Friday, May 20, 2005

Points Updated

The overall series points are somewhat updated, without my 4th place finish in the previous round (Round #4 - Foot of the Mountain), I am currently sitting in 4th place in 201-Open C in the PA State Harescramble Championship Series. Depending on how other riders finished at Foot of the Mountain I may be able to slide into the #3 spot. Round # 5 is going to be a crucial race because it is Double State Points. So if I were to finish 3rd then it would be as if I finished 3rd twice and I would be awarded double points for that finishing position.
I have been working hard to get some live race footage up on the site but it seems as if the internet is not cooperating with me so please be patient. It will come all in good time. In the meantime I have been working out and getting riding time in every weekend and keeping the bike in peak performance. I am highly anticipating a great race at Hurricane Hills!

Monday, May 02, 2005

Foot of the Mountain


Pictures by Courtney H.
Click on Picture to see more from Round #4


Foot of the Mountain hosted the 4th round of the PA State Harescramble Championship Series this past Sunday. Not only was it a State Series race but also a District 7 race, which is primarily the state of Maryland, so there we a lot of new faces and different talents on the trails. Despite the long haul and the jam-packed parking lot our day started out looking good, that is besides the downpour that occurred when trying to pack the van. Once we reached Harrisburg the dark cloudy sky seemed to open up and the blue skies pushed through. When it came down to race time the lines filled up quick because everyone wanted to get a good spot since the start was a little tricky since we were all on the side of a hill. I have never seen so many bikes in each class before, I think having a dual points race at the same track on the same day helped. My Dad was just one line in front of me and despite missing the shift he got that big beast started quickly and was off and running.
From the start the track runs through a farm field then up the side of the mountain then back out again. Some track changes from the previous year keep all riders alert while pushing through the packed classes. Just to give you an idea as to how many riders were in my class when I looked down the line on the start I couldn’t count how many riders there were because some didn’t fit and had to start just behind our line. After the results were posted it turns out that a full line of 40 riders were in my class – the most that I have ever raced with. My whole mentality for this race was to keep my good start and follow it with constant lap times. In the previous races I pushed a little to hard in the beginning and struggled to find some energy for the end. I got another great start, first off the line and third after the first corner. After scouting the track on the first lap I tried to fall into a good pace that would keep me in the front and keep me in reach for the last lap blitz. The track was perfect considering the amount of rain that fell the days prior to the race. The farm field had some tricky off camber turns with some nice straights. The woods had some difficult rocky hill climbs and some nice down hills, and don’t let me forget the couple sections of that deep, shiny, and sloppy mud. I have never seen so many lines through one spot let alone the number of riders that kept getting stuck and stalling out. After a while that mud spot was just horrendous and some spotters were helping us by pointing out the “easier” line - that is if you could get your bike in that line. Besides the couple mud pits and some lapped riders stuck on hill climbs, I had a good pace throughout the race. There were a lot of real rocky sections and some spots where there were tons of big slick tree roots, which is fine. Throw the tree roots and rocks in with some deep mud just before a hill climb and in the middle of the hill and that could lead to some comical racing. It was mostly the people that were getting stuck that weren’t finding it all to be funny.
The white flag was waving and I barely had something left but I pushed it the whole last lap anyway. My calves were crapping up each time I put my leg down due to tip toeing through the deep ruts, mud and catching my bike from washing out when the front tire slid on a tree root or rock. With about only a half of mile left I came up to some riders in my class and I wanted to finish strong and try to pass them. Coming down a hill into a sharp left hand turn with slick rocks and deep tree roots, I tried to make an inside pass. My front tire slid on the rocks and roots and I tried to hold it up but I ended up going down. My bike was still running so I quickly picked it up and I saw that my bark buster was bent up and my handlebars we badly bent. Although I was lucky enough to be able to still ride the bike I was unlucky to learn that the huge mud pits were just around the bend. It was hard enough to make it through with a good bike and now that my handlebars were bent up it was going to be a task. I was redirected in a somewhat less challenging way and was back on track to finish what was a great race. Just about 50 yards from the barrels I saw one guy in my class and just barely passed him before getting the checkers. Results were posted and I finished 4th out of 40. If I only hadn’t crashed with half a mile to go…..guess that’s racing!
-My Dad finished 8th and that is three eighth place finishes for him in a row, he is now to be called “crazy eights.”
-I want to thank Courtney for taking all of the great pictures, Cheri for doing such a great job being PitGirl and Mike “Kid” Rush for coming out to see the race and making his random appearances around the track.