angelon400ex
05-23-2002, 09:11 PM
If you can keep your head from hitting the keyboard falling asleep you can really get into the action of my race this past weekend. :D
Airport Harescramble
Hickory NC May 19, 2002
Where else can you race along at breakneck speed between trees like a giant pinball machine, encounter snakes and run over turtles? Harescramble racing!!!! This was a wild one for me. We prepped and loaded until midnight and after a short night’s sleep traveled to Hickory arriving at the track about 11AM. In prior races I worked to stay calm and even-keeled up to the starting line. However there were a few added elements factoring into my nerves for this race. I was at the registration booth and to my surprise spotted a girl I recognized from motocross races I had watched the year before. We had never gotten the chance to race one another because the one motocross I was able to race borrowing a friend’s quad, her quad was being worked on. We greeted each other and then she said she was there for her first harescramble race. I was so happy to have another woman to compete with I could have done cartwheels. (Of course I needed to conserve energy LOL) Misty had been riding a Warrior before but was now on a 2002 Yellow 400EX with nerf bars, White Brothers Pipe and jet kit. I helped her out getting her helmet stickers on and giving her pointers the best I could. Most of the racers I have met are really good to each other in that way and I know I appreciated all the advice and help I got. We watched the first few classes of dirt bikes take off in a thick boiling cloud of red dust and before going to gear up we made a stop to talk to Santo Derisi and ask advice about the shocks I was wanting to order. (My stock shocks are so worn they fade within the first lap.) Santo is a pro racer who resides in NC and is presently #5 in the nation and one of the nicest guys you could meet. Santo said he was taking his tires off after that race and my boyfriend Danny offered to buy them from him. Then I went to get my gear on. I had everything on except my brand new chest protector because I was concerned about trying to get used to the oversized tank we just put on also. I mounted my quad and went to take off and shift and realized that my brace was having a huge impact on my shifting ability. I thought in the previous race it was just my newly installed nerf bars and the nets being too tight. I made a split second decision to ditch the brace. My knee has gotten much stronger and I was ready for a good race. The relief of not having the bulky restrictive brace gave me an extra charge of excitement.
Just before the rider’s meeting, Buren Hamrick who owns the MidEast Harescramble Association, came by and told Misty and I we would be starting in the very back of the pack by ourselves. I thought he was joking at first but after asking him a couple of times, I realized he was serious. I thought about how I already been held up behind trailrider bottlenecks and two races before at Belwood I had beaten 16 of the trailriders out of 20 and all of the utility class in time. I told Misty how that could pose a problem and she thought we should go ask him to put us in front of them. Since she had been hanging out with his son Brad and I thought she might have some pull, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Buren asked us where we wanted to be and I told him about how I was beating a lot of the guys in time and would like to start in front of the trailriders and he said that is where he would put us. Once I actually pulled up and got into position with Misty beside me and realized 20 pairs of eyes were boring into us, I did feel a little more nervous. I had never started a MidEast race without being lined up on the back line taking off at the same time as the utility class. To our right were six riders in the two-stroke class we would start after. My boyfriend Danny was in four-stroke class in the line in front of us. I had motivation from all directions. I watched Danny get caught in a bad tangle on the start but it was cleared in time for the two strokes to start. Then it was our turn. The flag dropped and off we charged. I knew Misty’s reaction time should be pretty good with racing motocross so much. We were neck and neck but she had the inside line. One thing I have learned in harescrambles is the start is just one factor of numerous ones affecting the race and I let off and dropped in behind her going into the woods. I was riding comfortably and admiring her skill and speed while I was evaluating her as competition. I did notice she seemed a little overly aggressive and not totally under control so I clipped along waiting for a mistake. The first thing we ran into was a two-stroke class bottleneck in the same spot I encountered last year. Last year in the same race I got the holeshot against 11 or 12 other riders and then got hung up trying to bypass the bottleneck and watched all of them pass me. I ended up regaining the lead in the race last year but I was having a flashback. Misty sat waiting for them to get unstuck from the sideways position. they had slid into but I could see there was room to get past and it was driving me nuts. She finally slipped around them on the off camber uphill and I charged with her. Not much further along a fast two stroke rider who had freed himself from the tangle came up behind us yelling and I let him pass and so did Misty further up the trail. I always immediately pull back out to save precious seconds and I came up on Misty still pulled over. So as not to “sucker pass” her I hesitated but seeing she was into some brush and didn’t look as if she could get free easily I went on. I was having a good race despite the dust clouds. There were times you had to slow for the cloud to dissipate but the pace was good for the most part. The off cambers between tight trees were difficult and there were a few rough uphills but a scenic section down the rocky creek bed was fun. Things were going well until the end of my second lap when my thumb gave out. I had not ever had that happen before in a race and I hoped it was just temporary. I soon realized it wasn’t as I found the only way I could accelerate was with my palm. That makes for a much “touchier” acceleration and I can’t even describe to you how difficult that makes maneuvering between trees. It made my hill climbs risky as some of the jarring dislodged my hand from the throttle and I was also unable to stand for better control because I had to bend my arm to reach the throttle. I knew I had two more laps to go for a total of 12 miles but I am too stubborn to stop and just decided it was a new challenge in racing. At times I found myself charging harder unintentionally which was great as long as there weren’t trees in my path. Palming was also difficult in the wide-open straights where I had to sit down on the seat and absorb the whoops and not have as much control. My left arm was weakening and cramping from its awkward position trying to lean in more with my right side and my right hand felt like someone was tearing out the muscle connecting my thumb. I had a few amusing distractions when a black snake had its head reared getting ready to slither into my path and rapidly withdrew on that plan as I rushed toward him. Further along a poor turtle was trying desperately to cross the trail as approximately 70 riders raced right over him. I am sure each time he got brave enough to stick his head out along would roar another monstrous machine.
