Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

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thirdgenlxi
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Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by thirdgenlxi »

Well race #5 is in the books... I guess I've kinda gotten the bug here lately, haha :lol: Hawk Creek with NCHSA in Blackstock, SC. I'm still slow, and my starts are hooorrrriibbble, lol.... but I still had fun and hopefully learned a thing or two along the way. Definitely not looking to win anything just yet, just wanting to make some progress and get better. I originally wasn't even planning on going, as it had been raining like crazy the entire week before, and I really didn't want another Pea Ridge round 2 (for those that might remember my post about that.... SERIOUS and straight up mudder.... the whole thing). There was rumors of the race getting cancelled, But the org said they actually hadn't gotten much rain in the spot where the track is at, and everything was still on. So I decided to head on down

Headed down satuday night..... the race didn't start until 3pm sunday (pros run first with this org), but I like being there early so I can walk around and scope things out. Plus I kinda wanted to try out my new tent that I've had for awhile and hadn't been able to use yet, haha. Didn't even realized it matched the bike... win!!

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It was a pretty nice place..... hard to see in this pic but there was a big pond right behind the starting line there, and from the start the trail goes around the pond

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I walked some trails to see a little of what was out there..... the dirt looked absolutely perfect! Dry enough that it was soft and not muddy, but wasn't dusty at all. It was a weird kinda sandy mix soil

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Getting ready to roll.... it was HOOOTTTT!! Insane hot and humid..... according to weather channel, the actual high for the day was 91.8 deg F and 96% humidity..... dew point 79 deg. Muggy was an understatement. Shortly after this, doakley's buddy Travis showed up on his KX-450. He wasn't sure he was gonna make it on time for the start or not, but he did (missed the pic though). We both rode in Unlimited 25+ class.... back row

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And we're off! First turn was a little nutty..... really short starting area, so you had pretty much the entire row funneling into this narrow 180 deg switchback turn, lol

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Doug's (doakley on here) buddy Travis went flying past me about 45 seconds from the start.... never saw him again until after the race. He's quick! He ended up finishing 6th

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Other side of the pond.... or may have been a different pond, I think there was more than 1, lol

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The photog was having problems with her camera battery, and towards the end of the day when we did our race, she was down to 1 battery and it kept dying. So she didn't end up getting a lot of pics of the 3:00 race. She got a few in the woods but not many, and none of either of us. No biggie though

So the track was about 5.5 miles long, but very tight and technical.... lots of rooty spots and a few hills, nothing crazy. Had some open areas too but they were pretty short and went back into tight stuff again. Track was really fun and flowed well, but it was pretty rough and chopped up in quite a few spots. Still very fun though. Ended up being perfect conditions.... almost no mud, no dust.... just right. Just really freakin HOT! haha. As seen by flag guy here

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I didn't finish very well..... the heat + constant technical trails were wearing me out quick, and I had to stop a number of times just to drink some water (I still haven't mastered the one handed camelbak thing yet, haha). Ended up 9th out of 10 in our class, and 97th out of 128 overall. Travis finished 6th of 10 and 80th overall

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Video of the start and first lap..... nothing too crazy here. I'm always a little over cautious the first lap to kinda feel it out and see what's there. But oddly enough, the first lap ended up being my fastest one of all, haha (see lap times in pic above). I took a little soil sample at around the 12:30 mark..... of course on a super easy spot, heh. Another spot around 20:45.... come out into an open area where you cross a gravel roadway, and it looks smooth. So I'm on the gas pretty good, totally didn't see that there was a dip and then little jump right after. Ohhh man.... pucker moment.... it freakin launched! haha. Hard to tell much in the video it was so quick, but it did launch it pretty good. I had no idea it was there so I wasn't at all ready for it, and was just hoping for a soft landing. Luckily it all worked out and landing was perfect. If you saw my crash on the MX track from the last race, you'd know why I was nervous :shock: There was nothing really hard on here, as long as you didn't get behind somebody that got stuck or crashed on some of the hills (which happened this first lap)

And like I said.... nothing crazy exciting here.... I'm slow. But if anybody cares to watch

[youtube][/youtube]

And just the short version of my little soil sampling, lol. Luckily it was a nice soft landing.... all super loose, soft, silty dirt there

[youtube][/youtube]

That's all I've got..... the heat and tight track whooped my butt, but still had a great time and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next one, which will prob be this weekend :grin: Then doakley and I are also doing the Little Brown Jug enduro coming up on Sept 3rd as well!
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Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by SS109 »

Well done! I really like your race reports. It's always good to see the KDX still being raced against the sea of orange. I'll be representing come Oct 1 (when our season starts) in the 40B class of AMRA.
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Re: Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by doakley »

