My XC race write-up from Endeavor Bridgeport 2 (2015 TORN rd 8)
#1
12-08-2015, 11:25 PM
My XC race write-up from Endeavor Bridgeport 2 (2015 TORN rd 8)
Last weekend, my son and I drove to Bridgeport, Tx to compete in Round 8 of the 2015 TORN cross-country series. If this place sounds familiar, it is b/c we raced at this same property (called Endeavor Bridgeport) just 3 weeks ago. Below is my race write-up.
WHERE:
Bridgeport, TX… it’s a small town about 50 minutes northwest of Ft. Worth. This rural property has a little bit of everything, including hills, loose sand, rocks, large pastures, thick wooded areas filled with thorny mesquite trees, cactus, ponds, etc. TORN raced here 3 weeks ago, but this time they swapped the MC track and UTV track, so the race course was completely different this time.
TRACK CONDITIONS:
On race day (Sunday), the racers enjoyed sunny skies and colder temps in morning that warmed up to around 60 degrees or so at race time... which is PERFECT RACE WEATHER in my book, but my son thought it was a little too cold for his young hands and face.
The UTV track length was 2.6 miles in length and included a mile of zig zag trails across a large, flat pasture area, followed by another mile of wide trails through the woods that led to a steep hill climb and descent. After conquering the hill, the trail winded back to the large pasture area and started all over again. The large pasture area included a few small jumps plus several turns with deep, sticky mud that tended to slow down racers' momentum. The wooded trails included several thorny mesquite trees and lots of cactus along the edges of the trail. The woods also had a few spots with standing mud/water and lots of trails with deep, soft ruts that caused problems for many racers (more on this later).
PRACTICE:
During the last race, my RZR incurred front end damage thanks to a broken lower a-arm bolt and a destroyed (stock) skid plate that took big hits from the large rocks on the track. With only 3 weeks since that race, I had a mad scramble to buy replacement parts and make the needed repairs on time. My son (Cash) and I finally wrapped up the much needed repairs on Saturday afternoon at 3pm. That left us with just enough time to quickly load the RZR onto the trailer and immediately hit the road towards a hotel in Bridgeport, TX (300 miles away). Unfortunately, we had no time for a good test run to see if our repairs would hold up. That would have to wait until our practice laps on Sunday morning.
After leaving the hotel on Sunday morning, Cash and I arrived at the track around 8:45am and unloaded the RZR for practice laps. It was bitter cold at this time, so we dressed in our full race suits and warm under clothes to keep warm. During our practice laps, I noticed several things about this course.
First, the course is drastically different than the last race at this property. Specifically, the last race was much more technical and ran through 4 miles of tight, twisty wooded trails that were often hilly, rocky, and whooped out and had almost no places to easily pass slower racers. By comparison, this track is much shorter, a lot less technical and runs through mostly wide, rutted trails in a large pasture and woods.
Second, the trails are mostly wide and allow for more opportunities to pass (especially in the large pasture area).
Third, there are at least a few open areas in the pasture to pick up good speeds and allow the 1,000cc UTVs to really stretch their legs (meaning the 900cc UTVs like mine could be at a slight disadvantage on this course).
Cash and I made 8 practice laps and headed back to the truck to rest. At this point, I was satisfied that our repair work was going to hold up for the race.
UTV INTERMEDIATE CLASS:
A total of 7 side by sides lined up on the starting line of the UTV Intermediate class, including five RZR 1ks and two RZR 900xps. We usually have at least 1 Can Am on the line with us, but Cash F. chose to race with the Pro Class this race. I was excited for Cash F. to try out the Pro Class with the big boys, but also a little disappointed that I wouldn't get to race with him given that I have raced with him all season (including the first 2 races in the UTV Novice class). Also missing from this line-up was a Yamaha 1000R (Sandy) who showed up at our last race and finished 2nd place (just a few seconds ahead of me), but Sandy was missing this time around.
