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In my (e)Return to motocross thread, http://www.film-tech.com/vbb/forum/f...a-9-year-break I mentioned a race I attempted to do in 2022, right after I got my bike. It was a total train wreck for a variety of reasons, which I will go into detail on in this thread.
Prologue: Setting: Southern California, a welcome change from the six FEET of snow here in Idaho. Sept. 2022, I finally convince my young friend to sell me his 2006 YZ 125 dirt bike, which had a blown motor. We agree on a price ($2k plus a set of riding gear and two sets of tires, which made the total around $2500.) I fix the bike, get it running and start riding (badly) as I need to re adapt to riding a 125cc two stroke. (My previous bikes were 250cc two strokes.) I return to the tracks I rode back in the early 1990s (LACR, Glen Helen). The bike and I are feeling each other out, and it is a battle to see who is the top dog. The bike wins a few rounds and I win a few more. My crazy young studmuffin friend (who is a a very fast mx rider) suggests that I return in November for a race. I tell him he's out of his fuckin mind, as I hadn't raced (or been on a bike) in 9 YEARS. He says it's no big deal,. this race is "laid back" (NO SUCH THING IN MOTOCROSS), and is all for fun. The race is called "Red Bull Day In The Dirt" https://www.dayinthedirt.com/ (This link takes you to the site and has excellent photos from the event.) It is part racing, and part serious partying after hours, and is held over Thanksgiving weekend.
I tell him I'll think about it and let him know. I was there in Sept. for a week or so, just getting in some ride time and getting used to the bike. I return to Idaho and a few weeks later, I go online and enter the race, doing a beginners class on Saturday and a Vet Rider class on Sunday. Each race is on a course about 10-11 MILES long, through two mx tracks and some offroad and one high-speed paved sections. Total time of each race is around 35 minutes (a LONG time to be riding non-stop at race pace for mx.) In the meantime, I had also called the lady who managed my former apartment property I lived in and invited her to the race. She was going to come on Sunday. (Remember this, it's important.)
The week before the race: I return to So Cal, after the bike and I spend time in sub-freezing Idaho for a month or so. (That is important to know, you'll see why.) I was still a bit nervous about the race, as I'd only put in about 4.5 hours of ride time on the bike. On Tuesday we head to a track I'd never been to, Lake Elsinore. As we were heading down there, I was feeling very odd, an uneasy feeling I'd never experienced before. As I am riding, I noticed that the bike wasn't working well either... the front forks were VERY stiff, and not soaking up the bumps well. The bike also had the habit of "pushing" the front end, so as I was trying to make corners the front wheel would slide outwards. I was very puzzled as it was working ok before. I struggled all day, and laid the bike down several times, always in corners. I crashed more in that one day than I ever did in the entire THREE YEARS of racing in the 90's. I was seriously questioning the wisdom of entering that race now.
On that Thursday, we go to Glen Helen, where the race will be held. The two mx tracks are open, but none of the other sections are open yet for practice. I decide to tackle the Vet Track, as I was most familiar with it and I wanted to see if the bike was the problem or I was just not riding well due to nerves. Well,the bike was just as bad here (when it had worked well in Sept.) so now I knew I was officially screwed. On a break I was talking to my buddy, and he finally admitted that "Oh, I forgot to tell you that I haven't had the suspension serviced for over 80 hours." (It needs at least oil changed every 25 hours.) Well, fuck. The old oil plus the sub freezing temps the bike was in up in Idaho totally ruined it. And we were a week away from a major race, and a full suspension service takes at least a week, if you can find someone to do it on short notice. (Which is even more impossible right before a major race.) To say I was pissed at him was an understatement. If he had told me that in Sept., I could have had that work done while I was rebuilding the motor and cleaning the bike up. I rode as much as I could that day, hoping the forks would loosen up, but no dice. These issues also created an even bigger problem: on the main mx track, there is a giant uphill/downhill section called "Mt. Saint Helens". I am a terrible hillclimb rider, and this section was my Kryptonite. I HAD to conquer it BEFORE Red Bull, but with the bike being so sketchy there was no way I was gonna risk it on race day. The rest of the day I just got more angry at the bike (and my buddy) but it didn't change the facts.
When we got back to his place, and after washing the bikes, I spent several hours and phone calls trying to find a suspension shop to do my suspension on a rush order. No one could do it. My buddy said that there will be guys at the track for the race and since we were going there to camp out on Thursday (Thanksgiving) I could at least get the fork oil changed at the track. So that was the plan that I hung my hopes on. Meantime, we just spent the time getting the bikes and his RV ready for the race.