Jared, your start off the line wasn't that bad. You are starting in 2nd gear, right? Lots of traffic in that first corner though. I enjoyed the video and the commentary. That "soil sampling" looked harder than you let on. Good job! See you weekend after next at Stranges Ranch.
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Re: Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by thirdgenlxi »

doakley wrote:Jared, your start off the line wasn't that bad. You are starting in 2nd gear, right? Lots of traffic in that first corner though. I enjoyed the video and the commentary. That "soil sampling" looked harder than you let on. Good job! See you weekend after next at Stranges Ranch.
Thanks! Yea I guess it wasn't THAT bad..... I just do that sit there for a couple seconds every time. I think somewhere in my brain I actually "don't" want to be the first one out, lol.... since I don't know where I'm going :lol: :lol: But no I was starting in 1st gear.... didn't really think about starting in 2nd. We were starting on a hill here..... not real steep but did steepen the further up you went... so not sure how it would do there. Can't really see it in the video but I was actually doing a wheelie a good ways up the hill off the start.... not a big wheelie but I could feel it was off the ground, lol. I might have to try 2nd next time though..... see how that works. I know on the trail I start in 2nd sometimes just cuz I know it's got enough torque to do it, haha. The crash really wasn't that bad....had there been rocks or logs or anything else there it would have been a whole other story, lol. But luckily it was just a soft loose dirt pile. We both slid a little ways though, hahah. I'll take that over one of those trees any day! :shock: :shock:

Sweet deal... sounds good! I've heard several people say Stranges Ranch is an awesome track!
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Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by thirdgenlxi »

SS109 wrote:Well done! I really like your race reports. It's always good to see the KDX still being raced against the sea of orange. I'll be representing come Oct 1 (when our season starts) in the 40B class of AMRA.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it..... hoping I don't annoy the hell out of everyone always posting them, haha :lol:

And yea same here..... I always get excited when I see another KDX('s) out there ripping it up too, lol. And I especially love it when I see an "old" bike like ours, out there putting a hurting on a brand new KTM/Husky/Euro-whatever.... makes my day :bravo: :prayer: :grin:

I did see several other KDX's in this race too.... in that first pic of the bikes at the starting line (from the rear).... you can't see it but in the row in front of me, pretty much directly in front of that guy in the grey shirt just to the left of my bike, there was a KDX there. Almost unrecognizable because it was beat to ever living hell. Almost no plastics, had an MX rear fender but was pointing up and to the side since the subframe was bent and twisted to hell, lol..... it was roouuugghhh. But then I caught up to another one on I think the 3rd lap. I was getting pretty wiped and not exactly motivated to try and pass him, but he pulled over and let me pass, lol

[youtube][/youtube]

But back to the putting a hurt on team orange (warning.... story ahead)..... so a couple weeks ago, one of our local riding spots (Brushy Mountain Motorsports Park) put on their "2017 Battle of the Goats extreme enduro". It's like the Tennessee Knockout extreme enduro that they do every year. People came from all over the country to ride this race. I ride there quite a bit and they've got some naaaasssttty stuff there. It's literally right on a mountain, so lots of seriously steep, rooty, rocky, off camber gnarly nastiness. Last year was the first year they did the battle of the goats, and apparently some of the pro guys had said after that they didn't think it was all that hard. I know the owners, Tyler and his dad, and was talking to him about it and the race this year...... I think he had kinda taken that comment to heart, as he said as he was laying out the course.... "yeeeaaaa, they won't be saying that this year....", lol. My buddies Will and Doug were both doing the race (first race ever for both of them.... ouch!), so I went there to watch them. Will is on a CRF-230 (aka XR-200) and Doug on a CRF-250x. As we're looking around at all the other bikes there, Will made the comment... "ummm.... I think we're literally the only 4 strokes here", haha. It was almost alllllll 2 strokes, with only a handful of 4 strokes. And of course, most of the orange or white (husky) variety, with a few others mixed in too. Anyways, what I'm getting at with this story..... so when all was said and done, there were about 40 DNF's, around 26 people that it a half a lap in the allotted time (5 hours), and another 26 that completed a full lap (20 miles). Then just a few that actually made it 2 laps. So that tells you how rough this race was. The guy that WON the amateur class..... was a local guy from right here in the same town that I live..... and he was riding a KLX-300. And he definitely put a big hurting on a lot of orange bikes in this race :lol: :lol:

This was him here..... Not my video but I was actually standing there right on the other side here, lol. He's a really good technical rider, even on a heavy bike like that

[youtube][/youtube]

He also did this same harescramble race that I did here, though he was in the pro race so he did the morning one. My buddy Ron was in the row behind him and our other buddy Keith (all are "A" riders), and in his video he was talking about how fast this dude is on his "vintage Kawasaki", hahah

[youtube][/youtube]

I'm not sure if this link will work or not, but another buddy of ours got some drone footage of that same start.... Keith with the holeshot and lead (he's on a KTM 250 2 stroke) with the KLX right on his tail



If you want to see some other videos from the battle of the goats race, go on youtube and search "battle of the goats 2017"..... there's a handful of different videos up from it now, including some highlight videos
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Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by jaywylie »

I love the writeups/photos and videos! It's so cool to feel like I was there watching. Looks like fun!

