Another great race weekend!!
We made it to the race Friday evening to find a few of our State Line members all ready there. It was a beautiful farm and a beautiful night. We settled in for the weekend and enjoyed the night which ended around 10:30 for most of us. There was and Enduro Saturday morning so we had to get our race sleep..Kinda like beauty sleep.
Saturday morning we all got up to an awesome morning.. hard not to love the morning when the surroundings are so spectacular. Anyway, all of our Enduro racers started getting dressed and ready for the 8:30am start. Even Jordan who decided he would race ( he usually doesn’t do Enduros). Up to the start we go..and the green flag fly’s and off they go. It was a new experience for us, having only raced a few Enduro’s we weren’t sure how they worked. I will say that scoring at our own race helped me understand better. I even figured out Jordan’s score by myself, OK with the help of Eric Kipp and I was only one point off. The kids had a great time and did very well. Nate finished first in class and Cole finished 3rd. Jordan took 3rd in MiniA and Tanner got 11th. In the MiniB class Anthony got 4th. TY raced the Jr. Enduro and burned checks putting him out of trophy contention. On to the evening..
A great day turned into a great evening. The land owners roasted and gave away fresh corn and boy was it yummy, then acoustic Jack started playing while we all danced and some of us sang. The hay wagon was taking anyone who wanted to go on a ride and several couches in the field held the onlookers (and the dogs). The dance award usually goes to Dave Prouty, otherwise known as swivel hips, but this year it has to go to Matt Simon. Sorry Dave. Matt danced and danced, sweated, fell, then danced some more. To every one’s disappointment Acoustic Jack stopped playing at 10pm leaving the dancin queen wanting more, right Crystal. Well, back to the campers to continue with their own little parties. Sunday was the race day, but I think a few people forgot about that. Parties over by midnight.
Sunday morning comes and once again all is well. Mini riders up and getting ready to race. The starting line is busy as the bikes move in. Ready, set, go. Into the woods they go..or should I say into the dust. Stateline all in all had great starts. Jordan got into the woods awesome flew by me about 1/2 mile in, looked great and struck a tree. Down he went, but back up and off before I got to him. The race went off without a hitch, the track was fast and the kids loved it. Unfortunately, the results that my friend Bridgette prints out for me were taken by someone else and I haven’t received the email she is sending with all the results yet. So here goes my memory: Bigwheel, Nate got 4th, Sawyer took 5th, Conner got 8th. MiniA, Zack Mossey got 5th, Jordan got 8th, Tanner took 12th. Girls, Aubrey got second and was right on the heels of the first place rider.
Onto the late morning race…. Well like a crazy man, Zack jumps back on his bike, or Reds bike I mean and heads back out to the start for the C200 race. No rest, just back on the bike. His start wasn’t perfect, but he entered the dust OK. Well,the start wasn’t perfect, but his race was. He finished 3rd in his class and 6th overall which made a few racers angry enough to complain. Come on, the kid beat you fair and square. Great job Zack. I have a feeling I know what class you will race next year. Mike O’brien also raced the late morning race, class C250 and finished very well taking 5th. Great job boys.
After the morning races were over we all had time to rest, eat and enjoy the sun. 1:00 came and everyone started to get ready for the 1:30 race. Up to the start we all go, on the line waiting for the flag….but there was a 30 minute layover…sorry boys. At least there was some shade for you all to enjoy. Now back on the bikes and off they go. Jon had a great start, then BeeOBee, Dylan and all the rest of them. The dust was so thick you couldn’t see the bike in front of you. Crystal, Sue and I went into the woods to take some photos. Everyone on the track was flying. I have never heard such racing. The sound of the bikes flying through the woods was like being at an airport. WOW! After watching in the dust for awhile, I decided I would go to the pits and watch. I was completely impressed. Our team (Pete, Mike, Erik, John and Dave) worked so incredibly well together and not only for our club, for anyone who came in and stopped near them. I couldn’t count how many times I heard “what do you need” from Erik. Completely impressed you guys, well done! Back to the battle on the track. Jon and Jim Senecal had a good race going. Jim leads, next through the barrels Jon is leading. Back and forth they go. Todd is leading his class the first lap, hoping to hold off Erdman. Ty was close behind Todd through a few laps. Check out the photos, he is right behind him. Marty is out of the race after his first lap. It is important to check the fluids in your bike Marty, how long have you been racing? Dig is going good, Paul is on track, Dylan and Dillon were flying. Luke wasn’t happy with the speed of the track and called it quits after the second lap. Rob was having a good race, lost his head pipe but finished the race. Rob, your due to have a race without a breakdown aren’t you? Jamie was steady as you go…trail…trail….trail…thanks for letting little Ben Kelly by Jamie. The finished look something like this. Remember I haven’t received the results yet. Jon was not able to hold the lead and finished third overall. He is getting much closer and is even able to stand and talk after the race is over. Next Todd came in 3rd in Avet, Digger got 5th, and Rob ??? There were a few serious injuries (no one from our club) during the afternoon which stopped the race momentarily. This caused great confusion for scoring right BeeOBee? He got third…or so they say. He was in the lead for a long time and then they stopped the race..he ends up third..mass confusion. Paul came in 3rd in class and Jamie came in 4th. Dylan and Ty had great finishes but I don’t know their places, Sorry. If you notice I haven’t mentioned Dillon G. Well he was thinking that his race was close and he better not pit and waste time. Great strategy if you are sure that you have enough gas to finish the race, not such a good strategy if you don’t have enough gas to finish the race. I think Dillon learned a few things this race. The first is; just because they are in the same club as you doesn’t mean they are willing to give up gas out on the track during the race. The second is; picking race strategy is very important, consult your pit crew.
Scoring was a nightmare. Most people headed out before they finished manually scoring everyone and adding and subtracting time for stopping. The Nutmeg club was great though and provided pizza and ice pops for anyone willing to wait.
All and all it was another fantastic weekend..Red Robins on the way home with everyone. I hope to see everyone at Unadilla and if not we will see you at the next NETRA race in two weeks. Have a great week and be race ready.