmire of slop that would have made a hog farmer proud.
Fortunately my 4WD guided me to the last patch of grass still intact, right next the
Leivan truck (I gotta get me one of those). The owner of the property was adequately
prepared with a John Deere tractor that was ready to go at the first sight of a
two-wheel-drive vehicle attempting to spin through the center of the mud bog.
The race turnout was larger than I had expected, considering the recent rains and the
fact that we were racing in February. While on the starting line I counted 13 in the
Open B class. When the flag dropped, I jumped out to a pretty good start and went
into the first corner in about 4th or 5th before settling into something resembling a
rhythm. I had made an effort to get as much riding in as possible in the weeks
leading up to the race, and for the first time this year I didn't get a massive case of arm
pump in the first half-hour. The course didn't seem anything like the '99 race, but then
the conditions were completely different. Being from Illinois, I will take mud over dust
any day, and this day was full of mud. The club guys did a great job of re-routing the
original course after the main creek swelled up to about 5 feet deep. I was
impressed with the amount of tight single track mixed in with a few high-speed
sections.
The rocks were as sharp-edged as ever, but the mud kind of softened things up so I
didn't feel too beat up after the first lap. I felt like I was on pace for 4 laps, although I
had absolutely no way of knowing that since my wristwatch was covered with about 25
layers of mud. One of the rock "sections" (you could call the whole loop a rock
section) was just gnarly, with outcroppings of the most horrifyingly jagged boulders
sticking up from the ground. Of course they were immovable and the only way to get
through was to weave in and around them and pray for minimal pipe damage. On the
second lap a few more alternate paths developed (thanks, A riders) in the narrow,
muddy sections. For a few brief moments I actually felt as if I was back in Illinois
riding the ruts like old times. But then I was brought back to reality by the massive
need to pee. They say hydration is key before the race, but I think I'd rather dehydrate
than have to go so bad that I actually considered doing it in my pants. Heck, it was
muddy and wet, who would know?
On lap 3, things went from bad to worse. A Number 2 alert came on like Mt. St.
Helens, circa 1980. Although way worse than a pee-pee problem, there was one
added side benefit: I really didn't want to sit down...ever. I can see it now, "The new
training method proven by KaTooMer...half a bottle of Colon Blow in the morning and a
couple of hours of riding in the afternoon. Throw away that seat--you won't need it
anymore!!" Anyway, I finished my third lap and cruised to what I thought was the finish
at the end of lap 4. Scanned the board, searched for the Open B class, but wait a
minute...every other B class was done except Open B. Lord have mercy on my large
intestine, I was going to have to do another lap.
As I began lap 5, I started thinking, and for me that's a dangerous thing while I'm trying
to go fast (actually, I mean less slow). I must have passed through the main check
about 30 seconds before my 2 hours was up, so what could be the odds of someone
else in my class coming in after me but prior to the two-hour mark? That's when I
decided I would stop and take care of some business. You do NOT want to know
what happened next, after I parked the bike and bolted for a dense area of the woods
out of sight from the trail. So as I was walking back to my bike and feeling a couple
pounds lighter, a sweep rider came around and asked me if I wanted to continue, and
of course I said no friggin' way. He gave me directions back to the staging area where
Matt was already changed and loaded up. On the way back I came across a guy on a
Kawasaki who had dumped his bike in the creek and had it upside down, trying to
drain the water from the engine. Been there, buddy.
Naturally I wrongly assumed that nobody could have checked in after me at the end of
lap 4. A guy behind me squeaked in about 15 seconds before the end of our race. So
instead of a possible 4th place finish, I ended up 5th. Once again, Matt and I finished
one place apart, with him in 6th place. We talked with Steve Leivan for a while after
the race, who along with his whole family spent many days preparing the course (as
they do most years at Lebanon). They really earn their "work average" points and
should be commended for re-routing the course after heavy rain and still keeping it
challenging and fun.
March 11, 2001
Belleville, Illinois
1st of 2 in Open B
Nice weather plus a dry course equals two hours of pure joy. I got to the club early
and walked the entire 4.5-mile course, noticing some interesting changes to the
course layout. On the southeast corner of the club grounds, the BET guys had
hand-dug some nice off-camber trails around one of the lakes. In one spot, there
were actually two levels of trails running parallel, one just above lake-level and
another higher up on the steep hill. Pretty cool, technical stuff. Another highlight of the
course was the "levee" built through the middle of a lake. The trail dropped about 30
feet straight down, went across the lake, and then came straight up on the other side.
A longer, less steep route was available up the other side and during the ATV race we
watched for awhile as all but a couple fast guys took the easy way up the hill. They
also laid out a grass track on the north side, parallel to the highway. So there was
enough tight stuff to make the course challenging and some fast trails to make the
ride fun. Good job, BET.
Matt and I were the only guys who showed up to race the Open B class and our
starting row was combined with a 4-stroke class. One of the guys on our line was on
an old Honda XR (or could have been an XL) that was a relic from the 1980's. Later in
the race we would see that Honda hanging off the side of the levee going through the
lake...not sure if he didn't make it up the other side or had problems going down the
hill. On the start, we went about 100 feet to a 90-degree lefthander that had a double
jump (motocross track) which I didn't even attempt to double. After the double was a
180-degree turn that came fast and I smacked Matt's rear wheel trying to slow down,
just about taking myself out early. I followed him for awhile until he got off the course
in an area where the ATV's had passed through but on a slightly different path.
Naturally I knew exactly where to go because I [am anal and] walked the course
beforehand and left the suckas behind, eating my dust. Hey, who inserted those
brackets? Anyway, I didn't see Matt again until near the end of the race when I caught
him just before the grass track. I didn't see the lap times afterward but can only
assume that I was lapping him, but usually we're very close in speed, so I don't know
what happened. We raced hard on the grass track, which was fun. But by that time
the silicon seal on my exhaust head had disintegrated, meaning bottom end power
was weak and the darned thing was loud. Probably time to replace that bent
pipe...CHA-ching. I was revving the thing so hard that on the last lap I had to switch
the gas tank to reserve after it started bogging.
Bottom line, this was a fun race, I got the win, and took home an Olympic-style gold
medal.
Lebanon, Missouri
Belleville, Illinois
Belleville, Illinois
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