Jim and I set out for Rehbeins about 2:30, we were there early, so we could get some practice in... Jim has not ridden in a while and we want to get 'up to speed' for the upcoming state qualifier the first weekend of March... 21 motos Jim was middle of the motos and I ran both cruiser and class so moto 6 and moto 21, I had 4 in each class so transferring was required!
Cruiser was up first, had a decent start, but was not able to capitolize.
Jim was up after that, he was running total points, and he was having a toughtime getting up to speed, he kept them honest but got a third in the first round...
On my class bike I was not able to transfer either, although I hounded the winner all the way to the finish...
Second round in my races they were taking 2 riders to the main, I was able to get a second on my cruiser.
Jim was picking up the pace a bit but still just out of reach for 2nd place.
My class bike I got a good pop on the gate and was able to win the second moto. and since this was the last moto I am very glad they have a intermission between the heats and mains!!!
Feature time. I had a good race on both my cruiser and my class bike. On my class bike I had a guy just about Banzai me in the first berm, but was able to stay ahead of him for a 2nd place, being fresh sure makes a difference, My cruiser I got sqeezed out side on the first berm and was not able to catch either of them... still a good outing for me...
Jim got faster as the night went on but was not able to pass any of them and got a 3rd...
waited to long to post this, hope my memory is correct... were headed to Rehbeins BMX arena again tonight! |
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So earlier in the week I found out that Sam Willoughby, Jared Graves, and Alise Post are going to be putting on a clinic at Rehbeins. Of course I will snap up the opportunity to learn from one world class racer non the less 3 at the same time! Of course I was the only 'old' guy at the clinic but what the heck someone needs to raise the median age! Anyway they did a great job with the crowd they had, I learned a couple key things and hope to continue to get better at this 'kids' sport... especially since I don't plan on growing up anytime soon! =;^)
That evening I was able to apply some of the stuff I learned, Rehbeins had 27 motos for a saturday night in January in MN, I absolutely LOVE the dedication that BMX racers have here in Minnesota. I signed up for both the class bike and my cruiser, we had a pretty stout field in both classes as well! I did not get agressive enough in the first 2 moto's and thus did not transfer directly. In the second moto's I got a good start on my cruiser and won, so I was pretty happy about getting into the main... Unfortunately I did not have as good of luck on my class bike, although I was the only novice in the class, one expert and 2 intermediates.. anyway... Feature time I only had to concentrate on one bike, I got a good start and was able to hold my ground through the berms and managed to make a pass for a 3rd place!
It was great to be back on the bikes again, but I think the clinic took alot out of me, still well worth it! |
Well, we have been blessed enough this year to be able to head to SoCal for Christmas! And since we were going where it is warm, I took the liberty of searching the ABA website and found that there are MANY tracks in Southern California. One in the Palm Springs Valley, about 15-20 minutes away from my parents winter place... a BUNCH in the greater LA area. So we packed the BMX bikes and our other bikes and headed south. After driving through the crappy weather and snow that hit IA and MN right before Christmas, we made our way west and had to drive through the aftermath of the snow that hit N.E. New Mexico. YUK!!! Anyway, we made it to Sun City West to visit Patty's parents for a few days... it was wonderful! And they were gracious enough to let us bring our pets along, that was an adventure, 2 potbellied pigs in a van for a road trip, you can check it out on Donahue Harley Davidson's facebook page... Anyway, we made our way to Palm Desert CA on Monday, took the kids to the Living Desert, Grandpa Butch took Jim and I jeeping down by superstition mountain on Wednesday... What a busy week! Thursday I hooked up with a couple guys for a 30 mile road bike ride. We had a casual evening in on new years eve.
On the first, we raced at Palm Springs BMX, I was rather surprised and dissappointed by the "typical" low turn out, we were told that about 9 moto's is typical, and mostly total points. Jim got bumped to expert, but did manage to get a second place, I on the otherhand struggled but I was racing young kids on my class bike and some slightly more experience riders on my cruiser... but what the hey 2 3rd place total points! And expert points to boot on the class bike.
Saturday we hooked up the trailer and headed first to Venice Beach, the kids first visit to the ocean and Patty's first visit to Venice Beach, it was saturday of a holiday weekend so it was really packed! But the kids got to play in the ocean, and see some of the crazyness that is Venice CA... On the way back we hit Whittier Narrows BMX, in South El Monte, for a double points race! Jim again got bumped to expert, and managed to qualify and post a 3rd! expert points X2!!! I was not so fortunate on my cruiser, lots of old fast BMX'ers out in SoCal, almost a full gate! On my class bike however I did manage to qualify, and in the main got a good start and fought my way to a second place finish! I can't remember if it was expert or intermediate points, but we had a pretty full gate of older guys on class bikes!
Sunday, we headed up the hill to Yucca Valley, again a dissappointing turn out only about 10 motos. I had to race kids again on my class bike but since one of them was not real interested in doing well I got a 2nd! Expert points to boot! Jim managed to race his way to a win, expert point as well! I had a chance on my cruiser for the podium but cut inside on the last berm too hard and flipped over the bars! I did manage a 4th if I remember correctly...
It was a pretty successful trip, enjoyed the tracks, the people, and the weather! now we need to get back on schedule for our local indoor track, rehbeins... |
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