I love hearing the stories of back in the day but I thought it would be fun to hear some current stories. Of your favorite race in the last year, of the best pass you made even if you did not win. What you all think?
Saturday, I was back at Woodland Wa. for round 6 of the VDR winter Motocross series. Saturday was wet and cold but a hearty group of guys and gals showed up to race. The track is a mixture of dirt, mostly loam and some sand. When MT. ST. Helens blew its top 25 years ago this May. it flooded the local streams and alot of slit was left plugging everything up. Truck load after truck load was hauled to the track and was plowed in. It is a soft loam track with a very hard base underneath. It had been cool and clear all week but come friday it began to rain. Because of this the water never quite pentrated the base but the top 3 or 4 inches was really wet and slick. It made for a great day of racing. Alot of guys were having trouble with getting muck in the carb, stuck throttles and dying ignitions. I had my fair share too. I managed to park pretty close to the track and near the grandstands so there was lots of traffic that came by my pit. It was nice, my wife could watch with out standing in the rain and I could keep an eye on the progress of the Motos through out the day. Nice!!! Lots of people stopped by to look and ask questions about both of my bikes and that was as much fun as anything else. IN the +50 postvintage Int. class there are three of us that are in the hunt for the series lead. All year I have been trying to get past this one guy but he and his Yamaha 400 is just too fast for me. His bike seems to favor the track with long straights. I can keep him in sight but have not been able to get past him. He is good at the starting line and I usually have to work my way past a bunch of riders. Saturday my 400 would not start and since the class is determined by age I rode my 250. I did pretty well but was having trouble in the tight flat corners. stalled it twice. once I got settled down I managed to get by some slower riders and looked for my Nemisis. I never found him but I knew he was somewhere in front. I finished a distant 2nd. I was wet and cold but glad to finish. Moto two... I got the 400 running and headed for the starting gate. pulled in and the bike died.. I kicked and kick but it would not quite fire. God help.. I wispered and kick some more. I was getting tired and was about to give up. I layed the bike over on its side and kicked it again. it popped. I kicked again and it fired... with 30 seconds to spare before the gate dropped. I tried to relax and catch my breath. The gate seem to drop in slow motion and I dropped the clutch and flew out of the gate. I was 6th going into the first corner and 4th coming out. I gassed it hard and the 4 of us left the rest of the croud behind. I set my eyes on the guys before me. They were fast and I was not going to get by them easily. Time for strategy, I pushed the guy infront of me until he made a mistake... I did not purposly hit him I just wanted to let him know I was there,so keep close. He went wide lost traction and I went underneath him. The second rider... goofed before I got to him and I managed to get by him with little trouble. One rider left. I knew who he was, he was fast and would be hard to get by. He would not make a mistake. I was not sure I could get by him. I had to out think him. find a better line. I stayed on him but everytime I tried to get under him he was there. I went to the outside.. he was there. The track was slick and it limited the lines. I had better speed coming into the corners but could not get around him. I was pushing pretty hard and I missed a shift and he was gone. one lap left and he had 15 yards on me. As it turned out he was in a different class than I and I did not have to beat him to win. I finished the day for that class with a 2,1 to give me the overall my Nemisis a 1,2 for a second place. That was a great day of racing. He emailed me yesterday to congratulate me and said he better start work on his skills in the mud. :) It was fun to win but it was also fun because it was not given to me... I had to work hard. sweeter that way. I am sure he is not going to let off and if I manage to beat him again.. it will not be easy. I look forward to that.:D March 12th we will be at it again. Will my advantage in the mud be gone....
Thom Green,Still crazy after all these years!
76' 250 MC5 (orginal owner)
78' 400 MC5
That story is what racing is all about! We live our lives and moments like that are truly living. A great narrative of a day at the vintage races. Keep the stories coming. I will post mine after our first race at the end of March and my first ride on my Penton MC5 250. Should be exciting and I am looking forward to the competition again!
Bob Peed
Good story Thom,
Those keep us all young again. Bob..don't smoke em too bad.
Tom B
Ditto with what Bob and Tom said. Great day at the races.[8D]
Ron Carbaugh
A minute ago while mounting my PVL a current racing story ran between my ears:;)
Last week in Arizona we were working away in the pits doing the regular race prep stuff. A guy nearby with 2 74 Elsinore 250s pitted was kicking away, and pushing his bike around trying to get her to fire. I didn't mean to make him suffer too long but did not even realize that I had a complete Elsie stator plate in the bottom of the tool box. Honest GUYS [}:)]I ran across it by accident.
When I held up the stator and yelled over HEY you wanna try this. He smiled and said "You Bet"! 10 minutes later we heard the old beast fire up and saw big smiles. His son then was able to race with him.
When he came back he said "How much you want for it"? I said...Got any beer? He said what are you kiddin? I told him "No it will make a great story".[:p]
When he left my friend said "real good Benolkin you traded a $100 part for a 6 pack of beer" I said "now he has to ride the Elsinore, he got the shaft".:D
Rock on Penton !
Tom B
What brand of beer was it? :D[?]
Rod Whitman
Some German Import...went down so fast I dont even remember the name but my friend ended up saying GOOD TRADE.[8D]
TB
Don't let Ron C hear me say this, but you could have traded a complete Elsinore for that six pack and I think it would have been a good trade!
Donny Smith
Any jap bike for any German beer is a good trade. James
7" and 4" travel? Hmm-that makes 11" Hey! I can live with that.
how about some more race stories, I told one of mine just to get things started. come on lets hear um
Thom Green,Still crazy after all these years!
76' 250 MC5 (orginal owner)
78' 400 MC5
OK Donny and Tom,
I will go along with the good trade, but both Tom and I did VERY WELL on Honda's during their time. I will have to addmit that most of my Hondas were either loaned, given to me or sold to me at a very LOW price. I always love the Penton ride better but they weren't around when I went looking for a job in the industry.
Tom, just too good of story and besides all the joking around you REALLY made someones day and that is in the Great Spirit of MX Racing.[:p]
Ron Carbaugh
Thom, I enjoyed your story a lot!
In comic book media, often times the "arch-enemy" is a friend of the hero without them even knowing it. Last year I battled Gary Ellis several times in the +40 PV novice class. We split motos at Casey, he beat me both motos at Moberly and he won the first moto at Monster Mountain by a convincing fashion. In the second moto the racing was a lot closer with only 30 yards or so separating us, when on the white flag lap Gary low-sided in a sweeper and let me by for the win and the overall (that was nice of him!) Gary is a great rider and hard to beat, but through it all he has come to my help so many times that I'm beside myself in gratitude. What began as a strong rivalry has remained that, but it has grown into an even greater friendship. Vintage racing, and the POG group, have given me a friend for life. Thanks Gary.