| 2003 Race Reports |
 |  |  |
October 5, 2003
Warrensburg, Missouri
4th of 16 in A class
When I started racing 9 years ago, hare scrambles starting lines were ruled by the
four primary colors of off-roading at that time: red, green, blue, and yellow. A few KTM's
and Husky's would break up complete Japanese dominance, but if you weren't riding
a KDX, RMX, WR (2-stroke), XR or converted motocrosser, you were generally
considered to have an abnormal affinity for quirky European dirt bikes and a lot more
money than most folks to spend on parts.
Fast-forward to a hare scramble near you, and the Japanese have lost a lot of ground.
If not for a healthy amount of Yamaha Blue (thumpers, primarily), the Far East would
be a bit player in the off-road racing scene. With so many good woods bikes to
choose from these days, it's guys like me, riding green motocross bikes in the
woods, who are the nonconformists of the off-road world. Strolling through the staging
area of the Warrensburg property, I could just about count on one hand the number of
green bikes in attendance. This race was part of the Kansas Offroad series, which
occasionally ventures eastward into Missouri. Sometimes referred to as Knob Noster,
the Warrensburg course is one of my favorites, with lots of singletrack and fewer
rocks than most Missouri venues.
The course was laid out in reverse, more or less, of the earlier MHSC race in June.
Conditions were nearly identical, with mostly dry trails, moderate temperatures and
very little dust. The Warrensburg property has some interesting features that make for
challenging, but fun, racing. The promoters like to make use of small streams that
carve out narrow passages paved with silt and rocks. Some were very tight; others
were more open and fast, but they all eventually dumped into the main creek that
passes through the property. The first deepwater crossing came where one of the
smaller streams flowed into the creek. After a fast run through this stream, we made a
hard left turn where it dumped into the creek, then rode 30 yards upstream (or
downstream - couldn't tell) in about 18 inches of water. The right half of the creek had
been marked off with yellow tape, presumably to keep us out of deeper water on the
far side. Where the yellow tape ended, we made a hard right and exited the creek at
the wide crossing nearest the staging area. The 90-degree turn in the center of the
creek was a bit tricky, as the murky water clouded my view of the rocks. After my
previous race at Eugene, in which I tested the KTM's underwater capacity (it failed
miserably), I rode very carefully through this section. Later in the course, the crossing
that returned us back to the staging area was much easier because the water there
wasn't very deep, but the climb up the creek bank was steep. The main route up the
opposite bank was off-camber and sure to be sloppy after a couple laps.
At the starting line, the A class was large and full of familiar MHSC regulars, including
Zach Bryant, Gary Pilant, Brad Crain, Ralph Gerding, and others. Said AA rider Brian
Jahelka after the race, "I didn't like turning around and counting 17 bikes that would
like to run me over..." As the board dropped, the KX fired up and I dumped the clutch. I
heard the whine of an over-revving engine and that was about it. The bike was in
neutral...oops. I kicked it in gear and raced to the first corner, near the back of the
pack. In my first venture into the A class, I didn't have great expectations of a high
finish and tried to remind myself of that. I was there to test out the KX under full-on
race conditions. But I still wanted to keep up with the pack.
With help from a few mistakes by other riders, I moved up a couple spots early in the
race. Zach Bryant and another guy got tangled up in the first half of the course and
appeared to have taken it out on a tree that was missing large chunks of bark at foot
peg and handlebar levels. In a section of new trail, fast guy Caleb Wohletz was pulled
over, victim of a loose oil drain bolt. Zach stopped to help and later brought back
some oil after a pit stop, which explained why I never again heard his throttle-pinned
RM125 behind me. The first lap went smoothly and the A class gradually spread out. I
settled in behind a guy on a KTM 4-stroke who was keeping up a good pace despite
the fact that his pants were nearly falling off. For two laps I had full view of the guy's
half-moon (with crack). Had the course been at all muddy, the pants would have been
around his knees. I passed him after he got hung up on some tree roots, but the big
thumper blew by me in one of the open areas so I had to look at his ass for another
lap.
