I arrived at Pope Creek by 8:30am only to find out the registration trailer is open all day.
Oh well.....I just walked the new youth MX track, helped QDoc set up his booth and talked to Jason (owner) about the timber course. He said it was way too easy. Yeah right! Luckliy, the little tikes started their races soon enough and who doesn't love to see those daring young daredevils rip around on their little racers!! Krazy Kevin's son was looking great while practicing but thought he would lose to Loran's son in the race. Well, the race consisted of 2 parts (for the youth AND adult races). There were 4 timed laps on the MX track, which was added to the time of 4 timber laps. Kevin's boy SMOKED everybody on the MX. In the timber course, Loran's son showed his trail skills to finish first, but was followed by Kevin's son right behind....and Kevin's boy took the 1st place trophy for mini quads! With Amy's boy taking a 1st place trophy on mini-motorcycles, it was looking good for the 2 River's junior team.
Buddy Wren's boys were also there, and I don't remember which one finished in which place......but I do know there was some NICE trophies on their trailer!!! The kids were representing likes Pros out there and the pressure was on the adults to keep the momemtum alive.
Here's the weird thing for me. I wasn't the least bit scared. Don't ask me why, I haven't a clue. I didn't toss and turn all night.....I didn't have a racing heartbeat all morning.....I didn't have the slightest concern about the course. For some unknown reason, I felt like I was more than prepared for Pope Creek......and there wasn't anything to concern me. I didn't plan on winning but I still should have been nervous just because it WAS A RACE! I was simply calm.....and mildly bored all morning. The best reason I can think of is the first time I raced there. I was SO new, so scared of the obstacles and terrain, so nervous........ This time I knew I had did everything that this course had to offer many times, had just rode Pope Creek as a club ride (and had no fear tearing it up) and had 'some' confidence in my ability to pilot my TBlazer as well as it could be done. I guess I was in the "zone" so to speak.
Jason (owner) said we could all practice the timber course but to stay off the MX track until after cycles did there runs. There were still almost no club members present so I thought I better get my practice laps in.....as I believed the course to be almost exactly as we rode it as a club ride. I geared up and rolled down towards the track....and saw he even kept the same river crossing as before. (I thought of Grizzly as I made my way down....hahahaha he hated that river crossing) I immediately felt good as I was familiar with the path already and hit the throttle into the timber!! One turn left.......gas it.....sweep right and pin it!!!......hard brake into a dogleg left......front tires sliding.......tree coming.......look over front to see if my left tire will clear......and
WHAM!!!! 3 freakin' turns into the "easy", "familiar", "practice" lap and I hit a tree! OHHHHHHH, no, nothing so simple as that either.......oh THAT would be too easyyyyyyyy. I had to be leaning forward checking my tire's clearance.....so the immediate SSTOPPP only ended the forward momentum of my quad. MY BODY was still following the trails with or without it's mighty steed!!
Yep, as soon as I hit the tree....I did a textbook forward roll onto my nosepiece, off the front bumper....and onto the path. Luckily, I did a perfect roll and when I hit the ground, I was facing almost forward again.
I felt my back give me a little reminder of why I was getting those spinal shots for all those months.....and so far I am only sore there, no sign of re-herniating that disk. As I stood up (quickly as I remembered a motorcycler crossing the river behind me) ....he was right there. I can't prove it, but I think he was laughing his @ss off right up to the point of me turning around to see if anybody saw my mishap. He quickly looked concerned and asked if I was alright. I smiled a big smile and said" I just wanted to get that out of the way now!!". (That wasn't too far from the truth).
I needed that flip to remind me that no matter how comfortable I am with the terrain, and no matter how confident I am with my quad......when it comes to going fast through trees.......trees make ALL the rules!!! It refocused me and I finished the rest of the track without incident (even though it only got harder from there).
Ok, finally 2 Rivers was showing up.....Jason the Shredder, Amy and Rydur, Mothership....and evetually Eric and Amber. ATV's had 4 classes available. PRO (with cash prizes) "A" and "B" plus Utility. Eric and Shredder challenged each other to go PRO and they did. Nobody in 2 Rivers went "A" (A is for Amber says Cookie Monster) but all the rest of 2 Rivers went "B".....except for the only guy who actually showed up willing to RACE, not ride, but RACE a big ol' utility through the Pope Creek course.........Shad! Yeah baby!!! Shad brought the Brute Force and went unchallenged in the utility class....but to be fair to him, I don't know any utility rider that could beat him on one through that course anyway. The Utility class was the only class with a trophy.
PRO won cash, and "A" and "B" won gift bags.
Here's what I 'remember': PRO class=4 entries
"A" class=1 entry
"B" class=14 entries
Utility class=1 entry
The race would be 4 1/2 laps on the MX track first...and that time added to 4 laps in the timber. PRO class and the lone "A" entrant went first on the MX track. The Shredder said he wasn't an MX guy and would do real bad. I didn't believe him cuz I know he has mad skillz but is humble to a fault. Well, Eric goes up front to fight it out with some others over first, while Shredder takes a rearbattle with another guy. They all stay fairly steady and finish in a hurry. The Shredder finishes back in the pack affirming his dislike for the MX portion of the race.
