Does anybody have any news on what's been going on in Gainsville the past few days?
Peter Kane
V3442
Plainville, Massachusetts
[email protected]
Peter,
The only report that I have so far is that Lew Mayer won his Trials and Cross Country Class[^]. After dragging the results out of him he said that no one else showed up;). If you believe that scenario I have some land to sell you in West Texas that is reported to be ocean front.
Got to go to work...more later tonight.
Ron Carbaugh
Peter,
I was able to get a few pictures today of 39w and 33b and 22g ( Tom and Lew and John).
My son may have a few more we can post later. We had my grandson and at 4 years today his staying power is not quite up to a full day in the sun and racket of MX bikes , chuckle chuckle.
Here is a short cut to 3 pictures. If I put the name with the # right 33w was 300 yards ahead of 2nd in the first moto and won the 2nd moto also. Lew was fighting off a Hodie 125 for several laps and John was racing when we had to leave.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sachs175/my_photos
You should be able to save to pictures to your computer and get a big enough Pic on you screen to see whats going on.
John D.
More News............Lew Mayer won third overall in IronMan Competion. He won third place on Sunday in his first Moto X race ever. Combined with his win in Trials and Cross Country Lew had a dream weekend. He is now on his way to Daytona.
Tom Benolkin continues to carry the Penton Banner to First Place in the (I think) Post Vintage which puts him against the newer bikes and then on Sunday he won overall in the classic race and this is against the Honda Elsinores.
Thanks Lew and Tom for the excellent racing. GREAT JOB.
This is the latest information I have[8D].
Ron Carbaugh
Thanks Ron,
We added 3 more pictures , wish we could have stayed longer and taken more. Tom was really smoking in the Iron man. We could not tell how well Lew was doing because of the different classes running at the same time.
John & Peter D.
John,
Thanks for the pictures. Just remember it won't be long that the Grandson will out last you.
Ron Carbaugh
.............seems like I saw a Penton DOMINATE the 500 Sportsman Expert class,the rider:Travis Blackburn,the bike supplied by Peter Villacaro...............they also did the same in the 250 Sportsman Expert with a Spanish bike.....................
Just want to add to the new, as I'm new to POG, that I had the pleasure of meeting Lew Meyer in between his motos in the MX race. His 125 was pullin' up those steep inclines out of rock quarry like a champ! Was also watching in amazement at Tom Benolkins Six Day. He was screaming around that track leaving everyone in his roost!! Great day, great weather, fine people, fantastic sport! What else can I say!!
critter from Orlando
Gotta Get Peter off that Ossa!!!!! AND on to a PENTON!!!!!
Donny Smith
......the "other" make looked like Montesa's...........
Oh, Pete has been seen many times on an Ossa and a Maico too!!!
Donny Smith
Tom was defintely "Smokin"! He was clearing doubles on his 125 that most big-bore riders didn't attempt (including me!)
Lew - it was great sharing dinner with you on Friday night; congratulations on your weekend and thanks for the help with my bike!
Mick, glad to help! Excellent banquet, great to put more faces with names down there. Wish the warm weather would've followed me home. Wish I could have met Tom Benolkin. I talked to him at the line but couldn't find where he parked after the race. Man, he can make that Six-Day fly! John, I bet you could use slow-speed film on me.[:o)] Good meeting ya'll.
Lew Mayer
Everyone thats going to Diamond Don's Jefferson, Texas shout one out[:p]
May I have permission to attend?[:p]
Ron Carbaugh
Last year the track was really fun. Twisted through the woods with 2-3 sand berms per corner. Entry braking bumps and exit whoops that grew larger as the day went on. REAL MX
I am looking forward to another fun moto battle with Donnie Cantaloupi. Hope to see you guys there.
Tom B
You better be there Firsturn or my 6 Days will have a for sale sign for a front number plate in the final moto.[B)]
That must be Smokin' Benolkin! You lapped me so fast I thought you must have cut the course.
Lew Mayer
I would put off my own funeral to attend this race....sound familiar?
PS: Are you going to run the stock number plates or the modified ones?[:o)]
Ron Carbaugh
Lew,
What a great weekend we had. I wish we had more time to visit at the races. For your very first MX you were cooking just fine;)
If you are at Diamonds we will hold Carbaugh down until he coughs up that money he owes you.
TB
Man! Some folks just get to have all the fun - while others shoveled snow - geeesh! I'm with you Lew on wanting to put faces with names - I'm psyched that I'll be able to attend Vintage Days in July and meet a lot of folks, and who knows, maybe by then I'll have shiny Metallic Jade Green Six-Days in tow!
Peter Kane
V3442
Plainville, Massachusetts
[email protected]
I hear ya Peter, we got another 2 inches of snow last night. Best part about the AHRMA races is that it gets you moving out of the snow once a month. At 2$ a gallon ya go broke doing it.
TB
PS - I cant wait to see your bike. Will it be a racer or a show stopper?
I am planning on going. The ribs are doing great, rode a few hours last Sunday afternoon. See you there.
Teddy
Sounds great Teddy! I think about your advice daily..winning races comes 2nd from here on.
