| 2002 Race Reports |
June 30, 2002
Newark, Missouri
2nd of 13 in Open B
The ninth installment of the MHSC series officially brought in the Dog Days of
Summer, with a spankin' new location near Newark. The northwest corner of
Missouri is a kinder, gentler place than the lower half of the state, and with this new
venue came brand new trails and temperatures in the mid-90's. Gary Mittelberg &
Co. laid out a 9.5-mile course that was just about perfect, with a good combination of
fast woods, tight, technical stuff, and some open fields.
Matt and I drove up early (for us) and baked in the sun most of the morning. Like my
homeboy Nelly, it was gettin' hot in therre, so I took off all my clothes. Actually it was
just the shirt, but unaware spectators were given no warning. The painful glare was
too much for some who inadvertently caught a glimpse of the effulgence (it's a word,
really) that is my pale, white chest. As I'm writing this nearly two weeks later, I'm still
peeling large, thin sheets of dead skin off my shoulders (note to self: next time pack
the sunblock, the thick stuff that spreads on like mayonnaise. Or maybe just pack
mayonnaise.).
The heat kept attendance down a bit, as evidenced by a relatively short line for
signup. We ran across fast-guy Lars Valin, who had recently qualified for the
International Six Days Enduro to be held in the Czech Republic later this year. He's
such a modest guy that his buddy had to encourage him to tell us about this
awesome news. While in line, we had a clear view of the ATV's coming through the
scoring trailer. Despite the hot and dusty conditions, we saw many ATV's pass by
plastered in mud, further proof that in these parts you can be blinded by dust and
swamp mud, both in the same race.
The practice lap began with a quarter-mile of wet, sandy creek bed that was already
deteriorating from the few bikes that had passed through ahead of us. Next up was
an off-camber singletrack section that ended with a short, steep climb that two guys
were hung up on. The potential bottlenecks were adding up, and we had barely gone
a mile down the trail. Since the course was completely new, we followed the arrows
as best we could but still got off the course many times. We saw a surprising
amount of sand and a couple more potential problem areas before completing the
course about 40 minutes after we started.
The race organizers recognized the nasty spots and did an excellent job of re-routing
and re-marking some of the trails. On the starting line, the Open B class was placed
several rows back, which gave me just enough time to notice a hole in my fuel line.
Not a big one, but just enough to wet the line. The few minutes in which I
contemplated my alternatives reminded me of a comment from my buddy Bill Steele,
after my clutch perch bolt fell out approximately 30 seconds into the Jonesboro,
Illinois hare scramble in 2000: "Maybe you should come up with some sort of
pre-race maintenance routine." Note to self: add "Replace fuel line more frequently
than once every 5 years" to the pre-race maintenance routine.
I took my usual mid-pack position at the first turn and saw Matt jump out a few places
ahead of me. We immediately crossed a creek and did a high-speed run through the
pasture on the other side, and then dropped back down in the creek. The worst of the
creek section that we had ridden on the practice lap had been removed, but enough
remained I was completely covered with sand by the time we exited that section. The
downside to wearing fully vented jerseys is that the sand goes right through the
mesh and slides down into my pants. That combined with a gripper seat cover and
my aversion to standing while I ride, sitting down bare-assed on a belt sander is
probably the best comparison I can offer.
I moved up a couple spots in the first half of the course and passed Matt somewhere
in there. The trail was now much better defined, and I had little trouble navigating the
course. Most of the terrain was a dry, light loam that offered great traction throughout
the woods. That traction was very helpful on one hill that was the steepest I've seen in
the MHSC series this year. The hill was made even more challenging because of a
tree root lying across the trail just before the summit, which meant that any lack of
momentum would leave riders with rear tires spinning helplessly on the root,
followed by a lengthy slide back down the hill. I made it each time, but others were
less fortunate. The course contained exactly one rock, about the size of a football,
placed directly in the center of an off-camber trail. Needless to say, I hit the darned
thing every single time.
