speedkills
Husqvarna
A Class
Not sure whether to put this in the race section or the two stroke section, Mods, go ahead and move this if I put it in the wrong forum.
I rode my WR125 at race pace for the first time yesterday, I entered the 200C (Beginner) class and was shooting for at least a mid-pack finish. I'm no racer and have only been to the track a couple of times but I ride with some very fast guys (I'm looking at you Jake and Kelly) and it turns out I've learned more trail riding with those two than I realized.
It didn't look like it was going to go well from the beginning, I couldn't sleep the night before, I just kept imagining different scenarios, especially concerning the start. I had no idea what I was in for but had never been on a starting line and from what I've seen of it on TV it usually results with a pileup or someone having to put the brakes on hard to keep from being pinched off in the first turn. I ended up not falling asleep until after 2am, then waking up around 3, 4, 5, then 6am. I finally got out of bed at 6:15am but was moving slow and ended up getting a late start, my first race and I'm going to miss the starting line. Damn.
Jake picked me up in his rally racer and even with a trailer he was making really good time, doing his best to get me to the track on time. The whole thing was comical, when we got to the track there was a line of cars waiting to get in so while Jake was driving in I was on the trailer checking tire pressures and warming my bike up. Then, as we pull in we find out the start has been postponed 30 minutes. I couldn't believe my luck, I was going to make the start after all!
I ran up to get registered and didn't even know which class to enter. I was hoping it would be obvious but they were using classes Beginner, Amateur, Expert, and Pro which I didn't realize meant C, B, A, and AA. The lady taking my cash to sign up asked which class I was entering, my response "It's my first time racing, I'm over 30, and on a 125cc bike". She tells me I should be in Over 30 Beginner because my 125 isn't allowed in the 200 class. Now I don't know much about the rules but I was certain it was under 200cc, not exactly 200cc so I asked her to double check and after she confirmed that I was allowed to enter the 200 Beginner class I went ahead and entered that one since I had made her go to the trouble of verifying my eligibility.
So I'm all set to race, I head out to the track and am sitting there with everyone around me on KTM 200 two strokes and various 250Fs. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to get smoked on the start but at least that means no worries about rushing into the first turn five riders wide when I hear the announcement that it is a dead engine start, and that I would have to straddle the rear fender at the start. Now this is probably old hat to most of you but it came as a surprise to me. I had only tried a race start once before, just playing around at a track with Jake, Kelly, and a few other guys. It ended up with Jake getting the holeshot and Kelly laughing his ass off at me as I looped out my bike. I had been meaning to practice my starts since that day but never gotten around to it.
And now I have a slick grass track, and have to jump on the bike and then compete with electric start four strokes. As far as I'm concerned getting a good start is impossible at that point but I figured I'd give it my all and see what happened, the silver lining being if I get a bad start at least I won't be pressured by a bunch of guys trying to get around me.
So there I am, standing behind the bike deciding what to do. Should I jump over the back of the bike or run around the side and mount normally. I did a quick practiced of stepping to the side of the bike, then throwing a leg over and it felt slow so I tried jumping over the back fender only to catch the crotch of my pants on the rear fender and earn a chuckle from the guy behind me. Not deterred in any way I try it again, this time pushing down on the rear fender hard and springing over it, that worked much better
Time to start the race, I have the bike in second, kicker out, and a plan of action. I'm going to leap over the rear fender, land with my hand on the clutch and foot on the kicker, instantly breathing life into the motor and launching as I'm landing on the seat. Well, that or I'll miss the kicker, catch my pants on the fender, or miss the clutch and just not start the bike. I wished I had time to practice it at least once but wasn't sure if we were allowed to start the bike at this point since the start was only about a minute away and nobody else had their bikes running. Nothing left to do but to give it a go.
