Round #7 Race Recap

Round #7 of the PA State Harescramble Series was held by South Pennsylvania Enduro Riders, a riding club stationed in south west PA. Not only was this event a PA points paying event, it was also an East Coast (ECEA) race as well as AMA District 6 and 7. Needless to say with a joint series event, only the best in the area showed up….Mike Lafferty and Ryan Rodgers are some pro names you would recognize.
The weather was again, amazingly perfect. Crisp blue sky with puffy white clouds falling backdrop to full green mountains surrounded the nearly 7 mile laid out course.
I found it extremely odd that just on the other side of Blue Mountain sat Foot of the Mountain, another track on the circuit know for its super rocky conditions. It was no surprise after watching the amateur race that these conditions seemed quite different. The track resembled riding in the deep Jersey pine-barons sand, not the rough rocky conditions that beat you up like the other side of the mountain.
When it came time to line up the field was packed and it was noticeable that there were some really fast guys there. The starter yelled 10 seconds and soon after the green flag dropped and we were off. I got another good start, probably top 5 into the first turn. A holeshot would have been ideal because even being one of the top 5 into the first corner you couldn’t see a thing because of the major dust problem due to the dry conditions. (See Picture Below) I gave a really good push the first lap but saying it was a good push is really a fabrication of I went fast when I could see the track. You couldn’t see anything at all! The dust was so bad half the time when it cleared for a second I wasn’t even on the track, and having never raced here before it was a bit dangerous. I got through the first lap and had an idea of the overall layout of the course. The second lap wasn’t much better; riders were still stuck together because you couldn’t push it too hard due to the visibility factor. When I came through the second check point there was a little field section the snaked it’s way back into the woods and barely being able to see I could barely make out a tree line and having come through that section just one lap before I remembered that there were two huge haystacks protecting the trees to the entrance back into the wooded section. Needless to say I ran right into one, not seeing it until my front tire actually hit it, that’s how thick the dust was. While I managed to pick my bike up there were about 6 or 7 guys that passed me while they could see at the time. I maintained my composure and made up some time in the middle laps. About the half way point – an hour into the race – everyone was getting spaced out and you could see more times on the track than none. I felt really good when I could see and I maintained that speed for a majority of the race. I don’t know who the other riders were but we were really battling for about 4 or 5 laps, constantly switching positions as we came through the scanner. There was a really cool section of the track where all of the spectators hung out. It consisted of an uphill under a bridge, a bridge, a car tire field, car tire logs, log lanes, a lose dirt hill with a funky tree trunk on top and a nasty little rock garden with some logs thrown in that mix as well. It didn’t seem as dusty on the top of this hill so it was a good place to try and make up some time. Towards the end of the race I started to feel a little sick, I don’t know if it was from pushing it for so long or due to the fact of all of the dust I was sucking up and breathing in. My front wheel washed over a big sandy burm in the woods on the last lap when I was fighting hard to not loose my position. I got back up, pushed as hard as I could to the finish, and managed to not loose my spot. I finished 9th on the day, which is respectable given the amount of talent that was on the line. My goal was top ten so I was happy with my efforts and results. DHaggs Sr. came through with another sold performance coming in 10th in the Senior B division. With some last minute changes to his suspension his bike ran good and he finished the, a bit longer than usual, race strong.
DHaggs Harescramble Racing will resume at the National Harescramble held at Tower City on July 29th. As you may have heard Christina and I are getting married on this Saturday, the luckiest day known to man, 07-07-07. When we come back from our honeymoon I may be a different man, but I’ll still be looking forward to getting back to business at the National Harescramble. Till then….
I would like to thank my sponsers: DHaggs Harescramble Racing, MSR, Scott USA, TAG Metals, Scott Powersports, Kenda Tires, Twin Air and Pivot Works!