As usual, I had no idea what position I was in after the first lap, but I felt good about
my riding. Lap two was more of the same, with no major mistakes but I began to feel
the heat. About halfway into that lap I could hear what sounded like an 80cc bike
screaming behind me, which was motivation enough to ignore the heat and keep
riding hard. (the Junior class winner, had he continued at his blistering pace for 4
laps, would have beaten about half of guys in all of the B classes). I was surprisingly
consistent on the second and third laps and remained in 2nd place (barely). On my
fourth and final lap, I kept up the pace and finished strong. Matt finished just a few
minutes behind me in 4th place with his strongest ride of the year.
Brandon Forrester was leading Steve Leivan by less than a bike length when they
lapped me near the end, and that's how they finished overall. A pair of fast guys
named Chris - Thiele and Nesbitt - were a couple minutes off the pace and finished
3rd and 4th, respectively. Matt Coffman, our soon-should-be A class guy, had no
trouble spanking the Open B class, with lap times 2 minutes quicker than mine.
Overall, this new location was fantastic and I hope to see it on the schedule next year.
July 14, 2002
Tebbetts, Missouri
3rd of 16 in Open B
So I was standing in the signup line at the Missouri speedway also known as the
Tebbetts race course, when I glanced down at what appeared to be flat, white rocks.
Except they weren't rocks, they were tombstones, many from the 1850's. Scattered
around the tombstones were bones...seriously. Leg bones, vertebrae, and a nearly
complete skull. Animal bones, no doubt, but still Blair-Witch-creepy, man. How's a
guy supposed to focus on racing when you're stepping on dead people, huh?
Superstitions aside, the Tebbetts course is always fast, but last year was slowed
down a little with a couple miles of tight new singletrack. This year, the singletrack
was gone and the course was its old, insanely fast self. The practice lap revealed
many of the same trails as past years, including a long, rocky creek bed and some
wide open pasture sections, along with some natural jumps that would make RC
happy.
On the start, I was in the middle of the 16-rider pack going into the dusty first turn.
The first obstacle was a small ravine, where PizzaMan took an inside line and got
around me. That line seemed pretty rough on the practice lap, and apparently the
distraction of PizzaMan's skills through that section caused me to stall the engine at
the bottom of the ravine. Hello, back of the pack. Last place, to be exact. I caught up
quickly, fought through some dust, and finally found PizzaMan in a section of woods
that had recently been logged. I managed to get around him and kept working my
way through the pack. For some reason the long, rocky creek bed didn't give me any
problems this year, and I was actually passing people through that section (thank
you, Scotts steering damper).
Near the end of the second lap, I pulled my roll-offs to clear my vision, felt some
resistance, pulled a little harder, and was left with the string hanging in my hand. So
much for clear vision. When we crossed the gravel road next to the property entrance,
I yanked off my goggles, threw them in the grass, and fought the dust for the rest of
the race. It wasn't so bad in the woods, but the open areas were horrible with dust in
my eyes. On the third lap, I was following a couple of slower riders and looking for a
way to pass. I took a shortcut through some standing water that was a bit deeper
than I thought, and the huge splash completely drenched me. Not sure if it was the
shortcut or the distraction of a whale-sized belly flop in the creek that got me around
the guys I was trying to pass, but the dust cleared from my eyes and I felt a whole lot
cooler.
One of the highlights of the course has always been the terraces in the pasture
around the staging area, which double as motocross-sized jumps. One set of
terraces parallel to the gravel road had a drop-down, then a quick jump that kicked
the bike sideways in midair. Lots of fun in 4th gear and dust in my eyes. I did four
11-mile laps, each one in about 32-33 minutes. As always, third place at a course as
fast as Tebbetts was as good as a victory for me. Steve Leivan took the overall win
with a blistering pace, followed by Brandon Forrester.
