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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.
