Round #11 Race Recap

Round #11 of the PA State Harescramble Series was held this past Sunday at a muddy Hurricane Hills in Clifford, PA. Rain all day Saturday and Sunday morning left conditions looking very familiar to the previous weekend at GNCC’s Unadilla Valley.
The good news was that there were not 1000 bikes racing on the track leaving monstrous ruts. It was your typical PA State round, and since there were only two races left the points leaders in each class made up most of the racing field. Never the less there was 2 hours of racing to get done.
I was in good spirits prior to the race even though the youth classes that raced before us were head to toe in mud. I knew that it was going to be a muddy race while I was heading up to the track but I also knew that it would in no way be as horrific as last Sunday. (Thanks a lot to Biggs for letting me sleep at his house the night before) Since I rolled by myself in my “privateer” setup, my pickup, I got changed in the rain. I sure do love that “factory” ride with the Eco-line and KTM trailer. The rain seemed to stop when I was getting ready to head to the line so I grabbed my roll-offs and I was gone. I got a pretty good start and it didn’t take me as long as usual to find a good push of rhythm on the first lap. Broc, who has secured 1st place overall in the series for the year, got a horrible start and I didn’t see him until the end of the first lap. He made his way by me but he wasn’t getting away like he usually does. I kept him in site and didn’t let him get to far out in front. I ran really hard for almost all of the race, not until after half way did I realize that I was running a really fast pace. I didn’t feel too tired and I wasn’t cramping up so I slowed the pace down a bit but still tried to stay with Broc. With two laps left and Broc still in site I decided to give a hard push again to try and close the gap between us. He made a couple of bobbles on a really rocky, rooty, rutted, and whooped out up hill which let me move in on his back tire. He made a pass on a lapped rider right before a tight technical section so it left the rider stuck between us. I revved my bike and gave him a holler for the courtesy move aside but he didn’t move. I tried again to pass him but it wasn’t a good spot on the track so I was waiting to make a move after the uphill. The lapped rider fell right in front of me on the uphill and was practically lying on my front wheel. I kindly let him know that if he would have moved over when he was supposed to I would still be with the leader - in choice words. This happened on the last lap with about 2 miles to go. I did my best to try and catch back up with the leader and I did, just he got the checkered flag and I was about 15 seconds behind him. After a good battle for 2 hours I ended up taking home 2nd Place for the day, I was pretty happy with that! I really felt that if I had another lap I would have gotten him but that wasn’t the case on Sunday.
I had a really good ride overall, very little mistakes and considering the conditions, you’ll have that. Only one more round left at Flying Dutchmen which takes place this Sunday.
#099 wasn’t feeling so well so he didn’t race or make the trip and Jimmy B, well, he just can’t make’em all, but they were both sorely missed.