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Bixby, Missouri
3rd of 14 in Vet
The Viburnum Trend Riding Area is a great example of local industry working with the
surrounding communities for the benefit of recreation. Doe Run Co., a multinational mining
company, donated the 600-acre property on which the 3rd round of the MHSC series was
held. The land will soon be open to the public for weekend riding, but MHSC racers were able
to preview the property in advance of its anticipated opening later this year.
A cold wind greeted us at signup, where I traded in my damaged RFID card for a new one,
free of charge, thanks to the Nasty Creek club and their generous donation to the MHSC. Matt
and I went out for a practice lap that seemed to go on forever, or at least 11 miles, and found
a nice mix of singletrack, ATV trails and plenty of rocks. The trail passed through several
ass-punishing, first-gear boulder gardens and a high-speed power line section full of
no-see'em rocks. Surprisingly, a few deep mud holes had developed from Saturday's ATV
race, and alternate routes were already forming on the practice lap.
I lined up near the outside of the 14-member Vet class, with '02 class winner Kevin
Ruckdeschell on my right. Matt was a couple rows behind me in the Open B class. After the
class ahead of us took off, I began my normal starting routine: run the engine until the
30-second board appears; pull in the clutch; shift into 2nd gear; hit the kill switch; as the
engine is nearly dead, give a short burst of throttle to fill the combustion chamber with fuel;
gently push down kick starter and feel for piston's top dead center position, then give it one
hell of a kick when the board drops. Works like a charm - unless it's my 300MXC. For the
second week in a row, the routine failed me. Even worse, this time multiple kicks were not
enough to start the bike. One of the unwritten rules (or maybe it is written somewhere) of
dead engine starts at hare scrambles is that you better have your bike in motion or pushed off
the starting line before the board drops for the row behind you. When the 30-second board
was raised for the class lined up behind me, I pushed my bike to a spectator area and made a
few more attempts to get the engine running. Matt witnessed this and gave me a shout,
possibly for encouragement but probably for harassment. Hare scramble etiquette dictates
that when the 15-second board is up and the next class is set to start, spodes like me should
refrain from attempting to start their bikes until the board drops and they are on their way -
somewhat like a call for quiet during a tee-off.
I resumed my frantic kicking, trying various combinations of fuel-on/no throttle, throttle/fuel-off,
throttle/fuel-on with swearing, no throttle/fuel-off with begging, pleading, and more swear
words. Finally, as the 30-second board went up for Matt's Open B class, the engine fired and I
made my way towards the first corner in 2nd gear while fumbling to turn the gas tank petcock
back to the "on" position. In case you are wondering, the answer is yes, I had remembered to
turn on the gas prior to the occurrence of all these events.
The only real upside to starting 90 seconds later than the rest of my class is that the riders
were well-spaced by the time I finally caught up. I was able to focus on passing one rider at a
time, rather than groups of riders. Being relatively new to the Vet class, I had no idea who was
or wasn't in my class, so everyone was fair game. I passed early and I passed often, using the
block pass and my personal favorite, the "bump pass", as effectively as ever. Since a large
portion of the course was singletrack, I chose my lines carefully and somehow managed not to
fall while taking out, I mean, passing other riders. Lap times would later show that I made it
through half the Vet class pack on the first lap.
I continued to make progress on the second loop, with a time only 4 seconds slower than the
quickest lap recorded for the Vet class, Neal Soenksen's 37:57 lap that vaulted him from 5th
to 1st at the start of lap 3. A quick look at my watch suggested that I could probably do 4 laps,
but barely, and I'd be racing well past the 2.5 hour mark as I finished my final lap. Fuel
capacity became a slight concern as I began the third lap. Should I stop and put in a splash of
gas to start the 4th lap? Before I could think about it any further, I dumped the bike going
around a tight corner and a couple guys that I'd already passed got around me. I was able to
pass them back in short order, but then the bike began acting as if one of the brakes was
locking up. I let off the throttle and came to a very rapid stop without even trying. After
examining both calipers and seeing nothing visibly wrong, I noticed that the rear brake lever
was locked in its down position. I yanked on it a couple times and heard the satisfying "plop"
of a small stone fall to the ground, and like magic, the brake unlocked. Although I'd come
within 10 seconds of K-Ruck at the end of the second lap, this delay on lap 3 ruined my
chances of catching him.
At least 10 guys had passed by while I was parked on the trail, including who I assumed to be
Steve Crews on his Kawasaki. I finally caught up to him on my 4th and final lap and managed
to follow him for several miles. But I took a minor spill that ended with me and the bike at rest
against a fallen tree, and Steve increased his lead. After the race I would discover that the
tree had left my seat cover with a huge hole in the top center, directly underneath my
backside. This was the seat I had borrowed from my old EXC because it is softer and has
better grip for what I assumed would be a muddy race at Columbia the week before. I had
intended to remove it and use the MXC seat at Bixby, but naturally I was too lazy to spend the
approximately 25 seconds it would have taken to do the swap. So now I have an EXC that I'm
trying to sell with a massive hole in the seat cover.
Later in the 4th lap, I caught back up to Steve and got around him near the end of the lap. I
finished in 3rd place, a couple minutes behind K-Ruck and the Vet class winner, Rick
Kinkelaar. In the Open B class, Matt had one of his best rides, finishing in 3rd place. The
overall victory went to Steve Leivan, who blazed his way to his first victory of the year.