THE START:
When the 7 UTVs in my class lined up for the start, we were facing a short run (maybe 30') to a narrow area that was probably only wide enuf for 3 or 4 UTVs to pass at the same time. This bottleneck meant it was critical to get a good start and avoid being pushed back to the rear of the pack. After the bottleneck area, the course made a left turn and headed towards lots of zig-zag trails in a large open pasture area.
On the starting line, I was lined up near the middle. To my immediately left was Mike F. (a new UTV racer who has the only other 900xp besides mine). We were flanked on both sides by RZR 1ks.... "surrounded" is probably a better word. LOL As I've said before, I kinda like being the underdog.
The green flag went up and off we went. My 900xp fired up a tad slow and suddenly Mike F. (on my immediate left) and an orange RZR 1k (on my immediate right) both shot ahead of me about 1/2 a length. As the entire line quickly approached the bottleneck, my front fenders were simultaneously bumped by Mike F. and the orange RZR 1k in an old fashioned "squeeze play." I instantly hit the brakes and tried to fall in line right behind them as the entire pack quickly passed through the bottleneck area and made the first turn. Before I could say, "Oh crap!", Cash and I found ourselves in last (7th) position as we headed into the pasture area. In any case, hope was not completely lost b/c I have faced this same situation earlier this season (Oak Hill 1) and still managed to finish the race in the middle of the pack. So Cash and I held our chins up and pressed onward.
LAPS 1 through 4:
As lap 1 progressed, the course runs 1 mile through a large pasture area with several wide turns that are coated with thick, soft, sticky mud. Most of the time, this mud slowed my momentum to a crawl and/or bounced me around the turn as I tried to avoid the deep ruts. After the large pasture area, the course takes racers into the woods that contained lots of deep ruts through soft, sticky mud. There were a few places that were tight, but must most of the woods were wide and fairly easy to navigate at good speed were it not for the deep ruts to slow you down. Near the end of the 1st lap, the trail makes a run up a steep hill about 20' tall and then it makes a hard right turn and drops back down the right side of the hill with a 2' kicker bump at the very bottom of the hill. Not far past this kicker bump was a short jump and then more wide, zig zag trails through a few more trees before dumping you back out to the same large pasture where it all began.
As the race continued, I started noticing UTVs pulled off the sides of the trail here and there due to apparently mechanical problems, etc. Slowly, I started seeing a few UTVs in my class on the sides of the trails and pressed onward with the hope of getting a top 3 finish.
LAPS 5 through 9:
About half way through the race, I saw the Pro class catching up to Cash and me in the large pasture area. So I knew it was only a matter of time before the Miller Brothers lapped me. As soon as the first Miller Brother (not sure which one) reached me, I pulled over and let him pass. I fell in behind him and kept pressing forward. In the woods, the ruts in the soft, sticky mud got deeper and deeper with each passing lap. I think it was my 5th lap when I first noticed that were slowing down to nearly a crawl as we passed through the deepest section of ruts and all 4 tires were slinging mud violently in a desperate attempt to get traction and keep momentum. I could hear the (brand new) skid plate sliding across the top of the trail as my RZR pushed onward. It was this point where I started to wonder if my RZR would get stuck in the deep ruts. It sure didn't help that my lil RZR 900xp only has 26" tires.
When I approached the same section of deep ruts on lap 6, I hit it with more speed to see if the extra momentum would carry me over the ruts. Unfortunately, the trail makes are hard right turn just as the deep rutted section begins. When I hit the sharp right turn at speed, my right two wheels came up and only my left 2 wheels stayed on the ground and continued to push me forward. That approach didn't work well as I lost most of my momentum going around the corner on just 2 wheels. At that point, I had a sinking feeling that my RZR would not make it around the track again without getting stuck/high centered in that section. But we pressed onward anyway.
