Sunday, September 5, 2010
I am new to the enduro discipline of motorcycle racing, but I was invited to attend the Little Brown Jug enduro in Clinton, SC. This would be the first race I have gone to without my beautiful pit crew, Michelle. To get the trip started I met the other three riders in our party in Tampa at 7:30 on Saturday morning. We loaded four bikes in the trailer, stuffed our gear in the back of the truck, and then started the drive north. I have raced on and off since 2004 and have had my wife with me for all of them. We have a routine on where we like to eat, where we like to stop, and everything else that goes on with our race weekends. This experience was going to be completely new to me. What happens when I have to pee and they hand me a bottle because we have to make time. Luckily, they were all real cool and the trip up to Clinton was smooth and hassle free.
We arrived at the track (State Forest) around 5pm on Saturday with just enough time to get our riders packet and then bench race a little. The weather was perfect and the other racers were nice and accommodating with questions raised about the track. After hanging out at the track for a little bit the crew decided that we should get checked in to the motel and grab some dinner. We dropped the trailer, headed to one of two motels in the area, checked in to our fine rooms, then headed to one of two sit down restaurants in the area. Dinner was a feast at Fatzs. The food was good and the racing conversations were as diverse as the four guys at the table. Once dinner was over we headed back to our home for the night to grab a little sleep before the big day.
Race day; for any racer it has its range of emotions. I like to eat good before I race. No nibbling for me. I walked down to the lobby at 6:15 and it was packed with other racers. Nothing looked appetizing so off I headed to Hardee’s. Two country ham biscuits, one cinnamon raisin biscuit, and a diet coke later I was ready to head to the track. The rest of the crew finished up and we were off. We got to the track and the mad dash for prep began. Numbers were put on, camelbacks were filled, hydration tricks were utilized, and tools were put in the backs just in case. With about an hour to go until race time my rituals began. I want go into details but for some reason if this doesn’t occur at least three times I feel like I might not have a good race. It sure is hard to go through these rituals dressed in knee braces, riding pants, and racing boots but it all was okay and it was about that time.
It’s 9:18 and my line has just gone off. Only 60+ miles to go. The dust was a little tough, but man what a trail. I’m a Florida boy so this hard terrain with elevation is just thrilling. I started to get more comfortable and was having a blast. I don’t think I was going real fast but I was chasing other riders and that is always fun. During the race I had a couple of weird moments but nothing that would ruin my race. First one was that my left hand flew off the handlebars while accelerating in third gear. That got my attention. The second was completely doing a 180 while crossing a gravel fire road (those things are tricky). The third was losing my electrolyte chews somewhere on the trail in a zipped up camelback. Lastly, I somehow hit a tree head on, and self diagnosed that I did not suffer a concussion because I knew my name and could tell how many fingers I was holding up. Other than that the race was just awesome and I was actually sad when my four plus hours of seat time was over.
After the race was over it was time to clean up and make the trip back to Florida. A quick rinse with a bucket and homemade shower, fresh clothes, and a repacked trailer and we were off. After a hard day of racing the only dinner that would suffice was a steak buffet style restaurant. The trip home was as uneventful as the trip up and we hit Tampa around 1 o’clock Monday morning. The rest of the crew had Labor Day off but I headed to the house to grab a few hours of sleep before a full day at FSC. On the way home from Tampa, with my bike in the back of the truck, I thought about how lucky I was to get to do the things I do. Okay, so I was up at 4 o’clock in the morning to leave for a race, I went without my wife, and it was now 3 o’clock in the morning and I had to be back at the office at 10. That wasn’t important. I was racing. I was doing and not spectating. All I ever want to do it compete and I was getting to do it. I hit the driveway at 3:15 am, grabbed a quick 4 hours of sleep and was in a meeting at FSC at 10am. My next race isn’t for a while as I now take my competitive spirit and put it towards my tennis team. Also, the next race will be my first harescramble of the new FTR season.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Lochloosa Enduro
Saturday, August 28, 2010
So it is 1:15 on Saturday afternoon and we are finally headed out for Trey’s first enduro. Unlike Hare Scrambles, enduros are considered one day events, so we weren’t in any rush to arrive. After stopping at Subway for lunch, Michael and Michelle’s for oil, and BP for gas…we were finally “on the road again!” This time we are off to a new place for a new race adventure.
Adventure is definitely the right word!!! Even after all of the stops we made before leaving Lake Wales, we still managed to arrive at the racetrack with no ice. So we set up the camper and asked around for advice on a good place to eat. As silly as it might sound, I was thrilled to hear that there was a Sonny’s Barbeque in the next town. Loaded up in the truck again, we set off for some Sonny’s and (hopefully) ice. We ran into Austin and his dad, Ronnie, as we were leaving, so they hopped in and headed to dinner with us.
