My first XC Race with the FST 800 BBK installed
#1
04-24-2007, 02:24 PM
My first XC Race with the FST 800 BBK installed
Last Sunday was my first XC race with the FST 800 BBK installed on my Twin Peaks. Here's my race write-up:
WHERE:
Bettie, TX?it?s a tiny town in northeast TX. This place is a 4.5 hour drive from my house.
TRACK DESCRIPTION:
The weather on race day was nice. Partly cloudy & about 75 to 80 degrees. The track was about 9.5 miles long and not very technical except for the MX track we ran thru. The track was dry and dusty in the open areas and wet/muddy thru the creek crossings. Luckily, there was not much dust to deal with in the dense woods where the sunlight didn?t break thru the trees and thick underbrush.
CREEK CROSSINGS:
The creek crossings were interesting b/c they often had an optional (very narrow) bridge that you could cross to save a little time or else go thru the creek. I played it safe and stayed off the bridges. No way I was going to risk falling 3 foot into the bottom of a creek just to save 1 or 2 seconds?especially since I just got my quad put back together after being down for a month to install the BBK!
MX SECTION:
The MX section was located in the first mile of the course and was very rough. Most of the jumps were small to medium in size and very tore up and/or the landing area on the back sides were whooped out badly?so I just rolled over all the jumps and then played catch up on the whooped out straight-aways to the next jump or turn.
WOODS:
Most of the course was wooded trails over flat land with lots and lots and lots (did I mention LOTS?) of roots and deep ruts with the occasional whoops sections to keep you on your feet at all times. The track was fairly rough and it seemed there was no safe place to sit down on your seat and rest a little while riding. The soil on the track was soft, so by the time our B class race began (we race after the Pro/A class race in the morning), it had 2 deep ruts/tracks all the way around the course...some places only 6 inches deep...some places a foot deep or more. In fact, I saw a few sport quads hung up in the deep ruts on the first lap and I had to find a way around them thru the thick woods/underbrush. The deep ruts made it hard to pass in the woods (unless the quad pulled over for you) b/c you had to drive up out of the deep ruts, try to pass and then drive back into the ruts again. Just past mile marker 8, there were some very tight, twisty woods?so tight that both of my rear wheels rubbed both trees on every lap that I passed thru them. This made me very nervous (didn?t want to bend the rear axle or get hung up), so I slowed to a crawl on each lap in this area.
STRAIGHT-AWAYS THRU THE PASTURES:
There were a handful of fast open areas thru pastures, but a few of them were extremely bumpy at high speeds and/or had a bad kick up so I kept my speeds down to about 30 mph on those. On one of the smoother straights I reached speeds up to 63mph during the race. The BBK made me accelerate much faster than I?m used to, so it was always a fun surprise to look down and see how fast I was going at the end of these straights!
QUAD SET-UP:
As mentioned above, this was my very first race since I installed the FST 800 BBK just one week earlier. I was very anxious to see how well my quad ran against the bigger Can-ams.
UTE CLASS LINE-UP:
When we lined up at 1 pm, I counted 9 quads in the utility class. As I recall, the line-up included a Renegade 800 (ridden by pro rider Shawn Hess), a Honda Rincon 680 (Steve Mills), my TP800, (David D's) Red P700, (David L's) maroon BF650sra, (Drew's) green P650, (Joe A's) blue Yamaha Bruin, (Frank's) Kodiak 450, and (Slick Willie's) Rancher 400.
START:
When I got to the starting line, I ended up taking a spot on the far right side?which meant I could take the inside line thru the hard right turn straight ahead of us. After a few classes left the line, someone had an accident (I later heard the rider may have broken his arm???) on the 2nd turn. To avoid long delays to clear the wreckage, David changed up the start for the rest of us. Instead of turning right at the first turn (only about 75 feet ahead of me), we were told to go straight thru a field and then make a sharp left (about 300 feet head of me!!!). WOW?I was very excited now b/c the long straight-away start would be the perfect way to test the acceleration of my quad with the BBK installed. When the green flag went up, my quad started on the first try and I pulled a wheelie off the line. I leaned forward hard to keep the front end down (so I didn?t have to lay off the throttle). Once my front end came down, David D's red P700 (who lined up to my immediate right on the starting line) was no longer beside me?so I looked to my left to see the rest of the line being led by the Renegade and he was probably 2 quad lengths behind me at this point?so I yelled out a BIG YEEEEEEEHAW and kept the hammer down!!! I could not have been happier at this moment b/c I knew I had the holeshot even tho I was only ? way to the first turn. When I started to slow up for the first turn, I looked back and I was probably ahead by 2 (or maybe 3) quad lengths over the Renegade and was later told that David D's red P700 was coming up right behind me (I didn?t see him at the time). I was so excited about getting to the barrel first that overshot the turn, slammed on my brakes and then slid about 10 feet or so past the barrel. Doh! As I pointed my quad in the right direction (to the left), the Renegade came out of the inside of the turn and took over the lead. So I followed him.
