AMA National Harescramble Race Recap!

Round #6 of the AMA National Harescramble Series EAST was held this past Sunday in Good Springs, PA. This event was also co-sanctioned with the Pennsylvania State Harescramble Series. Despite the reputation of Rausch Creeks brutal terrain there was a huge turnout for the event. Riders came from all over the east coast and there was a respectable showing from some of the top pro’s, twelve to be exact. Since the race was “suppose” to start at 11, which for some reason they never do at Rausch Creek, we decided to get up there early and leave Saturday afternoon. We were able to walk a bit of the track and even though the small part that we walked was not so rocky, I knew the real horror that was going to haunt us come mid-day Sunday.
The track was 13 miles long and was with out a doubt the hardest track that I have ever ridden on, let alone tried to race on for 3 hours. It was just rocks after rocks after boulders after rocks. Then there were make it or break it up hills where if you didn’t pin the gas there was no way that you were going to make it up it. There were down hills where both your back and front breaks were locked up and you were still flying down them. There were creek crossing sections and some swamp sections where there were multiple lines, some were 5 or 6 feet deep, some were the point of no return and some you could just get through without sinking your bike. There was just no where you could take a break, there was a section of black coal fire road but you were going about 60 miles and hour and focusing on not hitting the protruding rock that were showing through the soil which made you stay on your toes because I’d imagine that crashing at that speed would extremely hurt. It was just 13 miles of the gnarliest beating that I have ever taken, and the start was no exception.
For some reason the start was all messed up with our lines because we had 250 A, Open A, and 200 A all on the same line. So instead of holding up the race any longer they decided to run all of us on the same line and then adjust our scoring at the end of the race. Not such a great confidence booster when your about to kill yourself for the next three hours and in the back of your head your thinking that some one could mess up the scoring trying to figure all of that out. Regardless the green flag dropped and I got a great start, bolted to the first right hand turn and was probably in the top 5 or 6. There was about half a mile of rocky road with a slight hill climb in there and then we were heading into the woods. There was a course worker at the top of the road pointing to the right signaling that we needed to slow down because we were going down hill. The hill went straight down for about 10 feet and then there was a little ledge about 7 feet wide and then the hill went STRAIGHT DOWN into a seriously deep valley. Well the course worker didn’t motion or tell you that you were going to have to make a 180 degree turn and stay on that ledge and continue to the right once coming down the down hill. I was banging bars with another rider and he went to the inside and I went to the outside, I went straight down the hill and then when it was too late I noticed that we had to make a hard right. I went of the ledge about 3 feet and I tried to save it and ride down the hill into the ravine but my bike caught a rock while horizontal on the hill and it projected me like a bucking bull off the side. I hit a cluster of trees with my upper half and it made me spin like a helicopter and then I rolled down the steep hill until a tree stopped my fall. My bike was about 20 feet up the hill almost completely upside down. Just imagine my bike at this degree / with my handlebars being the bottom of the slash and my wheels at the top of the slash. That’s how steep this hill was. I climbed back up and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to flip my bike back up horizontally so I pulled on the front wheel so the bike was still on the side but facing down. Then I picked up my bike and bull dogged it down into the ravine. I got back on my bike, composed my self and tried to get out of that baby. As I watched not only my class but 2 other classes as well race past me about 20 feet above my head around the lip of this ravine I pinned the gas so hard and happened to make it out of there. I regained my composer and made sure that I kept a good pace and tried not get over excited and try and catch up to my class because I was way back. My only hope now was to try and get them at the end. I felt really good when I got back on pace and even thought the track was physically demanding I thought to myself that this track is actually not too bad. After one lap I felt good and managed to pick up the pace on the second lap putting in charges here and there. Again I was feeling good and with all of the different obstacles on the course I found myself enjoying the hill climbs and the creek crossings. I didn’t enjoy the rocks so much but I guess I was in a bit of a trance and was getting used to them. After my second lap I still felt pretty good and it was at the middle of the third lap where I started to feel the effects of the heat and the track conditions. The pit area was located at the 10.5 mile mark so you had to make a whole lap before you were able to pit. We decided to pit on the third lap, which went great. Pitman Jimmy B gave my some additional well needed water while assistant pit man for the day, Aaron fueled me up and even DHaggs Sr. was there because he seized his engine earlier in the race. His sarcastic “how fun is this track,” made me realize that it wasn’t just me who despises Rausch Creek for the 13 miles of hell they laid out. After denying new goggles and gloves I kicked the bike and was off to the uphill which was just after the pit area. I pushed for the next 3 and a half miles and came around to the scanner and I was off on my fourth lap. I still had a bit of energy left so I set a pace and rode through the shredded trail. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to hold this pace for much longer so regardless this was going to be my last lap. One by one I saw the mile markers out on the course and one by one my muscles started to stop working. It seemed that each mile that I put behind me a new muscle started to cramp up. It was hot and pushing like that for three hours and going so slow in those rocky conditions really plays a toll on your machine and body. I tired to just ride at a putt-putt pace through some of the sections but the course doesn’t allow it. It was easier to go fast and in some sections you just had no choice if you wanted to make it through. At this point I’m really starting to feel sick and I’m cramping up bad but I’m almost half way through the lap. I pass mile marker 5.5 and then 7 and I managed to make it to 8. I had only 5 miles left to the finish and only 2 and a half miles until I would reach the pits. I came around a right hand turn and then a left and I fell into a rut where my bike just stopped. It was so deep my axle bolts where hitting the dirt and I was stuck. I don’t know where that line came from because it wasn’t there all day. Thankfully there were two kids there who pulled my bike tire out and then I made it over a log and up a hill and I was on a fire road. There was a course worker there and they saw my condition and they said if you follow this road you will be back at the pits. I sat there for 5 minutes and really wanted to finish out the lap. So I went back into the woods and tried to just putt the rest of the way. Well that wasn’t happening because my legs, hips, back and arms were severally cramping up. Not to mention that I was dry heaving and super faint. I had to pull off the track and take off my helmet to try and cool down. And that is where the race ended for me. I was stuck up on the mountain severely dehydrated watching the rest of the racers pass by. Luckily my buddy Noah D saw me and stopped to see if I was okay. He informed my crew where I was and told them how bad I was. Despite my early ending I still managed to hold onto 9th Place for the day.
DHaggs Sr. had a good day that ended early too. He had some bike problems that forced him to end his race early as well but he still managed to hold onto 7th Place. At the end of the day we came home safe despite my overheating problems and nobody was seriously hurt.
Big thanks to the Pit Crew of Jimmy B and Aaron M. for helping us try and get through one of the toughest races on the circuit.
Now we have summer break and a month off until we continue in the fall with Back Mountain. Hopefully the summer heat will be gone!
I would like to Thank my Sponsors: DHAGGS Harescramble Racing, MSR Racing, Scott Powersports, Kenda USA, DP Brakes, Scott USA, TAG Metals, Decal Works, Twin Air, IMS, Devol Eng., FMF, TM Designworks, Cycra Racing