Did you ever???...........

[Arby]

Did you ever go to the races(Of any kind, but motorcycles mainly), and just KNOW that it was gonna be your day. Mostly I was always a middle of the pack kinda racer. Good and steady, but never top notch.

However, I had a couple of races when I just KNEW I had 'em covered.

About winter of '72 or '73 ,I went m/xing at the old Cedar Ridge track in Mineral VA. The snow was 'bout 6-8 inches deep, the temp was cold enough that it wasn't thawing. We had to walk the track just to give us an outline of where we should be riding. Even so, there was a good turn out of riders. Especially in the "c" or novice class, of which I was one.

If you've raced bikes, you know the drill. Wait in line to pay your money, wait in line to sign up, wait in line for tech inspection.

Finally, they call for practice. First the C or novice riders.
I had put my gear on and was ready. A little nervous because of conditions and because, well, I always got nervous before the races.

Once underway, I was OK. Everybody is going slow the first couple of laps to run the track in and then the pace picks up.
HEY!!!, I'm running with the fast guys, guys I normally can't hang with. I can tell I got'em covered.

Then after the A and B riders go out for their practice, There's one last open practice. Anybody can ride, so I go out with the A and B riders and I'm hanging with a lot of them. To parphrase a movie I saw once, it's turning out to a 'hell of a morning.

Finally they call the 250 novices to the staging area. That's me and my Yamaha 250 m/x. I hated that bike, it threw me down more times than I can count, but this morning it feels like a factory racer.

We line up, the rubber band snaps and we're off. I'm cooking, full lock power slides in the corners on that slick snow, water and mud covered track. I'm flying off the jumps like I was born for it. There's about 15 guys in my class and I'm smoking them
all.

Between motos, one of my buddies tells me that I've put "The fear of God in to 'em". It's my first moto win, and it's gonna be my first overall.

Between motos we check the bike over, every thing looks good(as good as it can look all covered with mud).

I line up for the second moto, the Yamaha is sounding sharp.
All the other guys are watching me(so I like to think). They set the rubber band, the 2 minute sign is out, then the sign goes sideways, 30 seconds to go.

The Yamaha dies right on the line. Dead.

The rubber band snaps, away they go and there I sit kicking a dead horse. My buddies all come out to push, but it's no go.

Back in the pits, I'm looking for the problem. The mag cover comes off. It's full of water, condensation, I guess. Or maybe melted snow. Whatever, my points have shorted out. I clean the points, dry things out, it fires up like nothing ever happened.

I load it up for the 3 hour ride back to the Balto area. My 15 minutes of fame used up.

Next week at Budd's Creek in Southern Maryland, I'm a middle of the pack(er) again. Right where I belong.

I got one more close shave with glory as a 250 "A" rider, but I'll save it for now. I don't wantta put anybody to sleep.

Arby
(Bob)

[Sir Limpsalot]

You're not putting ME to sleep, cracking tale. I loved it. Post like that as often as you like as far as I'm concerned.
Si

[1MPH]

Bob, I have to agree with Simon.

Very enjoyable read. Thanks

Jack

[Fly]

Bob, I have to agree with Simon.

Very enjoyable read. Thanks

Jack

And I concur as well...

And your point about being nervous before a race...I always was. The nerve factor was always highest at a hare scrambles...all the ones I went to were dead engine starts. Nothing like looking down the line at the L. Lynn's GNCC morning race and seeing 60 or so bikes and thinking how the hell is this ever going to work...I mean every guy on the line is aiming for the same 8-12 ft entrance into the woods.

Observation: It always seemed to me that racing awoke the latent dumb ass gene in a lot of guys...doing stupid s**t right off the start when the race was going to be 1.5 - 2 hours.

Then again, I could be the dumb ass and not know it. I'm OK with that.

[Arby]

Si, jack and Fly
Thanks for the encouragement.(My wife says it not a good idea to give ne too much, though.

Fly,
I've ridden Loretta Lynns as well. The Suzuki national dual sport series I mentioned on another thread used to have a two day event there. Very good riding.