LAP 1:
We immediately entered the MX section and I was in 2nd place behind the Renegade and losing site of him within seconds. Did I mention that guy is fast! lol With all the dust stirred up on the MX track, I was happy the Renegade was making distance on me as that made it easier to see where I was going. I entered the woods following the MX track and held 2nd place for most of lap 1. Occasionally I would look back as I finished a long straight-away thru a pasture and I could see the BF650sra behind me by about 10 seconds or less. That kept me on my toes, but not so much pressure that I was worried about losing my position. About 2 miles or so from the end of lap 1, I went thru a very bumpy pasture with a bad kick-up (danger signs in the middle of the field to alert folks to the danger). Out of no where, the Slick Willie appears right next to me as we came to the end of the pasture area! Talk about an unwelcome surprise! He just barely grabbed the lead from me as we left the pasture and entered the woods. I knew this was a bad sign b/c he is faster than me in the tight woods and the tightest section of the track was only about 1 mile up ahead. I stayed on his tail or close to it for the rest of the lap?as I expected, the rancher made a little ground on me when I came to the section where both of my tires rubbed the trees just past the 8 mile marker.
LAPS 2 & 3:
As Lap 2 begin, we entered the small section of woods right before the MX section (we skipped this little ? mile of woods at the start due to the wreck). I was feeling my second wind at the time and I started seeing the dust on the track ahead?Seeing that dust made me feel like a SHARK THAT SMELLS BLOOD! lol I knew that Slick Willie was not far ahead of me at that point. As I entered the large field with the MX section, I could see the Rancher about 10 seconds ahead of me or so. I rolled each jump and then put the hammer down on the straight-aways between each jump. Again, I was still very surprised with my quad in how quickly I could accelerate on the straights?the BBK was starting to pay off! lol Near the end of the MX Section, I pulled up along side Slick Willie 2 times, but gave up the lead going into those turns. This part of the race was so much fun b/c it was like a game of cat and mouse and I was the (faster) cat! I was having such a good time at this point that I started singing (very loudly) to my friend on the Rancher 400, ?Go Willie, Go Willie, It?s your B-day, It?s your B-day!? Near the end of the MX track, I passed Slick Willie and re-took the 2nd place position (well behind the pro on the Renegade). I held that position for most of lap 2, but pulled over and let him pass me near the end of lap 2 (didn't want to push myself too hard in the very tight stuff where my rear tires rubbed the trees). Near the end of lap 2, I tried to race smoothly and reserve my strength so I could try to pass Slick Willie in the MX section on lap 3. Well, the rough track started to take its toll on me on lap 3...I often stayed close enough to see Slick Willie on this lap, but never regained my strength enough to pass him on the MX section or in the straights. I was hoping we might do another lap (lap 4) b/c I felt I was wearing him down and I might be able to pass him in the MX section on lap 4?.
RACE RESULTS:
Well, 2nd place was not meant to be for me on this day as we finished the race with 3 laps. I finished in 3rd place not far behind Slick Willie. Shawn finished the race over 15 minutes ahead of Slick Willie and I finished less than a minute behind Slick Willie. Even tho this race was not very technical, it was a rough course and it took a lot of endurance just to finish. I was dog tired and had a few blisters on my hands?but all in all, it was a very good day of racing. I won the holeshot against a Renegade 800, and I enjoyed my battle for 2nd/3rd place despite losing the battle to a quad with only ? the motor of mine! lol Once again, this is further evidence that the fastest quad does not always win XC races?there is no doubt that winning a XC race is 75% rider skill/endurance and only 25% quad. Slick Willie is a fast woods rider and my hat goes off to him on a fine race. There be will plenty of other races this season and hopefully I?ll have my time to shine.
I hope you enjoyed my write-up!
Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
WHERE:
Bettie, TX?it?s a tiny town in northeast TX. This place is a 4.5 hour drive from my house.