In woods mode, the KX did remarkably well on the 9-mile course. A couple more
clicks of rebound on the fork would have helped, and finding easier clutch pull will
need to be a priority, but the bike flat-out rips. As I was warned, the KX does require
more effort to ride fast for extended periods of time, as the narrower power band begs
to be ridden aggressively. But the rewards for this kind of intense riding are sweet. A
mile or so after the main creek crossing was a long grass track with some nice
berms around the corners. The KX shined in this section, producing healthy bursts of
power out of every corner. In the wide-open grass straights, it felt much more stable
than the KTM, with less headshake. On the downside, the KX is loud. Above ¾ throttle,
I don't envy guys riding behind me. It also doesn't have as tight a turning radius as
KTM's and has no adjustable steering stops. Near the end of the course was a very
tight 90-degree left turn down a steep ravine marked "Hard" (the "Easy" route was
apparently longer, though I never tried it), and I struggled to get the KX turned sharply
enough to make the corner. Other than that, I had no complaints. The forks were
much less harsh than the 43mm WP's with which KTM cursed its bikes from 2000-02.
W.E.R. did an excellent job with the valving on both ends. Best of all, the front brake is
firm as Jennifer Garner's abs (that's firm, trust me).
At the end of Lap 1, I was in 10th place behind the guy I'll call Britches. We both moved
up a spot in the second lap, and began our third lap just a few seconds apart.
Somewhere during Lap 3 we both passed Gary Pilant, and in the second half of the
lap Britches appeared to be tiring. I was on his back wheel in the section of new trails
but he maintained just enough speed to make it difficult to pass. Finally, as we
dropped down a steep creek bank to cross back over the deep water, Britches let me
by. As the white flag came out, I ended the third lap in 7th place with Britches hanging
close behind. He fell off the pace on Lap 4 while I continued to ride faster. By the end
of the fourth lap I had caught up to Kansas regular Dan Johnson on his KTM, but
since I had seen the white flag on the third lap, I thought the fourth lap would be my
last. However, no flag was displayed at the end of the lap and I began a 5th and final
journey around the course.
After I had slowed down thinking my race was over, Dan Johnson pulled away. But
within a half-mile I caught him in the short run through the small creek that dumped
into the deep water. Despite my concerns with again submerging my bike, I attempted
a pass. As we made the 90-degree turn in the center of the creek, I charged through
the water and used the KX's nitrous-like powerband to exit the creek just ahead of
Dan. I have to admit, dumping the clutch and flying up that creek bank was pretty cool.
It may not be as easy to ride in the woods as a KTM, but there's something to be said
about having that burst of power from a motocross-tuned engine.
I held off Dan for the remainder of the last lap and finished in 4th place in the A class
and 9th overall. My lap times showed that I rode faster each lap, which was very
satisfying in light of the warnings given by several former MX-bike woods racers that a
motocross bike would wear me out (I'm talkin' about you, K-Ruck). Expect to see more
of the Green Machine in '04.
October 26, 2003
White City, Illinois
3rd in +30A
Looking back at the 86 events I've entered and reported on during my time here in St.
Louis, White City is the only venue that I've attended at least once every year. At each
race, I either love it or hate it, but more often than not I have a great time. Sunday's
race had the makings of a tough challenge after steady rains on Saturday, but the
showers fell sparingly over the Cahokia Creek club grounds and the course was in
good shape.
Like most of our trips across the river in Illinois, Matt was less than enthusiastic about
racing in what we expected would be mud. Don't get me wrong, anyone who is kind
enough to e-mail me photos of panty-less Hilton sisters has got to be flowing with
testosterone, but sometimes Matt sounds like a girl when it comes to riding wet
Illinois trails. When we arrived at the club grounds, the sun was shining and the
course looked to be in better condition than we had expected. The light rains from the
day before left the exposed surfaces slick, but we guessed that after one lap the
course would tack up and offer plenty of traction. In some places the club had been
thoughtful enough to remove crab apples from the main line of the trail. Anyone who's
ever had a surprise encounter with those green, soft-ball-sized bastards can
appreciate their removal.