It wasn’t long until we found the barbeque place formally known as Sonny’s, now renovated into “Diane’s”. Disappointed in the finding we decided to try a local hot spot, known as “The Yearling.” Curious about this place I decided “Google” it as we headed that direction. I soon discovered that is had been around for many years and has been a recipient of the Golden Spoon Award by Florida Trend magazine for the past eight years. Okay, this place must be good. As I researched a bit more I found that they had a sampling of their menu listed on their website. Grilled chicken, catfish, steak…followed by what they called the more “traditional” selections…soft-shell clam, gator, venison, and cooter. Yes, I said they served cooter. Needless to say, the waitress (who was very patient and understanding) finally had to ask what had us so tickled all through dinner. We couldn’t ask her about the cooter. But, as she turned and left the table we realized that the back of her shirt was covered in big letters, “Eat Mo’ Cooter”. I love this place!
The evening finished up with a gourmet dessert from the local convenience store. I believe we left with a miniature tub of “Crybaby” ice cream, a pre-made snowcone, and a Kit-Kat bar. Oh – we got the ice too. Now it was back to the camper and into bed. Tomorrow’s racing begins at 9am. Looking forward to it!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Bright eyed and bushy tailed was not exactly an accurate description of myself as I fixed Trey a ham-egg-and-cheese sandwich this morning. It’s not that I mind fixing breakfast for my darling, who is about to ride 66 or so miles on his bike. It’s just that the camper was so cool and my bed was so warm. Not to mention how fluffy my pillows are and how well I sleep on that silly little camper mattress. And how the air blows right on my back and sometimes I get chills so then I pull the covers up and cuddle them under my chin. But I didn’t mind leaving all that behind to cook breakfast…really. Anyway, Brianna was just starting to awaken and you could hear bikes beginning to warm up around the camper. That can only mean one thing…racing is about to begin!
Time flew by as it always seems to do on race day, and before we knew it Trey was in his gear and heading for the start. Brie and I grabbed our goodies and headed after him as fast as our little legs would go. Having never been to an enduro we really didn’t know what to expect so we wanted to get there in plenty of time. It was right at 9am when we made it to the start and the first row was just leaving. I was aware that these starts were different from that of a Hare Scramble, but it was not what I expected. Every minute one row of five riders was started. As Trey was in row 17 and Austin was in row 19, Brie and I had quite a while to wait until we got to see our riders.
We decided to be brave and cross the starting line between rows in hopes of getting a better view. Semi-hidden in the trees, we were able to get a clear view of the riders as they waited for the starter to release them. Row-by-row we watched until finally it was Trey’s turn to leave the line. As with the previous rows, this start was rather dull. The bikes were already running and the riders simply drove off as if they were leaving their campers. Dull as it was, Brie and I were still cheering as the leader of the MTB crew took off.
This enduro was comprised of two laps totaling about 66 miles. After the first lap, the riders made their pit stops back at their camp. This gave them an opportunity to refuel the bikes as well as their bellies. Trey and Austin had about 30 minutes to down some liquid and put enough calories in their bodies to get them through the next lap. Thinking a 30 minute pit stop is plenty of time, we were all pretty relaxed. But we soon came to realize that it was time to get back on the trail.
As the boys were completing the first lap, Brie and I had gone back to the camper and passed the time playing games in the air conditioning. When that got tedious, we decided to explore the track and see if we could find a good location to watch the boys pass by. We had carefully maneuvered our way through the cactus and over a barbed-wire fence to find the perfect location. As the boys were following the same trail for their second lap, Brie and I decided we would follow the same plan we had tried this morning. Games…exploring…spectating!!!! We watched Trey make his was through our section and waited for Austin, but he never came. After realizing that we were only about six miles from the finish, we decided that we should head back to the camper to wait for them.
Unfortunately, Austin had taken a pretty rough bounce through a few trees and was unable to complete the second lap (glad we didn’t wait any longer to see him ). It wasn’t long until Trey arrived at camp and filled us in on the in’s-and-out’s and up’s-and-down’s of the race. It was awesome to hear the excitement in his voice from a new experience. Next weekend, he is off to South Carolina with a few of the guys from FTR to take on the “Little Brown Jug” enduro. Sorry, I will miss it, but I know that he will have a blast!
So it is 1:15 on Saturday afternoon and we are finally headed out for Trey’s first enduro. Unlike Hare Scrambles, enduros are considered one day events, so we weren’t in any rush to arrive. After stopping at Subway for lunch, Michael and Michelle’s for oil, and BP for gas…we were finally “on the road again!” This time we are off to a new place for a new race adventure.
