ECEA Millville Race Recap

Round #9 of the East Coast Enduro Association Series took place this past Sunday at Ormond Farms in Millville, NJ. Again on race day we were blessed with lucid blue sky and comfortable temperatures hovering in the upper 60’s. Since DHaggs Sr. was still recovering from his bummed knee and suffering from the flu we decided that the GNCC in Ohio would have to wait till next year. The next best racing series on the east coast was racing right in the neighboring state of NJ, so I packed up the van, along with my number one pit girl and headed across the Delaware River. ECEA has some of the best riders from the northern coast so I knew that I was going to have to take care of business if I wanted to place well for the day. What I also knew is that ECEA is a bike strictly series so they don’t race quads, which means they can make the track as narrow as the bikes we ride. I found this out on the second lap; the first lap I was in awe over how tight the trails really were. I got a good start but some undeceive moments where I was questioning where the tracks next turn was helped me fall back some spots. I found a good flow and started to figure the 8+ mile track out. On the second lap I was in a really tight section of trail with about 6 guys in front of me. I knew that we had a way to go before the tracked opened up in the field section so I got impatient and tried to make a pass on a small trail that was just off the main trail. As soon as I saw the opportunity I pinned it and it appeared as if I was going to be back in the front of the pack when I saw two really tight trees that I would have to pass through before I made it back on the track. It was one of those moments where you only have about one millisecond to judge and you just close your eyes and hope that your handlebars fit through – mine didn’t. I hit one of my bark busters on one of the trees going at a good rate of speed and I went down, only to see the 6 other racers pass me. When I came around to the scanner again I was in 11th place and it was time to put my head down and push a bit. Since we were in Jersey it was obviously sandy and when the trail is so tight for the most part there is only one line to take, and with 200 guys taking that same line it get whooped out, really whooped out! The track got super rough really fast; at least it was a long track so all the racers were spread out pretty good. I really liked the track and even though it was so tight and really rough the soil was amazing. It is on a farm and the woods sections were just so loamy and the soil almost resembled a woodchip mulch combo with some sand mixed in. When I came across the finish line my hard push was only good enough for 8th place. I made some mistakes and when you’re riding at that level you just can’t afford to lose seconds let alone minutes. Overall my conditioning felt good, my bike is running awesome and I am really excited about this weekend’s race at Sahara Sands. DHaggs Sr. is supposedly to make his comeback debut so keep you fingers crossed.
My super talented, dedicated and supportive team member/Wife/Pit Girl, Christina, was there to cheer me on and take some really good pictures. I think that she is starting to be a bit of a good luck charm so hopefully she will be able to make it out again this weekend.
I would like to thank my sponsers: DHaggs Harescramble Racing, MSR, Scott USA, TAG Metals, Scott Powersports, Kenda Tires, Twin Air and Pivot Works!