Denver NCHSA harescramble 10-29

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thirdgenlxi
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Denver NCHSA harescramble 10-29

Post by thirdgenlxi »

So I'm a little behind on race reports, lol..... was trying to find a photobucket alternative but got something that works now so I'll post up the last couple to finish up 2017 (2 more after this one)

Anyways..... this was from Oct 29th at Denver, NC.... it was the last NCHSA race for the year, so of course it was packed. I had camped out there the night before, but I was doing the 3:00 race, so I spent the morning walking around and watching the pro/A/B race at noon. Conditions were pretty good! It was a little wet and muddy in some spots..... this track is known for being REALLY bad if it's muddy. With several creek crossings, some spots just stay naturally muddy no matter what. Overall though it was pretty good. Definitely sloppy in some spots though

Image1029170927_HDR by Jared Penttinen, on Flickr

There's usually 3 creek crossings, but since there were some really bad muddy spots, they cut the track down a little bit and we only had this one creek crossing. It's usually a little tricky, but wasn't bad this time cuz there was some sand across it. I know it doesn't look like much in the picture, and isn't deep at all..... but it's deceiving cuz you're riding over a big flat slippery rock that's covered in algae and whatnot, so it's like ice just about, lol. The advice for crossing the creek is always... "don't give it any throttle, no brake, and don't try and steer..... just pull in the clutch and coast across".... just because that slick rock can kick the bike out from under you in a heartbeat. Luckily this time with the sand across it though it was pretty easy. The creek has claimed MANY people before though, hahah. You can't see it in the pic, but after you go across the creek (going away from where I'm standing), you go under the bridge on the back side of the pillar, which is muddy and super rocky, then right after it makes a left turn and shoots up the bank

Image1029171135a_HDR by Jared Penttinen, on Flickr

Start of the pro race..... that's my buddy Keith on the KTM 1190 Adventure bike. He' a nut, lol..... he usually rides a KTM 250 2 stroke, and is a solid "A" rider. But he wanted to try a race on this bike just to say he did it, lol.... so he did. He ran sportsman A class in the back row (he usually rides Vet A), and still finished 9th and got a plaque, haha. It was awesome watching him throw that big heavy bike around..... definitely a very talented rider

Image1029171225_HDR by Jared Penttinen, on Flickr

If anybody wants to see his video from that big beast.... here it is. He "almost" got the holesshot..... I was watching the start and he wheelied half way down the field before the first turn, lol. Ended up being 3rd into the woods

[youtube][/youtube]

Getting ready for the start of the afternoon race..... being the last race of the year, it was definitely a full house! The old guy in the orange standing to the left of my bike is my co-worker Alan. He rides one of those orange 4 strokes.... meh

Image1029171515_HDR by Jared Penttinen, on Flickr

Aaaand we're off!

ImageRd 15 Denver 3 o'clocks 1 - 200 by Jared Penttinen, on Flickr

Ol' green tractor staying well lubed, I see, hahah

ImageRd 15 Denver 3 o'clocks 1 - 208 by Jared Penttinen, on Flickr

The photog really didn't get pics from that many different spots this time, she just kinda hung out by the creek crossing after all the starts

ImageRd 15 Denver 3 o'clocks 3 - 316 by Jared Penttinen, on Flickr

Video..... we had 42 riders in the unlimited 25+ class.... it was a mess at the start! The guy in front of me for quite a ways, on the KTM #69 and white helmet, is my co-worker Alan. What really screwed me up in this race, was here on the first lap at 20:15...... a whole bunch of us made a very costly mistake, and I made the mistake of following along with the guys in front of me. It was kind of a confusing spot.... a piece of ribbon across would have saved a lot of confusion.... but there was a trail to the right, it had arrows pointing up it, and it wasn't blocked off. So in the heat of the moment, you see the arrows, and just automatically think to go that way. Well none of us noticed they were blue arrows, not the red/white that we were supposed to be following. The blue arrows were for the youth race course. It ended up looping us back around to a spot further back on the course that we had already been through, 6 minutes back. So we all ended up riding the same part of the trail over again, and coming right back past the same spot where we turned up the hill. Ended up costing me 6 minutes on my first lap, and cost me a 4th lap at the end, as it pushed me past the cutoff time for another. Oh well... live and learn I suppose. The creek crossing is at 6:00.... it was kind of a mess the first lap. Almost ran into Alan cuz everybody stopped and I really didn't want to jam the brake too hard on that slick rock, lol. And yea I know I pulled over a lot here and let people pass..... it was just too many people out here on a short little track. They had cut some sections out where the mud would have been too bad, so it was only about 6 miles. LOTS of traffic. And I'm definitely not fast here, so certainly nothing crazy, haha

[youtube][/youtube]

Ended up only doing 3 laps due to that screw up on the first, and finished 37th of 42. Definitely not great, but I still had fun. It was tough with so many people and the slick muddy spots (if you've never ridden on red clay mud before..... it's about equivalent to solid ice, lol)

Image1029171804_HDR by Jared Penttinen, on Flickr

That's all I've got for this one..... it was a fun track, despite the mud and being packed. I'm actually doing a 4 hour team race at this same place next weekend. Though I'm running the ironman class, so doing the entire 4 hours solo. It was supposed to be this weekend but then it snowed this past week and made a mess of the trails, so they postponed it until next weekend
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Re: Denver NCHSA harescramble 10-29

Post by KDXGarage »

FUN TIMES!!

Well lubricated indeed. LOL
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
To post pictures from a device: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
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doakley
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Re: Denver NCHSA harescramble 10-29

Post by doakley »

Ha ha! Now I know how to stay in front of you! You'd have caught me for sure if you hadn't made that wrong turn.
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Denver NCHSA harescramble 10-29

Post by Willbilly »

Imgur works well for pics too
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