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breaks-alot
03-11-2002, 05:28 PM
A weird little story for you guys. I'm off of school with mono and have been spending all of my time reading the forums on here. Anyway lately I have only been clicking on post that has the little clip meaning there is a picture in there. I was wondering if you guys could give me all the pictures you are proud of and you have found that could amuse all of us (especially me) for this next week.


Thanks,
Ben#16

Wingnut
03-11-2002, 07:29 PM
Here is the L O N G story of my first race. Had to make it two posts because of its length. It is not exactly what you asked for, but it will occupy your time.

I woke up real early Sunday morning. The thoughts of what I would finally be doing that afternoon prevented me from going back to sleep. On this day I would change from a spectator to an ATV racer!
I went to the basement to double check the 400 just to make sure that nothing had broken during the night. On Saturday I was afraid that I was not going to make it to the race. I was trying to figure out a rattle when the 400, all of a sudden, would not rev like it should. That night I found that a set of screws had vibrated loose in the carburetor preventing the slide from moving. Luckily, I was able to diagnose the problem in time to correct it. On Sunday morning, I found no problems, so I loaded it up in my truck with all of my gear and tools. I had to cram most of my stuff in the passenger seat, but only my dad would be in there anyway.
By this time it was about eight o'clock, so I went inside to eat breakfast. I then got dressed for church. The church service ran a little long because we had several people join. After the service I went home and changed clothes and then met Bill Howard, who, along with his family, would be taking me to the race. My dad was going to bring the 4-wheeler up about an hour later.
We got to the track in time to see the start of the dirt bikes. I wish I had missed that, it did not help calm me down at all. Bill usually races dirt bikes, but he decided to not race this time. He was going crazy watching the race, I heard Bill say "I can beat him" at least five times. Now that I think about it, that was once a lap. Bill was talking about the guy that was leading the class he would have raced in. Bill was helping out some of his riding buddies that were in the race, Marvin McCarson, Doug McCarson, and Todd MacDonald.
After the dirt bikes finished their race I changed into my riding gear and unloaded my
4-wheeler. The rider's meeting was delayed for some reason and it started about thirty-minutes late. They laid down the rules and gave us a brief description of the track. I was a little alarmed when they said that part of the track was only forty-four inches wide, my 400 is forty-six inches wide! The meeting was short and simple. Next came my very first ATV race, getting to the start line.
I found the line for the Trailrider (beginner) class and lined up with the people who were already there. As more riders lined up I decided to change my position. I was in the dead center of twenty-one other beginners, I did not think that was a safe place, so I moved to the far right end of the line. My plan was to go wide around the first turn, hopefully avoiding any wrecks that may occur. I had a 250X and a Banshee line up on my right, and a Blaster on my left, I knew I could beat the 250X and Blaster on pure power and I figured that I could beat the Banshee because the rider was inexperienced (he was in the beginner class), we were on grass, and it was an uphill.
While watching the other classes start, I tried to count off the seconds after the flag man gave his ten second warning. I found out that when I got down to three he would always wave the flag. After a few rows took off it was now my class' turn. He gave the ten second warning, I counted down to three, the flag waved, and the race was on!
As I predicted, I beat the Banshee, Blaster, and the 250X. I swung wide through the turn, and moved into about the twelfth spot going into the woods. I did not get to walk the track, so everything was new to me. The first hold up was a Raptor that could not get up a small rooty bank, I don't know what his problem was. I made a couple of passes, and got passed a couple of times. We eventually got to a down hill that went to a river bank. This was the first real hill we encountered, it had two parallel lines going down. All of the racers went into the left line because it was the easier turn to make. I saw this and used the right line. They were all using their breaks on the hill, so I gassed it by them and then got hard on the brakes before the lines came back together. One of the riders had a few words for me after that, luckily I could not understand them. We then came out into this field that was fairly whooped out. I kept the throttle pinned and passed a couple more riders. Right after that was a good sized hill. I downshifted into third and kept it at full throttle. There were a few spectators on the hill, and they cheered for me! This gave me a little boost of energy. I made it back to the area where we started, were Bill and my dad were waiting for me. Bill held up four fingers. I was in fourth!

Wingnut
03-11-2002, 07:31 PM
And the conclusion.