At the starting line I'm standing there straddling my rear fender looking at all of the bigger bikes on both sides of me, and especially the teenage kids off to my right thinking I'm going to get schooled but anxious to test my mettle and see if I have really improved as much in the past year as I think I have. The flag drops, I spring forward over the rear fender with as much strength as I have hoping to clear the rear fender and land far enough up on the gas tank to be able to get a good start and not loop out, knowing I can't afford to miss the clutch lever or kick starter. Unbelievably, it worked. I hear the bike fire before my ass hits the seat and I managed to launch before any of the electric start guys have even fired their bikes. Even if everything went perfectly I hadn't planned for this and had no idea I would be alone going into the first corner. So much for rubbing elbows diving into that first turn. By the fifth turn I was all alone, so much so that Jake thought I had blown the start and was 30 seconds behind the guys ahead of me. In reality that was the class that started a minute earlier, I had a good few seconds lead on everyone else in my class and never looked back.
Once I got into a groove I was floored at how much power that WR125 makes at sea level, I have only put time on it in the mountains before where it has a bit of a hole in the powerband. No hole at sea level, it flat out ripped everywhere. The fast guys on 450s were still coming around me on the flat corners of the grass track but none of the 250Fs were and on the one long uphill pull (nicknamed Horsepower hill) I was able to pass someone every lap except the first lap when I ended up heading up the hill with no other bikes in site to pass. I was shocked at how hard it was pulling, When I clicked into fourth up the hill I was pretty sure the motor was going to bog but it just kept pulling. Very impressive.
After that I just settled into the pace I normally try to keep when trail riding with Kelly and Jake as I hadn't been on the bike in a month and didn't want to end up exhausted before the race ended. Next time I will put a watch on my bike or at least calculate how long I expect my laps to be so I have some idea where I am in the race. After an hour and a half when the race was finally over I thought I was only about 45 minutes in. My first thought was really, it's over, already?
I had no idea who was in my class and who wasn't, there were well over 50 bikes on the track but only 9 were in my class and I certainly couldn't keep track of them so when the race ended I had no idea how I had done but felt like it was a solid performance. I had gotten passed by about five guys but had managed to pass at least ten others. When the results were in I had taken the win and the holeshot on my little WR125! Thanks for talking me into racing yesterday Jake, I'll definitely be doing it again but after seeing the results I will sign up for the 200B class next time.
Holeshot!
Thanks to Jake and Brenna for the great pictures
I rode my WR125 at race pace for the first time yesterday, I entered the 200C (Beginner) class and was shooting for at least a mid-pack finish. I'm no racer and have only been to the track a couple of times but I ride with some very fast guys (I'm looking at you Jake and Kelly) and it turns out I've learned more trail riding with those two than I realized.
It didn't look like it was going to go well from the beginning, I couldn't sleep the night before, I just kept imagining different scenarios, especially concerning the start. I had no idea what I was in for but had never been on a starting line and from what I've seen of it on TV it usually results with a pileup or someone having to put the brakes on hard to keep from being pinched off in the first turn. I ended up not falling asleep until after 2am, then waking up around 3, 4, 5, then 6am. I finally got out of bed at 6:15am but was moving slow and ended up getting a late start, my first race and I'm going to miss the starting line. Damn.
Jake picked me up in his rally racer and even with a trailer he was making really good time, doing his best to get me to the track on time. The whole thing was comical, when we got to the track there was a line of cars waiting to get in so while Jake was driving in I was on the trailer checking tire pressures and warming my bike up. Then, as we pull in we find out the start has been postponed 30 minutes. I couldn't believe my luck, I was going to make the start after all!
I ran up to get registered and didn't even know which class to enter. I was hoping it would be obvious but they were using classes Beginner, Amateur, Expert, and Pro which I didn't realize meant C, B, A, and AA. The lady taking my cash to sign up asked which class I was entering, my response "It's my first time racing, I'm over 30, and on a 125cc bike". She tells me I should be in Over 30 Beginner because my 125 isn't allowed in the 200 class. Now I don't know much about the rules but I was certain it was under 200cc, not exactly 200cc so I asked her to double check and after she confirmed that I was allowed to enter the 200 Beginner class I went ahead and entered that one since I had made her go to the trouble of verifying my eligibility.
