This was an “Electrifying” race!
First I would like to thank the Wilkinson Family for allowing our club to use their beautiful property. Second, I would like to extend my gratitude to John McIntyre. Without his presence this weekend I really felt, and now appreciate beyond belief, what he does for this club. I am also very thankful that Theresa is well and already on the way to recovery. We love you both!
Set up began on Thursday night with the arrival of tents, porta-potties, refrigerators, etc. and continued straight through the weekend. It all ended with the pick-up on Monday morning. Everything was packed away and rolled out, with the anticipation of taking out everything to allow for clean-up and drying off.
Friday night was an absolutely beautiful night. The stars were out and the weather was perfect. Some of our club members were set up and already staying at the race sight. Four wheelers were carrying people up and down the hill and the field was buzzing with activity. Pete’s camper was the place for us all to gather and catch up and listen to story’s. Thanks for the fire pit Eric and thanks to Ty for driving it into place. My bed-time came pretty early after a day of food shopping with Alison and setting up. The night didn’t end early for a few others though. There was alot of laughing and drinking and visiting going on. Some people didn’t know they were going to have visitor’s, right Steve Bellemere? He was surprised when Buzy and friends came into his bedroom wanting him to get up. Then wanting their “second feeding”. There was also some racing going on….and not only by the kids. There were some adults involved too. I was going to call them “grown-ups” but that just didn’t seem to fit. Paul was going to be in bed “no later than midnight”, so when I awoke to a loud noise outside of my camper and saw it was 1:45am, I gave him a call. He was racing 4-wheelers up to camp with Willy…but they were being chased by Ethan who was driving his mothers Denali. There was then a short discussion of acting our age and such. Paul did make it in around 3am for his “second feeding”.
Saturday came early for some of our members…what a surprise. We all started working and got busy. Believe it or not, Paul tried to sneak off and get in a bed a few times. Thanks for getting him up Dickie. The pee-wee race had a great turn out and all of the riders had a great time. Our own Chase Gosselin did a great job. Along with Hannah Sorel, and many others. After the race was over and the cleaned up was done, preparation started for Sundays race. Finally it was time to relax, eat a great chicken dinner and have a beer or two. Which I think most of us did. There was a huge bon fire (kids, don’t start a fire like Paul did at home) and a DJ playing some……tunes? Again my night came to a close early and again, Paul was going to be in bed between 11 – 12pm. He did arrive quietly this time at 1:30am without looking for a “second feeding”.
At 6:50am I flew out of bed. I was suppose to start sign-ups at 7:30. Wow, was I late. The team pulled together for a second day in a row and things just fell into place. Sign-ups started and the coffee was brewing, bacon was sizzling and the day had started. My focus turned to the mini race at 8:30 because Jordan was racing. He needed to win this race and had been working out hard in hopes that he would. I am happy to announce that he did win the big-wheel class by 1:17…He was thrilled and realized his hard work had payed off. All other races went off without a hitch. There was virtually no problems. Well, if you consider the over heating of John Wilkinson’s bike and Adam Volpi having difficulty during his race. He must of ate bad chicken the night before, a problem then there might have been a couple. Other than that, Eric even noticed that his radio hadn’t been going off. GREAT!! I also want to say that JIM SENECAL pulled off the win, which he needed as well. Good job Jim. Okay, the racing was over, the food was done being cooked. The mess was under control and the majority of the racers had headed home. NOW…comes the real story…..
Most everyone had settled in and began to relax. We waited for the “pig roast”, chatted with friends, shared a few cocktail and watched the storm clouds roll around in the mountains to the south and west. As the clouds got closer, it got darker and the winds got stronger. Then came the rain….. The tent we were all standing under started to take flight. Everyone standing under the tent grabbed hold .Well, Paul did let go at one point to get a few beers from the cooler. He said his workers were getting thirsty. It must have been a sight. We witnessed a bolt of lighting start a fire off in the distance and we heard the tornado whistleblow. What was next? The kids were getting very upset and things just were not letting up. The guys holding the outside of the tent felt an undeniable jolt. We didn’t dare get into our campers because of the wind but we couldn’t just stand under the tent any longer either. Despite Paul’s efforts to convince us, by singing “it’s almost over”, to hang in. Some of us retreated to our cars. Finaly, it did come to an end and we are all OKAY. We were a bit shook up but okay. Thank God!
Monday morning found the place a wet, muddy mess. The members that remained cleaned and wiped down what we could. Put things away and commenced to sliding out of there. All that started well, ended well. We will wait to hear from John if through all of it we made any money. I sure hope so!
Again, Thank you to John McIntyre and Eric Kipp and to all those worked so hard to make this event a success. Also, great job to everyone who raced.
I Hope to see you guys at Unadilla, and if not at the next race on September 18th. Be race ready.