Round #3 Race Recap

Round #3 of the Pennsylvania State Harescramble Series was held this past Sunday at Foot of the Mountain in Neelytown, PA. Anyone who races dirtbikes could tell you, “by coincidence” on many race days the weather doesn’t always agree with the days events. The conditions are usually a muddy sloppy mess, not so true on this day. With green mountains protruding to the horizon and a crystal clear blue sky as a backdrop, the scene was set for an absolutely perfect day of racing. There were some track changes that were made from the last time we raced at Foot of the Mountain. Mainly a lot more single trail then usual, a switch in the track direction and some nice little mud pits, (where my Scott Works Goggles came in handy) that were sporadically placed around the track. The farmer’s field and the starting line were the same; mainly the trail up on the mountain is where the most noticeable changes were made.
I got a really good jump off the line and I headed into the first turn only to get closed in by two other bikes from the outside. I liked my inside spot on the line but I think taking a wider spot next week will give me the momentum that the other bikes had to get up the hill just after the holeshot. Since the track direction changed we went into the farmer’s field first this time. I’d much rather head right into the woods because if you get a good start it gives opportunity to make some space between yourself and the rest of the field. I stayed in the front of the pack until we made our way back into the woods section of the track which went up the mountainside. I couldn’t help but notice right off the bat how rocky the track was. They ran us over old beat up trail and some new trail that exposed some gnarly boulders. It wouldn’t have been that bad but it just didn’t seem like there was anywhere to take a break up there. I thought my suspension was set up great, and my Kenda tires were hooking up really well but there were a couple of spots where I was getting battered around pretty well. After flying around some of the open spots on the course and then being funneled into these single trails and forced to slow down I really felt heated up. My MSR vented gear really worked well and with some sips of my camelback I was forgetting about the heat factor. On the first lap I was heading down a rocky down hill when my bike abruptly stopped. I thought for sure that I had a flat tire so I looked over my right shoulder but everything appeared to be fine. I looked at my rear brake thinking that something was stuck and holding my pedal down but again, nothing. I then looked over my left should at my sprockets and there it was, a baseball bat sized branch and it was jammed in my chain guide pinching my chain. I kicked at it and tried pulling it out but I was going down the hill pretty fast so it was really jammed in there. I then tried leaning the weight of the bike on it and kicking it as hard as I could, half of it broke off, the rest I struggled to pull out while I lost about 4 spots, I finally got it out. The next two laps I was pretty fired up about the stick so I charged hard and played catch up. I got a bit of arm pump but rode it out and kept looking for more riders in my class. I thought it was pretty weird but for the rest of the race I was all alone. It wasn’t until the last lap I ran down a guy on a Honda and made a pass stick on him. I managed to save some steam for the last lap and made another good charge but the damage was done on the first lap so I had to settle for 3rd on the day. I know that it could have been a lot worse so I was happy with the outcome.
DHaggs Sr. put in another consistent ride picking up an 8th place finish in his class. He managed to salvage some points out of the day despite already feeling worn out before the race even started. He’ll be back and be stronger for Round #4 which will be held at the same track, Foot of the Mountain in two weeks.
I would like to thank my sponsers: DHaggs Harescramble Racing, MSR, Scott USA, TAG Metals, Scott Powersports, Kenda Tires, Twin Air and Pivot Works!