 |  |  |
Lebanon, Missouri
3rd of 16 in A Sportsman
Every once in awhile a personal experience makes a tired old cliché finally have real meaning.
Thanks to the Lebanon opening round of the MHSC, I can now fully appreciate that
sometimes ignorance is bliss. In the middle of a race when the bike feels different, and not in
a good way, but you don’t know for sure what the problem is, that is ignorance. And when you
keep on riding to a decent finish, not knowing how bad the problem is, that’s bliss.
Such was the case at Lebanon, a highly technical affair with some surprisingly challenging
obstacles throughout its 8.5-mile course. With regular riding partner Matt Sellers out of action
for the next several weeks (broken thumb), I teamed up with one of the Boyz from Illinoiz, Jeff
Smith, for the ride to the race site. In the pits, the talk of the ’04 series was the new “A
Sportsman” class, also called “Not Quite Ready For Primetime.” This class was designed for
the 26th through 40th overall finishers from 2003, who are not eligible for the “regular” A class
but would typically dominate their respective B, Vet, Senior, etc. classes. Especially appealing
was a perpetual 3rd row starting line for the A Sportsmen, instead of the rotating starting line
system for non-A classes that often leaves the fast non-A riders in constant first lap battles to
get around slower riders in classes that start ahead of them.
When we arrived at the staging area, we saw many jagged rocks poking out of the grassy pit
area and #587 David Brewster changing a flat front tire on his truck. The rocks had already
claimed their first victim and hardly a bike had been unloaded. We backed up to Pit Row next
to Mike Goforth, fellow A Sportsman, and the rest of the Illinois contingent. After signup I took
some time to ride the KX around the staging area and try out my new Hebo hydraulic clutch.
Unlike me on a Saturday night, it felt smooth and easy (except I’m easy, pretty much) so I took
off for the practice lap.
What I found was one of the most technically challenging courses ever put together for a
Missouri hare scramble. Within a mile of the start was a long pass through a creek bed filled
with every imaginable type of rock. Big, small, wet, dry, stationary, moveable, flat, sharp,
jagged, you name it, we rode through it. And that was just the first creek. The second creek
was wider, faster and wetter. Most of it could be ridden in 4th gear and with some of the water
a foot deep or more, it left me completely drenched. Next up was a very steep hill with a tricky
left turn on the way up, then another small creek with even more rocks. To exit this creek, we
made a hard left up another steep hill with very little approach. I was already visualizing
multiple bottlenecks and I’d traveled less than half the course. But many of the trails were nice
singletrack, some of which appeared to be new for this race. And the course shared very little
with what the ATV’s had ridden the day before. Still, as soon as I got comfortable with any part
of the trail, a rock ledge would appear, another hideous creek bed would show up, or a
leaning tree would attempt to separate me from my bike.
At the starting area, I lined up to the inside of #29 Steve Crews and #35 Kevin Ruckdeschell.
When the 15-second board dropped, Kevin got a great start while I was near the middle of the
pack. Mike Goforth soon edged his way around me while we negotiated the fastest of the
grass tracks on the course. Once we entered the woods, the pace was a little slower than
what I felt capable of, but fast enough considering the abundance of obstacles we would face
over the next two hours. On an off-camber side hill trail, Gary Mittleberg took a minor detour
down the side of the hill and waited as several of us passed. Shortly after, in the first rocky
creek I was able to get around Steve Crews as he battled with another guy. Next up was Mike
Goforth, who got caught behind a rider having problems and had to watch as I went around
both of them. The first lap was a freight train of Sportsmen, with only 37 seconds separating
the lap leader (K-Ruck) from #237 Elston Moore in the 10th spot.
I began the second lap in 7th place and quickly felt the heat of Gary Mittleberg close behind
on his Yamaha 250 thumper. In the wide, fast creek, Gary powered his way by, just as we
were approaching some slower riders. With water flying high into the air and limited vision, I
attempted to go around a guy on the far right side of a gravel bar. Just as I was starting to
pass, I noticed a rather large fallen tree hanging several feet into the creek and directly into
my path. In 4th gear, there was not much I could do except brace for the impact. As luck would
have it, the end of the tree caught the radiator shroud, appeared to have yanked out the
lower shroud bolt, and left nothing except a piece of wood wedged between the frame and my
kickstarter. Or so I thought.
I slowed down to try dislodging the wood from the kickstarter area, then continued on. A short
distance later was the second of the highly technical creek beds, where I found K-Ruck
stopped behind Chili Roberts on his side. Kevin had lost a few spots earlier on that lap after
stalling his engine (“Took me 3/10ths of a second to restart it and three guys passed me!”).
