Back Mountain (Round #8) Recap

What a remarkable day for racing! I cannot think of a better way to put it considering it was definitely better than I am about to describe it. Back Mountain hosted Round # 8 of the PA State Harescramble Series. The weather, the track, the results and the whole day in general was incredible. When Back Mountain hosted Round #6 back in June the weather was dry, hot (102degrees) and dust was a big factor. Being blessed with the weather we have been having both my Dad, who was back in racing action, and I knew that the dust was going to be a factor. When we arrived we had noticed that the coarse had been changed a great deal and the crew at Back Mountain was well aware that it was going to be dusty. With track changes, water trucks, and some good use of hay I would have to admit that they did all that they could and to say the least it was an awesome effort.
The track it’s self was awesome, the guys there definitely know how to lay out an impressive Harescramble track. The event is located right next to the river on a topsoil farm in Dallas, Pa. Compared to other tracks they have more of an availability of land so the coarse stretched to about 8 miles. Beautiful terrain that was rock and boulder free, just some high-speed field sections, sandy straight aways, and some tight technical wood sections. Dust was issue on some sections of the track but nothing compared to what it should and could have been.
Unlike my Dad I got a terrible start. They wrapped the start to the left right around all of the riders on the start and then dove into the woods. I guess seeing my dad go around me in the front of the pack got me all distracted. At Back Mountain they do an old fashioned start where you have to stand in front of the bike and then hurry around it, get on, start it, and then off you go. Well to make up for time you should have your kick-starter out so that way you just have to get on and kick, well – I forgot to pull mine out. I lost a lot of time and probably went into the woods well in the back of the pack. There were 37 riders in my class so you could say that I had my work cut out for me. I didn’t get to upset that I got a bad start, I just said, “okay, here we go,” and just started picking guys off. When I went through the scanner tent after the first lap I was surprised that I worked my way up to 6th. I kept at it and for the next two laps I held 5th until the second to last lap when I approached someone in my class. I was on his tail in a dusty section and instead of slowing down, because I couldn’t see where I was going, I followed him up a hill climb that had some super deep sand. He got squirrelly and stuck on the hill and since I couldn’t see where to go I went down but the bike kept running so I got back on an found my way up the rest of the hill. I was fired up and caught back up to him just before we went through the scanner tent for the last lap. While I waited a second for him to get scanned I saw on the computer that he was in 3rd, which meant I was in 4th. This was racing at it’s finest, gunning for that podium position with 8 miles in front of you to make the pass, try to pull away, and not make any mistakes. That’s just what I did….we battled for a good 4 miles side by side each one of us making moves to shut the other down. I made a good tight pass and made sure that I would stay in front of him. I finished the last half of the lap mistake free and held on for a 3rd place finish. I proceeded back to the pits after I went through the tent and my Dad was there talking with some riders. He was wondering where I was and why I didn’t pass him. I guess since he was riding his new KTM that he thought that he was on some rocket bike? I reminded him that passed him on the first lap while he was in a good battle himself. He finished 8th on the day, yes –again. That’s why he still maintains the nickname “crazy eights.”
I felt great the whole race and went as fast as I could for the whole two hours at a pace that I have not raced at before. My Dad felt good as well since his bike is now 47lbs lighter so congrats to him for making it the whole two hours. Hopefully we can keep this good momentum into next week for Round # 9 at Rausch Creek.
P.S.- Sorry that there is no video or pics, I gave the camera crew off for the day.