it is coming!

I am in the middle of 10 days in Taiwan and China. We are just a little bit less than 2 weeks until the season starts in earnest. The first HS race is on the weekend of May 9 in Arkansaw, Wi. Then we are into the race season pretty much from there. The next weekend is another HS race on Sat, and then an Enduro on Sunday, the weekend after that is the National HS race in Rhinelander, and on and on from there.

Yippeee!

Back to racing

Back in the saddle again. It seems like forever since I raced a motorcycle. The Enduro in November in northern Illinois. Wow. That is a long time ago. Today was the day that we headed down to Indiana, to be ready for tomorrow morning’s Sand Goblin Enduro. I decided to start my season this year with an Enduro, as after last years all year long GNCC effort, my woods skills are what need the most help. A tight Midwestern Enduro should be just the thing to jumpstart those skills. John Buechner and Joe Bauer picked me up at 12:30. We had all three of our bikes loaded in the back of the truck, pulling my little camper trailer.

That is my 2008 GNCC bike in the middle, turned into my Enduro bike now. It has a headlight!

It is a good thing. Bikes are in the back of the truck, The camper is being pulled along behind us, Candi is on the windshield barking out directions. We have stopped for gas and groceries along the way…all is right with the world. We arrived and parked in a big cow field. Typical. If it rains over night, we might not be able to get out. Like there often times is, there was a little kid doing his own Enduro there in the parking lot.

This is Hank. Hank 2.

Hank was roosting!

Hank was also airing it out.

We pretty quickly cooked dinner in the camper.

Getting ready

Definitely in a rut with my dinners at races.

Salad, pasta, grilled chicken. Over and over again.

John and Joe are pretty serious about this Enduro stuff. Me, I am just here for the 4 hours of trail. John has an Enduro computer from Enduro hot shot, Brian Terry. But, the problem is that he does not have any instructions on how to set it up.

3 guys .. 1 Enduro computer.

Since those guys are more serious than I, my plan is to ride along with them to let them do the timing, and I will just follow along.

It is warm tonight. I don’t even think we will need the camper heater. Should be a great night of sleeping. Probably down in the low 40’s overnight. Supposed to be 55 tomorrow for the race. Tomorrow is a 35 mile loop followed by a 30 mile loop. I cannot wait! 65 miles of singletrack!

There is a kind of a goofy spiral kind of thing right outside the trailer. It winds in on itself, and then winds back out. It does that 3 times. I think it is just an attempt to make us dizzy and then completely disoriented before we head into the woods. We signed up early, and are on minute 20 all together.

In addition to the race that we are here for, the Seattle SX race is going on, possibly a Moto GP race going on, possibly a World Superbike and there is the Loretta Lynn’s GNCC race. Our friend Mat Herrington is on the start line tomorrow for the XC2 class. I am counting on a top 10 finish from him. Go Mat!

Of course as I start to get sleepy here, and type this note, I can hear the rain starting to fall on top of the trailer. Race day It did rain during the night, of course. I mean after all, if I am going to a race it probably is going to rain. Just think about it, the GNCC circus is 5 races into it this year and they have not even had a single mud race.

It did rain all night the night before the race.  The course held up pretty well, actually. It must have been really dry during this past week here. The dirt was really good and the trail was fantastic. My bike was spectacular. I rode the bike that I have set up as an Enduro bike.

-big tank

-Moose carb spacer

-big flywheel weight

-Fatty pipe.

I did not have a computer, but John did get the loaner working. We rode together most time, except when I struggled with getting my bike restarted.

Turns out there is a nudist colony in Roselawn. I didn’t see any naked people, but I saw the sign for the Ponderosa Sun Colony in Roselawn. The fact that there were possibly going to be naked people along the course, kinda weighed heavy on my mind during the race. I kept looking for them. Who really wants to go to a nudist colony anyway? I mean think about it, saggy people naked while doing whatever they are doing. Yuck. PUT SOME CLOTHES ON FOR PETE’S SAKE!

Anyway, back to the race. It ruled. It is 70 miles of singletrack laid out in front of you. There were a bunch of tight sections that were just primo. There were a bunch of field sections that were really fun. There were log crossings, of course. It is the midwest after all. I have only done a couple of Enduro’s, but they sure are fun. What is up with the license plate thing though? I mean, they tell you at the riders meeting that you have to have a license plate on your bike. But, no one actually has a current and real license plate. I had one on my chest protector from Illinois 2003. Joe Bauer had one from Colorado 2001. Jeez. What is up with that? Seems goofy, but everyone does it.

I am doing a couple more Enduro’s this year, but they are both no timekeeping format. I like that better. I don’t want to worry about timekeeping, I just want to ride.

Next up, Arkansaw for the first D16 HS race.

Out.

Something from the web that kicks butt

This is the funniest advert I think I have ever read.

enjoy

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/765370039.html

Tuesday 4/7

Still hurting from Saturday’s ride. Damn, this getting old thing sucks. My back, shoulders, arms and legs all still feel it. Riding my bicycle to work this morning, to a meeting in Cottage Grove (15 miles away). That should loosen everything up. But, it is just 29 degrees out so have to bundle up.

Tonight I will prep my HS bike from the weekend. Needs to have oil changed, tires mounted up, new grips etc… I might end up going to Aztalan MX track to ride on Wed or Thur eve. I just got my new key in the mail, and it is finally going to be up in the 50’s on those days.

I also need to prep my Enduro bike. I am planning to go back up to Dyracuse to ride this Saturday on that bike, and it needs the sand front tire and a few other things to be ready for that.

Just 10 days till the Enduro in Indiana.

Joe

Dyracuse – opening day

Perfect!  That is about how I would describe it.  50 degrees, moisture in the soil but no real mud to speak of.  There were a ton of people there.

Joe Bauer, John Buechner and I arrived at about 9:30.  The gate does not open until 10, but we got changed and all set by the time the gate was open.  “Speedy Pete” Laubemeir and a couple of other arrived at 10:15.  We were ready to ride by the time they were unpacking.

The 3 of us went out and found a loop.  A combination of the HS race loop from 2 years ago, and some of the HS race loop from last year.  It was great.  We made about a 15 minute loop, that had the trademark terrain of Dyracuse.  Lots of sand, lots of whoops, lots of fast sections and a bunch of log crossings etc…  Damn, Speedy Pete really is speedy.  Wow.

I was on a plan to see if my bike can run 2 hours with the small tank.  I think I can.  I am going to expand it a bit, just to give me some insurance, but I think I can get a 2 hour race in with the small tank.  I am psyched by that.

My Suzuki worked flawless today.  This is the 06, that I grenaded last year.  But, Mark Junge completely rebuilt the motor for me, and it is sweeeeet!  I love that bike.  My new Moose XCR gear is really really good stuff.

On the way home, John and Joe talked me into do the Enduro down in Indiana with them instead of the GNCC race at Loretta’s.  Loretta’s is 9 hours away.  The Enduro down in Indiana is just 4 hours away.  That did it for me.

This week I will get my enduro bike ready to ride, and I will ride that up at Dyracuse next weekend.