ADTR14
12-15-2008, 10:19 PM
So after almost 14 years of riding quads, I decided to finally enter my first race on Dec 13. The race was through Alta Vista Events down in Cal City, CA. The race was 2 hours and the course was 12 miles long consisting of lots of whoops, 1 decent hill climb, 2 rock gardens, and more turns than i would expect in a desert race. I don't know the exact number of entries, according to some locals it was much lower than normal. I would guess around 30 bikes, 8 quads, and 1 rhino.
So we'll begin with the parade lap. I was expecting the majority of riders to take it fairly slow to check out the course and save energy. Wow! I was wrong! Everyone took off like it was the actual race and being a competive person I wasn't gonna go slow either. It turned out to be a BAD idea
The start was different, the quads were all side by side, the flagger behind us, and we were standing in front of our quads looking at the flagger. He waved the flag and we all went around our quads, hopped on and started them, then took off. I ended up with a fourth place start i believe and headed out onto the course. The 3rd place rider made a mistake and i had to slow to get around him while one of the guys behind me cut the course and got around me. Then i blew a corner and two guys got past me but i stuck right with them as they both got slowed down by another rider. Then i passed all 3 of them going through a technical section. One rider slowed way down and 3 of us broke away together and i was able to lead the 2 other riders for aout 2/3 of the first lap until we hit the long highspeed straights. Being that i ride a KFX400 and the 2 others ride YFZ450s, they were able to pass me and pull a small gap.
I worked hard to catch back up, but then i was hit by a brick wall(not literally) but i got really bad arm pump at the end of the first lap. Being that i hadn't ridden in a month (which is unusual) and didn't do any running or anything i was burnt out. I slowed my pace for the first mile of lap 2 to recover and was able to loosen up and get back to my fast pace. I passed several slow bikes and one that lost his exhaust.
Laps 3-4 were pretty uneventful. In fact i was by myself most of the time since the really fast guys were far ahead and the slow guys were way behind (there weren't any medium fast guys apparently). I did pass several bikes that ran out of gas, and two of the race quads that were in the pits since they had some sort of mechanical failure. Oh i also pitted on the third lap where i learned the only other guy in my beginner class dropped out of the race.
Up to lap 4 my arms had been the only thing really hindering my pace. But lap 5 came around and my legs really began to get sore. I pressed on having to slow every now and then since i was so fatigued. Honestly by this point i was ready to just quit, i was not physically prepared to run the pace of some of the other quad guys.
As i came through the pits to start lap 6 i got a second wind, and tried to pick up my pace and finish strong. Around mile 7 i came across what i thought was a downed rider since his bike was laid over and he was on the ground. I stopped to check on him and found out he was just resting and had ran out of gas. I gave him my radio and headed on my way to the finish. I crossed the line, happy to be done and able to rest.
Even though I'm still sore from racing 72 miles i had lots of fun and plan to do it again. My results were good finishing 1st in class and 3rd out of the quads, but i dont know my overall position. (official results in a week) But honestly i was dissappointed in my performance, there was only 1 other guy in my beginner class, 1 novice, and 4 experts. Three of the other quads dropped out of the race and my endurance was not where it should have been. I plan to race again, but take it more seriously.
So we'll begin with the parade lap. I was expecting the majority of riders to take it fairly slow to check out the course and save energy. Wow! I was wrong! Everyone took off like it was the actual race and being a competive person I wasn't gonna go slow either. It turned out to be a BAD idea
The start was different, the quads were all side by side, the flagger behind us, and we were standing in front of our quads looking at the flagger. He waved the flag and we all went around our quads, hopped on and started them, then took off. I ended up with a fourth place start i believe and headed out onto the course. The 3rd place rider made a mistake and i had to slow to get around him while one of the guys behind me cut the course and got around me. Then i blew a corner and two guys got past me but i stuck right with them as they both got slowed down by another rider. Then i passed all 3 of them going through a technical section. One rider slowed way down and 3 of us broke away together and i was able to lead the 2 other riders for aout 2/3 of the first lap until we hit the long highspeed straights. Being that i ride a KFX400 and the 2 others ride YFZ450s, they were able to pass me and pull a small gap.
I worked hard to catch back up, but then i was hit by a brick wall(not literally) but i got really bad arm pump at the end of the first lap. Being that i hadn't ridden in a month (which is unusual) and didn't do any running or anything i was burnt out. I slowed my pace for the first mile of lap 2 to recover and was able to loosen up and get back to my fast pace. I passed several slow bikes and one that lost his exhaust.
Laps 3-4 were pretty uneventful. In fact i was by myself most of the time since the really fast guys were far ahead and the slow guys were way behind (there weren't any medium fast guys apparently). I did pass several bikes that ran out of gas, and two of the race quads that were in the pits since they had some sort of mechanical failure. Oh i also pitted on the third lap where i learned the only other guy in my beginner class dropped out of the race.
Up to lap 4 my arms had been the only thing really hindering my pace. But lap 5 came around and my legs really began to get sore. I pressed on having to slow every now and then since i was so fatigued. Honestly by this point i was ready to just quit, i was not physically prepared to run the pace of some of the other quad guys.
As i came through the pits to start lap 6 i got a second wind, and tried to pick up my pace and finish strong. Around mile 7 i came across what i thought was a downed rider since his bike was laid over and he was on the ground. I stopped to check on him and found out he was just resting and had ran out of gas. I gave him my radio and headed on my way to the finish. I crossed the line, happy to be done and able to rest.
Even though I'm still sore from racing 72 miles i had lots of fun and plan to do it again. My results were good finishing 1st in class and 3rd out of the quads, but i dont know my overall position. (official results in a week) But honestly i was dissappointed in my performance, there was only 1 other guy in my beginner class, 1 novice, and 4 experts. Three of the other quads dropped out of the race and my endurance was not where it should have been. I plan to race again, but take it more seriously.