Berwick ACR/AHRMA MX - here we come!

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First race of MY season this Saturday on 5/2 in Berwick, PA at - what I hear - is a very cool MX track with lots of elevation change.  My original intention in catching this combined ACR/AHRMA round was to race in the bright and early Cross-Country race, but that was cancelled due to some issues.

Is the "Fast By Friedel" 72 Six Day ready to go for Season 2? Well..[:I]

We're getting there.  "New" 1.8 MX tank mounted and Al Buehner-supplied petcocks installed and working? Check! New whirlpool throttle and "MP" model adjustable cable mounted and working (from Mark at Weekend Warriors, 513-482-9620)? Check! Air filter cleaned, nuts-bolts-chain tightened? Check!  New vinyl numbers (not cheap!)from JakesGarage.com? Somewhere in the mail as we speak....

We'll change out the AT fluid in the tranny before Allen's Farm in mid-May.  I'll spend tonight getting toolbox/odds-ends-spares boxes/clothing-gear all organized for the trailer.  Oh wait - need to grease the right-side wheel bearing on the trailer....Damn!

Am I physically ready to go? Not too bad - warmed up enough up here along Lake Ontario to get out on the mountain bike a half-dozen times recently.  Swimming and "spin" class (don't ask..) got me thru the winter.

Now...if I can just remember to "shift up" when I catch my not-so-favorite Sachs 6B overshift neutral going from 3rd and 2nd going into the turns I should be okay.

Hopefully I'll see some fellow Penton/KTM brothers (or sisters) there!

[Ernie Phillips]

Butt glue?  Don't for get the butt glue. Good luck.  Oh,check the carb too.  Good luck!!!!

Ernie P.
Chattanooga, TN

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Ya know - as I was running trail thru the trees on the mountain bike, I thought about butt glue...well, actually I thought about how much time I was sitting on the seat and not standing and that I'd better get my a__ up and start styling....

Lasted about two minutes...and I was sitting again![]

And thanks for the reminder about the carb, Ernesto.  Yep, I be applying about 350 ft-lbs to those hose clamps these days before each moto.[^] Okay fine...inch-lbs.

[Ernie Phillips]

Bob, I'll be expecting a full report.  We're headed out to Combs in the morning for weekend of fun in the Ozarks.  Wish us luck.  -EP

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Your full race report right here! Woke up to grey skies, wet roads, and arrived at the Evansville Raceway just outside of Berwick, PA. to find a very interesting track that was just starting to dry out.  
While this race is an AHRMA NA points event, ACR classes were running with "Pre-75" 125, 250, and Open, as well as a 50+ class for Pre-75's.   They break these up into A, B, and C for Expert, Int, and Novice riders.  Look at the CR website if you want to see the other classes, but it's a pretty neat vintage racing org that had a great rider turn-out.  It doesn't hurt that they run some modern classes as part of the line-up, but this probably goes a long way with keeping the raceway owners happy (uh..that formula would be sign-ups + gate = $).

In hindsight,  I wish I had not gone out for first practice - but the track was new to me, very long, and it has a HUGE uphill-downhill (think of it as the opposite of the famous Unadilla section) that I wanted to make sure I had down.  Well, I made it up the hill 2 out of the 4 laps - primarily because of the mud.  Also worth mentioning here is that there were at least two jumps that were "roll-overs" for pre-75 bikes (heck - they were  roll-overs for 80% of the PVs also!) and some whoops along one straight that are jumps for Vintage bikes - as in jump the first whoop and land on the face for a roll-over of the second whoop (uh...took me till my second moto to get THAT Chad Reed-inspired move down BTW)  They let us ride around one of the big jumps, but the other was just scary the whole day - even as a rollover....

Anyway...I spent the next thirty minutes scraping/removing mud from my bike.  Yep, sticky clay mud that ages your bike the longer it is stuck to it (sorry Tony, but the Six Day lost a little bit of its shine this weekend...).  I looked longingly at some of the pressure washer/water barrel set-ups firing up around me, took notes, and will not show up again without my washer if there is even a hint of rain.

I skipped the second practice and went over to the "hillclimb" to help vintage bikes get over the top (or get turned around and back down the hill).  By then, "only" about one of every 10 bikes or so was not making it - heck, I thought I was at an Enduro! But the sun had now come out and I figured things would be okay.  I did see a few guys pack up though...they just felt the conditions/track was too challenging for the pre-75s.  

Given the numbers (about 16-18 pre-75 bikes), I wish I had gone ahead and signed up for +50 (Race 3), but I watched their race very closely since just about all of them were signed up for my race (Race 8 had all the pre-75 bikes, as well as Women, who could ride whatever they want).  Plus I wanted to watch the ONLY other pre-75 "125" thatwas racing that day - Tom France on his Montesa-Honda SL125-motored bike.  Tom's an Expert-level rider, one of the ACR officers, and smooth as silk.  He holeshot this entire crowd - that's right, CZ400s, a beautiful YZ250A, a TM 250, CZ250s, a Maico, etc.  And he led them for 1.5 laps before a very good Elsinore rider got by him.  It was still slippery on a lot of the track and he was no doubt using that to his advantage.  He ultimately finished 3rd in this race.  Wow.