When I saw the white flag out at the barrels for the last lap I focused on doing the best I could still using my palm. I started thinking about how we had switched out the handlebars and maybe did not get the throttle repositioned well. I was hoping that was all it was and not my fibromyalgia condition flaring up since my thumb joint is my weakest joint. I was out in the woods racing along with no one around when I spotted Danny at the end of the creek section when I was entering the creek. I knew I was within seconds of him and continued along with a little extra motivation. However I wasn’t too happy to come up on him standing behind his quad pulling it from its sideways position against a tree. I knew he had a “close encounter of the tree kind” and paused to make sure he was okay. We had talked about how if either one of us was not hurt or in need of help we would motion the other on and that is what he did. I charged on and finally saw the checkered flag. I sat waiting for Danny and he appeared in a few minutes rolling in with a flat rear tire. He didn’t see me sitting waiting and I caught him at the truck instead. He showed me his chest injury while I recounted the challenge of palming half of the race. Then in loading up with the tricky wooden boards the quad slipped off and over onto Danny. It was some kind of day! I know one thing I have come to realize is if you have a race with no mechanical problems or insignificant physical problems you have experienced something close to a miracle and you should be thanking God. I was pretty pleased to have finished with no use of my thumb and even more pleased to get my first place plaque finishing 15 minutes ahead of Misty. Again I beat the entire utility class. Out of the 51 riders that raced four laps or less (the pros, A class and some of the best riders from a few other classes race five laps) I beat 31 in time. Hopefully Buren Hamrick noticed and will put us gals in the middle of the pack again instead of sticking us in the back. What an exciting and action filled race and I am ready for more!
Airport Harescramble
Hickory NC May 19, 2002
Where else can you race along at breakneck speed between trees like a giant pinball machine, encounter snakes and run over turtles? Harescramble racing!!!! This was a wild one for me. We prepped and loaded until midnight and after a short night’s sleep traveled to Hickory arriving at the track about 11AM. In prior races I worked to stay calm and even-keeled up to the starting line. However there were a few added elements factoring into my nerves for this race. I was at the registration booth and to my surprise spotted a girl I recognized from motocross races I had watched the year before. We had never gotten the chance to race one another because the one motocross I was able to race borrowing a friend’s quad, her quad was being worked on. We greeted each other and then she said she was there for her first harescramble race. I was so happy to have another woman to compete with I could have done cartwheels. (Of course I needed to conserve energy LOL) Misty had been riding a Warrior before but was now on a 2002 Yellow 400EX with nerf bars, White Brothers Pipe and jet kit. I helped her out getting her helmet stickers on and giving her pointers the best I could. Most of the racers I have met are really good to each other in that way and I know I appreciated all the advice and help I got. We watched the first few classes of dirt bikes take off in a thick boiling cloud of red dust and before going to gear up we made a stop to talk to Santo Derisi and ask advice about the shocks I was wanting to order. (My stock shocks are so worn they fade within the first lap.) Santo is a pro racer who resides in NC and is presently #5 in the nation and one of the nicest guys you could meet. Santo said he was taking his tires off after that race and my boyfriend Danny offered to buy them from him. Then I went to get my gear on. I had everything on except my brand new chest protector because I was concerned about trying to get used to the oversized tank we just put on also. I mounted my quad and went to take off and shift and realized that my brace was having a huge impact on my shifting ability. I thought in the previous race it was just my newly installed nerf bars and the nets being too tight. I made a split second decision to ditch the brace. My knee has gotten much stronger and I was ready for a good race. The relief of not having the bulky restrictive brace gave me an extra charge of excitement.
