Hello and welcome to the 2nd half of the 2011 D36 CC race season. Those of you that could make the Honey Lake race did great. As it was a tough one… Congrats to all including 1st place winners, John Sicley, Brandon Roberts and Jakob Mccoid.
Nick Thom wrote in with a great re-cap of the event. In his own words…
thank you, Thank you very much
I’m back and it feels good. Okay, the knees and back are sore but I mean mentally it feels good. At the last race (in April), I didn’t like the KTM plus I had a flat front tire and I just wasn’t feeling the love. Since then I’ve ditched the orange bike, bought a Yamaha, and had a little work done to my left knee.
At 4000 feet above sea level it was 80 degrees and the sun was intense. Like stay out of the sun intense, unfortunately the track was 95% in the sun, it was watered but rough. I lined up on the left side and it was go time. I actually thought I was late off the line as I kind of bogged it and had to re-clutch but everyone else was sleeping and I went into the first right turn in second. The leading bike drifted wide and I came out in first. Over two table tops and then through a rhythm section, double, double, double, I nailed it but was a little sloppy into the right turn at the end and that same bike went back by, then just totally checked out and left the rest of us to fight over second place. Several turns on the sand course and an RMZ demoted me to third. We hit a monster uphill but the soil was either loose or wet and I had to downshift to 3rd, a four stroke was giving me pressure. Down the backside, the two leaders were gone, we hit a few turns and went over a dusty rock pile to run down a creek bed. The dust from the traffic made it treacherous by hiding the rocks, but I cleaned it and hit some rough and rocky jeep roads then climbed a hill to get back on the mx track. Picked a good line on the downhill, cleared a few doubles, made it over the rock pile and down into the southern creek bed then gassed it hard in the big turns down in the flat to come around in 3rd still under pressure from the four stroke.
The creek beds and rock pile were killing me, the uphill was fun but sapped hella energy. First time up my right arm cramped up, it got easier as the dirt either packed in or dried out and I was able to hold 5th over the jump once, but mostly doing it in 4th. The rhythm section was tough, I geeked it twice and had to single everything and twice they watered the turn at the entrance and I had to slow down and single everything. Once I doubled twice but hit a hole and almost lost it on the landing and had to single out. Let’s just say every lap I simply hoped for the best in that section, it was unpredictable. I was great on the rough straights, the Yamaha suspension soaked up the whoops and holes pretty well, but my corner speed was dismal and I made a few small mistakes; like twice I screwed up on the rock pile by the southern creek bed.
The four stroke that chased me on the first lap fell behind to be replaced by Brett Murdagh (on another four stoke) who gave me pressure for laps 2 and 3. On the second lap the RMZ in second place stalled and had trouble getting started again, moving me into second. I pushed as hard as I could for four laps, not even taking time to get a drink, and then physically I hit the wall. Lap 5 was murder, I started drinking but it wasn’t working and I was actually planning on pulling into the pit and resting when I dropped the bike in a right hander and got passed by Brett. Brett had beaten me in a team race back in June and had edged me out for second in the Oasis race back in the fall and I really didn’t want to lose to him again so I picked it up and chased him for half a lap until we got to the uphill. I had a smoother line out of the corner and passed him on the hill but coming down the backside we caught a slower rider and Brett made a pass back. I followed him down the creek bed and into the jeep road section where I railed the outside of a right hander to take the inside line on the following left hander and shut him out. I held the gas on and pulled a gap on him but I was beat. At the end of the lap I was praying that the race was almost over; but when I came through the clock said one hour left. We were only halfway done? Oh man, I had to do six more laps; this was going to be tough.
The entire second half of the race I was on the lookout for Brett. I took it easy in the creek bed and drank a lot of water and when someone wanted to pass me I let them by easy, but only after I checked to make sure it wasn’t Brett. I don’t know that I could have fought him off even if I tried but thankfully he never caught me again and I was able to come home in second. Brett took third and the RMZ with the restart problem took fourth. Off road ace, and series points leader Steve Bonita must have wrecked or something. At the end of lap 8 he was 37 seconds behind me and he was putting in lap times 10-20 seconds faster than mine which gave him plenty of time to catch me but on lap 9 he dropped back several minutes and he never recovered. I made up some points on him, and when you consider the throw away races we’re pretty much tied for first now.
I parked next to Dan Marshal who was doing his first A race and was entered into the senior class. I used to race that class and I thought I was all experienced and told him how tough that class was and how this group of guys continually kill it in that class. So don’t you know it? Dan goes out and takes 2nd and beats Paul, Kurt, and Robert who typically put me to shame and are the reason I don’t race that class. Way to make me look like an idiot guys, thanks.
Longtime friend and travel companion to this race Matt Reinhart had pretty much the worst start possible to his race in the B class. I think he gave everyone else about a 15 second head start and then worked his way through traffic with some incredibly consistent lap times to pass half the guys in his class and finish 7th. He said he didn’t feel it for this one and it looked to me like his flow was off. Even with no flow, a good start would have netted him 5th and if he was feeling it he could have done even better. Before the race we were looking at the rhythm section and I was urging him to double everything but after my trials through there I think he was pretty smart to ignore me on this one.
Next race: San Jose 10/9
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