Newark, Missouri
2nd of 13 in Open B
The ninth installment of the MHSC series officially brought in the Dog Days of
Summer, with a spankin' new location near Newark. The northwest corner of
Missouri is a kinder, gentler place than the lower half of the state, and with this new
venue came brand new trails and temperatures in the mid-90's. Gary Mittelberg &
Co. laid out a 9.5-mile course that was just about perfect, with a good combination of
fast woods, tight, technical stuff, and some open fields.
Matt and I drove up early (for us) and baked in the sun most of the morning. Like my
homeboy Nelly, it was gettin' hot in therre, so I took off all my clothes. Actually it was
just the shirt, but unaware spectators were given no warning. The painful glare was
too much for some who inadvertently caught a glimpse of the effulgence (it's a word,
really) that is my pale, white chest. As I'm writing this nearly two weeks later, I'm still
peeling large, thin sheets of dead skin off my shoulders (note to self: next time pack
the sunblock, the thick stuff that spreads on like mayonnaise. Or maybe just pack
mayonnaise.).
The heat kept attendance down a bit, as evidenced by a relatively short line for
signup. We ran across fast-guy Lars Valin, who had recently qualified for the
International Six Days Enduro to be held in the Czech Republic later this year. He's
such a modest guy that his buddy had to encourage him to tell us about this
awesome news. While in line, we had a clear view of the ATV's coming through the
scoring trailer. Despite the hot and dusty conditions, we saw many ATV's pass by
plastered in mud, further proof that in these parts you can be blinded by dust and
swamp mud, both in the same race.
The practice lap began with a quarter-mile of wet, sandy creek bed that was already
deteriorating from the few bikes that had passed through ahead of us. Next up was
an off-camber singletrack section that ended with a short, steep climb that two guys
were hung up on. The potential bottlenecks were adding up, and we had barely gone
a mile down the trail. Since the course was completely new, we followed the arrows
as best we could but still got off the course many times. We saw a surprising
amount of sand and a couple more potential problem areas before completing the
course about 40 minutes after we started.
The race organizers recognized the nasty spots and did an excellent job of re-routing
and re-marking some of the trails. On the starting line, the Open B class was placed
several rows back, which gave me just enough time to notice a hole in my fuel line.
Not a big one, but just enough to wet the line. The few minutes in which I
contemplated my alternatives reminded me of a comment from my buddy Bill Steele,
after my clutch perch bolt fell out approximately 30 seconds into the Jonesboro,
Illinois hare scramble in 2000: "Maybe you should come up with some sort of
pre-race maintenance routine." Note to self: add "Replace fuel line more frequently
than once every 5 years" to the pre-race maintenance routine.
I took my usual mid-pack position at the first turn and saw Matt jump out a few places
ahead of me. We immediately crossed a creek and did a high-speed run through the
pasture on the other side, and then dropped back down in the creek. The worst of the
creek section that we had ridden on the practice lap had been removed, but enough
remained I was completely covered with sand by the time we exited that section. The
downside to wearing fully vented jerseys is that the sand goes right through the
mesh and slides down into my pants. That combined with a gripper seat cover and
my aversion to standing while I ride, sitting down bare-assed on a belt sander is
probably the best comparison I can offer.
I moved up a couple spots in the first half of the course and passed Matt somewhere
in there. The trail was now much better defined, and I had little trouble navigating the
course. Most of the terrain was a dry, light loam that offered great traction throughout
the woods. That traction was very helpful on one hill that was the steepest I've seen in
the MHSC series this year. The hill was made even more challenging because of a
tree root lying across the trail just before the summit, which meant that any lack of
momentum would leave riders with rear tires spinning helplessly on the root,
followed by a lengthy slide back down the hill. I made it each time, but others were
less fortunate. The course contained exactly one rock, about the size of a football,
placed directly in the center of an off-camber trail. Needless to say, I hit the darned
thing every single time.
