Today I raced the last hare scramble race of the season and I thought I would take the time to tell you guys about it.

I got a bad start. As we all know, the 'Dale motors are not the best with dead engine starts, but this time I thought I had it started but didn't. That fumbling for 3 seconds put me about 10th off the line out of 13. Like I said....bad start.

I was trying to catch up with the leaders. It was very dusty and I came to a splitter in the trail that I couldn't see the end of. I only had about 10' of visibility. The guy in front of me took a left and I took a right.....wrong move. The trail to the right which went about 25' or so was too narrow for a quad and was an alternate motorcycle route. I found this out the hard way when I hit the tree in the center of it. I kissed the front bumber and hit my chest against the key switch panel on the handlebars. It knocked the wind out of me. I even managed to rip off my front number with my helmet visor!!

I started to call it a season right there, but after recouperating for a couple of minutes, I got my determination back and headed on desptite a bruised chest and hurting stomach. At this point I was dead last.

I managed to pass a few people even though I wasn't running at race speed. I also managed to finsih the race.

The end result is a 7th place finsih and also getting a 3rd Class Overall in points for the year. After reading the results, I realized that if I had finished 8th or worse, I would have finished 4th for the year.

That extra effort payed off big time...even if it was painful.

Even though I only run in the Novice class this year, I am stoked to have earned a 3rd Place for the season in my first year at woods racing. Especially with the bad luck that I have had at the last two races.

For any doubters of how the chassis componets hold up on the Cannondales. I hit that tree hard. Very hard. Hit square on the left A-arms.......Complete inspection of the chassis was done after the race. No bent A-arm, No bent tierods, No cracked or bent frame. Front wheel alignment is as straight as it was when it rolled off the Cannondale assembly line 9 months ago.

MX races will be in the cards for me starting this September.

 

Sorry the tree jumped in front of you. Congrats overall. I want to try harescrables next year.

 

Knowsalot,
First of all congrats on the 3rd place overall finish in the points. And also on finishing the race. The thing to remember about harescrambles is that by finishing you normally beat a couple people who broke down or quit. So it's wise to try to finish no matter what. I can say this about myself in the 4 years that I've race in the woods I've never quit a race. I may have dnf do to breaking something on the quad but no matter how hard I've hit a tree or how many times I've rolled the quad I've still finished.

Sounds like your getting first hand training from the book of hard knocks in woods racing. This is good it will make you a better racer. Just remember fast gets you hurt and smart riding maybe not win all the races but you will finish all them. The best advice for woods racing is don't run wide open and try to win the race on the first lap, but sit back and let the track come to you. It took me 4 years to win my first race. And the main reason I won was cause alot of the fast guys broke down during the race so luck plays a big part.

I finished 10th in my first season. Then 7th and last year was 6th and right now I'm in 3rd with 6 or so races to go. All this on a quads that everybody said could not run with the honda 250r. Maybe their right but I have a win now to say their not. The quads I raced were an 86 and 91 lt250r quadracer. They are a tank in the woods (poor handling).

So Get ready for next season. You might want to try a GNCC sometime if you haven't already. These races are alot more fun than local one. Do to the large number of quads. And some awesome tracks.

 

Good job knows alot. It's kinda easy to sit here and say, well patients and concistancy wins series. But like you after all these years it takes me half a lap to settle down and think. I just pray I miss everyone and all the trees untill I wake up, lol.

Congrats knowsalot, it takes alot just to finish[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Congrats, Patrick. Podium placement, sweet. I hope that the is dealt with a fair and even hand, and maybe a chain saw.LOL

I can't wait to get my quad back as there are races comming up that I would like to get in on. We have one this fall that races though Lake Elsinore and into the hills.

Smitty

 

congrats on the finish . hope the first year proves to be the starting point for ya .

Niels

 

Thanks guys.

Actually, I have already laid out my plans for the harescrambles for next year, including the quad I will be running. It begins it's first stage of "construction" next week. It will be......"unique" to say the least. I will be sure to post pics when it's completed.

Gaff,
It wouldn't take much convincing for me to run a Mid South race this winter. If you decide to run one, holler at me and I might pull the Cannibal out of hibernation.

14mins and Smitty,
If I had a chainsaw handy........

 

Good job Knowsalot. Like Gaff said, "It's kinda easy to sit here and say, well patients and
concistancy wins series."
But I know damn well, that once that gate drops, my brain seems to fly back with all the roost, cause smart riding just doesn't seem to happen with me on a quad. LOL, J/K, I actually have learned to ride smart when there isn't anyone around me... it just took a couple of crashes and close calls before I figured out that finishing a race a little further back than you would have liked is better than a DNF (ESPECIALLY in a series)! It's just that when other people are right in front of or behind me, I start letting my thumb do the thinking, and that usually means I'm gonna be WFO!

But anyways, good job man, 3rd place is awesome! Since you are gonna do some MX racing, you should come down here in Texas and check out some of the tracks. I think I've already sent you a PM a while back with all the tracks listed that I know of.

 

Well knowsalot,
I'm stuck between giving it all up to buying a new quad and making it a project. I only have short term goals at the minute, so who knows how I will go.

I can tell you the mid-south is one tough SOB to run, even compare to the GNCC's.

I've learned so much over about 30 years of racing but this year the obsticles I faced came on a personal note. So the best advice I can give you is go for the stars, but be prepared to pick your self up, dust your self off and give them bloody hell man, just bloody hell!!!!!

 

Way to go KNOWSALOT! Sounds like the season went great for you.

We have a Mid-South race on 8/25 in KY and one 9/15 in TN. You should try to make one.

Congrats!