Just before the rider’s meeting, Buren Hamrick who owns the MidEast Harescramble Association, came by and told Misty and I we would be starting in the very back of the pack by ourselves. I thought he was joking at first but after asking him a couple of times, I realized he was serious. I thought about how I already been held up behind trailrider bottlenecks and two races before at Belwood I had beaten 16 of the trailriders out of 20 and all of the utility class in time. I told Misty how that could pose a problem and she thought we should go ask him to put us in front of them. Since she had been hanging out with his son Brad and I thought she might have some pull, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Buren asked us where we wanted to be and I told him about how I was beating a lot of the guys in time and would like to start in front of the trailriders and he said that is where he would put us. Once I actually pulled up and got into position with Misty beside me and realized 20 pairs of eyes were boring into us, I did feel a little more nervous. I had never started a MidEast race without being lined up on the back line taking off at the same time as the utility class. To our right were six riders in the two-stroke class we would start after. My boyfriend Danny was in four-stroke class in the line in front of us. I had motivation from all directions. I watched Danny get caught in a bad tangle on the start but it was cleared in time for the two strokes to start. Then it was our turn. The flag dropped and off we charged. I knew Misty’s reaction time should be pretty good with racing motocross so much. We were neck and neck but she had the inside line. One thing I have learned in harescrambles is the start is just one factor of numerous ones affecting the race and I let off and dropped in behind her going into the woods. I was riding comfortably and admiring her skill and speed while I was evaluating her as competition. I did notice she seemed a little overly aggressive and not totally under control so I clipped along waiting for a mistake. The first thing we ran into was a two-stroke class bottleneck in the same spot I encountered last year. Last year in the same race I got the holeshot against 11 or 12 other riders and then got hung up trying to bypass the bottleneck and watched all of them pass me. I ended up regaining the lead in the race last year but I was having a flashback. Misty sat waiting for them to get unstuck from the sideways position. they had slid into but I could see there was room to get past and it was driving me nuts. She finally slipped around them on the off camber uphill and I charged with her. Not much further along a fast two stroke rider who had freed himself from the tangle came up behind us yelling and I let him pass and so did Misty further up the trail. I always immediately pull back out to save precious seconds and I came up on Misty still pulled over. So as not to “sucker pass” her I hesitated but seeing she was into some brush and didn’t look as if she could get free easily I went on. I was having a good race despite the dust clouds. There were times you had to slow for the cloud to dissipate but the pace was good for the most part. The off cambers between tight trees were difficult and there were a few rough uphills but a scenic section down the rocky creek bed was fun. Things were going well until the end of my second lap when my thumb gave out. I had not ever had that happen before in a race and I hoped it was just temporary. I soon realized it wasn’t as I found the only way I could accelerate was with my palm. That makes for a much “touchier” acceleration and I can’t even describe to you how difficult that makes maneuvering between trees. It made my hill climbs risky as some of the jarring dislodged my hand from the throttle and I was also unable to stand for better control because I had to bend my arm to reach the throttle. I knew I had two more laps to go for a total of 12 miles but I am too stubborn to stop and just decided it was a new challenge in racing. At times I found myself charging harder unintentionally which was great as long as there weren’t trees in my path. Palming was also difficult in the wide-open straights where I had to sit down on the seat and absorb the whoops and not have as much control. My left arm was weakening and cramping from its awkward position trying to lean in more with my right side and my right hand felt like someone was tearing out the muscle connecting my thumb. I had a few amusing distractions when a black snake had its head reared getting ready to slither into my path and rapidly withdrew on that plan as I rushed toward him. Further along a poor turtle was trying desperately to cross the trail as approximately 70 riders raced right over him. I am sure each time he got brave enough to stick his head out along would roar another monstrous machine.
When I saw the white flag out at the barrels for the last lap I focused on doing the best I could still using my palm. I started thinking about how we had switched out the handlebars and maybe did not get the throttle repositioned well. I was hoping that was all it was and not my fibromyalgia condition flaring up since my thumb joint is my weakest joint. I was out in the woods racing along with no one around when I spotted Danny at the end of the creek section when I was entering the creek. I knew I was within seconds of him and continued along with a little extra motivation. However I wasn’t too happy to come up on him standing behind his quad pulling it from its sideways position against a tree. I knew he had a “close encounter of the tree kind” and paused to make sure he was okay. We had talked about how if either one of us was not hurt or in need of help we would motion the other on and that is what he did. I charged on and finally saw the checkered flag. I sat waiting for Danny and he appeared in a few minutes rolling in with a flat rear tire. He didn’t see me sitting waiting and I caught him at the truck instead. He showed me his chest injury while I recounted the challenge of palming half of the race. Then in loading up with the tricky wooden boards the quad slipped off and over onto Danny. It was some kind of day! I know one thing I have come to realize is if you have a race with no mechanical problems or insignificant physical problems you have experienced something close to a miracle and you should be thanking God. I was pretty pleased to have finished with no use of my thumb and even more pleased to get my first place plaque finishing 15 minutes ahead of Misty. Again I beat the entire utility class. Out of the 51 riders that raced four laps or less (the pros, A class and some of the best riders from a few other classes race five laps) I beat 31 in time. Hopefully Buren Hamrick noticed and will put us gals in the middle of the pack again instead of sticking us in the back. What an exciting and action filled race and I am ready for more!