Just got back from a local XC race (ATVCCS series) on Sunday where the 7 mile course was BONE DRY/DUSTY. The course was located at Rip-Char Cycle Ranch in Weatherford, TX. Because of my limited time, I chose to race in the morning with the "big dogs" in the Pro/A class race instead of my usual choice of racing in the afternoon with in the B class race (which includes a utility class).

I got a good laugh when I arrived at the starting line and looked around...I quickly discovered that my Prairie 650 was the ONLY 4x4 quad out of the 35 quads or so in that race! The others were all fast sport quads like Preditors, 450Rs, YFZ 450s, Banshees, 400exs, etc. My winch, mud tires and front/rear racks stood out like a Chevy Corvette showing up at the Indy 500!

Much to my chagrin, the course was dry, long, rough and had TONS of tight twisty turns and this made for one tough race on a big, heavy 4x4. I had to go much slower than I wanted to b/c of all the many bumps/pot holes/ whoops/tight turns and as a result, I got left behind pretty quickly. Under these conditions, I felt like I was running at 1/4 throttle the entire race! It was painfully obvious that the P650 motor OUTRUNS its suspension (even with Progressive Springs on the front which do help a little). There was only 1 straight-away in this race and I got up to 51 mph at one point....but the rest of the course was clearly set up for sport quads and also included a few small jumps/doubles on an MX course.

After racing for 1 hour and 56 minutes, I ended up coming in 7th out of 9 in the Vet A class. Needless to say, I'm very sore in my lower back and legs today! Overall it was fun, but the next time I'll stick to the B class where I can do battle with other 4x4s...that is UNLESS the race course is extremely muddy.

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

did this series get cancelled?

 

Nope, the ATVCCS is still going strong. In fact, we have another race coming up in Pittsburg, TX (Northeast TX) on Dec. 5th. Its the last race of the year. The ATVCCS website now has the 2005 race schedule. You can find it at www.atvccs.com

PS - There was another local XC series (called the STCCS) in the Houston/South TX area last spring...but it was later cancelled after having only 2 races. Luckily, the ATVCCS is still going strong. You should give it a try sometime...its a lot of fun. We do have a few racers from Louisiana join us. Send me a PM and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]