As we made it to the same section on lap 7, Curtis (race organizer) had just arrived and opened a trail immediately alongside the deeply rutted trail. This new section had ruts from the UTV race earlier that same day, but those ruts were not nearly as deep. As Cash and I came around the corner, Curtis pointed to the new trail. Unfortunately for me, I was already running in the deep ruts of the old section and there was no way at that point to climb out and cross over to the newly opened of trail. I continued on with my gas pedal on the floor. We made it just past the half-way point of that long stretch of deep ruts when suddenly my tires lost traction and we got stuck/high centered in the ruts. At this moment, a Yamaha 1000R from another UTV class was in my rear view mirror and he also got stuck in the ruts. What a helpless feeling!
Luckily, Curtis was right there with a tractor, quickly hooked up to my front bumper and pulled Cash and me the rest of the way through the rutted trail. This rescue took only a few minutes, but a few UTVs (probably from my class) passed me. As Curtis went back for the Yamaha, Cash and I continued racing through the woods and quickly hit another section of deep rutted trails that were also getting more difficult to pass.
On the following lap, I took the new section that Curtis opened and it was much easier to pass. At the end of that section, Curtis pointed us to a new section that bypassed the remaining deep ruts that immediately followed the old rutted section. Onward we went.
As Cash and I climbed the big hill near the end of the very last lap (lap 9), I saw JW's blue RZR 1k just up the trail from me (JW was in 1st position at that time). I mashed the go pedal harder and caught up to him just as he went through the checkered flag. Not long after that, Eric (white RZR 1k) joined us at the finish line.
RACE RESULTS:
After the dust settled, it turns out that JW and Eric completed 10 laps and I was next in line with 9 laps completed. Most of the remaining racers in our class broke down/pulled out of the race several laps earlier. Congrats to JW for finishing 1st and Eric for finishing 2nd. Cash and I were excited to finish in 3rd, especially considering our lousy start and getting stuck in the deep ruts along the way. Oddly enough, the top 3 finishers of this race just happen to be in the exact same positions in season points for our class (JW is currently in 1st season points, Eric in 2nd and I'm in 3rd). With only 1 remaining race of the 2015 season, I hope to maintain my 3rd place standings in season points.
As always, I have to say a big THANK YOU to TORN for putting on another FUN event!
I hope you enjoyed my write-up!
WHERE:
Bridgeport, TX… it’s a small town about 50 minutes northwest of Ft. Worth. This rural property has a little bit of everything, including hills, loose sand, rocks, large pastures, thick wooded areas filled with thorny mesquite trees, cactus, ponds, etc. TORN raced here 3 weeks ago, but this time they swapped the MC track and UTV track, so the race course was completely different this time.
TRACK CONDITIONS:
On race day (Sunday), the racers enjoyed sunny skies and colder temps in morning that warmed up to around 60 degrees or so at race time... which is PERFECT RACE WEATHER in my book, but my son thought it was a little too cold for his young hands and face.
The UTV track length was 2.6 miles in length and included a mile of zig zag trails across a large, flat pasture area, followed by another mile of wide trails through the woods that led to a steep hill climb and descent. After conquering the hill, the trail winded back to the large pasture area and started all over again. The large pasture area included a few small jumps plus several turns with deep, sticky mud that tended to slow down racers' momentum. The wooded trails included several thorny mesquite trees and lots of cactus along the edges of the trail. The woods also had a few spots with standing mud/water and lots of trails with deep, soft ruts that caused problems for many racers (more on this later).
PRACTICE:
During the last race, my RZR incurred front end damage thanks to a broken lower a-arm bolt and a destroyed (stock) skid plate that took big hits from the large rocks on the track. With only 3 weeks since that race, I had a mad scramble to buy replacement parts and make the needed repairs on time. My son (Cash) and I finally wrapped up the much needed repairs on Saturday afternoon at 3pm. That left us with just enough time to quickly load the RZR onto the trailer and immediately hit the road towards a hotel in Bridgeport, TX (300 miles away). Unfortunately, we had no time for a good test run to see if our repairs would hold up. That would have to wait until our practice laps on Sunday morning.