With Chili on the ground, Kevin let me by but stayed right on my tail. The hard left exiting the
creek had now developed two lines, one to the inside and the main line up the steep hill. I took
the main line and Kevin cut to the inside, where we met at the top and Kevin let out a loud
whoop to express the fun he was having. I edged by him but knew he would be in hot pursuit,
so I turned up the pace and tried to put some distance between us.
By the end of the second lap I had worked my way into third place, knowing full well that my
pants had a huge tear where I’d hit the tree limb. Every time I passed through water, I felt a
booty-numbing chill. And the rubbing against the seat…I was cursing that friggin’ gripper
cover. But the real problem showed up about halfway into the 3rd lap, when I entered a
section of tight singletrack. I noticed the engine struggling for power, similar to how it feels
when the rear brake is dragging or something gets caught in the chain guide. Or when the
engine is running with no coolant. I couldn’t see it, but the tree limb had made its impact
between the bottom of the right-side radiator and the pipe. While it didn’t puncture the
radiator, it shoved one of the hoses against the engine, causing a hole that eventually
drained all the coolant. In full-on racer mode, I tried my best to pretend there was no problem
even as #38 Todd passed me and my weakened KX. I’d blast through a creek and the engine
would cool off and run better, then I’d catch up to Todd again. On the fourth and final lap, I
was trailing him through a section of singletrack and finally stopped to check the rear wheel.
Nothing wrong there, and naturally Mr. Oblivious didn’t notice the right radiator shroud sticking
out a good 3 inches wider than the left shroud. I caught back up to Todd and had one last
chance to get around him at the top of the steep hill where K-Ruck and I had our close
encounter. He was struggling at the top but got it together just in time to stay ahead of me. I
tried one last alternate line at a rock ledge bottleneck, but it didn’t work. At that point I was
pretty sure it would be futile to get around him with an ailing bike, so I backed off in hopes of
finishing before the bike gave out.
I made it to the finish line about 15 seconds behind Todd, taking home the 3rd place trophy
and 22nd overall. My mangled radiator was quite a hit in the pits, as were my ass-baring
pants. Gary Mittleberg picked up where he left off last year in the Vet class by winning the ”A-
minus” class. Mike Goforth was fifth-best Sportsman, while K-Ruck was 9th despite stopping
for a couple minutes to help out a guy who had knocked himself silly. Kudos to Kevin for
exemplifying the spirit of our racing community, as he has done many times in the past (start
casting your Racer of the Year ballots, folks). Caleb Wohletz, to quote Ken Wabel , appeared
to be riding a different course as he took the overall win by nearly six minutes. Tracy Bauman
finished an outstanding second overall, his best-ever result in the MHSC. Other notable
finishers racing in new classes for ’04 were #587 David Brewster (4th in 250B), #149 Ryan
Rohleder (1st in 200C), and #9 David Taylor (7th in AA). And finally, driving partner Jeff Smith
rode his new CR250, affectionately named Vickie, to a 15th place finish in the Open C class.
Lebanon was a great start to the 2004 MHSC, and with a new ride and a new class, I’m
looking forward to the season.
April 18, 2004
Steelville, Missouri
6th of 12 in A Sportsman
Based on the first two rounds of the MHSC, the planning of the 2004 schedule must have
included, at some point, a friendly wager among the clubs on who could assemble the most
technical, challenging motorcycle course of the series. Round two at Nasty Creek picked up
where Lebanon left off two weeks prior: another rough and tough race on one of the longer
loops seen in quite some time. This race venue was back on the series schedule after a one-
year sabbatical, which gave the club plenty of time to find some fresh, punishing terrain.
After the tree encounter at Lebanon, my relatively new KX250 was garnished with some even
newer parts, including a right radiator, Devol radiator guards, Wiseco top end, FMF Gnarly
pipe and a fresh set of radiator shrouds (with graphics, no less). To those of you questioning
why my radiator shrouds are a de facto Pro Circuit advertisement when my KX goodies
include not a single Pro Circuit product, it’s called eBay, folks. Try it. The KX had been
prettified more than any race bike I've ever owned, far too attractive for the abuse my bikes
must withstand. Even the rear tire was new, but that was only because of poor tire
management. Based on past experience, I try to never use new tires at Nasty Creek because
of the destruction it wreaks on knobbies. But Lebanon was my fourth race on the same rear
tire and it was ready to join the stack of eaten-up rubber in my basement, destined for
cremation in the burn pile by the railroad tracks back home on the farm (the country boy’s
method of recycling).
