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Diamondback Benefit Team Race
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Posted by: truespode---------------------

This past weekend we went to Diamondback in Resaca, GA for a Benefit Team Race for Mark Shuler who was injured during a GNCC. He is a good guy and it looked like a great turnout overal.

Props to those that put this event on, it was a great deal of fun and Wow! What a weekend. I'm gonna try and keep this short but it will be hard b/c there is so much to say about the weekend.

This was my first time back on a full size bike in 6 weeks and only my second time riding (last weekend I rode the wife's CRF150 for awhile).

First, I meet up with Gomer Saturday and we trie a shortcut. It probably would have worked if our shortcut did not have a detour that took us up into the Mountains. It really added a lot of time to our ride so we missed riding the track on Saturday. It wasn't a big deal though b/c we got to see a real live bear on the road. It was still young and it surprised us b/c at first we thought it was a dog.

We got to the track just in time to set up and start work on the bikes and walk the track. Everyone was kind enough to "mark" parts of the track where they expected me to wreck Lemming's valves were out of spec so his bike wouldn't start. Gomer and him tore that down while Scott and Dave trued my rim b/c of the severely loose spokes I had. Then we took the head off of Gomer's bike to see the difference between his and Lemmings and noticed he had a lot less oil than Lemming (looks like Gomer needs to put a new oil pump in his bike).

After Scott left Lemming came back with Pizza (thanks man, that was really good). We decided on teams. Danny and I were going to share the 450F for the entire 4 hour race and Gomer was going to team with Lemming. Gomer on the YZ250 and Lemming on his autoclutch CRF450.

Gomer then decided to put a Kenda rear tire on my 450. He got it on and it looked like the tire held over 12psi with no valve stem in the tube!! The tire looked tough enough to run on the RV!!

The next morning everyone was starting to arrive and it looked like about 200 or so showed up for the event. Gomer and Lemming ran the B class while Danny and I ran the C class (they only had 5 classes - A, B, C, +30, +40).

They used transponders for scoring and that was really cool.

As we lined up I kept thinking that my rear brake was just a little soft. I looked down and noticed I was low on fluid. I arranged with Gomer (since it was a team race and he'd be in the pits before me) to get some fluid for me to put in during one of the pit stops.

The first lap was scary for me. I looked at it like just a trail ride but it was a long time since I rode in the woods competitively so I took it easy. I did well enough on the first lap but was having trouble looking around properly... I was scanning the course like I would on an MX track and missed a lot of things at first.

The course was 9.5 miles and fairly wide. With the exception of about a mile of true single track you could fit two bikes side by side down the trail. However, the speeds weren't what you would expect b/c there were some big hills... quite a few of them. The 450 really shined in that environment. I only fell once and only stalled a few times on the first lap but the bike started rather easily with the hot start. There was also a big grass track area and that was fun except one part.

In one part of the grass track there was danger signs and I did not know why b/c it looked smooth. As soon as I hit them I found out there were ruts that were running diagonal to the trail and it caused a bit of swapping. Thank goodness for the damper.

I finally came around and handed the bike off to Danny. I then went and rested in the A/C of the motorhome and relaxed for a little while
(having that RV with A/C was like cheating). Then I went back to the track and when Danny came in I put more fluid in the rear MC and put gas in the bike... all on my clock time.

I then took off and felt better on the second lap. I kept up with a few people and passed a couple too. I was nervous on the hills on the first lap but had a lot more confidence on the second lap. The 450 loved going up those hills. However, coming down them was kinda scary. They were the steepest and longest up and down hills I've ever raced on.

When I came in again Danny was ready and took off. I went back to the A/C and rested a little and freshened up my waterpack. After getting refreshed I went back out and traded with Danny when he came in. We put gas in the bike and I got going again. I was surprisingly not that tired - or at least I was not cramping up. I think the breaks in the A/C did me well.

I started out really good on the last lap. I even stood more and was pushing it a bit. I was reminding myself this was the first time back on my bike in over 6 weeks However, I was feeling good.