To the east of the staging area was a little 5-turn dirt track that served as a warm-up
area for the bikes. The KX really does love to be thrown into a berm wide open, but a
motocross bike rarely gets ridden to its full potential by a to-the-core woods rider like
me. To put it mildly, I'd suck at a Six Days enduro. That brief ride would be the only
warm-up for the bike and my already pumped-up arms, since there are no practice
laps at Cahokia Creek. At the rider's meeting, it was announced that the course would
be 10.7 miles long and we should "stay on the grass track." As I would find out later,
there was a good reason for that warning.
At the starting line I took a position on the right side of the first row, which included all
the various A classes. To my right, I saw fast guy John Yarnell riding a '03 KX250, just
like me. Yarnell picked up his new ride at about the same time I did during the
summer and naturally, his looked prettier than mine. I'm fairly certain it had seen less
time on its side or upside down against a tree, like my poor KX during its inaugural
ride at St. Joe State Park after a crash that had left Matt particularly impressed (I
believe in complete break-in rides that should include the destruction of at least one
major bike component). My KX fired up easily as the flag dropped, and I sprinted
straight ahead to a narrow opening in the woods, about 100 yards ahead. Of the 15 or
so guys in the front row, I entered the woods somewhere in the middle. Just inside
the woods, a couple riders passed me by cutting off a slick corner. Matt and I had
seen the shortcut while walking the course beforehand, but thinking like the smart
racer I am not, I didn't want to give away this great secret. After all, I would surely need
that shortcut later in the race, after dicing with the fast guys for several laps, so why
reveal my superior knowledge of the course any sooner than I needed to?
Reality set in when at least 5 guys took the shortcut. So much for secrets. The group
of riders ahead of me quickly distanced themselves while I tried to stay ahead of a
screaming Zach Bryant-like small-bore 2-stroke behind me. I soon gave up and let
the guy around. After that, I was pretty much on my own.
Roughly one-third of the course was on the opposite side of the highway that
paralleled the club grounds. We had passed under the road bridge over Cahokia
Creek and crossed the creek a mile or so later. The toughest hill on the course was
just after the creek crossing, but it wasn't much of a problem in dry dirt (I've scaled that
hill when the course was muddy, and it's a bear of a climb). By this time my arms
were severely pumped up, and the stiff pull of the KX's clutch lever was wearing on
me. But by the time we passed back under the highway bridge, I had relaxed enough
that I didn't notice my arms very much for the rest of the race.
The White City course is mostly smooth dirt when dry or sloppy mud when wet, but it
does have very brief sand whoops along the creek and some Missouri-style rocks
around the road bridge. But these sections were just a tiny fraction of the beautiful
trails that had been laid out for this race. After crossing the creek a second time, a
couple guys caught up and passed me. A few minutes later I overshot a turn, had
some trouble getting turned around, and two more guys passed me. I was able to
catch up to this second pair of riders and re-passed one of them by taking an inside
line down a steep hill, but I followed the other guy closely for the rest of the lap.
Somewhere in the middle of the club grounds is a large grassy area that has been
used minimally for past races, usually just the perimeter. This time, a long grass track
had been laid out. When I say long, I mean really, really long....probably two
continuous miles. Due to its length, it was not staked out with yellow ribbon, which is
why we were warned to stay on the established path (spotters were on hand to keep
riders reasonably on course). Back inside the woods, the course ended after another
mile or so. The guy I had been following the second half of the lap checked in through
the "A" barrels and continued moving along at an aggressive pace. I couldn't get close
enough to make a pass in the trails north of the highway and as usual, I followed his
lines in places where I should have known there were shortcuts. About half of the
second lap was spent trying to find a way around, but then he appeared to tire out a
bit. After planting my front tire next to his leg a couple times, he let me around just
before a muddy section that cut through a field of 6-foot-tall reeds. I was able to make
it through this section without incident, unlike my first time through when I slid out
around a corner. Soon enough, I was all by myself in the woods.