TRACK DESCRIPTION:
The weather on race day was nice. Partly cloudy & about 75 to 80 degrees. The track was about 9.5 miles long and not very technical except for the MX track we ran thru. The track was dry and dusty in the open areas and wet/muddy thru the creek crossings. Luckily, there was not much dust to deal with in the dense woods where the sunlight didn?t break thru the trees and thick underbrush.
CREEK CROSSINGS:
The creek crossings were interesting b/c they often had an optional (very narrow) bridge that you could cross to save a little time or else go thru the creek. I played it safe and stayed off the bridges. No way I was going to risk falling 3 foot into the bottom of a creek just to save 1 or 2 seconds?especially since I just got my quad put back together after being down for a month to install the BBK!
MX SECTION:
The MX section was located in the first mile of the course and was very rough. Most of the jumps were small to medium in size and very tore up and/or the landing area on the back sides were whooped out badly?so I just rolled over all the jumps and then played catch up on the whooped out straight-aways to the next jump or turn.
WOODS:
Most of the course was wooded trails over flat land with lots and lots and lots (did I mention LOTS?) of roots and deep ruts with the occasional whoops sections to keep you on your feet at all times. The track was fairly rough and it seemed there was no safe place to sit down on your seat and rest a little while riding. The soil on the track was soft, so by the time our B class race began (we race after the Pro/A class race in the morning), it had 2 deep ruts/tracks all the way around the course...some places only 6 inches deep...some places a foot deep or more. In fact, I saw a few sport quads hung up in the deep ruts on the first lap and I had to find a way around them thru the thick woods/underbrush. The deep ruts made it hard to pass in the woods (unless the quad pulled over for you) b/c you had to drive up out of the deep ruts, try to pass and then drive back into the ruts again. Just past mile marker 8, there were some very tight, twisty woods?so tight that both of my rear wheels rubbed both trees on every lap that I passed thru them. This made me very nervous (didn?t want to bend the rear axle or get hung up), so I slowed to a crawl on each lap in this area.
STRAIGHT-AWAYS THRU THE PASTURES:
There were a handful of fast open areas thru pastures, but a few of them were extremely bumpy at high speeds and/or had a bad kick up so I kept my speeds down to about 30 mph on those. On one of the smoother straights I reached speeds up to 63mph during the race. The BBK made me accelerate much faster than I?m used to, so it was always a fun surprise to look down and see how fast I was going at the end of these straights!
QUAD SET-UP:
As mentioned above, this was my very first race since I installed the FST 800 BBK just one week earlier. I was very anxious to see how well my quad ran against the bigger Can-ams.
UTE CLASS LINE-UP:
When we lined up at 1 pm, I counted 9 quads in the utility class. As I recall, the line-up included a Renegade 800 (ridden by pro rider Shawn Hess), a Honda Rincon 680 (Steve Mills), my TP800, (David D's) Red P700, (David L's) maroon BF650sra, (Drew's) green P650, (Joe A's) blue Yamaha Bruin, (Frank's) Kodiak 450, and (Slick Willie's) Rancher 400.
START:
When I got to the starting line, I ended up taking a spot on the far right side?which meant I could take the inside line thru the hard right turn straight ahead of us. After a few classes left the line, someone had an accident (I later heard the rider may have broken his arm???) on the 2nd turn. To avoid long delays to clear the wreckage, David changed up the start for the rest of us. Instead of turning right at the first turn (only about 75 feet ahead of me), we were told to go straight thru a field and then make a sharp left (about 300 feet head of me!!!). WOW?I was very excited now b/c the long straight-away start would be the perfect way to test the acceleration of my quad with the BBK installed. When the green flag went up, my quad started on the first try and I pulled a wheelie off the line. I leaned forward hard to keep the front end down (so I didn?t have to lay off the throttle). Once my front end came down, David D's red P700 (who lined up to my immediate right on the starting line) was no longer beside me?so I looked to my left to see the rest of the line being led by the Renegade and he was probably 2 quad lengths behind me at this point?so I yelled out a BIG YEEEEEEEHAW and kept the hammer down!!! I could not have been happier at this moment b/c I knew I had the holeshot even tho I was only ? way to the first turn. When I started to slow up for the first turn, I looked back and I was probably ahead by 2 (or maybe 3) quad lengths over the Renegade and was later told that David D's red P700 was coming up right behind me (I didn?t see him at the time). I was so excited about getting to the barrel first that overshot the turn, slammed on my brakes and then slid about 10 feet or so past the barrel. Doh! As I pointed my quad in the right direction (to the left), the Renegade came out of the inside of the turn and took over the lead. So I followed him.
