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General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Thief River Falls Race Adventure (June 30th)
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[QUOTE="justalonewolf007, post: 1215847, member: 77294"] Wrote it last night! So sorry for the delays! I'm 4 or 5 races behind now!!! Part Two: The driver’s meeting was pretty uneventful. There was a large amount of sponsor thanking, then some more sponsor thanking, followed by more sponsor thanking. Being that the casino was one of our biggest sponsors for the series, we thanked them quite a few times. After that, they played the national anthems and sent us to practice. I used to be a swimmer when I was in high-school. No, not the dancing style with legs flipping around in the air; I used to race in the pool. Because of the way the races were set up, I was always in the first race, which happened only moments after the national anthem. To this day, the song always serves to flip my mental throttle from idle to wide open. I get restless and a little edgy, but most of all, the song puts me into my flow. According to Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (yep that’s pronounced “chick sent me high” for those of you who don’t know Polish phonetics…) “Flow” is a state of happiness or satisfaction that one gains by doing something appropriately challenging. Some even describe it as a state of focus that is much like meditation. Doing something easy, like sorting colored marbles into boxes, won’t get you into this state. However, for me, racing is no box of marbles. When I realized that I was psychoanalyzing myself, I gave a quick scolding and began focusing on what I had planned for each turn and obstacle. If I think too hard about all the different disorders I qualify for, it gets to be a little depressive or frightening! Although never diagnosed, I match enough of the symptoms to qualify for...okay…I admit it. I very well may be schizophrenic. GASP! Maybe that’s where the narrator came from! As a side note…I forgot to add the pics: [url]http://www.steeleracingphotos.com/bikes/7cc/index.htm[/url] 1103, 1108, 1113, and B187. Big thanks to Maureen for getting these! We walked back again, now grumbling like grumpy and sleepy ants, slapping mosquitoes as we went. I talked with the family who had parked beside me for a little while again, explaining my educational plans, and defending the science of my future profession (of course, to no avail…these guys thought I was a wacko…which I probably am! :) ). When practice came around, I pushed the bike up to the lane set up to keep us from rutting up the starting gate area. The whole time, the 85 racer’s dad gave a good lecture of how to do a start “the right way.” I simply smiled and nodded to keep him happy. At this point my nervousness kicked in and I started focusing on the scary looking serrated knife whoops, and the bigger bikes in front of me. There were at least two 250s, one 125, and one 150 there. The other two, not including myself, were on 85s, one Kawasaki, and one Yamaha. That makes seven riders, which was quite a crowd compared to the normal 3-4 we usually get! I started the little CR, suddenly realizing that the dad was not talking to me anymore. In fact, I couldn’t find him despite the triple takes I threw in every direction. “What the heck? Where’d he go!?” I looked ahead again just in time to have the first 250 roost my face as it took off. “FEH!! BLEH! FOOEY!” I caught the official laughing at my attempts to remove dirt from my nose and mouth by shaking my helmet while it was still on my head. A second later he gave the nod and set the little CR and I loose with pointing thumb. The dirt was absolutely perfect! However, my corners were not so complimentary of the track conditions. I was lucky to have the berms, or I would have done even worse. All the jumps seemed to be quite a bit easier than I had even expected, and I felt good holding a little faster pace through the first set of jumps (small low rhythm section). I, again, screwed up the turn, and nearly killed the engine coming into the larger set of whoops. They were at least large enough for me to jump a set, then let the next set buck, and jump the following set again. I had a feeling that they wouldn’t be too much of a problem for me at all. I cleared the ditch without trouble, and found the outside line I had planned to take into the serrated evil knife whoops. They looked quite a bit smaller now that I was on the bike. I took them in 2nd gear as well, hoping to stay at a manageable speed without losing power to the point of having to try shift while going through them. They were so small, that the first ten had the same effect on my “Aieyah” that a gravel road full of washboard bumps would do. In fact, I sounded so funny that I nearly went off the track from laughing so hard. That little episode threw me off for the rest of practice, and all I could think of was how funny I sounded. ~~~ In fact ladies and gentlemen, our hero actually thought that she sounded quite like a “vibrated ninja chipmunk with cotton balls in its nose.” HEY! This is MY story! You’re spoiling all the good parts! As the hero, I am sure you would have failed to include that very important detail, as it might further prove your having disorganized schizophrenia. Thanks. Go away now. ~~~ I accidentally jumped the mid-turn tabletop, and managed to nearly go off the track again. The “S-curve” turn also went quite poorly, and I struggled to even hold my line through the set of corners. No berms were there to help me. The next section was straight, with a low tabletop that I hit in 3rd gear and didn’t even get any air at all to my disappointment. That corner, too, was extremely difficult to get around and I actually went off the track by a foot. It was easy enough to get over the choppy doubles; the quads and big bikes had chewed them down quite thoroughly. There wouldn’t be much of them left by the end of the first moto, let alone my class. The next corner was set up very well, and the little CR flung itself around it with what could almost be called “ease.” With another straightaway, and set of doubles, I was facing the tabletop finish. It was a little intimidating as I approached, but it was easily navigated. The next tabletop had a little bit of a kicker to its lip that I wasn’t expecting. The last sweeping corner was actually quite fun to lean the bike down a little. The next lap went even easier as I picked up a little better pace and had better corners the second time around. However, just as I reached the finishline tabletop, a random guy lapped me. Apparently they had let him practice with us because of time issues or something. This put an end to my practice though, as I watched the checkered flag wave in front of me. “Grr…frustrating.” I rode through the exit lane, and pushed the little CR back to my trailer. Here began the wait. The women’s class was set about two-thirds of the way through the first moto. With the extra time, I decided to ask the photographer to video my races in order to give my grandparents the opportunity to see me ride for once. Somehow I got the feeling that having a video of my first time at a new track wouldn’t be the greatest of ideas, but I shoved it quickly aside and went to check over the little CR one last time. [/QUOTE]
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MX, SX & Off-Road Discussions
General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Thief River Falls Race Adventure (June 30th)
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