It has been a looooooong loooooong time! A long time since i have raced, and an equally long time since i have been on here. Lots and lots has happened, but this weekend we finally got back to racing.
Double race weekend at Crystal Falls in the U.P. Of Michigan. Crystal Falls is a storied place for us. I have won there, I have DNF’d there, I have been 2nd there, I have done it as my only local race during a GNCC season, I have camped with the whole family for a race weekend, I have driven the 5.5 hours each way and done the race all in the same day, I have raced in the rain making it a complete mud bath there, I have raced when it was hot hot hot and dusty…like I said, storied.
You need alot of crap with you when Liz and Stella come along!
This time it was hot. 82 degrees and completely dusty. Liz and Stella the dog decided to come with me. I love having them with, but it is definitely not a guys Vesrah Suzuki race team weekend when they are there. The truck was a little packed to say the least.
We drove the first night up to Green Bay, and snuck Stella the dog into a Holiday Inn. It all worked out fine, and no one was the wiser for it. The next morning a quick stop at Starbucks, and headed north out of Green Bay – into the great white north- so to speak. It is funny, once you get north of Green Bay, it definitely turns into the Up North part of the Midwest. Cornfields give way to cabins by the lake, bear statues carved out of tree trunks, eagles etc… I love it up here.
The race on Saturday started at 11. That caught a few people out. Normally, our races are at 1pm. I got a decent start, 2nd on the MX track, and into the woods. When I looked back as we were leaving the track, John and I had a 5 second gap already. Unfortunately, there was so much dust, I could not follow John closely. I had to give him some space. Once I did that, I could not keep up with his lap times. He put 10-20 seconds a lap into me. I battled hard, but just could not go his pace. I held 2nd the whole way, but unlike last year where we finished right on top of each other here, he had a few minutes on my at the finish.
On Saturday night, Liz and I did the whole north woods thing and stayed in a cabin by a river outside of iron mountain. It was pretty cool.
On Saturday evening, we found a great little place in Iron Mountain called the White House. Cool outdoor deck where they had live music etc… They had kind of a weird presidential theme going for the place, but whatever I guess.
The live music on the deck at the White House in Iron Mountain.
Sunday race
This day went a bit better, although it did not start so great. I got a great start, but then dumped it before we even got off the kiddie MX track. Ouch. It took forever to get through all the dust and the group, but I ended up winning the class. It was an ok day.
Love going to race at Cyrstal Falls.
Before I got covered in dust and mud. Ready to go.
Here is a video that Liz took of the race. It is short, so do not worry about clicking on it.
Out.
Joe
303 Off-road 