Upon arrival in the pits, the signup line was already 100 yards long. Kurt “PizzaMan”
Mirtsching, newly sponsored by Miller Lite, stopped by to show off his helmet cam, which he
intended to use out on the course. Kurt had a huge bulge under his jersey, presumably a
bundle of electronic gadgetry in a backpack but large enough to make me wonder if I’d see
him along the trail enjoying a PizzaMan picnic (the contrast of cultural sophistication that is
PizzaMan, my bet was on proscuitto and brie sandwiches with rosemary fig confit, washed
down with 16-ounce cans of Miller Lite). As the minutes in line turned into hours, it became
clear that I wouldn't get a full practice lap before the race started. I was able to ride about 1/3
of the course before being pointed back toward the pit area. With temperatures in the 80’s
and very little rain the previous week, the course was dry and slightly dusty in the open
sections. In one spot, a large tree was leaning over the trail so low that I was looking eye-to-
gas-cap with the tank as I passed under it. Another tricky section was a climb out of a ravine
with square-edged boulders all the way to the top. Some sections were moderately tight,
others were very fast and wide, and most trails were rocky and rough.
I lined up next to Gary Mittleberg on the starting line with the idea that keeping close to him
the entire race could pretty much guarantee a good finish. Other notable riders making their
first appearance in the “A-“ class were my former Open B opponent Matt Coffman and from
the Vet class last year, Matt Weis. The starting area was in the same open field used in past
races, and I assumed my usual mid-pack position at the first turn. Before entering the woods,
we weaved back and forth across the pasture, over an earthen dam, and then into the trees. I
followed Kevin Ruckdeschell under the leaning tree, then passed by him after he stalled at the
bottom of a rocky ravine. Heading up the first boulder-filled hill, I could feel #38 Todd Corwin
on my back tire. The KX struggled up the rocky hill while Todd’s KTM 4-stroke seemed to
climb with ease. I rode pretty poorly those first couple miles and Todd was growing impatient.
While his exact words were difficult to make out, I believe they included “This is not the Trail
Rider class” and “Please move over before I make traction out of your helmet.” I held off Todd
until we reached the point in the course where I had been waived back to the pits on the
practice lap. Shortly thereafter I came around a tight corner leading down a steep hill and
couldn't react quickly enough to avoid a large tree that wasn't visible until it was too late. I
grabbed too much front brake and the bike fell over. The KX stopped but I rolled another 30
feet down the trail and watched as Todd got by, then #487 Tom Huber, #425 Rick Helmick,
and #121 Matt Coffman. A small tree had wedged its way between the front wheel and fender,
and I struggled to get the bike upright. After several kicks, the engine finally fired up and I got
back on track. But the warm weather and the effort of righting the bike made me feel tired and
lethargic. A few minutes later I was just getting back up to speed, and eventually I caught up
to Tom and Rick. I followed them for several miles, getting close to Tom and his Yamaha in
the fast open trails and then watching him pull away in the tight stuff.
One of the highlights of the course was a long stretch of old horse trail along a creek. The
path was a couple feet wide, flat, mostly straight and free of rocks and trees. Tom and Rick
led me through this section the first time and it was a blast in 5th gear. In the twisty trails that
followed, Tom put on some distance but I closed the gap when the trail opened up near the
end of the lap. A mile into the second lap, Tom waived me by after we crossed over the
earthen dam. I led for a couple miles until the next nasty rock climb, where Tom’s 4-stroke
scaled the hill as easily as Todd Corwin's KTM the previous lap. Again, I followed Tom and
traded spots with him now and again. At the end of the lap I was 13 seconds behind him and
had just realized I’d neglected my pre-race ritual of putting band-aids on my thumbs. My
blistering thumb on my throttle hand would irritate me all 13.4 miles of the last lap.
At the exact same place Tom Huber had waived me by on the previous lap, I caught up to him
on the final lap and once again he motioned for me to pass. I finally found my groove and
posted my quickest lap of the day, but by that time it was too late. I was able to hold off Tom
on the last lap but Todd Corwin, one spot ahead in 5th place, was already several minutes in
front of me. A mistake-free, aggressive ride is about the only way to finish near the top of the
A Sportsman class, and on this day I was off my game for most of the race. But it was still a
fun day on a challenging course. Crafty veteran Steve Leivan held off young gun Caleb
Wohletz for the overall win, in another battle of youth versus experience.