After leaving the hotel on Sunday morning, Cash and I arrived at the track around 8:45am and unloaded the RZR for practice laps. It was bitter cold at this time, so we dressed in our full race suits and warm under clothes to keep warm. During our practice laps, I noticed several things about this course.
First, the course is drastically different than the last race at this property. Specifically, the last race was much more technical and ran through 4 miles of tight, twisty wooded trails that were often hilly, rocky, and whooped out and had almost no places to easily pass slower racers. By comparison, this track is much shorter, a lot less technical and runs through mostly wide, rutted trails in a large pasture and woods.
Second, the trails are mostly wide and allow for more opportunities to pass (especially in the large pasture area).
Third, there are at least a few open areas in the pasture to pick up good speeds and allow the 1,000cc UTVs to really stretch their legs (meaning the 900cc UTVs like mine could be at a slight disadvantage on this course).
Cash and I made 8 practice laps and headed back to the truck to rest. At this point, I was satisfied that our repair work was going to hold up for the race.
UTV INTERMEDIATE CLASS:
A total of 7 side by sides lined up on the starting line of the UTV Intermediate class, including five RZR 1ks and two RZR 900xps. We usually have at least 1 Can Am on the line with us, but Cash F. chose to race with the Pro Class this race. I was excited for Cash F. to try out the Pro Class with the big boys, but also a little disappointed that I wouldn't get to race with him given that I have raced with him all season (including the first 2 races in the UTV Novice class). Also missing from this line-up was a Yamaha 1000R (Sandy) who showed up at our last race and finished 2nd place (just a few seconds ahead of me), but Sandy was missing this time around.
THE START:
When the 7 UTVs in my class lined up for the start, we were facing a short run (maybe 30') to a narrow area that was probably only wide enuf for 3 or 4 UTVs to pass at the same time. This bottleneck meant it was critical to get a good start and avoid being pushed back to the rear of the pack. After the bottleneck area, the course made a left turn and headed towards lots of zig-zag trails in a large open pasture area.
On the starting line, I was lined up near the middle. To my immediately left was Mike F. (a new UTV racer who has the only other 900xp besides mine). We were flanked on both sides by RZR 1ks.... "surrounded" is probably a better word. LOL As I've said before, I kinda like being the underdog.
The green flag went up and off we went. My 900xp fired up a tad slow and suddenly Mike F. (on my immediate left) and an orange RZR 1k (on my immediate right) both shot ahead of me about 1/2 a length. As the entire line quickly approached the bottleneck, my front fenders were simultaneously bumped by Mike F. and the orange RZR 1k in an old fashioned "squeeze play." I instantly hit the brakes and tried to fall in line right behind them as the entire pack quickly passed through the bottleneck area and made the first turn. Before I could say, "Oh crap!", Cash and I found ourselves in last (7th) position as we headed into the pasture area. In any case, hope was not completely lost b/c I have faced this same situation earlier this season (Oak Hill 1) and still managed to finish the race in the middle of the pack. So Cash and I held our chins up and pressed onward.
LAPS 1 through 4:
As lap 1 progressed, the course runs 1 mile through a large pasture area with several wide turns that are coated with thick, soft, sticky mud. Most of the time, this mud slowed my momentum to a crawl and/or bounced me around the turn as I tried to avoid the deep ruts. After the large pasture area, the course takes racers into the woods that contained lots of deep ruts through soft, sticky mud. There were a few places that were tight, but must most of the woods were wide and fairly easy to navigate at good speed were it not for the deep ruts to slow you down. Near the end of the 1st lap, the trail makes a run up a steep hill about 20' tall and then it makes a hard right turn and drops back down the right side of the hill with a 2' kicker bump at the very bottom of the hill. Not far past this kicker bump was a short jump and then more wide, zig zag trails through a few more trees before dumping you back out to the same large pasture where it all began.
