Just another XC race report...What a MUDDY Mess!
#1
05-29-2006, 01:48 AM
Just another XC race report...What a MUDDY Mess!
First off, I just want to say how AWESOME my new Footpeg Extenders worked on my TP700 today! I recently bought these from Santo Derisi Racing and had a local welder attach them to my stock footpets. These worked great today to keep my feet on the floorboard despite all the MUD and WATER I ran thru...I should have bought these a long time ago!
Now for the race report...
TRACK DESCRIPTION
We raced at an atv park near Halletsville, TX (this is roughly 1/2 way between Houston and San Antonio). The track was approximately 5 miles in length. I'm guessing 4 miles of woods and 1 mile on the MX track. This was a short course compared to other XC courses in our local series, but a fun course all the same.
TRACK CONDITIONS
This track had lots of rain this morning, so there was TONS of mud during our race. As a result, the entire track was very, very, very, very slippery. Did I mention it was SLIPPERY??? LOL Every turn was like sliding on ice and many quads ended up playing tag with the trees in the corners (the trees were winning at last count!). In fact, I recall seeing fresh bark removed from a tree (near the base of the tree) at one particular turn and with every lap, I could see the missing bark area getting BIGGER and BIGGER b/c more riders kept sliding into that tree! I spoke to few folks after our race who slide off the trail and into the river...one of these guys was on a P700....my point is the track was slicker than owl **** and you had to be very cautious whether you 4wd or not!
THE UTE CLASS
Only 6 utes lined up together today. There were 4 P700s (including my TP700), 1 grizzly and 1 Wolverine 450 (yes, this is the new model Wolverine). Of course, my dreaded arch nemesis (I jest of course) on the Camo P700 was there as usual.
THE START
My quad fired up on the first try, and I took the holeshot today (2nd time in two races that I won the holeshot...I'm very happy with that!). B/c of the VERY slippery conditions, I took it easy on the first 1/4 mile of twisty trail, then I hit a little straight-a-away filled with muddy tracks and nailed the throttle (in 4wd mode of course). When I looked back at the end of this straight, I was a good 100 yards ahead of the next place Ute (the Camo P700 of course). I felt good about this early lead, but knew it would not last long unless I worked some magic in the woods.
LAP 1
With each turn I came to, there seemed to be more and more branches hanging down in the trail and the leaves were FULL OF MUD! After a few branches slapped me in the face, I realized it was best to duck and avoid them at all cost...this was for 2 reasons...1) they hurt like heck when they hit me, and 2) more importantly... they made my googles very muddy and hard to see thru. About 1.5 or 2 miles into Lap 1, the Camo P700 caught up to me. I was giving it all I could given the limited visibility and traction that I had at the moment...then the Camo P700 made his move on the inside of a right hand turn that went downhill immediately after the turn. Instead of turning on the inside, he slid right into my side and our tires bounced off each other...it scared the Ba Jee Bees out of me b/c I thought one or both of us would flip when he rammed me from the side (he appologized after the race and said he tried to avoid the collision, but he just slid into me when he hit the brakes). I think the berm on my left side saved me from flipping or bouncing off the trail when he accidentally rammed me from the side.
UH OH...GOGGLE PROBLEMS!
I was now in 2nd place and doing fine except for my muddy goggles. I tried to wipe them clean with my gloves, but that only worked the first time or two...then it just smeared the mud with more attempts. I then tried to clean them with 2 small rags I had tucked inside my helmet...that worked fine, but was useless after 1 use. Next thing I know I was on the MX track with the 3rd place guy not far behind me. My visibility thru my goggles was down to 10 or 20% (not exaggerating here!)...I could not even see well enuf to turn my head and see who was coming up behind me...there was just a small dime size spot or two that was clear enuf to see out of...b/c I wear eye glasses, ditching the goggles was NOT AN OPTION.
After wiping/smearing the mud on my goggles a few times, I finally decided I could not see anything at all, so I immediately pulled off the MX track to remove/clean my goggles...I got passed while trying to clean my goggles in a puddle of muddy water (hey, I was desparate at this point!). That muddy wash did nothing to help the visibility and worse yet, it made my goggles FOGGY TOO! Just a 100 feet or so up the MX track, I had to pull over again to see if I could clean them...Like an Angel from heaven, the camera lady walked up and offered me her hand towel to clean my goggle and I was sooo very relieved to get the help! Until she came to my rescue, I was thinking I might have to drive back to my truck in the parking lot to get my other pair of goggles. Anyway, I was now in last place.
LAPS 2 thru 4
More of the same...lots of mud, lots of mud on my goggles, lots of struggle to keep them somewhat clean...then someone else offered me a towel to clean my goggles at one point when I stopped again to clean them. I somehow managed to pass 2 of my competitors before I got to the checkered flag.
Funny thing was that the biggest obstacles on the course was Stalled out/Drowned out Sport quads! It was like a Sport Quad mine field on the track as they were left for dead around every turn...many of them were sitting in the MIDDLE of the trail (not stuck, just stalled out). There were several sport quads high centered in the deep ruts and it was BIG FUN to go around them and leave them in my dust for a change. For the life of me, I don't understand why they didn't bother to push them off the course!
RESULTS
I ended up 4th place out of 6. The Camo P700 took 1st, my good buddy on a TG P700 took 2nd (he did great today...it was only his 3rd or 4th XC race and he's learning very quickly) and the Wolverine 450 took 3rd place.
It was not a good result for me today, but I learned a valuable lesson. There's no substitute for good goggles! I plan to buy a good pair of tear off or roll-up goggles soon so as to avoid this problem again in muddy races. I've been in several muddy xc races before, but never had the kind of visibility problems that I experienced today! It's kinda depressing to know that my machine ran flawless, my old body felt strong and it was a $30 or $40 pair of goggles that prevented me from taking home a 2nd place plaque (or higher) today. Oh well, it was fun all the same!
