On Sunday, I got up early and made the 4.5 hour drive to Deep East TX for another local XC race. This would be my 2nd race on the quad that I recently bought (04 TP700), and also the very first time that I have ridden it with the new Rear Elka Shocks and some other motor mods that I installed last week. Also, this was my very first XC race that I did using 2wd the entire race!!! (I normally use 4wd for all of my races, but have since decided to use 2wd more often so as to avoid the front diff problems I've experienced in the past).

Now for the good stuff...

COMPETITION:
A total of 9 quads lined up on the Ute Class starting line. There were at least a three P700s (including my TP700), at least one BF650 (sra), a piped Wolverine 350 (this is the OLD wolverine 4x4), a Honda Rubicon or Rancher (not sure which) and some other quads that I don't recall. The fastest guy in our local series this year is a guy named Ron (Camo P700). Before this race, I lined up with him 3 times and lost all 3 times (came in 2nd place to him twice and came in 4th in the last race). He's very agressive and very fast.

COURSE:
The course was laid out over 7.25 miles according to my speedo, the beginning of which included a few straights along the end of a pasture, a MX track in a big grassy field and the rest (approx 5.5 miles or more) was in the woods. The woods were not very tight, but the course had lots of hidden stumps/roots right off the edges of the trail and it was best to stay on the course. The woods section was made up of mostly soft sand and it was deeply rutted from beginning to end. After a while, it kinda felt like you were just following a rail road track b/c there was really no room to pass anyone and no one that I saw did unless the rider ahead pulled off to the edge of the course to let you go around. Overall, it was a fun and fast course, but I'd much prefer it to have more long straights and wider places to pass in the woods. There was only 1 techinical part of the course that I recall, a bumpy downhill followed by a moderately steep uphill climb with a large root sticking out about 1/2 way up the hill. The face of the uphill was hardpack and/or smooth rock, so you have to be careful with the throttle so as not to lose traction while climbing the hill.

WEATHER:
Perfect! Upper 70s and sunshine...there was some dust to deal with here and there, but mostly it was just about perfect for a XC race.

START:
The new motor mods worked great and my start was a big success! I even pulled a small wheelie off the line when my motor fired up! YEEE HAWWWW...nothin' like doin' a wheelie in front of the spectators to make you feel good! I did so well, I actually Won the Holeshot!!!

MX TRACK:
Some of my competitors tapped me on the rear grab bar a few times when I came out of the first turn (by the way, the PRM Rear Grab bar held up Very Well in despite 2 or 3 taps from competitors during the race). After the first turn, it dawned on me that I was out in front of all 8 competitors in my class and I had NO IDEA where the course went and what obstacles lie ahead (a bit scary to say the least!). I managed to hold off and even put a little distance on most of my competitors in the straights thru the pastures and then we entered/existed a small strip of woods that opened up to the MX Track....that's when I took the outside of a turn and Ron took the inside. I followed Ron thru a few turns of the MX track and the next thing I know a young guy (18ish) pulled up beside me on his Wolverine 350...I nailed the throttle and expected to leave him in the dust. However, I kept slowing down to hit the table tops and other jumps and the kid was nailing them at full throttle getting big air!!! He ended up passing me before we left the MX section fo the course.

WOODS: I maintained 3rd place for a few miles with 2 competitors close behind...but I realized I was just holding them back as there was no place to pass and I was being very cautious not knowing what obstacle was around every turn...so I pulled over and let those 2 competitors pass me. The guy behind me on was on a TG P700 and the other was a young kid on a Honda Rubicon/Rancher(I figured there was no since in holding them up and possibly pissing them off). I finished lap 1 in 5th place and had 3 more to go before I would finish.

LAP 2: I saw the TG P700 stopped in the long straight, so I stopped and asked if he was ok. He said he blew his motor...his overheating light came on during lap 1 and he hoped it would cool off on the straights...instead, it shut down in the straights and he thinks it was probably a blown motor. That meant I was now in 4th place. I hauled butt and eventually caught up with the young kid on the Rubicon/Rancher. The poor kid was bouncing ALL OVER the course b/c his quad has practically no suspension!!! I knew if I stayed on his tail long enuf that he'd make a mistake and I could pass him...after a mile or two, that happened when he hit some bumpy ruts too fast and he ended up sideways on the trail and his motor stalled. While he tried to quickly restart it I went around and took over 3rd place. In the next mile, we came upon 5 sport quads all high centered in the deep ruts on a dogleg turn to the left. I pulled off the side of the course and plowed down the bushes to make my way around all 5 sporties while all they could do is watch me go! (Cool Feeling!)

LAP 3: Having completed the first 2 laps and learning the course a little better, I had a STRONG LAP 3 and really found a good rythem!!! At the very end of Lap 3, I went thru the scoring shoot and the TG P700 competitor (the one who blew his motor earlier) told me that I was very close to catching up with the 2nd place guy on the piped Wolverine 350. That was all I need to hear to kick my butt in gear and try to catch him!

LAP 4: I flew thru the straights in hopes of catching the 2nd place guy. I finally saw him when I entered the MX Track section...I even pointed to him to get his attention to let him know I was on his tail and closing in fast! My hope was he'd get nervous and make a mistake like the other young guy did earlier on the Rubicon/Rancher. Well, all that did was put a fire in the Wolverine's belly b/c he starting hitting those MX jumps again BIG TIME!!! Near the end of the MX track, the TG P700 guy (the one who blew his motor) cheered me on and told me to catch the Wolverine guy...so I got on the throttle even harder and that's when I actually made a little mistake. I made the last turn on the MX track before entering the woods and started to spin out (too much throttle in the turn) and my quad started to tip over to the right...I countersteered, but then I fell off. Luckily the quad didn't flip over and it came back down on all 4 wheels again...After I bounced a time or two, I jumped right back up and onto my quad. (It happened right in front of all the spectators....OOOPS,,, UHHHHH,,, I meant to do that, yeah, thats the ticket! LOL)

I was within 10 or 20 yards of the Wolverine going into the woods (despite my less than graceful dismount) and new there was no easy place to pass this guy...so I tried to stay on his bumper and see if he'd make a mistake. Unfortunately, he didn't, and I ended up just a few seconds behind him at the end of the race.

FINISH:
I finished 3rd out of 9 behind the Wolverine 350 and Ron. Ron whooped me bad by about 3 or 4 minutes! Overall, I was very happy with my finish, especially considering I had not practiced at all and most of my competition had done so...I also found out that the Wolverine 350 kid lives just down the street and has been riding on this land/MX track for the past 6 months...no wonder he was sooo awesome on the course with his little Wolverine!!!

Well, that's my story...hope you enjoyed reading it. Overall, it was a fun day of XC racing, and I look forward to the next one in May.

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

 

Sweet !!! Sounds like a BLAST !! Wish we had those races around here.