On the third lap I encountered the first group of lappers who were kind enough to clear
out of the way. I felt like I was making good time but pushing a bit beyond my comfort
zone. This was confirmed just after the second creek crossing, on a well-traveled line
up a hill that was chopped up from previous mud races. Both of my feet slipped off the
pegs and I rode most of the way up the hill superman-style with my only my arms
attached to the bike and the "twins" smacking against the rear fender. With that, I
backed off a little and finished the lap without incident.
The fourth and final lap was more of the same. Fun trails, at this point plenty tacky,
and the bike continued running perfectly. I had upped the rebound damping on both
ends after feeling a little too much bounce at Warrensburg, and apparently it did the
trick. I didn't notice the suspension at all during the race, other than the fact that it was
there and it was doing exactly what I paid W.E.R. to make it do. At the grass track I
slowly reeled in a guy on a Gas Gas and passed him just before we entered the last
mile of woods. Somewhere in the KX literature I read that it has some sort of
two-stage power valve, and on the grass track I could feel the second stage kick in.
Each time the engine reached this point, it would try to make the back tire spin on the
grass in 5th gear. Very cool. And I continued to be impressed with the KX's stability at
speed. I've got it geared with a 14/50 sprocket combo, which gives me nearly the
same final gear ratios as my 300MXC, but somehow it seems a bit faster on top. Or
maybe the lack of headshake just makes me feel like I'm riding faster. Either way, it
felt good.
I ended the race in 3rd place in the +30A class and had money coming if I'd stuck
around. But my ride was leaving. Even so, it was nice to be home by 4:00 and have
time to wash the bike and gear and reflect on another fun race at White City.
Warrensburg, Missouri
4th of 16 in A class
When I started racing 9 years ago, hare scrambles starting lines were ruled by the
four primary colors of off-roading at that time: red, green, blue, and yellow. A few KTM's
and Husky's would break up complete Japanese dominance, but if you weren't riding
a KDX, RMX, WR (2-stroke), XR or converted motocrosser, you were generally
considered to have an abnormal affinity for quirky European dirt bikes and a lot more
money than most folks to spend on parts.
Fast-forward to a hare scramble near you, and the Japanese have lost a lot of ground.
If not for a healthy amount of Yamaha Blue (thumpers, primarily), the Far East would
be a bit player in the off-road racing scene. With so many good woods bikes to
choose from these days, it's guys like me, riding green motocross bikes in the
woods, who are the nonconformists of the off-road world. Strolling through the staging
area of the Warrensburg property, I could just about count on one hand the number of
green bikes in attendance. This race was part of the Kansas Offroad series, which
occasionally ventures eastward into Missouri. Sometimes referred to as Knob Noster,
the Warrensburg course is one of my favorites, with lots of singletrack and fewer
rocks than most Missouri venues.
The course was laid out in reverse, more or less, of the earlier MHSC race in June.
Conditions were nearly identical, with mostly dry trails, moderate temperatures and
very little dust. The Warrensburg property has some interesting features that make for
challenging, but fun, racing. The promoters like to make use of small streams that
carve out narrow passages paved with silt and rocks. Some were very tight; others
were more open and fast, but they all eventually dumped into the main creek that
passes through the property. The first deepwater crossing came where one of the
smaller streams flowed into the creek. After a fast run through this stream, we made a
hard left turn where it dumped into the creek, then rode 30 yards upstream (or
downstream - couldn't tell) in about 18 inches of water. The right half of the creek had
been marked off with yellow tape, presumably to keep us out of deeper water on the
far side. Where the yellow tape ended, we made a hard right and exited the creek at
the wide crossing nearest the staging area. The 90-degree turn in the center of the
creek was a bit tricky, as the murky water clouded my view of the rocks. After my
previous race at Eugene, in which I tested the KTM's underwater capacity (it failed
miserably), I rode very carefully through this section. Later in the course, the crossing
that returned us back to the staging area was much easier because the water there
wasn't very deep, but the climb up the creek bank was steep. The main route up the
opposite bank was off-camber and sure to be sloppy after a couple laps.