Hope you enjoyed the report.
Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
Now for the race report...
TRACK DESCRIPTION
We raced at an atv park near Halletsville, TX (this is roughly 1/2 way between Houston and San Antonio). The track was approximately 5 miles in length. I'm guessing 4 miles of woods and 1 mile on the MX track. This was a short course compared to other XC courses in our local series, but a fun course all the same.
TRACK CONDITIONS
This track had lots of rain this morning, so there was TONS of mud during our race. As a result, the entire track was very, very, very, very slippery. Did I mention it was SLIPPERY??? LOL Every turn was like sliding on ice and many quads ended up playing tag with the trees in the corners (the trees were winning at last count!). In fact, I recall seeing fresh bark removed from a tree (near the base of the tree) at one particular turn and with every lap, I could see the missing bark area getting BIGGER and BIGGER b/c more riders kept sliding into that tree! I spoke to few folks after our race who slide off the trail and into the river...one of these guys was on a P700....my point is the track was slicker than owl **** and you had to be very cautious whether you 4wd or not!
THE UTE CLASS
Only 6 utes lined up together today. There were 4 P700s (including my TP700), 1 grizzly and 1 Wolverine 450 (yes, this is the new model Wolverine). Of course, my dreaded arch nemesis (I jest of course) on the Camo P700 was there as usual.
THE START
My quad fired up on the first try, and I took the holeshot today (2nd time in two races that I won the holeshot...I'm very happy with that!). B/c of the VERY slippery conditions, I took it easy on the first 1/4 mile of twisty trail, then I hit a little straight-a-away filled with muddy tracks and nailed the throttle (in 4wd mode of course). When I looked back at the end of this straight, I was a good 100 yards ahead of the next place Ute (the Camo P700 of course). I felt good about this early lead, but knew it would not last long unless I worked some magic in the woods.
LAP 1
With each turn I came to, there seemed to be more and more branches hanging down in the trail and the leaves were FULL OF MUD! After a few branches slapped me in the face, I realized it was best to duck and avoid them at all cost...this was for 2 reasons...1) they hurt like heck when they hit me, and 2) more importantly... they made my googles very muddy and hard to see thru. About 1.5 or 2 miles into Lap 1, the Camo P700 caught up to me. I was giving it all I could given the limited visibility and traction that I had at the moment...then the Camo P700 made his move on the inside of a right hand turn that went downhill immediately after the turn. Instead of turning on the inside, he slid right into my side and our tires bounced off each other...it scared the Ba Jee Bees out of me b/c I thought one or both of us would flip when he rammed me from the side (he appologized after the race and said he tried to avoid the collision, but he just slid into me when he hit the brakes). I think the berm on my left side saved me from flipping or bouncing off the trail when he accidentally rammed me from the side.
UH OH...GOGGLE PROBLEMS!
I was now in 2nd place and doing fine except for my muddy goggles. I tried to wipe them clean with my gloves, but that only worked the first time or two...then it just smeared the mud with more attempts. I then tried to clean them with 2 small rags I had tucked inside my helmet...that worked fine, but was useless after 1 use. Next thing I know I was on the MX track with the 3rd place guy not far behind me. My visibility thru my goggles was down to 10 or 20% (not exaggerating here!)...I could not even see well enuf to turn my head and see who was coming up behind me...there was just a small dime size spot or two that was clear enuf to see out of...b/c I wear eye glasses, ditching the goggles was NOT AN OPTION.
After wiping/smearing the mud on my goggles a few times, I finally decided I could not see anything at all, so I immediately pulled off the MX track to remove/clean my goggles...I got passed while trying to clean my goggles in a puddle of muddy water (hey, I was desparate at this point!). That muddy wash did nothing to help the visibility and worse yet, it made my goggles FOGGY TOO! Just a 100 feet or so up the MX track, I had to pull over again to see if I could clean them...Like an Angel from heaven, the camera lady walked up and offered me her hand towel to clean my goggle and I was sooo very relieved to get the help! Until she came to my rescue, I was thinking I might have to drive back to my truck in the parking lot to get my other pair of goggles. Anyway, I was now in last place.
LAPS 2 thru 4
More of the same...lots of mud, lots of mud on my goggles, lots of struggle to keep them somewhat clean...then someone else offered me a towel to clean my goggles at one point when I stopped again to clean them. I somehow managed to pass 2 of my competitors before I got to the checkered flag.
Funny thing was that the biggest obstacles on the course was Stalled out/Drowned out Sport quads! It was like a Sport Quad mine field on the track as they were left for dead around every turn...many of them were sitting in the MIDDLE of the trail (not stuck, just stalled out). There were several sport quads high centered in the deep ruts and it was BIG FUN to go around them and leave them in my dust for a change. For the life of me, I don't understand why they didn't bother to push them off the course!
RESULTS
I ended up 4th place out of 6. The Camo P700 took 1st, my good buddy on a TG P700 took 2nd (he did great today...it was only his 3rd or 4th XC race and he's learning very quickly) and the Wolverine 450 took 3rd place.
It was not a good result for me today, but I learned a valuable lesson. There's no substitute for good goggles! I plan to buy a good pair of tear off or roll-up goggles soon so as to avoid this problem again in muddy races. I've been in several muddy xc races before, but never had the kind of visibility problems that I experienced today! It's kinda depressing to know that my machine ran flawless, my old body felt strong and it was a $30 or $40 pair of goggles that prevented me from taking home a 2nd place plaque (or higher) today. Oh well, it was fun all the same!
Hope you enjoyed the report.
Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
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