The "B" class will be raced in 5 quad "heats" and since I was the first quad to show up that day, I was called for the first heat....with 4 unknowns to run against. Here's the thing.....I didn't know we were going to have 2 separate races like this and I suck at MX!! I lack low-end power and have a heavy 250. I looked at my competition and started talking to them. To my far right, an older Blaster.....unknown rider....my "wildcard" rival. The other 2 to my right...a young teenager who looks daring but not crafty...my eye on him. Between the kid and me, an older fella on a busted-up Polaris (I didn't even recognize the model). He said his Scrambler was broke so he brought this one. It had a towstrap holding the seat on and looked ready to be retired. The old fella was crafty but not as daring..and I could keep him behind me. The last rival on my left was a fully-geared up guy on a racer-modded Gas Gas!! This guy was the 'ringer' who only entered "B" class to get the easy win. I made my mental notes and prepped for the start. Amy had said "May the Force be with You".....Rydur had came up to pat my helmet and give me a slap on the shoulder for confidence......and everybody was watching me race as the sole 2 Rivers guy on the track. I wanted it!!!
I was still full of confidence and had every intention of attacking this MX track. As I heard everybody pin their throttles for the flag, I slammed my brakes down and hit my throttle too. I felt my clutch engage and hold....and when the flag went, I just pinned it and WOOOOOOOOOO...the d@mn front end came up and I wheelied the start!!! hahahaha It was pretty cool but short lived as I focused on getting onto the track. The old fella and the kid were out first, I took the 3 rd slot......barely as the Blaster hugged my tailpipe....and the Gas Gas fell in last. As I passed the whoops for the first time, the Blaster took me on the inside and left me in 4th. I just charged on. As I was hitting some of the jumps, I noticed I wasn't nosing down as I usually do and it made me wonder if I could start hitting them faster. I did so and was actually ramping them quite well after a lap or two. Soon I was catching air off just about all of them and growing more confident. All I can say is that the new rear shock had a better reaction to the jumps and didn't slam my front down when the back wheels came off the ramps.
I was jumping!!! Not real big but I was airborne!!! I started racing harder and wondering when the Gas Gas was going to get around me. As I charged harder into the last of the laps, he wasn't gaining.....maybe even losing ground on me.
Wow, he may have the quad, but he didn't have the ability to catch me. I was surprised but determined to not come in last. I finished the MX portion in 4th (of my heat) but it turns out that old fella on the busted Polaris won the whole "B" class race and that teenager came in second. I judged these guys by their clothes, and condition of their quads....and that was a newbie mistake.
The next heat had Amy and Mothership together with some unknowns and they kicked some butt. Amy wasn't going to race at all as her neck was giving her spasms again and she didn't want to mess it up all over again. I begged her to enter to keep me company in the back of the pack....and she reluctantly agreed. She took it easy on the MX part as Mothership zoomed around more quickly and did really well! The final heat only had four and they were all 2 Rivers riders. It was Amber, Loran (on his 250ex), Rydur and Shad on the Brute Force. They took off and it was a constant struggle for first between Amber and Loran. Amber was taking the jumps lower but was shooting out on the straightaways and the big hill jump so Loran could catch her on the track....only to lose her up the big hill. It was a close race for them two with Amber lengthing the lead at the finish. The entire race, Rydur was digging in and gunning for the 2 leaders but held his spot start to finish. Shad just hit his throttle off the backs of the jumps, kicking up 40 lbs. of dirt every time and roared around to finish in 4th (but 1st in his class).
The race itself would start at the top of the hill, engines off. I liked that as I can leave my quad in gear and just turn the key and floor it! I had no intentions of holding back this time...I wanted to get out fast and make people have to pass me!! ;D I flew off the line and after the initial bottleneck, came to the river crossing about mid-pack. Amber was somewhere out front, with Amy (so much for going slow) and Loran.....then me....with Rydur and Mothership somewhere right behind me. The PRO's went a few seconds before us so they were well out in the course somewhere. Somewhere on the first lap, a rider passed me, but it wasn't one of the 2 Rivers crew. That would be the last "B" rider to get by me. Whomever hit the river behind me at the start, stayed behind me!!
At the top of a quite steep sandy hill, there was Amy.....looked like a treehug but getting it off. At least I caught somebody!! hehehe Later, at an off-camber incline....sandy and curvy....I almost missed a turn and Mothership was a milli-second from going around me. She could have easily, but I know she waited as I started accelerating back on course. Thank you sweetie!
On a particularly tricky dry bed entrance, I couldn't make the hard right and rolled up the opposite bank.....at which point a quick-thinking Rydur turned away and rolled up next to me so he didn't have to splat my tailpipe all over the place. Thanks to you too!! (I heard Rydur rolled his quad trying to make that very turn later on) The best pass of the day was when I was going up hill and turned a corner and saw........wait for it.........wait for itttttttt.........UBNPAST trying to get something working on his quad!!! I turned up the hill and screamed "YOU BEEN PASTTTTT B_TCHHHHHHHH!!!!!" hahahahaha Ok........maybe I didn't say that.
