Sloppy, cold, fun
05/01/09 16:02 Filed in: Motorcycle
I had missed the first race of the Pacific Raceway’s 2008-2009 Winter Hare scrambles series. That bummed me out as there was a foot of snow on the ground on December 20th. The last time I got a chance to race in snow like that was 4 years ago at the Washougal Hangover HS. There, I nearly froze my fingers off!
On the 20th, I wasn’t about to do that this time. I installed grip heaters and prepped the bike for some serious snowbound craziness! Unfortunately, it turned out that my alternator was on the fritz. Being an electrical engineer, it didn’t take me long to realize the ground path was weak (Corrosion). by the time I figured it out though, it was too late for the Dec 20th round.
So, I waited until the new year. Not as cold (Yeah, it was 28 degrees (F) out on Saturday. That ain’t cold, is it?), not as snowy, and 10 times more crowded. There were over 60 riders there that day, as opposed to 6 on the 20th (I could have won every trophy in the case had I made that race!).
The day started out with me signing up for the practice laps. This was a fortunate turn of events and highly unusual for hare scrambles. Typically, racers aren’t allowed to pre-ride the race course (For obvious reasons). But I guess Pacific Raceways was looking for any income they can get, so they allowed pre-riding for only $10. I was thrilled as I hadn’t been on the bike in 3 months and really needed to shake it down after all the repairs. A good thing too, since after the first lap (5 miles of the same old-school Nasty Wench race course everyone knows and loves) I realized the grip heaters were still not working (On high.. they worked great on low) and that it wasn’t anywhere near cold enough to justify the amount of clothing I had on. Tweak the heaters, ditch the jacket, and I was set for the race.
On the starting line, it was a bit odd. They didn’t use the gate system, yet it was still a live engine start. This put me at a disadvantage as half the field took off a second early when the flag-man was getting ready to raise the flag! That put me in about 7th at the start, which isn’t the best place to be.
Not long into the race, I realized it probably was the right place though. I’m seriously out of shape after all the holiday dinners and sitting around! For the five laps of the short course, very few people passed me and I passed very few people. The course wasn’t terribly difficult (Save for the logs and tire obstacles and a slight near-death experience over the finish line jump) so I managed to stay put pretty well. I think I finished in 10th overall, and 2nd in my old and slow (40B) class (Out of 3... impressive, huh?). No trophy though as they had learned from the Dec race. Only 1st place finishers got anything more than a nod. So be it... I still had fun.
Can’t wait for the Feb 7th round!
Here’s a 5 minute video of the race (Quicktime MOV, 360MB)
42!
On the 20th, I wasn’t about to do that this time. I installed grip heaters and prepped the bike for some serious snowbound craziness! Unfortunately, it turned out that my alternator was on the fritz. Being an electrical engineer, it didn’t take me long to realize the ground path was weak (Corrosion). by the time I figured it out though, it was too late for the Dec 20th round.
So, I waited until the new year. Not as cold (Yeah, it was 28 degrees (F) out on Saturday. That ain’t cold, is it?), not as snowy, and 10 times more crowded. There were over 60 riders there that day, as opposed to 6 on the 20th (I could have won every trophy in the case had I made that race!).
The day started out with me signing up for the practice laps. This was a fortunate turn of events and highly unusual for hare scrambles. Typically, racers aren’t allowed to pre-ride the race course (For obvious reasons). But I guess Pacific Raceways was looking for any income they can get, so they allowed pre-riding for only $10. I was thrilled as I hadn’t been on the bike in 3 months and really needed to shake it down after all the repairs. A good thing too, since after the first lap (5 miles of the same old-school Nasty Wench race course everyone knows and loves) I realized the grip heaters were still not working (On high.. they worked great on low) and that it wasn’t anywhere near cold enough to justify the amount of clothing I had on. Tweak the heaters, ditch the jacket, and I was set for the race.
On the starting line, it was a bit odd. They didn’t use the gate system, yet it was still a live engine start. This put me at a disadvantage as half the field took off a second early when the flag-man was getting ready to raise the flag! That put me in about 7th at the start, which isn’t the best place to be.
Not long into the race, I realized it probably was the right place though. I’m seriously out of shape after all the holiday dinners and sitting around! For the five laps of the short course, very few people passed me and I passed very few people. The course wasn’t terribly difficult (Save for the logs and tire obstacles and a slight near-death experience over the finish line jump) so I managed to stay put pretty well. I think I finished in 10th overall, and 2nd in my old and slow (40B) class (Out of 3... impressive, huh?). No trophy though as they had learned from the Dec race. Only 1st place finishers got anything more than a nod. So be it... I still had fun.
Can’t wait for the Feb 7th round!
Here’s a 5 minute video of the race (Quicktime MOV, 360MB)
42!