TB
How about a show stopper racer with some busted up dude dangling from the handlebars like a flag in high winds! I guess that would be me.[B)]:D
Peter Kane
V3442
Plainville, Massachusetts
[email protected]
Cant wait to see that. Mid O is said to have real mx this year. Keep going on that bike man.TB
32mm forks did not like being tested on double jump in Gainesville. Noticed they look like 32mm bananas sprouting out of the tri clamps.
A Montesa friend said to turn them 180 degrees each week. Hmmm adjustable wheelbase.
Time to bring the tubes to machinist friend
Tom B
I must add my congratulations to Tom (bentrims) Benolkin for his wins at Gainesville. My wife and I watched with awe from the grandstands.
We met Tom in the pits and talked for a few minutes so we knew his bike. We saw him pull off while leading a moto and ride back to the pits, bike still running and we wondered what was the problem.
As the staging for the final 125 expert class was lined up, the announcer mentioned Tom was entered but was not on the starting line. Bummer! The one minute sign was up and ready to turn when suddenly!!!!!
Flying out of the pits onto the track close to half way back comes Tom. The gate drops and the field is off.
I have never seen someone ride an old Penton like that, launching off doubles like no one else in the class. I saw a little tangle at the top of the big dropoff but in five laps he came from half lap down to pass and win his moto. Wife and I were screaming, people were looking at us, What A Race!! That little Penton 125 was SMOKING the Hondas and everything else. Super ride Tom and thanks for the show. Dan Pagel
1975 250 Cross Country, 1974 175 Jackpiner, 1975 125
Tom,
Put the 35mm Cerianis on it!!!! I rebuilt mine last night with new bronze bushings, seals and Seal Savers. What a difference the new bushings made.
Teddy
Tom,
Since your front end is rarely on the ground just spin them 180 degress after every race.
Ron Carbaugh
Tom,
Your new name is "BentForks". Put on the 35mm forks so you can go back to your old name of "BentRims"!!!! Winning races does come second!!!!
Teddy
Thanks Dan,
The bike is really running good and handles so predictably.
The tangle with the other rider was a bummer. It gets hard to judge which ones will be clean and which ones are close when you are really charging. Unfortunately the other rider went down and that always makes it look worse.
To get penalized for racing gets confusing. There is an old saying from Dr. Robert Schuller (Pastor Schuller) that goes: Anytime you feel you want to swear, It is time to invent something.
I feel it is time for AHRMA to (invent) a class with some clout that puts the "top gunners" gunning together. Why have some rider try to go out and win 16 motos in a weekend as they are now?
I suggest a Grand National Champion class that goes 20-30mn motos and means something. Instead of entering 2-4 classes in search of good racing we would find it every race in that one class. Then the old shoes would have time to enjoy the other races and meet people.
Tom Benolkin
Teddy,
I may have found a pair. :)
Thank you
TB
Does any one know what bike caught fire on the Sunday race. I saw a bike buring and some folks go put the fire out but I had to leave before I had found out what had happened. That is the first time I have seen a fire at an MX race. I hope everone invovled is OK.
Thanks
Desmond - I'm not sure, but I think a premier four-stoker backfired and went up in flames. I was the next class in staging, so I didn't see the incident. thankfully, no one was hurt.
Tom - I like your idea about pitting the best against the best. It would give us slow guys a chance [:I] My only concern would be guys getting too serious, getting mad, and losing the real spirit of what's happening. AHRMA has lost some pretty good people because of ill feelings. Hang in there, we all love seeing you "smokin" the double jumps, no matter how far out front you are [8D]
Thanks Mick for the encouragement!
Desmond I felt so sorry for that guy to lose his bike. When I rode by the charred remnants it made me think of how ILL prepared we are as a racing group for a fire[V]
That poor guy probably struggled 5-10 minutes before a track watering truck made the scene and could only contain the area from a forest fire.
Hmmm another set of suggestions for the next AHRMA meeting.;)
Tom B
Hopefully we are all carrying fire extinguishers. I try to remember to take mine out at every race and place it on the fender of the bike trailer in easy reach. Sometimes I forget of course, need to be better at remembering to do this.
Teddy
Good Plan Teddy,
Hopefully that incident served us all notice. The way my racing has been going this year I may race Texas with an extinguisher in a back pack.
Of course it is like locking the barn after the cow got out because that person TOTALLY lost his bike. We all know what kind of time and caring went into it.
Anyone out there know who it was?
Tom, Pentonites,
The fire on Sunday at Gatorback was an unfortunate incident that occasionally happens, but we all need to be prepared for that rare instance.
The bike in question was a Yamaha 650 Sportsman Twin that had crahed in its first moto. Durning staging for the second moto, (well away from the pits and the start line - they do it different at Gatorback ;) , the bike backfired when restarted and the K&N filter caught fire, and instatntly grew to a raging fire with flames 20 feet in the air! The owner/rider later told me that he thought he must have had a small leak in the tank that soaked the K&N and it wen t up like a roman candle after the backfire.
In spite of the remote location of the "staging", a fire extinguisher was immediately put to the test (and failed, misreably), followed by the visit of the nearby water truck (directed quickly by the promoter's crew) to finally extinguish the fire.
A point for all of us - we (AHRMA) require a fire extinguisher in your pits - how many know that or have one (at other events) because its a good idea, period? Although it didn't make a difference in this case, I have seen other cases where it did.
Lessons learned?
Dave Janiec
AHRMA Tech[:0]:)