Walker Sky Ranch
05-13-2008, 11:25 AM
My AMA District –38 season is now at the mid-season break, and to bring in the summer break, we have have a night race “to hot to race in May during the day” Now Desert racing is not like MX racing at night, we do not have stadium lights to see by, we race with our full desert lights on lighting our across the desert following the course ribbons or markings. It is challenging and really fun! I personally love to race at night, for some reason, I can go just as fast at night as I do in the day, I think it is because I can only see where my lights are shinning and there are not any other distractions, COMPLETE FOCUS! I was looking to have a good result as I knew most of my competitors had not logged many miles racing at night as I have! I had just did 300 miles in the Baja 1000 last November all at night and have been doing some training at night on my local trails, so I was ready!! The start was different then our normal Bomb Starts, we did a MX style start with a sweeping right hander into a hole shot jump and then through a tight course for about 1 mile that then lead out to the open desert for a 20 mile loop. The other change in this race was we all started the same time, Pros, Am,Nov and Beg..all on the same line and off at the same time..this a great chance for me to see how I stack up against the pros, and amateurs, This was my first year in D-38 and my points from the other district did not transfer over, so I am in the Nov class until further notice! No worries..
At this point I will put my story on hold to tell you that the race organizer IV Racing had put on an auction before the start with some awesome gear and collectables for the taking!! It was a fun and aggressive crowd and when it was all said and done, IV Racing and the D-38 racers had raised 850 dollars for RiderDown!! AWESOME..
Here is a photo of the crowd at the auction!
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/night1.jpg
THANK YOU IV RACING and the District 38 Members
Alright, there we are, on the line and it is a short distance to the first turn.. I am on a borrowed bike “my new bike was not ready for night racing” and now I am feeling nervous.. really nervous and I think that lead to me getting a great start, I guess I timed the drop of the flag just perfect and was the first bike through the turn, but I did not have enough momentum carried to be the first over the hole shot jump, but I knew I was in good shape for my division. I was just passed by 3 or 4 riders.. no problem, desert races are not won in the first mile !!
Photo of the start
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/intronight.jpg
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/night2.jpg
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/night3.jpg
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/night4.jpg
we went through the mini course before letting out into the desert and into the deep darkness! The enemy at night is not the dark, it is the dust, so passing is so so difficult, you have to pick lines around the guy in front of you and do your best not get get in the white out that is their roost! I had a smooth first 20 mile lap and passed a few guys and made it back into the pits, and through the mini course.
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/night5.jpg
From there, I just continued to make another lap until about half way through the 2nd lap I lost the course, How? Who knows, but I had to stop and look for lights and what direction they where heading.. POOP.. that cost me some time, so I headed for the lights and caught up with them to find the course and head back to the pits! I knew I had lost positions, but how many, I did not know! So, the rest of the race went well, until the last 2 miles of the race where I was trying to pass someone I knew was in the Senior class, but not my division “NOV” I went wide around him in a sand wash and rode right off a 8 foot drop off into another wash.. BOOM.. bang ...flip ..lights out.. CRASH oh man.. a solid race GONE!! But I somehow landed on my feet and not far from my bike so I rushed over to her in the dark got her started and made up the time I had lost and just finished behind the guy I was trying to pass before my "get off".. ....RACE OVER.. how did I do? I checked the computer results to see that I had came in 2nd OA for the Seniors and first for my division.. a great result to end the first part of the season, leaving me as the #1 Nov and putting me in 4th OA for the Seniors! Now.. keep fit and tons of seat time over the summer and see if I can stay in the top 5 OA through the fall
YIPPIE!!
At this point I will put my story on hold to tell you that the race organizer IV Racing had put on an auction before the start with some awesome gear and collectables for the taking!! It was a fun and aggressive crowd and when it was all said and done, IV Racing and the D-38 racers had raised 850 dollars for RiderDown!! AWESOME..
Here is a photo of the crowd at the auction!
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/night1.jpg
THANK YOU IV RACING and the District 38 Members
Alright, there we are, on the line and it is a short distance to the first turn.. I am on a borrowed bike “my new bike was not ready for night racing” and now I am feeling nervous.. really nervous and I think that lead to me getting a great start, I guess I timed the drop of the flag just perfect and was the first bike through the turn, but I did not have enough momentum carried to be the first over the hole shot jump, but I knew I was in good shape for my division. I was just passed by 3 or 4 riders.. no problem, desert races are not won in the first mile !!
Photo of the start
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/intronight.jpg
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/night2.jpg
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/night3.jpg
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/night4.jpg
we went through the mini course before letting out into the desert and into the deep darkness! The enemy at night is not the dark, it is the dust, so passing is so so difficult, you have to pick lines around the guy in front of you and do your best not get get in the white out that is their roost! I had a smooth first 20 mile lap and passed a few guys and made it back into the pits, and through the mini course.
http://www.friedneckbones.com/night1_08/night5.jpg
From there, I just continued to make another lap until about half way through the 2nd lap I lost the course, How? Who knows, but I had to stop and look for lights and what direction they where heading.. POOP.. that cost me some time, so I headed for the lights and caught up with them to find the course and head back to the pits! I knew I had lost positions, but how many, I did not know! So, the rest of the race went well, until the last 2 miles of the race where I was trying to pass someone I knew was in the Senior class, but not my division “NOV” I went wide around him in a sand wash and rode right off a 8 foot drop off into another wash.. BOOM.. bang ...flip ..lights out.. CRASH oh man.. a solid race GONE!! But I somehow landed on my feet and not far from my bike so I rushed over to her in the dark got her started and made up the time I had lost and just finished behind the guy I was trying to pass before my "get off".. ....RACE OVER.. how did I do? I checked the computer results to see that I had came in 2nd OA for the Seniors and first for my division.. a great result to end the first part of the season, leaving me as the #1 Nov and putting me in 4th OA for the Seniors! Now.. keep fit and tons of seat time over the summer and see if I can stay in the top 5 OA through the fall
YIPPIE!!