GaryDavis
07-13-2005, 04:44 PM
The All Terrain Vehicle Cross Country Series (ATVCCS) had it’s own fireworks over the July4th holiday weekend in San Angelo, Texas. The temperature reached 105 degrees and most of the competitors arrived on Friday to find a shade to no avail. The track was a great combination of tight twisty sections tied together by tricky straights and a nice motocross track with plenty of dust for all. The talk in the pits was to watch out for the hidden rocks and mesquite stumps just off of the track and this all but eliminated the "trick" lines from appearing. These obstacles, with the dust thrown in, made the riders very nervous when it came time to attempt a pass.
Saturday’s Buddy Race consisted of nine teams and it had a new twist (panties for the guys)! Shawn Hess, Josh Hahne and I were assigned B riders as our partners and we elected for them to start for us. The green flag went up and if you were lucky so did the panties and you were off to the races. I have to admit that was as funny as a one legged man in a butt kickin’ contest. My partner and new bud Jeremy Neusch handed off to me (panties) in last place by six or so minutes and I didn’t know until we finished what all he had been through. He impressed me and can be my Buddy Race partner anytime.
The Women’s Buddy Race had eleven teams and in my opinion was the most fun race of the entire weekend! There was plenty of action from Denise Bain swapping atvs’s on the starting line to Gayle Culpepper coming into the swap area in first place riding a major nose wheelie, only to not have it in her plan book and crashing out! Then there was the frantic handoff from Culpepper to Porcha Knowlton and Bain to Lexie Coulter and the scene was set for some serious racing. These girls went all out but you come to expect it from them. I was proud of all of the women out there but what impressed me the most was the non racers in the contest. I have seen my share of ugly men with dirty faces (not me) after a race but these gals had a smile from ear to ear and acted like they liked it. Now, that’s what it’s all about . We need that type of race again soon.
Sunday morning I awoke to realize that my alligator mouth had overloaded my 47 year old hummingbird butt once again. You see I had told this 4-Stroke A and Lady A rider (can’t remember her name) that if I tried I could run somewhere close to the front in the Pro class. She remembered me saying it and once again advised me that I would be a "SLACKER" if I didn’t try. Well what happened next? I got lucky and grabbed the holeshot and this time Gerald Dowden only ran into me once (cool)! I kept looking back for Shawn and Chris, because this ship was in uncharted waters. When I finally realized that I had a chance to go through the scoring chute in first place then reality set in (Shawn). On the motocross track, Shawn proceeded to fly by me, being the # 1 guy that he is. Well, my bubble had been burst but I’m not a slacker (for one lap anyway) anymore, Lexie!
The afternoon race was going to be a scorcher for sure (see 105 degrees ). It was going to be very important to get a good start and all the other pre-race bright ideas we all come up with. Not the case for me and all the other old guys. The general consensus was just to survive out there and have I mentioned the dust? I would love to know how in the heck nineteen guys in the Open B can possibly stir up that much dust? It was much worse than my house. (I’m serious) On lap one my buddy Larry Gustine and I caught up to the Open B class but we had to come to a complete stop several times because we couldn’t tell which side of the mesquites to go on, you could see the bush but not the opening. The straight away that I felt like Superman on in the morning race became the highway to hell! Who dug all of those holes that I kept running through? I have never been more glad to see a white flag in all my life and the only thing better than it was the checkered flag. I almost forgot, to the guy that was waving the cold beer at me on lap four when I was out of water: that could be considered abuse of the elderly! Have a great summer everyone! PrimeTime has left the building!
Saturday’s Buddy Race consisted of nine teams and it had a new twist (panties for the guys)! Shawn Hess, Josh Hahne and I were assigned B riders as our partners and we elected for them to start for us. The green flag went up and if you were lucky so did the panties and you were off to the races. I have to admit that was as funny as a one legged man in a butt kickin’ contest. My partner and new bud Jeremy Neusch handed off to me (panties) in last place by six or so minutes and I didn’t know until we finished what all he had been through. He impressed me and can be my Buddy Race partner anytime.
The Women’s Buddy Race had eleven teams and in my opinion was the most fun race of the entire weekend! There was plenty of action from Denise Bain swapping atvs’s on the starting line to Gayle Culpepper coming into the swap area in first place riding a major nose wheelie, only to not have it in her plan book and crashing out! Then there was the frantic handoff from Culpepper to Porcha Knowlton and Bain to Lexie Coulter and the scene was set for some serious racing. These girls went all out but you come to expect it from them. I was proud of all of the women out there but what impressed me the most was the non racers in the contest. I have seen my share of ugly men with dirty faces (not me) after a race but these gals had a smile from ear to ear and acted like they liked it. Now, that’s what it’s all about . We need that type of race again soon.
Sunday morning I awoke to realize that my alligator mouth had overloaded my 47 year old hummingbird butt once again. You see I had told this 4-Stroke A and Lady A rider (can’t remember her name) that if I tried I could run somewhere close to the front in the Pro class. She remembered me saying it and once again advised me that I would be a "SLACKER" if I didn’t try. Well what happened next? I got lucky and grabbed the holeshot and this time Gerald Dowden only ran into me once (cool)! I kept looking back for Shawn and Chris, because this ship was in uncharted waters. When I finally realized that I had a chance to go through the scoring chute in first place then reality set in (Shawn). On the motocross track, Shawn proceeded to fly by me, being the # 1 guy that he is. Well, my bubble had been burst but I’m not a slacker (for one lap anyway) anymore, Lexie!
The afternoon race was going to be a scorcher for sure (see 105 degrees ). It was going to be very important to get a good start and all the other pre-race bright ideas we all come up with. Not the case for me and all the other old guys. The general consensus was just to survive out there and have I mentioned the dust? I would love to know how in the heck nineteen guys in the Open B can possibly stir up that much dust? It was much worse than my house. (I’m serious) On lap one my buddy Larry Gustine and I caught up to the Open B class but we had to come to a complete stop several times because we couldn’t tell which side of the mesquites to go on, you could see the bush but not the opening. The straight away that I felt like Superman on in the morning race became the highway to hell! Who dug all of those holes that I kept running through? I have never been more glad to see a white flag in all my life and the only thing better than it was the checkered flag. I almost forgot, to the guy that was waving the cold beer at me on lap four when I was out of water: that could be considered abuse of the elderly! Have a great summer everyone! PrimeTime has left the building!