Thanks for taking the time to post!
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Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by thirdgenlxi »

jaywylie wrote:I love the writeups/photos and videos! It's so cool to feel like I was there watching. Looks like fun!

Thanks for taking the time to post!
Thanks!! Glad you enjoyed :grin: :grin:
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Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by thirdgenlxi »

Actually just stumbled across somebody elses video from the start for our class..... hopefully the link works, it's public so it should I believe. Looking from this angle, I'm 3rd from the left

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Re: Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by doakley »

Go practice some starts in 2nd until you are comfortable. I promise you most all the other bikes start in 2nd which means you are always a gear behind. Difficult to keep up. Easier to crank in 2nd too for most bikes. You'll be surprised how easily she will rocket off the line in 2nd.
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Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by thirdgenlxi »

Hmmmm alright cool..... I'll give it a shot and see :grin:
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Re: Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by KDXGarage »

Yeah, quite surprised to hear you were starting in first.

Practice, practice, practice.
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Re: Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by thirdgenlxi »

Jason wrote:Yeah, quite surprised to hear you were starting in first.

Practice, practice, practice.
I never knew anybody did any differently
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Re: Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by KDXGarage »

What is your clutch technique between engine off and engine / race start? Also, kickstart / TDC technique?

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Re: Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by thirdgenlxi »

Jason wrote:What is your clutch technique between engine off and engine / race start? Also, kickstart / TDC technique?

LOOK AT kdxrider.net, y'all. Talking about RACING! :pop: :bravo: :please:
Hmmmm don't really have any kind of special technique.... just sit with the clutch pulled in, sitting in gear and foot on the kicker ready to go. I've never moved it to TDC or anything like that.... it always starts up easily first kick, even in gear.... every single time. So I've never even worried about it. I do push it down enough to take the slack out of it, so that the ratchet mechanism is already engaged and turns the engine soon as I move it. I know some bikes are temperamental about that though.... my buddies Yamaha YZ-426.... he has a whole little routine down that he has to do to get it to start. It involves using the compression release and getting it to a certain point, then going a little further (assuming TDC), and then kicking like hell. If you don't do exactly that, it WILL NOT start.... like, ever, lol. I've rode the bike before and even still, I have to have him start it every time cuz I just can't get the damn thing started :blink: :doh: I'm used to the KDX that I can be sitting on it, reach down and push the kicker down with my hand, and it'll start right up, haha (and yes, I've done that multiple times :lol: )

It's not so much getting the bike going, as just getting my brain going I think, lol. If you watch the little short video in the FB link above, you can see where I kick it, and it started up right then..... for those couple seconds I was sitting there, the bike was already running, in gear, ready to go.... it was just me sitting there for whatever reason that I really don't know. Most of my usual trail riding is a very laid back, casual, slower pace... that's what I've always been used to. So the whole "GO GO GO!!!" thing is kinda new to me I guess. I think I need to just learn to lay the hammer down as soon as it starts up. Like you mentioned above.... practice practice :wink:
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Hawk Creek NCHSA Harescramble 8/13... Pics + video

Post by SS109 »

One thing I have learned racing is that you're not going to win a hare scramble at the start. I start my engine quickly but I normally take off pretty slow. I would rather get warmed up myself before attacking anything. Besides, most of those that go ripping off the line have either wadded themselves up at some point in the tight/technical sections, or just tired themselves out, and I pass them at some point in the race. It's the tortoise and the hare thing. :grin:
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Post by thirdgenlxi »

SS109 wrote:One thing I have learned racing is that you're not going to win a hare scramble at the start. I start my engine quickly but I normally take off pretty slow. I would rather get warmed up myself before attacking anything. Besides, most of those that go ripping off the line have either wadded themselves up at some point in the tight/technical sections, or just tired themselves out, and I pass them at some point in the race. It's the tortoise and the hare thing. :grin:
Very true words there indeed..... And in some cases I think that's kinda my perspective as well. I guess I just don't like being completely last off the start, haha. You are right though. Definitely know what you're saying about the other wadding it up shortly after though. I've always been more the slow and steady type and try and pace myself. Back when we did that Pea Ridge 100% mudder race, that was my strategy for that day..... Even going slow, just stay moving, don't get stuck, and don't crash. And I passed quite a few people that were crashed and stuck in the mud, or couldn't make it up a hill as they were giving it hell.

I'd prob do a lot better if I could figure out how to rig my camelbak hose so that I could drink water without having to stop every time :lol: :lol:
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