At the starting line, the A class was large and full of familiar MHSC regulars, including
Zach Bryant, Gary Pilant, Brad Crain, Ralph Gerding, and others. Said AA rider Brian
Jahelka after the race, "I didn't like turning around and counting 17 bikes that would
like to run me over..." As the board dropped, the KX fired up and I dumped the clutch. I
heard the whine of an over-revving engine and that was about it. The bike was in
neutral...oops. I kicked it in gear and raced to the first corner, near the back of the
pack. In my first venture into the A class, I didn't have great expectations of a high
finish and tried to remind myself of that. I was there to test out the KX under full-on
race conditions. But I still wanted to keep up with the pack.
With help from a few mistakes by other riders, I moved up a couple spots early in the
race. Zach Bryant and another guy got tangled up in the first half of the course and
appeared to have taken it out on a tree that was missing large chunks of bark at foot
peg and handlebar levels. In a section of new trail, fast guy Caleb Wohletz was pulled
over, victim of a loose oil drain bolt. Zach stopped to help and later brought back
some oil after a pit stop, which explained why I never again heard his throttle-pinned
RM125 behind me. The first lap went smoothly and the A class gradually spread out. I
settled in behind a guy on a KTM 4-stroke who was keeping up a good pace despite
the fact that his pants were nearly falling off. For two laps I had full view of the guy's
half-moon (with crack). Had the course been at all muddy, the pants would have been
around his knees. I passed him after he got hung up on some tree roots, but the big
thumper blew by me in one of the open areas so I had to look at his ass for another
lap.
In woods mode, the KX did remarkably well on the 9-mile course. A couple more
clicks of rebound on the fork would have helped, and finding easier clutch pull will
need to be a priority, but the bike flat-out rips. As I was warned, the KX does require
more effort to ride fast for extended periods of time, as the narrower power band begs
to be ridden aggressively. But the rewards for this kind of intense riding are sweet. A
mile or so after the main creek crossing was a long grass track with some nice
berms around the corners. The KX shined in this section, producing healthy bursts of
power out of every corner. In the wide-open grass straights, it felt much more stable
than the KTM, with less headshake. On the downside, the KX is loud. Above ¾ throttle,
I don't envy guys riding behind me. It also doesn't have as tight a turning radius as
KTM's and has no adjustable steering stops. Near the end of the course was a very
tight 90-degree left turn down a steep ravine marked "Hard" (the "Easy" route was
apparently longer, though I never tried it), and I struggled to get the KX turned sharply
enough to make the corner. Other than that, I had no complaints. The forks were
much less harsh than the 43mm WP's with which KTM cursed its bikes from 2000-02.
W.E.R. did an excellent job with the valving on both ends. Best of all, the front brake is
firm as Jennifer Garner's abs (that's firm, trust me).
At the end of Lap 1, I was in 10th place behind the guy I'll call Britches. We both moved
up a spot in the second lap, and began our third lap just a few seconds apart.
Somewhere during Lap 3 we both passed Gary Pilant, and in the second half of the
lap Britches appeared to be tiring. I was on his back wheel in the section of new trails
but he maintained just enough speed to make it difficult to pass. Finally, as we
dropped down a steep creek bank to cross back over the deep water, Britches let me
by. As the white flag came out, I ended the third lap in 7th place with Britches hanging
close behind. He fell off the pace on Lap 4 while I continued to ride faster. By the end
of the fourth lap I had caught up to Kansas regular Dan Johnson on his KTM, but
since I had seen the white flag on the third lap, I thought the fourth lap would be my
last. However, no flag was displayed at the end of the lap and I began a 5th and final
journey around the course.