As the race continued, I started noticing UTVs pulled off the sides of the trail here and there due to apparently mechanical problems, etc. Slowly, I started seeing a few UTVs in my class on the sides of the trails and pressed onward with the hope of getting a top 3 finish.
LAPS 5 through 9:
About half way through the race, I saw the Pro class catching up to Cash and me in the large pasture area. So I knew it was only a matter of time before the Miller Brothers lapped me. As soon as the first Miller Brother (not sure which one) reached me, I pulled over and let him pass. I fell in behind him and kept pressing forward. In the woods, the ruts in the soft, sticky mud got deeper and deeper with each passing lap. I think it was my 5th lap when I first noticed that were slowing down to nearly a crawl as we passed through the deepest section of ruts and all 4 tires were slinging mud violently in a desperate attempt to get traction and keep momentum. I could hear the (brand new) skid plate sliding across the top of the trail as my RZR pushed onward. It was this point where I started to wonder if my RZR would get stuck in the deep ruts. It sure didn't help that my lil RZR 900xp only has 26" tires.
When I approached the same section of deep ruts on lap 6, I hit it with more speed to see if the extra momentum would carry me over the ruts. Unfortunately, the trail makes are hard right turn just as the deep rutted section begins. When I hit the sharp right turn at speed, my right two wheels came up and only my left 2 wheels stayed on the ground and continued to push me forward. That approach didn't work well as I lost most of my momentum going around the corner on just 2 wheels. At that point, I had a sinking feeling that my RZR would not make it around the track again without getting stuck/high centered in that section. But we pressed onward anyway.
As we made it to the same section on lap 7, Curtis (race organizer) had just arrived and opened a trail immediately alongside the deeply rutted trail. This new section had ruts from the UTV race earlier that same day, but those ruts were not nearly as deep. As Cash and I came around the corner, Curtis pointed to the new trail. Unfortunately for me, I was already running in the deep ruts of the old section and there was no way at that point to climb out and cross over to the newly opened of trail. I continued on with my gas pedal on the floor. We made it just past the half-way point of that long stretch of deep ruts when suddenly my tires lost traction and we got stuck/high centered in the ruts. At this moment, a Yamaha 1000R from another UTV class was in my rear view mirror and he also got stuck in the ruts. What a helpless feeling!
Luckily, Curtis was right there with a tractor, quickly hooked up to my front bumper and pulled Cash and me the rest of the way through the rutted trail. This rescue took only a few minutes, but a few UTVs (probably from my class) passed me. As Curtis went back for the Yamaha, Cash and I continued racing through the woods and quickly hit another section of deep rutted trails that were also getting more difficult to pass.
On the following lap, I took the new section that Curtis opened and it was much easier to pass. At the end of that section, Curtis pointed us to a new section that bypassed the remaining deep ruts that immediately followed the old rutted section. Onward we went.
As Cash and I climbed the big hill near the end of the very last lap (lap 9), I saw JW's blue RZR 1k just up the trail from me (JW was in 1st position at that time). I mashed the go pedal harder and caught up to him just as he went through the checkered flag. Not long after that, Eric (white RZR 1k) joined us at the finish line.
RACE RESULTS:
After the dust settled, it turns out that JW and Eric completed 10 laps and I was next in line with 9 laps completed. Most of the remaining racers in our class broke down/pulled out of the race several laps earlier. Congrats to JW for finishing 1st and Eric for finishing 2nd. Cash and I were excited to finish in 3rd, especially considering our lousy start and getting stuck in the deep ruts along the way. Oddly enough, the top 3 finishers of this race just happen to be in the exact same positions in season points for our class (JW is currently in 1st season points, Eric in 2nd and I'm in 3rd). With only 1 remaining race of the 2015 season, I hope to maintain my 3rd place standings in season points.
As always, I have to say a big THANK YOU to TORN for putting on another FUN event!
I hope you enjoyed my write-up!