Adventure is definitely the right word!!! Even after all of the stops we made before leaving Lake Wales, we still managed to arrive at the racetrack with no ice. So we set up the camper and asked around for advice on a good place to eat. As silly as it might sound, I was thrilled to hear that there was a Sonny’s Barbeque in the next town. Loaded up in the truck again, we set off for some Sonny’s and (hopefully) ice. We ran into Austin and his dad, Ronnie, as we were leaving, so they hopped in and headed to dinner with us.
It wasn’t long until we found the barbeque place formally known as Sonny’s, now renovated into “Diane’s”. Disappointed in the finding we decided to try a local hot spot, known as “The Yearling.” Curious about this place I decided “Google” it as we headed that direction. I soon discovered that is had been around for many years and has been a recipient of the Golden Spoon Award by Florida Trend magazine for the past eight years. Okay, this place must be good. As I researched a bit more I found that they had a sampling of their menu listed on their website. Grilled chicken, catfish, steak…followed by what they called the more “traditional” selections…soft-shell clam, gator, venison, and cooter. Yes, I said they served cooter. Needless to say, the waitress (who was very patient and understanding) finally had to ask what had us so tickled all through dinner. We couldn’t ask her about the cooter. But, as she turned and left the table we realized that the back of her shirt was covered in big letters, “Eat Mo’ Cooter”. I love this place!
The evening finished up with a gourmet dessert from the local convenience store. I believe we left with a miniature tub of “Crybaby” ice cream, a pre-made snowcone, and a Kit-Kat bar. Oh – we got the ice too. Now it was back to the camper and into bed. Tomorrow’s racing begins at 9am. Looking forward to it!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Bright eyed and bushy tailed was not exactly an accurate description of myself as I fixed Trey a ham-egg-and-cheese sandwich this morning. It’s not that I mind fixing breakfast for my darling, who is about to ride 66 or so miles on his bike. It’s just that the camper was so cool and my bed was so warm. Not to mention how fluffy my pillows are and how well I sleep on that silly little camper mattress. And how the air blows right on my back and sometimes I get chills so then I pull the covers up and cuddle them under my chin. But I didn’t mind leaving all that behind to cook breakfast…really. Anyway, Brianna was just starting to awaken and you could hear bikes beginning to warm up around the camper. That can only mean one thing…racing is about to begin!
Time flew by as it always seems to do on race day, and before we knew it Trey was in his gear and heading for the start. Brie and I grabbed our goodies and headed after him as fast as our little legs would go. Having never been to an enduro we really didn’t know what to expect so we wanted to get there in plenty of time. It was right at 9am when we made it to the start and the first row was just leaving. I was aware that these starts were different from that of a Hare Scramble, but it was not what I expected. Every minute one row of five riders was started. As Trey was in row 17 and Austin was in row 19, Brie and I had quite a while to wait until we got to see our riders.
We decided to be brave and cross the starting line between rows in hopes of getting a better view. Semi-hidden in the trees, we were able to get a clear view of the riders as they waited for the starter to release them. Row-by-row we watched until finally it was Trey’s turn to leave the line. As with the previous rows, this start was rather dull. The bikes were already running and the riders simply drove off as if they were leaving their campers. Dull as it was, Brie and I were still cheering as the leader of the MTB crew took off.
This enduro was comprised of two laps totaling about 66 miles. After the first lap, the riders made their pit stops back at their camp. This gave them an opportunity to refuel the bikes as well as their bellies. Trey and Austin had about 30 minutes to down some liquid and put enough calories in their bodies to get them through the next lap. Thinking a 30 minute pit stop is plenty of time, we were all pretty relaxed. But we soon came to realize that it was time to get back on the trail.
As the boys were completing the first lap, Brie and I had gone back to the camper and passed the time playing games in the air conditioning. When that got tedious, we decided to explore the track and see if we could find a good location to watch the boys pass by. We had carefully maneuvered our way through the cactus and over a barbed-wire fence to find the perfect location. As the boys were following the same trail for their second lap, Brie and I decided we would follow the same plan we had tried this morning. Games…exploring…spectating!!!! We watched Trey make his was through our section and waited for Austin, but he never came. After realizing that we were only about six miles from the finish, we decided that we should head back to the camper to wait for them.
Unfortunately, Austin had taken a pretty rough bounce through a few trees and was unable to complete the second lap (glad we didn’t wait any longer to see him ). It wasn’t long until Trey arrived at camp and filled us in on the in’s-and-out’s and up’s-and-down’s of the race. It was awesome to hear the excitement in his voice from a new experience. Next weekend, he is off to South Carolina with a few of the guys from FTR to take on the “Little Brown Jug” enduro. Sorry, I will miss it, but I know that he will have a blast!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)