As usual, I had no idea what position I was in after the first lap, but I felt good about
my riding. Lap two was more of the same, with no major mistakes but I began to feel
the heat. About halfway into that lap I could hear what sounded like an 80cc bike
screaming behind me, which was motivation enough to ignore the heat and keep
riding hard. (the Junior class winner, had he continued at his blistering pace for 4
laps, would have beaten about half of guys in all of the B classes). I was surprisingly
consistent on the second and third laps and remained in 2nd place (barely). On my
fourth and final lap, I kept up the pace and finished strong. Matt finished just a few
minutes behind me in 4th place with his strongest ride of the year.
Brandon Forrester was leading Steve Leivan by less than a bike length when they
lapped me near the end, and that's how they finished overall. A pair of fast guys
named Chris - Thiele and Nesbitt - were a couple minutes off the pace and finished
3rd and 4th, respectively. Matt Coffman, our soon-should-be A class guy, had no
trouble spanking the Open B class, with lap times 2 minutes quicker than mine.
Overall, this new location was fantastic and I hope to see it on the schedule next year.
July 14, 2002
Tebbetts, Missouri
3rd of 16 in Open B
So I was standing in the signup line at the Missouri speedway also known as the
Tebbetts race course, when I glanced down at what appeared to be flat, white rocks.
Except they weren't rocks, they were tombstones, many from the 1850's. Scattered
around the tombstones were bones...seriously. Leg bones, vertebrae, and a nearly
complete skull. Animal bones, no doubt, but still Blair-Witch-creepy, man. How's a
guy supposed to focus on racing when you're stepping on dead people, huh?
Superstitions aside, the Tebbetts course is always fast, but last year was slowed
down a little with a couple miles of tight new singletrack. This year, the singletrack
was gone and the course was its old, insanely fast self. The practice lap revealed
many of the same trails as past years, including a long, rocky creek bed and some
wide open pasture sections, along with some natural jumps that would make RC
happy.
On the start, I was in the middle of the 16-rider pack going into the dusty first turn.
The first obstacle was a small ravine, where PizzaMan took an inside line and got
around me. That line seemed pretty rough on the practice lap, and apparently the
distraction of PizzaMan's skills through that section caused me to stall the engine at
the bottom of the ravine. Hello, back of the pack. Last place, to be exact. I caught up
quickly, fought through some dust, and finally found PizzaMan in a section of woods
that had recently been logged. I managed to get around him and kept working my
way through the pack. For some reason the long, rocky creek bed didn't give me any
problems this year, and I was actually passing people through that section (thank
you, Scotts steering damper).
Near the end of the second lap, I pulled my roll-offs to clear my vision, felt some
resistance, pulled a little harder, and was left with the string hanging in my hand. So
much for clear vision. When we crossed the gravel road next to the property entrance,
I yanked off my goggles, threw them in the grass, and fought the dust for the rest of
the race. It wasn't so bad in the woods, but the open areas were horrible with dust in
my eyes. On the third lap, I was following a couple of slower riders and looking for a
way to pass. I took a shortcut through some standing water that was a bit deeper
than I thought, and the huge splash completely drenched me. Not sure if it was the
shortcut or the distraction of a whale-sized belly flop in the creek that got me around
the guys I was trying to pass, but the dust cleared from my eyes and I felt a whole lot
cooler.
One of the highlights of the course has always been the terraces in the pasture
around the staging area, which double as motocross-sized jumps. One set of
terraces parallel to the gravel road had a drop-down, then a quick jump that kicked
the bike sideways in midair. Lots of fun in 4th gear and dust in my eyes. I did four
11-mile laps, each one in about 32-33 minutes. As always, third place at a course as
fast as Tebbetts was as good as a victory for me. Steve Leivan took the overall win
with a blistering pace, followed by Brandon Forrester.
Newark, Missouri
Tebbetts, Missouri
Tebbetts, Missouri
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