April 13, 2003
Westphalia, Missouri
3rd of 17 in Vet
April weather in Missouri is always hit-or-miss, but this day was just about perfect for Round 4
of the MHSC series near Westphalia. Once again, parking was plentiful as the ATV race was
held the previous day. Matt and I took an early practice lap and found some familiar ATV trails
mixed with two sections of new singletrack. The new trails had been ridden sparingly, and I
was reminded of the annual White City enduro as I refined my arrow-navigating skills.
Near the starting line, I took some time to practice my starting routine and figure out what I
had been doing wrong the previous two races. Apparently the bike doesn't like that last blip of
throttle while the kill switch is on. Or maybe the bike just doesn't like me. Anyway, after a
couple of successful practice starts I lined up near the inside of the Vet class row. After further
review, I could see two lines at the left-hand turn into the woods. The inside line looked to be
a sharp, abrupt turn, while the outside line appeared to be a faster, sweeping turn. I moved
over to the right side of our row, thinking I could get a better approach to the outside line into
the woods and carry more speed. My theory didn't look so good when Doug Stone, lined up
on the far left side of the AA row, easily got the holeshot by taking the inside line. When the
board dropped for the Vet class, my bike started on the first kick, but I got pushed too far to
the outside and was mid-pack at the first turn.
The first couple miles of the course were tight ATV trails, with passing opportunities limited
and challenging. Some creative lines got me around a few guys and the pack was spread out
by the time we entered the first wide-open blast through a pasture. With little rain the previous
week, the open areas were very dusty and I was riding blind whenever more than a couple
bikes were ahead of me. We cruised through a fun section of open woods and continued on
the ATV trails for another mile or two. The first stage of new singletrack was much more
established by now, which meant the rocks were at least visible. I had put on a new SDG
tall-soft seat to replace the concrete slab that KTM calls seat foam, and for the first time on
the MXC I didn't notice my bony ass getting spanked the whole ride. To give you an idea of
how hard the KTM seat is, think of the last time you visited the primate house at the zoo.
Think about those monkeys with bright red posteriors that scream "I was just dragged on my
bare butt over pea-gravel for three miles." Yeah, that's me after two hours on a KTM seat.
Back to the race...the middle part of the course had an interesting run through a narrow creek
bed that was clogged with riders the first time through. From there it was a drag race to a
grass track that contained a set of terraces that doubled as awesome 3rd and 4th gear jumps.
The track had been laid out so that some of the turns were placed around the terraces, so we
were jumping at an angle. On our first pass through this section, lines had developed in the
grass and it was kind of fun to blast through the series of jumps and 180-degree turns. After
another drag race to exit the grass track, we were routed back into the woods and entered the
second stage of virgin singletrack. This section was nearly Illinois-style, with dense woods and
only one way through the initial quarter-mile.
I came through the scoring lane in 6th place after the first lap. By that time Steve Crews had
broken out into the lead and would not be challenged the rest of the race. I passed Elston
Moore, Jerry McCasland, and Wade Hall somewhere in the 2nd lap, but Elston and Matt Weis
were right on my tail. In the terrace section, the EMT crew was attending to 200C rider Jason
Clark, unconscious after a nasty get-off (Uncle K-Ruck thinks he needs a steering damper).
Matt Weis came flying by a passed me within the first mile of lap 3, making a charge to the
front of the pack that put him in 2nd place by the end of that lap. Elston also got around me
on the third lap but I kept him within shouting distance for the next two laps.
My lap times were showing the potential for 6 laps if I hurried, and that I did on the 5th lap.
The new sections of trail were breaking in nicely but the faster ATV sections were getting
rough. Just after the scoring lane at the start of my 6th and final lap, the trail dropped down
into a gully and coming out of it I caught a rut that kicked the back end sideways. I kept the
bike on the trail but it stalled and wouldn't fire up right away. The 15-20 seconds I lost might
have been the difference between 2nd and 3rd place, and that incident was the only
time-consuming mistake I made the whole race. After Uncle K-Ruck stopped to check on the
status of his nephew, I had gained some ground. On my last lap I finally caught up to him in
the narrow creek section. The exit of that section had developed quite a bit of slop and a
deepening rut. I cut to the inside of the slop and K-Ruck took the outside line, and I was able
to get around him as his front wheel slid out. At the time I didn't realize it was him, but as I've
learned many times before, the guy you choose to let by late in the race might just be the guy
who finishes a spot ahead of you (see Sedalia '00). K-Ruck put on the heat in a big way, from
the drag race to the grassy terrace section, around the grass track, and back into the woods.
I held him off and pulled away in the singletrack, taking 3rd place and 29th overall.
Matt Weis was only 5 seconds ahead of me at the end, and had I not stalled the bike I might
have had a chance to challenge him. Steve Crews had a great race and took the win with a
healthy margin over Matt, myself, and K-Ruck. In the overall results, Steve Leivan took
another victory by just a few seconds over Doug Stone. The fight for the 26th thru 32nd
spots in the overall results was intense, as the 7 riders in that order were only 20 seconds
apart. Another fun, challenging race.