Race week: Weds we spent the day packing up food and stuff in the RV, and checking the bikes over again. I had been staying in the RV while I was down there, so we also had to deal with getting the holding tanks emptied. We decided to do that on the way to the track on Thurs.
Thursday: We head out around 11:30am (it was always a hassle getting my buddy up in the morning even on race days. I am ALWAYS up early, as I like to not be rushed at the track.) We get the RV tanks dumped, and get to the track. I had forgotten to sign up for camping (as I'd also forgotten that I needed to have my truck for all my gear and the bike, duh.) so I paid for that and we were lucky to get adjoining spots in the camp area. After I got my bike unloaded I set out to see who was there to work on my forks. There was only ONE guy! (I was surprised as this is a very high profile event.) It was Brian from N2Dirt. I hadn't heard of him before. My buddy told me that one of his earlier bikes was done by them and they were good. So I went back and talked to Brian and asked if he had time to work on my bike. He said he could "freshen up" the forks, but did not bring the tools for shock work. I told him that the forks were the main problem, so he said bring them by ..after dinner! So I did, and at around 11pm he called and said they were ready. I was out in the camp area at midnight putting my bike back together...for practice that started at 9am! To say I was stressed out was a huge understatement.
Friday, practice day: I wake up to the sounds of bikes running. I had slept through my alarm (8am) and it was around 9:30. I had missed the first practice. There were only two more, one starting at 9:45 and the other at 10:15. I realized that my buddy was STILL asleep too. So I go over and wake him up....and he goes batshit crazy about me waking him. (He had never told me which practice he was going to run.) After some heated words were exchanged, I left to go walk to the track and check things out. One of which was Mt. Saint Helens. They had a spectator section looped into the center of the track, which gave a good close up view of both the uphill and downhill sides. To my surprise, it was nowhere near as bad as it looked from a distance. In fact, the Vet track that I loved had a similar hill, but smaller. It was in fact the EXACT SAME angles as the big one, but shorter. That gave me the first good news of the whole event, as I now knew all I had to do was treat it just like the Vet hill which I had grown comfortable with. (Although the bike was still the unknown variable, I had NO idea if the forks were going to work.)
To be continued...
Prologue: Setting: Southern California, a welcome change from the six FEET of snow here in Idaho. Sept. 2022, I finally convince my young friend to sell me his 2006 YZ 125 dirt bike, which had a blown motor. We agree on a price ($2k plus a set of riding gear and two sets of tires, which made the total around $2500.) I fix the bike, get it running and start riding (badly) as I need to re adapt to riding a 125cc two stroke. (My previous bikes were 250cc two strokes.) I return to the tracks I rode back in the early 1990s (LACR, Glen Helen). The bike and I are feeling each other out, and it is a battle to see who is the top dog. The bike wins a few rounds and I win a few more. My crazy young studmuffin friend (who is a a very fast mx rider) suggests that I return in November for a race. I tell him he's out of his fuckin mind, as I hadn't raced (or been on a bike) in 9 YEARS. He says it's no big deal,. this race is "laid back" (NO SUCH THING IN MOTOCROSS), and is all for fun. The race is called "Red Bull Day In The Dirt" https://www.dayinthedirt.com/ (This link takes you to the site and has excellent photos from the event.) It is part racing, and part serious partying after hours, and is held over Thanksgiving weekend.
I tell him I'll think about it and let him know. I was there in Sept. for a week or so, just getting in some ride time and getting used to the bike. I return to Idaho and a few weeks later, I go online and enter the race, doing a beginners class on Saturday and a Vet Rider class on Sunday. Each race is on a course about 10-11 MILES long, through two mx tracks and some offroad and one high-speed paved sections. Total time of each race is around 35 minutes (a LONG time to be riding non-stop at race pace for mx.) In the meantime, I had also called the lady who managed my former apartment property I lived in and invited her to the race. She was going to come on Sunday. (Remember this, it's important.)