LAP 1:
We immediately entered the MX section and I was in 2nd place behind the Renegade and losing site of him within seconds. Did I mention that guy is fast! lol With all the dust stirred up on the MX track, I was happy the Renegade was making distance on me as that made it easier to see where I was going. I entered the woods following the MX track and held 2nd place for most of lap 1. Occasionally I would look back as I finished a long straight-away thru a pasture and I could see the BF650sra behind me by about 10 seconds or less. That kept me on my toes, but not so much pressure that I was worried about losing my position. About 2 miles or so from the end of lap 1, I went thru a very bumpy pasture with a bad kick-up (danger signs in the middle of the field to alert folks to the danger). Out of no where, the Slick Willie appears right next to me as we came to the end of the pasture area! Talk about an unwelcome surprise! He just barely grabbed the lead from me as we left the pasture and entered the woods. I knew this was a bad sign b/c he is faster than me in the tight woods and the tightest section of the track was only about 1 mile up ahead. I stayed on his tail or close to it for the rest of the lap?as I expected, the rancher made a little ground on me when I came to the section where both of my tires rubbed the trees just past the 8 mile marker.
LAPS 2 & 3:
As Lap 2 begin, we entered the small section of woods right before the MX section (we skipped this little ? mile of woods at the start due to the wreck). I was feeling my second wind at the time and I started seeing the dust on the track ahead?Seeing that dust made me feel like a SHARK THAT SMELLS BLOOD! lol I knew that Slick Willie was not far ahead of me at that point. As I entered the large field with the MX section, I could see the Rancher about 10 seconds ahead of me or so. I rolled each jump and then put the hammer down on the straight-aways between each jump. Again, I was still very surprised with my quad in how quickly I could accelerate on the straights?the BBK was starting to pay off! lol Near the end of the MX Section, I pulled up along side Slick Willie 2 times, but gave up the lead going into those turns. This part of the race was so much fun b/c it was like a game of cat and mouse and I was the (faster) cat! I was having such a good time at this point that I started singing (very loudly) to my friend on the Rancher 400, ?Go Willie, Go Willie, It?s your B-day, It?s your B-day!? Near the end of the MX track, I passed Slick Willie and re-took the 2nd place position (well behind the pro on the Renegade). I held that position for most of lap 2, but pulled over and let him pass me near the end of lap 2 (didn't want to push myself too hard in the very tight stuff where my rear tires rubbed the trees). Near the end of lap 2, I tried to race smoothly and reserve my strength so I could try to pass Slick Willie in the MX section on lap 3. Well, the rough track started to take its toll on me on lap 3...I often stayed close enough to see Slick Willie on this lap, but never regained my strength enough to pass him on the MX section or in the straights. I was hoping we might do another lap (lap 4) b/c I felt I was wearing him down and I might be able to pass him in the MX section on lap 4?.
RACE RESULTS:
Well, 2nd place was not meant to be for me on this day as we finished the race with 3 laps. I finished in 3rd place not far behind Slick Willie. Shawn finished the race over 15 minutes ahead of Slick Willie and I finished less than a minute behind Slick Willie. Even tho this race was not very technical, it was a rough course and it took a lot of endurance just to finish. I was dog tired and had a few blisters on my hands?but all in all, it was a very good day of racing. I won the holeshot against a Renegade 800, and I enjoyed my battle for 2nd/3rd place despite losing the battle to a quad with only ? the motor of mine! lol Once again, this is further evidence that the fastest quad does not always win XC races?there is no doubt that winning a XC race is 75% rider skill/endurance and only 25% quad. Slick Willie is a fast woods rider and my hat goes off to him on a fine race. There be will plenty of other races this season and hopefully I?ll have my time to shine.
I hope you enjoyed my write-up!
Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
#2
04-30-2007, 12:30 PM
My first XC Race with the FST 800 BBK installed
Here's a video of my BLUE twin peaks in the race...you can see me win the holeshot against the Renegade 800 and other quads in my ute class, but then I quickly gave up the lead to the Renegade when I overshot the first turn! lol
http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r...UtilityLC2.flv
Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r...UtilityLC2.flv
Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
#3
04-30-2007, 04:40 PM
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