Vesrah Suzuki Offroad Team

We again woke to rain on race day.  After breakfast we made some last minute changes to the bikes in anticipation for a muddy race then headed over to the start of the morning race.

The course narrowed unexpectedly early in the lap following the traditional 3-4 grassy turns we’ve seen at every GNCC.  The funneled down track then took another unexpected switchback left and up a steep hill.  My D16 Hare Scramble experience soon became way under qualified – we’ve never seen anything as tough as this in local races.  Having watched those first few turns the mud didn’t seem that bad and it hadn’t rained since we got up.  The skies looked threatening but it didn’t rain at all the rest of the day. 

We moved over to the nasty hill we saw the day before.  It had kept Joe up for some of the night and sure enough, it was take a number at the bottom of the hill.  I polled riders as they sat in line, engines off and goggles around their neck.  Most had waited in line just like this at other points on the course before they even got to this point.  I estimated that the guys I was talking to were still on their first lap and they were more than an hour into the race.  Seeing the riders waiting and watching the bikes pile up on the hill, smoking and steaming under the strains of overheating made me fear the race Joe and I were about to do.  And we were only seeing one of the problem spots on the course.

Race time came and Joe and I agreed to ride within ourselves so we didn’t get hurt and we’d try hard to save the bikes as best we could.  With Joe’s clutch issues last race and the unknowns that lie in front of us today, destroying a bike was definitely a concern.

The temps were cool at 50 or maybe 55.  I was chilled on the line.  My row had nearly 30 starters so I knew the dash to the first turn was going to be important.  It was a righty so the rear brake was going to be an issue especially with the slick conditions.  I made it through the turn without any problems but I was at the back of the group.  I lost more spots in the grassy turns that followed.  This very much set a tone for the first hour or more of the race.  I struggled with every little thing and it drove me crazy to be losing time and making silly mistakes. 

Every turn was rutted and even some of the GNCC single track (which is at least one quad wide and often several quads wide) was rutted and whooped big-time.  My knee held up fine with only a few pings of pain here and there.  But my confidence was amiss and I was frustrated.  In my helmet I ran through what was going on.  Was I tired from being sick last week?  Did I lose a bunch of fitness in the three weeks since last race?  What?  Then at about half race I started to pull it together.  The downhills were less intimidating and the ruts weren’t getting to me even though they were getting deeper and longer as the race went on.

On the opening lap I was 12th.  That made me think I should be aiming for a top ten and be happy with it.  Next lap I was 14th and that took the wind out of my sails.  Then I was 12th, then 10th, then 8th.  By the time I was 8th there wasn’t much race left for me to gain ground but I started to feel like I got my confidence back and my speed up.  I’m curious about my lap times because I hoping that I got faster rather than picking off spots because the guys in front of me were slowing.

In the end I was 8th and my race was 3 hours and 23 minutes long.  Good thing it was cool today because that helped me keep things together.  I’m beat tonight so I know I tried hard in the race.

My Suzuki was great.  Shane at the factory team helped me with some jetting settings and they were spot on for me.  That mud Pirelli front that Barney sold me was pretty damn good.  I bumped up my rear preload a little because I was afraid the mud weight would make my bike ride too low in the stroke.  I think that helped.

Back to the hills that were so daunting before the race.  The really nasty one Joe and I were so afraid of was actually pretty easy.  As long as you lined things up at the bottom it was fine.  I even was able to pick up the next gear most every time I went up it.  But there was another hill on the course that gave me fits.  It had a sharp left at the bottom and a long rut that was filled with roots and flat rocks.  I fell twice trying to get up that hill and it really pissed me off.  Again, stuff that we never saw in D16 races so I guess I should give my self a break.  but I wanted to conquer that hill and I only got it right a handful of times. 

Other notes.  There was a car bridge over a creek that we had to go under.  You had to duck and navigate the muddy waters all at the same time.  It was a little silly but I guess traditions are strong at GNCC races.  There was also one hill in particular that had square edged bumps one after another.  It reminded me of the stuff you might see at the Glen Helen National MX.  Hard to hang on and keep speed for me.

In the end the mud was not all that bad, even with my bike looking as bad as it does.  I’m happy with how I turned things around mid race but bummed I had such a tough time in the beginning.  The course was hard to me so I’d be a fool to think I had a top 5 in me today.  I did manage to finish with only aches and pains and no broken anything – on me or the bike.

Big clean up tomorrow.  Laundromat and carwash here in Gastonia, NC.  Then we fly home tomorrow night.  Whew.