The week before the race: I return to So Cal, after the bike and I spend time in sub-freezing Idaho for a month or so. (That is important to know, you'll see why.) I was still a bit nervous about the race, as I'd only put in about 4.5 hours of ride time on the bike. On Tuesday we head to a track I'd never been to, Lake Elsinore. As we were heading down there, I was feeling very odd, an uneasy feeling I'd never experienced before. As I am riding, I noticed that the bike wasn't working well either... the front forks were VERY stiff, and not soaking up the bumps well. The bike also had the habit of "pushing" the front end, so as I was trying to make corners the front wheel would slide outwards. I was very puzzled as it was working ok before. I struggled all day, and laid the bike down several times, always in corners. I crashed more in that one day than I ever did in the entire THREE YEARS of racing in the 90's. I was seriously questioning the wisdom of entering that race now.
On that Thursday, we go to Glen Helen, where the race will be held. The two mx tracks are open, but none of the other sections are open yet for practice. I decide to tackle the Vet Track, as I was most familiar with it and I wanted to see if the bike was the problem or I was just not riding well due to nerves. Well,the bike was just as bad here (when it had worked well in Sept.) so now I knew I was officially screwed. On a break I was talking to my buddy, and he finally admitted that "Oh, I forgot to tell you that I haven't had the suspension serviced for over 80 hours." (It needs at least oil changed every 25 hours.) Well, fuck. The old oil plus the sub freezing temps the bike was in up in Idaho totally ruined it. And we were a week away from a major race, and a full suspension service takes at least a week, if you can find someone to do it on short notice. (Which is even more impossible right before a major race.) To say I was pissed at him was an understatement. If he had told me that in Sept., I could have had that work done while I was rebuilding the motor and cleaning the bike up. I rode as much as I could that day, hoping the forks would loosen up, but no dice. These issues also created an even bigger problem: on the main mx track, there is a giant uphill/downhill section called "Mt. Saint Helens". I am a terrible hillclimb rider, and this section was my Kryptonite. I HAD to conquer it BEFORE Red Bull, but with the bike being so sketchy there was no way I was gonna risk it on race day. The rest of the day I just got more angry at the bike (and my buddy) but it didn't change the facts.
When we got back to his place, and after washing the bikes, I spent several hours and phone calls trying to find a suspension shop to do my suspension on a rush order. No one could do it. My buddy said that there will be guys at the track for the race and since we were going there to camp out on Thursday (Thanksgiving) I could at least get the fork oil changed at the track. So that was the plan that I hung my hopes on. Meantime, we just spent the time getting the bikes and his RV ready for the race.
Race week: Weds we spent the day packing up food and stuff in the RV, and checking the bikes over again. I had been staying in the RV while I was down there, so we also had to deal with getting the holding tanks emptied. We decided to do that on the way to the track on Thurs.
Thursday: We head out around 11:30am (it was always a hassle getting my buddy up in the morning even on race days. I am ALWAYS up early, as I like to not be rushed at the track.) We get the RV tanks dumped, and get to the track. I had forgotten to sign up for camping (as I'd also forgotten that I needed to have my truck for all my gear and the bike, duh.) so I paid for that and we were lucky to get adjoining spots in the camp area. After I got my bike unloaded I set out to see who was there to work on my forks. There was only ONE guy! (I was surprised as this is a very high profile event.) It was Brian from N2Dirt. I hadn't heard of him before. My buddy told me that one of his earlier bikes was done by them and they were good. So I went back and talked to Brian and asked if he had time to work on my bike. He said he could "freshen up" the forks, but did not bring the tools for shock work. I told him that the forks were the main problem, so he said bring them by ..after dinner! So I did, and at around 11pm he called and said they were ready. I was out in the camp area at midnight putting my bike back together...for practice that started at 9am! To say I was stressed out was a huge understatement.
Friday, practice day: I wake up to the sounds of bikes running. I had slept through my alarm (8am) and it was around 9:30. I had missed the first practice. There were only two more, one starting at 9:45 and the other at 10:15. I realized that my buddy was STILL asleep too. So I go over and wake him up....and he goes batshit crazy about me waking him. (He had never told me which practice he was going to run.) After some heated words were exchanged, I left to go walk to the track and check things out. One of which was Mt. Saint Helens. They had a spectator section looped into the center of the track, which gave a good close up view of both the uphill and downhill sides. To my surprise, it was nowhere near as bad as it looked from a distance. In fact, the Vet track that I loved had a similar hill, but smaller. It was in fact the EXACT SAME angles as the big one, but shorter. That gave me the first good news of the whole event, as I now knew all I had to do was treat it just like the Vet hill which I had grown comfortable with. (Although the bike was still the unknown variable, I had NO idea if the forks were going to work.)
To be continued...
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