After I had slowed down thinking my race was over, Dan Johnson pulled away. But
within a half-mile I caught him in the short run through the small creek that dumped
into the deep water. Despite my concerns with again submerging my bike, I attempted
a pass. As we made the 90-degree turn in the center of the creek, I charged through
the water and used the KX's nitrous-like powerband to exit the creek just ahead of
Dan. I have to admit, dumping the clutch and flying up that creek bank was pretty cool.
It may not be as easy to ride in the woods as a KTM, but there's something to be said
about having that burst of power from a motocross-tuned engine.
I held off Dan for the remainder of the last lap and finished in 4th place in the A class
and 9th overall. My lap times showed that I rode faster each lap, which was very
satisfying in light of the warnings given by several former MX-bike woods racers that a
motocross bike would wear me out (I'm talkin' about you, K-Ruck). Expect to see more
of the Green Machine in '04.
October 26, 2003
White City, Illinois
3rd in +30A
Looking back at the 86 events I've entered and reported on during my time here in St.
Louis, White City is the only venue that I've attended at least once every year. At each
race, I either love it or hate it, but more often than not I have a great time. Sunday's
race had the makings of a tough challenge after steady rains on Saturday, but the
showers fell sparingly over the Cahokia Creek club grounds and the course was in
good shape.
Like most of our trips across the river in Illinois, Matt was less than enthusiastic about
racing in what we expected would be mud. Don't get me wrong, anyone who is kind
enough to e-mail me photos of panty-less Hilton sisters has got to be flowing with
testosterone, but sometimes Matt sounds like a girl when it comes to riding wet
Illinois trails. When we arrived at the club grounds, the sun was shining and the
course looked to be in better condition than we had expected. The light rains from the
day before left the exposed surfaces slick, but we guessed that after one lap the
course would tack up and offer plenty of traction. In some places the club had been
thoughtful enough to remove crab apples from the main line of the trail. Anyone who's
ever had a surprise encounter with those green, soft-ball-sized bastards can
appreciate their removal.
To the east of the staging area was a little 5-turn dirt track that served as a warm-up
area for the bikes. The KX really does love to be thrown into a berm wide open, but a
motocross bike rarely gets ridden to its full potential by a to-the-core woods rider like
me. To put it mildly, I'd suck at a Six Days enduro. That brief ride would be the only
warm-up for the bike and my already pumped-up arms, since there are no practice
laps at Cahokia Creek. At the rider's meeting, it was announced that the course would
be 10.7 miles long and we should "stay on the grass track." As I would find out later,
there was a good reason for that warning.
At the starting line I took a position on the right side of the first row, which included all
the various A classes. To my right, I saw fast guy John Yarnell riding a '03 KX250, just
like me. Yarnell picked up his new ride at about the same time I did during the
summer and naturally, his looked prettier than mine. I'm fairly certain it had seen less
time on its side or upside down against a tree, like my poor KX during its inaugural
ride at St. Joe State Park after a crash that had left Matt particularly impressed (I
believe in complete break-in rides that should include the destruction of at least one
major bike component). My KX fired up easily as the flag dropped, and I sprinted
straight ahead to a narrow opening in the woods, about 100 yards ahead. Of the 15 or
so guys in the front row, I entered the woods somewhere in the middle. Just inside
the woods, a couple riders passed me by cutting off a slick corner. Matt and I had
seen the shortcut while walking the course beforehand, but thinking like the smart
racer I am not, I didn't want to give away this great secret. After all, I would surely need
that shortcut later in the race, after dicing with the fast guys for several laps, so why
reveal my superior knowledge of the course any sooner than I needed to?
Reality set in when at least 5 guys took the shortcut. So much for secrets. The group
of riders ahead of me quickly distanced themselves while I tried to stay ahead of a
screaming Zach Bryant-like small-bore 2-stroke behind me. I soon gave up and let
the guy around. After that, I was pretty much on my own.