So I'm all set to race, I head out to the track and am sitting there with everyone around me on KTM 200 two strokes and various 250Fs. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to get smoked on the start but at least that means no worries about rushing into the first turn five riders wide when I hear the announcement that it is a dead engine start, and that I would have to straddle the rear fender at the start. Now this is probably old hat to most of you but it came as a surprise to me. I had only tried a race start once before, just playing around at a track with Jake, Kelly, and a few other guys. It ended up with Jake getting the holeshot and Kelly laughing his ass off at me as I looped out my bike. I had been meaning to practice my starts since that day but never gotten around to it.
And now I have a slick grass track, and have to jump on the bike and then compete with electric start four strokes. As far as I'm concerned getting a good start is impossible at that point but I figured I'd give it my all and see what happened, the silver lining being if I get a bad start at least I won't be pressured by a bunch of guys trying to get around me.
So there I am, standing behind the bike deciding what to do. Should I jump over the back of the bike or run around the side and mount normally. I did a quick practiced of stepping to the side of the bike, then throwing a leg over and it felt slow so I tried jumping over the back fender only to catch the crotch of my pants on the rear fender and earn a chuckle from the guy behind me. Not deterred in any way I try it again, this time pushing down on the rear fender hard and springing over it, that worked much better
Time to start the race, I have the bike in second, kicker out, and a plan of action. I'm going to leap over the rear fender, land with my hand on the clutch and foot on the kicker, instantly breathing life into the motor and launching as I'm landing on the seat. Well, that or I'll miss the kicker, catch my pants on the fender, or miss the clutch and just not start the bike. I wished I had time to practice it at least once but wasn't sure if we were allowed to start the bike at this point since the start was only about a minute away and nobody else had their bikes running. Nothing left to do but to give it a go.
At the starting line I'm standing there straddling my rear fender looking at all of the bigger bikes on both sides of me, and especially the teenage kids off to my right thinking I'm going to get schooled but anxious to test my mettle and see if I have really improved as much in the past year as I think I have. The flag drops, I spring forward over the rear fender with as much strength as I have hoping to clear the rear fender and land far enough up on the gas tank to be able to get a good start and not loop out, knowing I can't afford to miss the clutch lever or kick starter. Unbelievably, it worked. I hear the bike fire before my ass hits the seat and I managed to launch before any of the electric start guys have even fired their bikes. Even if everything went perfectly I hadn't planned for this and had no idea I would be alone going into the first corner. So much for rubbing elbows diving into that first turn. By the fifth turn I was all alone, so much so that Jake thought I had blown the start and was 30 seconds behind the guys ahead of me. In reality that was the class that started a minute earlier, I had a good few seconds lead on everyone else in my class and never looked back.
Once I got into a groove I was floored at how much power that WR125 makes at sea level, I have only put time on it in the mountains before where it has a bit of a hole in the powerband. No hole at sea level, it flat out ripped everywhere. The fast guys on 450s were still coming around me on the flat corners of the grass track but none of the 250Fs were and on the one long uphill pull (nicknamed Horsepower hill) I was able to pass someone every lap except the first lap when I ended up heading up the hill with no other bikes in site to pass. I was shocked at how hard it was pulling, When I clicked into fourth up the hill I was pretty sure the motor was going to bog but it just kept pulling. Very impressive.
After that I just settled into the pace I normally try to keep when trail riding with Kelly and Jake as I hadn't been on the bike in a month and didn't want to end up exhausted before the race ended. Next time I will put a watch on my bike or at least calculate how long I expect my laps to be so I have some idea where I am in the race. After an hour and a half when the race was finally over I thought I was only about 45 minutes in. My first thought was really, it's over, already?
I had no idea who was in my class and who wasn't, there were well over 50 bikes on the track but only 9 were in my class and I certainly couldn't keep track of them so when the race ended I had no idea how I had done but felt like it was a solid performance. I had gotten passed by about five guys but had managed to pass at least ten others. When the results were in I had taken the win and the holeshot on my little WR125! Thanks for talking me into racing yesterday Jake, I'll definitely be doing it again but after seeing the results I will sign up for the 200B class next time.
Holeshot!
Thanks to Jake and Brenna for the great pictures
I wish my first race went like that, but it didn't. At least I managed to beat my friend that convinced me to come out and try racing.
Sorry dude. 