Next up was the motocross track. I was a little excited and a little scared about that. I have never ridden on a motocross track that was not homemade. The dust on the track was horrible. There was a guy about fifteen feet in front of me that disappeared several times. I was glad to get off the motocross track, it was scary hitting jumps that I never saw. I was relieved to get back in the woods where I could see. By now my class had thinned out a good bit, and I had settled in behind #169. He was very close to the same speed as me so I was having trouble making a pass stick. I would pass him in the open sections, but I would get held up back in the woods where he would catch me. He passed me right before one of the check points where my dad and Bill were. I was punched and then went by Bill who held out two fingers. Second place, and I was only feet behind the leader! We kept swapping places. As usual, I would leave him in the open sections only to get caught behind slow traffic in the woods where he could catch up. He passed me again before we got to the scoring barrels where Bill, again, told me I was in second. Somehow, on the third lap he was really able to distance himself from me. For several miles I never caught sight of him. At one of the check points the checker said "he's right up there, go get ‘em." That got me going. I caught him about a minute later, he was behind a slower rider. Finally, he was having my luck! Well, with me pushing him, he was pushing the slow guy in front. The slow guy got caught on something causing a three ATV pileup. #169 and the slow guy literally got tangled up, it took a couple of minutes to separate them and there was no way by. So, I sat. Eventually we got moving again. I saw the case saver of the slow guy laying on the ground, we must have nailed him. After that it was bye bye slow guy. He had enough and let us go bye. I thanked him. We got back to the barrels once more where Bill motioned that I was in second. The motocross track had been closed off after we went through on the second lap because of a wreck, but I did not know why the track was closed until the end of the race. After getting back in the woods I got caught on a tree almost immediately. That let #169 get a good way ahead of me. He must have slowed down without me pushing him, because I caught him in less that three minutes. Eventually we got back to the whooped out field that was by the river. I just leaned back, gave it full throttle and I got by him. I don't remember much else of the third lap, except that I did have to switch to reserve. At the beginning of the fourth lap I was still in second. I did not realize that it was the fourth lap, but I new that the race must almost be over. I really started to get aggressive with #169 and he responded by getting aggressive with me. On this last lap, we must have switched positions about ten times. Eventually we came back to the field by the river. He knew the drill by now, he got over knowing that I was going to go full throttle up the middle. By this time I had already been on reserve for twenty minutes. At the end of the field was that good sized hill. I was able to hit the hill in third gear. There were some spectators on this hill that would always cheer for me. I got just past them when the 400 cut off on me. For a brief second there I thought the race was over for me, but I hit the start button in desperation. It started! I had to down shift to first and my thumb was so tired that I could not give it more than quarter throttle. This all happened before I came to a stop so I was able to make it up the hill. #169 did pass me, however. From this point on I had to ride as conservatively as I could with the gas I had left. #169 was able to distance himself from me again but he soon got caught behind a group of riders. I would have got back right behind him except for a Cannondale that decided to rejoin the race and cut me off. I did not like him interfering with my race. I forgot about the gas mileage thing and started trying to force him to let me bye. I almost pushed him out of one of the turns. At the next check point Bill motioned that I was in second, but this time he started pointing up the straight in front of me. I should have picked up on something right then, but I was racing, not thinking. I had no choice but to pit for gas. I must have given up at least 30 seconds. Bill told me that I was only three miles from the finish. That was great, I had a chance to catch my breath so I could sprint to the finish! I started praying, "Lord slow this guy down so that I can catch him," I was thinking that if I passed him I would have the win. About four minutes later I caught up with #169, I passed him and the Cannondale on the same hill. The three of us switched order, it was now me, Cannondale, and then #169. There was now less than a mile to go and with a rider in between us I new I had the win. I started riding defensively, breaking a major rule of racing, NEVER STOP CHARGING!!! We got to the barrels, and he was still behind me. Hallelujah, I won my first race! My dad and Bill, with his family, were all waiting for me at the finish. After going through the barrels I rode to where they were standing. They were all excited and they congratulated me on winning second. Second!? I was sure I had first, so I questioned them. They told me that the guy that was right in front of me won, #65. They had told me that there was only one other Trailrider on the track, but there were actually two. If I had not gone into defensive mode I could have easily passed #65. For about the last half mile I was right behind him. Have you ever seen the shirt that says, "let off for a second and that is where you'll finish," it's true. I never looked at his helmet sticker, because the thought that he may be in my class did not cross my mind. That is a mistake that I will never make again!
I started making my back toward my truck to load up. It occurred to me that God had answered my prayer by letting me have what I asked for, but it seems that God also has a sense of humor(got what I asked for, not what I wanted). I could tell by the sound that #169 was right behind me. I did not know if it would be wise to turn and look at him. Later on he went by me, he smiled and waved. I was relieved that he did not want to kill me for some of the things that happened out on the track. I got everything loaded up and made a place for me to sit in my truck. It was about thirty minutes before the awards ceremony began (awards ceremony sounds better than "we met at the trailer to get our plaques"). My acceptance speech was short, all I said was "thank you." I checked my time, it was 1:55:25. The guy that beat me was timed at 1:55:17, that is because he went to the wrong barrel and did not have to wait in line like I did.
In my mind, second place is the worst possible place I could have finished, it makes me the #1 looser. Also, being in a position that I could have easily won, and did not even try, did not make me feel any better. This was my only chance to win my first race, and I failed. But, watch out Trailrider Class, I will be back, with a vengeance, at Green Acres.

Wingnut
03-11-2002, 07:34 PM
These pictures are not exciting racing pictures, but they go with the story.

The guy in front of me here is the guy who got third.

Wingnut
03-11-2002, 07:38 PM
This is at the end. The guy second from the right (at the wrong barrel) is the guy who won. The guy behind the Cannondale got third. I am infront of the Cannondale.

BANSHEEadam
03-11-2002, 07:52 PM
I don't know about you guys.. but I liked that alot. I hope my first race compares to yours.
Good job on your finish. I understand why you'd be upset, but it sounds like you put up a **** of a fight. Never stop pushin!

03-12-2002, 07:09 AM
here's some pics at blackrock motorcross park in KY.

03-12-2002, 07:10 AM
here's another,,,these are pics taken during the race,,hope ta get alot more this year..or at least ones that turn out better..

SGA
03-14-2002, 06:35 AM
Great story Wingnut! I enjoyed reading it. I run XC/harescrambles also.

Leo
03-16-2002, 09:44 AM
that was a pretty good store :)

congrats on the good finish, not to shabby for your first race :D

Leo