Maybe I just drove up the hill thinking I should have stopped and helped as he has always been helpful to me. I felt alittle guilty but not THAT guilty!!
Ok....as I'm racing to finish my 2nd lap, I am thinking this: Behind me is Amy, Mothership, Rydur and Ubn......in front is Amber, Loran and Shredder. I like these conditions and figure I can keep things this way for 2 more laps. Lap 3 is uneventful and kinda lonely....nobody passing and no one to pass. I did see that Blaster hung up on a sand berm....almost exactly where UBN had been broke down.....so I passed the Blaster I guess. Payback for beating me on the MX track! haha Uh OH........"where UBN had been"? "had been"? so where was he now?
? awwwww crap! Almost like a psychic premonition, the moment I thought about the area I had last seen Eric.....he comes motoring up on my tail.......honking his horn and screaming at me to get the %@%$$ outta his way!!!! Throwing rocks at my helmet, smacking into my rear tires......anything to get me out of the way.
OK, that's alittle untrue.....he DID come up on me right as I was thinking of his disappearance, but I heard him and let him fly on by! (Good thing too as he had pretzel'd his left tie-rod and was driving with a bum right-hand turn, and over-zealous left) As I was going through a little patch of timber right before the finish line of my 3rd lap, I heard something hit the fender twice and thought I had threw a log around alittle bit. As I went through the gate, the timekeeper said "Hey WAIT!! You have something on your wheel!" That "something" was about 8 foot of fencing (both barbed wire and square hole), of which 4 foot was trailing my quad, and the other 4 foot was now a part of my right-side rear axle!!
It was twisted around enough that it couldn't just be peeled off, but out of nowhere came a pair of vise-grips and side-cutters. They held my quad up sideways as we tried to get that crap cut off......and it wasn't an easy task.
I was losing beaucoup time here, and it wasn't my fault!! Man I was ticked!! We finally got it off and I was flying back down to do my final lap. I didn't see anybody come through the gate from "B" class while I was there so I thought I was still ok. I blazed through the course and shortly after crossing the creek on the return trip, I came upon Mothership squatted down next to her Honda....looking alert but not well.....and Rydur standing there waving me to go go go. I went ahead as I looked at her quad's front end. No damage....that was good. My mind was racing,.....is she ok? did she hit the tree and is shaken up? did she roll it? What happened to Sue?! ?! I was freakin out alittle but felt great that Rydur was right there, and from his actions, knew that he could handle what was going on. If she was hurt, he wouldn't wave us past right?! I still didn't feel good about it.
The last lap was almost over and I would know soon enough.
The race day was over and I was in one piece, and so was the TBlazer. Not a bad day compared to my first race here almost a year ago.
First the results (2 Rivers Members)!!!
PRO Class:
1st place = Jason the Shredder
2nd place = Eric-Ubnpast
"B" Class:
3rd Place = Amber-Dr. Shezuki
5th Place = Loran-QDoc
6th Place = Kerry-Wait4Me
Unknown = Amy-Darth
DNF = Sue-Mothership
DNF = Rydur-RaptorRydur
Utility Class:
1st Place = Shad
Amber kicked some serious butt out there and made sure I was well-beaten this time!! hahahaha Great job Amber!!
After the winners were announced, we all went over to the trucks. Sue was lying down in the back of her truck and not doing too good. As I talked to her, she was slow in response and alittle out of it. I felt very bad seeing her that way. She is my idol on a quad, a vision of class and elegance in person and action.....and at that moment she was hurting. That sucked!!! Eventually she could sit up and take a seat on the trailer, but she was still very drained. Her head hung down and her eyes said it all. She was hurting. I felt so bad, and there wasn't anything I could do. The good news is that Sue was surrounded by people who cared for her. She is also one of the strongest ladies you'll ever meet, as her riding exemplifies. She would live to fight another day!! ;D By the time she was leaving, she at least was holding her head up. Thanks again to Rydur for staying with her on the course and keeping her safe.
Amy, I hope you're neck didn't give you fits!! If it is acting up.....I deny all liability for begging you to enter.
heheheeee
Jason the Shredder......dude, you have to be the most underspoken racer I know. You just won't admit you have all the skillz that you have no matter how many times you win a race. Above that, you are just a really cool guy to talk to and I have enjoyed every chance I have had to chit-chat with you. You're an easy guy to like. Sorry it took your girl and her sister so long to show up.....but I noticed they did make it!!!!
haahaa I thought you were going to starve!!
Ubbie....thanks for letting me pass you just once. I know it was short-lived and mechanically-originated.....but it felt good anyway.
It hurts to find out that you still caught back up with me without being able to turn right........but hey.....just once I could say "u-bn-past"
That's the long version folks. Pope Creek Fun Run 2007. My second "race" ever and a great way to close out my rookie year of riding! As of November, I have been a quad owner/rider for 1 full year and no longer a rookie. I also will have been a member of 2 Rivers for a full year and therefore losing that rookie status too. (as well as oweing some dues
) What a wild ride it's been.
Wait4Me