Then on a downhill the rear brake was not working well. I think I made a mistake putting fluid in it. The resevoir had fluid in it but it was low at the start. I think that after putting fluid in it I did not leave enough room for the fluid to expand when it heated up so by this point I had boiled my rear brake. The rear brake worked but it was very soft.

I slowed down and trail rode the rest of the way. We were at the 4 hour mark anyway so I figured I would pull off and head back after I finished my lap. It was nice on the track portion and there were 2 jumps I probably could have done but I kept my wits and rolled everything. I kept it safe and had fun.

When I came in it was about 10 minutes to 3pm (the 4 hour cut off). Danny could have done another lap but when we did the switch I didn't think I would make it back in time so I told him he could go back to the A/C. He was pretty tired anyway so I think it worked out well.

Final results, Team Scared (Gomer named us) finished about 4th from last. My times were decent. I had a 37 minute, a 43 minute on the lap we did the brakes and a 41 minute on the last one. At each bike exchange I was slow to get my helmet on when Danny came through and we just took it easy.

I did check my times against some of the others and my times were as good as the bottom 20%-30% of the class so that made me feel good that although I trail road that if I would have pushed it I could have done as well as back of the mid-pack. The bottom line was that I had fun and I did not get hurt and I held up well in the heat and the length of riding.

The bike beat me up b/c I still have the suspenders set up for the MX track but the power was good.

Later in the day I rode MX Tuner's CRF450 around the pits. I could immediately notice the influence of the 9 1/2 oz flywheel weight and the suspension differences. His suspension was definately more woods friendly. After Dirtweek I plan on having some things done to the 450 so it will be at Tuner's for quite awhile

All in all we had a GREAT time and got wore out pretty good.

As for the bike. It beat me up but I was pleasantly surprised that it did not boil over the radiator and handled 4 hours of continuous run time very well. The bike did impress me. I think after I get Tuner to work on it I will be a very happy camper with a nice bike setup just for me.

Ivan

Posted by: truespode---------------------

Pics speak better than words. Wait till you see the one of me bottoming my suspenders

Posted by: Michelle---------------------

Ivan, ya nut. I had to have a double take at the pic to see what size the bike was, thought it might have been Jen's bike

Now I know you're nearly back to "normal", that's the ride reports I remember of old, even if you can't spell - what the heck is trail "road", either it's a road or it's a trail hehehehe. It is good to see you back.

In the 2nd pic of Gomer, what the heck is he doing? (do I really want to know?) Looking at his foot off the peg for no apparent reason. (and where's his tutu?)

Posted by: truespode---------------------

Quote:

Originally posted by Michelle

In the 2nd pic of Gomer, what the heck is he doing? (do I really want to know?) Looking at his foot off the peg for no apparent reason. (and where's his tutu?)

That is a good question... I asked him why his son and I handled that same section so well. I guess he didn't have a steering damper on the YZ

Ivan

Posted by: bscottr---------------------

Man was it hot!!!

But what a great time and for an excellent cause. I believe there was approximately 175 +/- riders there with the proceeds going to Mark. A very special thanks to SETRA and the great folks from Diamondback for putting this on. You guys really rock! :thumb: :thumb:

As for me, yup that’s me Ivan in those two photos. :o That’s the first organized event I ever entered and I have a new found respect for the HS guys that run that hard for 2-3 straight hours. Even though we had roughly 30 minutes between laps I was beat. Old, slow and really out of shape.

Hanging out with my DRN buds is always cool, although way too infrequent lately. Man I need to send Gomer my rent $$ for the use of his A/C, that saved my arse in a big way. We got to tweak on the bikes Saturday evening, BS and I even got to meet a few other DRNers. For those who haven’t met Lemming yet, here’s a heads-up. He’s yet another cool dude and it’s obvious why JP hangs with him. :scream:

Ivan great report. Hope to see you guys soon.

Scott

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Diamondback Benefit Team Race

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