Roughly one-third of the course was on the opposite side of the highway that
paralleled the club grounds. We had passed under the road bridge over Cahokia
Creek and crossed the creek a mile or so later. The toughest hill on the course was
just after the creek crossing, but it wasn't much of a problem in dry dirt (I've scaled that
hill when the course was muddy, and it's a bear of a climb). By this time my arms
were severely pumped up, and the stiff pull of the KX's clutch lever was wearing on
me. But by the time we passed back under the highway bridge, I had relaxed enough
that I didn't notice my arms very much for the rest of the race.
The White City course is mostly smooth dirt when dry or sloppy mud when wet, but it
does have very brief sand whoops along the creek and some Missouri-style rocks
around the road bridge. But these sections were just a tiny fraction of the beautiful
trails that had been laid out for this race. After crossing the creek a second time, a
couple guys caught up and passed me. A few minutes later I overshot a turn, had
some trouble getting turned around, and two more guys passed me. I was able to
catch up to this second pair of riders and re-passed one of them by taking an inside
line down a steep hill, but I followed the other guy closely for the rest of the lap.
Somewhere in the middle of the club grounds is a large grassy area that has been
used minimally for past races, usually just the perimeter. This time, a long grass track
had been laid out. When I say long, I mean really, really long....probably two
continuous miles. Due to its length, it was not staked out with yellow ribbon, which is
why we were warned to stay on the established path (spotters were on hand to keep
riders reasonably on course). Back inside the woods, the course ended after another
mile or so. The guy I had been following the second half of the lap checked in through
the "A" barrels and continued moving along at an aggressive pace. I couldn't get close
enough to make a pass in the trails north of the highway and as usual, I followed his
lines in places where I should have known there were shortcuts. About half of the
second lap was spent trying to find a way around, but then he appeared to tire out a
bit. After planting my front tire next to his leg a couple times, he let me around just
before a muddy section that cut through a field of 6-foot-tall reeds. I was able to make
it through this section without incident, unlike my first time through when I slid out
around a corner. Soon enough, I was all by myself in the woods.
On the third lap I encountered the first group of lappers who were kind enough to clear
out of the way. I felt like I was making good time but pushing a bit beyond my comfort
zone. This was confirmed just after the second creek crossing, on a well-traveled line
up a hill that was chopped up from previous mud races. Both of my feet slipped off the
pegs and I rode most of the way up the hill superman-style with my only my arms
attached to the bike and the "twins" smacking against the rear fender. With that, I
backed off a little and finished the lap without incident.
The fourth and final lap was more of the same. Fun trails, at this point plenty tacky,
and the bike continued running perfectly. I had upped the rebound damping on both
ends after feeling a little too much bounce at Warrensburg, and apparently it did the
trick. I didn't notice the suspension at all during the race, other than the fact that it was
there and it was doing exactly what I paid W.E.R. to make it do. At the grass track I
slowly reeled in a guy on a Gas Gas and passed him just before we entered the last
mile of woods. Somewhere in the KX literature I read that it has some sort of
two-stage power valve, and on the grass track I could feel the second stage kick in.
Each time the engine reached this point, it would try to make the back tire spin on the
grass in 5th gear. Very cool. And I continued to be impressed with the KX's stability at
speed. I've got it geared with a 14/50 sprocket combo, which gives me nearly the
same final gear ratios as my 300MXC, but somehow it seems a bit faster on top. Or
maybe the lack of headshake just makes me feel like I'm riding faster. Either way, it
felt good.
I ended the race in 3rd place in the +30A class and had money coming if I'd stuck
around. But my ride was leaving. Even so, it was nice to be home by 4:00 and have
time to wash the bike and gear and reflect on another fun race at White City.
Warrensburg, Missouri
White City, Illinois
White City, Illinois
| My new ride |
