Had a blast running the first and most of the second lap with GE4x4. Temp light came on waiting at a log jam at the bottom of a hill scraped as much mud and grass out of the radiator as possible, and as soon as I got moving the light went off, but I babied it back to the truck and parked it. Day over...GE4x4 went on to finish 5th!!! (in Util Unlimited)

 

Wish I made it that far! I did a flip in that first kicker after entering the woods off the start. Guy in front of me almost lost it so I hit the brakes and couldn't carry any speed over it. Bike came down on the left rear and knocked it off the bead. By the time I got to my pit and changed the tire I was behind the first year racer class. Started to pick some of them off and bent a tie rod. Just wasn't my day. I parked it after that.
GE, congrats on the 5th place. I think you might have been right behind me when I fliped it. I was the guy talking to you and your buddy on the Polaris at the start. BTW what happened to him? I saw he was a DNF also. Not bad I hope.

 

Deamon, Sorry to hear you DNF'd. I was on the line next to Jerrod Kelly, one of the editors of ATV Sport Magazine and was about 4 bikes behind you when you flipped. This was my first race and when I saw you flip it freaked me out and I backed off the throttle and went a little easier for the first half lap or so. I finished ninth so I guess that wasn't to bad for my first race. It just about killed me though. I'm still sore and can barely get off the couch if I sit there to long. Being 35 and in the worst shape of my life doesn't help. I should have done this when I was in my twenties. Did you have the stock tie rods? I replaced mine with the JD's and I'm glad I did. I nailed a couple of trees and I know the stockers would have bent and it would have been a DNF for me also. It was interesting to see what seemed like a lot of quads that had a hard time getting up the hill after the stream that led into one of the open field area's, as well as the slightly big hill after you followed the creek. My V-Force barreled right up them with no problems except for one lap when another bike couldn't climb it and rolled back into me. Man does that suck. I thought I was going flip backwards and it scared the crap out of me. I'm not a big hill climbing fan and was wondering if those were the average size hills on the GNCC tracks? I wanted to see if I liked this GNCC stuff and I am glad I went because it was a blast. I now have some motivation to hit the gym so I'll be better prepared for next season. I learned a lot from this race and I know my times will get better just from being better prepared and doing things right next time [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. Me and my brother were laughing at all the stuff I did wrong most of the trip home. The funniest is that when spectators were pointing me in another direction because of a problem on the course, I didn't trust them from watching to many baja's on TV. I went head first into the problem they were trying to help me avoid.

 

Deamon, Was there another jam on your 3rd lap? Just looking at times and seen yours and a couple of others and was wondering

 

Deamon

Yep, that was me right behind you. You were in front of me, then the next thing I know, I'm looking at your skid plates. I'm glad your allright. My brother got a flat in the first 10 min of the race, and the tire broke the bead, so he had a tuff time getting it out and back to the truck. Had no spare, so that finished his day. But like he said, even Nascar racers have there bad day's. This race was my third, but by far my best race. Had a blast.

TRX500, had a great time racing with you. You gave me a good pace to follow, which I feel helped me get a 5th place finish. Thak's for setting my pace. Well this was my last race for this year, hope to see everyone next season.

 

I was there as a spectator and let me tell you those V-Forces sound awesome with a set of pipes! That was the first time I heard one with aftermarket pipes. This was my first time ever at a race and I think I'll be attending another one next year.

 

Oldkaw, yea I had the stock tie rods. I'm not even sure what I hit to bend it. I hit some trees pretty hard in the previous two races I ran with no problem but this time I don't even remember hitting anything that hard. I remember crossing a little creek and then a little uphill and that's whren I noticed it was bent. There is some slim covered bark stuck in the bead of the front tire so there must have been a log in that creek crossing that might have bent it. As for the hills, Yep, so far the three I have been to have all had some narly hill climbs. I was sore like you after my first race but it gets better the more you do. I talked to some of the other racers and they said the best conditioning is to ride as much as possible.

TRX500, I didn't run a third lap. I pulled off about 3/4 of the way into my first lap and parked it. Sorry to hear that about the overheating. That happened to me at Matthews Farm on my 4th lap. I screened off the raditor and made some shields that go on the frame behind the front shocks and it stays pretty clean now.

GE, yea, bad time for a drain plug check.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] But your right everyone has those bad days. I'll be back next year.

 

Deamon

Yeah those stock tie rods are horrible. I bent one just backing out of my garage with the bars cut real hard. I guess just the drag on the cement and the weight of the front end was to much for them. As far as the 3rd lap goes, I don't remember any bad log jams. At a couple of the hills I just sat there amazed watching 5 quads trying to get up the hills I was talking about earlier. I was thinking if they can't get up, how the heck am I. I just said a quick prayer so I wouldn't get hurt and then hammered it. When my V-Forced blew up the hill without a hitch I thought man why did I waste 2 min. contemplating at the bottom. I pitted after the second lap right after they scanned me at the finish line check point. I pulled off there and had to drive slowly down the whole vendor aisle back to the trailer on the opposite side. By the time I got back on the track it was about 10 min. later. If I minus the pit and the time wasted thinking to much at the bottom of the hills, it was probably my best lap. I think it was due to the fact the track conditions improved and I had fresh gloves and goggles. My hands didn't slip off the grips like the first two laps. My only regret was not getting to the line sooner so I could find out who's who from the forum here.

 

TRX 500

My engine light came on also, i think that one of the mud-holes filled with water got some of it cleaned out because it went out after a few miles. had a great time, hope to see you at the IRON-MAN.
Orange V-Force

 

It did not hurt you though did it.....Nice win! I believe though when I saw a green V go by me and he was smoking very bad out of the right exhaust it made me think it was not worth the chance of hurting my bike so I just pulled in. Ironman will probably be passed on by me. To far no matter what DHP400EX keeps telling me.