Also, you mentioned "latent dumb ass genes coming out at hare scrambles". Uh, that would be me at a Bike week hare srambles at Ocala, FL a couple years ago.

I decided I wanted to do something for bike week besides watch, so I took my street legal DRZ400S Suzuki and signed up for the old guys class.

My wife went with me and I had to promise her that I would let everyone else go first before I took off. This was just going to be a trail ride for me.

For those who don't know, these are dead engine start races. One has to stand facing backward with your front wheel between your legs. When the gun goes off, you have to move around to position yourself correctly, then jump on the bike, then start it, (hopefully you've left it in gear)and take off.

Well I did all this, except my bike is electric start and everyone else had kick start. I jump on my bike , punch the starter button and sit there for, what feels like 5 minutes, with my engine running, waiting for all these other old guys to kick start these big bore thumpers and two strokes. After all, I'd promised my wife I'd let them all go first.

Well finally, the guy beside me fired up this pristine and potent 490 Maico. he dumps the clutch and so do I.

It's an uphill right hand sweeper to the top of the hill then a tight left hander down then a tight right hander ,still down hill, into the woods. Me and this guy are side by side up the hill, around the left hander and then the right hander into the woods. The right hander is also a little drop off, and the Maico is inside of me at this point. He drifts over into me, pushes me wide, and my left handle bar just touches an old fence that shouldn't be there.

My bar goes full lock to the left, the bike follows and throws me over the "high side" and then proceeds to fall on top of me.My right knee puts a dent in the steel tank.

Some kid comes over, helps me pick the bike up and I limp back to the pits.

My wife(long suffering )is an angel. No I told you so's.
She helps me load up for the 150 mile drive home.

I lay on the couch all week with ice on my knee, by next Sunday I'm ready to drive to Daytona for the Daytona 200. With a cane and ace bandages of course. My wife even drove.

I should have just waited till they all went, or jusy dumped the clutch when she fired up. I could've been a half a lap up on those kick start guys.

It was that "latent dumb ass gene" thing,I guess.

Also, this track is laid out in an old stone quarry, for those who were wondering how I found any hills in Florida.

Arby
(Bob)

[TorqueMonsterMT-01]

Great reading. Being an ex MXer I've had some similar experiences.

To sum up my career, the dumb-ass gene was my worst enemy. I was always fast in a Danny-Magoo-out-of-control sort of way. I always found that getting the holeshot allowed me to run fast and smooth. Once there was someone in front of me though, I always tried too hard to get it all back at once.

The great riders and drivers in motorsports have an uncanny ability to get ahead a little at a time. I could never do that consistently. If there is a guy in front of me, I try to chase him down and move onto the next guy. Sometimes I flew past guys, sometimes I crashed or over ran a turn. If I was lucky enough to get past everyone, I had a good chance of staying in front.

The problem with my style (or lack of style!) was that the practice went out the window the minute someone was ahead of me. Oh, well, the memories are still grand.

[Arby]

You had to be tough to survive the Danny Chandler- Bob Hannah style of riding. They went really fast, they gave no quarter, but nor did they ask for any.

Arby

[Sir Limpsalot]

Thanks, "Ice Pack" stories are always better when it's someone else's knee!
Do you guys remember "CYCLE" magazine? The best thing in it was a monthly column by a guy called Ed Hertfelder (I think that's spelled right) "The Duct Tapes". He was an Enduro rider from Delaware and I just loved his writing!!
Si

[Fly]

Thanks, "Ice Pack" stories are always better when it's someone else's knee!
Do you guys remember "CYCLE" magazine? The best thing in it was a monthly column by a guy called Ed Hertfelder (I think that's spelled right) "The Duct Tapes". He was an Enduro rider from Delaware and I just loved his writing!!
Si

I think he writes a column (or did until a few years back) for Trail Rider magazine.

[Arby]

Si, I remember one year he rode the Barstow to Vegas(Don't remember if it was the Desert race or the DualSport ride)on an XL600 . When the ride ended in Vegas, he just kept going. Rode that thing all the way home to Delaware or New Jersey.

I remember that he liked to put a little humor in his writing, but I think he was the real deal.

Arby
(Bob)