Round #7 of the
AMA National Harescramble Series rolled into Good Springs, PA this past Sunday. Top Pro racers such as Charlie Mullens, Nate Kanney, Robbie Jenks, Ryan Rogers and Wally Palmer were on hand since the Grand National Cross Country Series is on summer break. Although the National Harescramble series was run in conjunction with the PA State Series all Pro and Intermediate riders were required to follow the National Harescramble requirements – this would be a regular three hour race. Typically in the PA State Series the duration of a harescramble race is two hours, since this was a joint event this meant to get your PA State points you still had to race the full three hours to receive them.
Even though rumors circulated that the course was cut down to eight miles, from the previous years thirteen plus, didn’t satisfy the realization of what brutal terrain lay ahead of roughly two-hundred riders. The starting line, which was full of rocks, boulders, deep water run offs and patches of high weeds, was just a little indication of what type of conditions the challenging Good Springs course offered. Instead of describing the 8 mile loop in detail, which would be impossible because I don’t remember it all, I will simply sum the track up in one sentence. The loop was very rocky – boulders would be more appropriate. There was some open field, tight trails, railroad crossings, creek crossings, shale up hills, rocky up and down hills, whoops, black swampy mud, light brown mud, ruts as deep as the seat on the bike (honestly), tree roots, more rocks, a section through an old landfill, and a good combination of three or four of the previous. Okay so that was two sentences.
I don’t know the reasoning behind it but the race promoters decided to combine classes to line up on the same line at the start. There were probably 3 or 4 classes on my line so there were about 30-40 bikes that took off at the same time. I got a horrible start but for the conditions, it was okay. I really liked the track off the bat, it had challenging sections that weeded out the weaker riders and it had some sections that you could actually enjoy yourself – for a couple seconds. There were two or three sections that were no joke, it was a do or die situation. Either you were getting up the hill or you were falling back down the 100 feet you just tried to ride up, and they were steep too – with barely any room to get a good jump on them. In one section there was a muddy swap before an uphill and it was so deep and muddy that 3 bikes were stuck in it and they were holding up 15 other riders because there was no way to get around.
For my normal two hours I felt great, the bike was set up perfectly and I had a good charge on once I started to feel out the track. The weather was perfect! I couldn’t imagine doing this race last Sunday in 100 degree weather, there’s just no way. After coming through the barrels the first lap it showed that I was in 2nd place. It took sometime before I caught up to the leader and passed him just before a dangerous up hill. For the rest of the three hour race it became a little less of a race and more of a just try to keep a steady pace so that I could finish. Just shy of two hours I had to pit for fuel, some new goggles, and a couple gulps of Gatorade. Jimmy B was head PITMAN in charge and when I came in he handed me some new goggles, dumped the gas, handed me my Gatorade, and even managed to get some cold water down my back before I headed back out of the pits. He did a good job and that goes without saying how good he looked in his new DHR PITMAN shirt!
After the first lap the scanner showed I was in second place and the next laps to follow it would show that I was in first place. I did four laps before I had to pit and I managed to get in 2 and a half more afterwards. Yes I said half, and I’d rather not talk about it but I must explain.
On the fifth lap, which was one after when I had to pit, I was feeling fatigue big time. Everything was starting to cramp up on me and let me tell you, the stuff that we had to go through was hard – I mean really hard – after all it was a National race. I managed to run out of water in my camelback which holds 100 ounces; I forgot to ration that for the whole three hours. In the last hour my left foot, claves, thighs, hamstrings, stomach, right inner thigh, right forearm and right triceps were cramping up. The sections of this course were no bunny trails, you had to ride it the whole time, and there were no joy ride sections. So while I was cramping up all over I managed to somehow push on. So this is where the half lap comes in. On my sixth lap I cross the barrels at 3 hours and 3 minutes, which means that the race should be over, but the scanner guy told me that there was still one lap left! I barely made it through the last lap and I new that another lap would be near impossible. I headed back out onto the mountain dreaming of being at the end of the eight mile loop instead of the first quarter mile marker. About half way through the last lap it came down to if I went on either I was going to get hurt or I was going to really mess my bike up. I felt light headed, like I was going to throw up, so I decided to pull over with about 4 miles to go. Just then the track promoters who were combing the track for riders who needed help or were stuck pulled up. They told me that I was the last one on the track so if I couldn’t go on it wouldn’t matter cause I was in first place and nobody was behind me to pass me so the last lap didn’t matter anyhow because everyone else was stopped at the barrels. I was making good time so I must have just made the cut off before they stopped letting riders get one more lap in before the pros were done…lucky me. When in reality I should have never been sent out for another lap anyhow because I was already over three hours by three minutes so I should have been stopped there – finished. It turned out that I raced my bike for about three and a half hours!
Now I could have died right there but knowing that I finished in first place made me feel a little better. I head back to the pits and try to recoup, it took me a least a half hour to get changed because I was still cramping up. Jimmy B and I made our way down to the announcer at the podium and I headed over to the results tent to double check my times. On the final results I am listed as
3RD! Here there were two guys in front of me but they were registered in a different class so they were later figured into the right class and they took first and second place and I fell into 3rd. Needless to say that I was really upset after pushing my body to the absolute limit to secure that number one spot to only learn in the end that it was good enough for 3rd. Then again finishing a three (well for me a three and a half hour) race, and getting third at a National event was nothing to be shy of. I am thankful that my bike ran great the whole time and I didn’t get hurt. Now I have a little more experience for the granddaddy of them all, the Unadilla GNCC, in September.
Thanks again to all of my sponsors and Jimmy B for helping me out and stepping it up as PITMAN!!!
Above and Below: (These are not pictures of me but they give a good idea of what I mean by deep RUTS!)
Above: (Pro Nate Kanney just passed me doing a wheelie standing up down the whole straight away. He went on to win the overall for the day. I'm in the background)
What: Round #7 Rausch Creek Motorsports Park - Good Springs, PA