Race 8 and I line up right along side Tom.  The rest of the field had not figured out that part of his secret was that he did have the shortest distance to the left-hander/downhill.  Gate drops and I follow Tom - third into the turn and down the hill!  Great start and I quickly figure out I'm riding way over my head as we head to the back section of the track.  Somehow I am not passed as I individually roll over the little whoops/jumps I described earler. Now...about that hillclimb - the climb actually has a left handish 120 degree bermed turn that you literally "hit" (or roll around) to gain speed before starting up the hill.  I risk 2nd gear (I had to drop to first during my practice runs) and make it up the hill, and have to drop to first right at the top (clutch in - solid, deliberate click down...), and get passed by two big bores. Quick note - the downhill (associated with the uphill) is positively scary, and getting a bit choppy at the bottom.  Like "just get me thru this, God..." scary.  I get thru it somehow, someway each lap.  I get up the hill in 2nd gear on Lap 2, and find myself in a great race with the TM 250 for laps 2 thru 4. He had passed me at end of my second hillclimb, but I had re-passed him when he elected to rollover the big jump (and not take authorized bypass).  I'm laughing in my helmet when this happens on Lap 2, but on lap 3 he passes me again (before hillclimb) and I can only catch him/pass him using the "bypass". This time I chop my throttle and let him go ahead.  Now he starts to pull ahead a bit (thru Lap 4) and I start pushing a bit harder.  BTW - 4 lap race - remember I said that Berwick is a very long course.  Right when I "hit" the left-hander to climb up the hill (I'm in third and was going to try and carry that partway up the hill) - MY LEFT HANDLEBAR BREAKS OFF!!!  I slam against the tank and the bike cases on the crest of the berm. Oh..My...God.  I'm able to get the bike off of the berm, started,and back to the pits.  

God bless vintage racers.  I have the announcer make an announcement about my situation, and 3 different racers show up with bars. Since my bars were original Penton "hi-rise" bars, my choices were all lower, but I was still grateful.  Yes - I was racing with original Penton bars - along with the new bars I had to also watch guys shake their heads and listen to them say things like "Dude...those are for show-and-tell...always race with modern metals...".  I am now wiser.....

Bars bolted up nicely,  controls remounted...and I was ready for my second moto.  Checked the scoring sheets for Race 1 and found out I was running FIFTH (out of pre-75 bikes) when the bars broke.  Tom France (the 125 Expert) was gone, taking third again....

My wife is now staring at me because I promised I would only be a few minutes..so..stay tuned for another post about Race Two at Berwick!!

[jeff greenberg]

Great race report !!  Felt like I was there. Actually laughed out loud when I got to the part about
You bars breaking then I realized that you could have got hurt, sorry =)
Jeff

[Mark P]

Having a handlebar snap off during a race is something to think about. Makes me wonder about the metal fatigue where footpeg backets are welded to the frame. Imagine having one of those break on a jump.

[jeff greenberg]

Mark,  I snapped a peg off while riding a 125 Elsinore at Mid-Ohio in 1975 (ski jump before the tower). It was a little
rough on the groin if you know what I mean!  After that DNF, I had it re-welded with reinforcements.
I used to have these "ZAP bars" on my PENTONS. These had no cross brace.  They would bend a little
I never snapped one, fortunately.  =)
Jeff

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Berwick Part Two... (this will be shorter, I promise):

Before moving to Race 2, let me just say that I meditated Big Time on where my bars had decided to snap versus where they didn't decide to snap. Just before the Big Downhill (I rememebered the name of the Unadilla section BTW - it was called "Screw U"), there was a pretty good jump, relatively flat-topped, so you could go far, but you really wouldn't go high...the moderns (and 2 or 3 PV/Ultimas) were landing ON THE DOWNHILL off of this jump.  Incredible.  So this jump became one of the specatator gathering points - which of course meant that I needed get a little air-time off of it too, right?  Anyway, between that jump's landing and my run down the Big Downhill, my bike was taking a bit of a beating.  If my bars had chosen to break at either of those places...well...let's just say that my Deep Thought while bolting on the new bars was all about gratitude.  Kind of a freaked out gratitude, but gratitude nonetheless.

Race Two start - my fellow pre-75 (bikes...) senior citizens have NOW figured out Tom France's secret and half of the starting grid is clustered around us.  The gate drops and I find myself amongst 7 or 8 bikes in the first turn and these old boys are wailing it down the hill to the next turn.  I'll be honest - my Six Day was just beating me to Sh__ at this pace, so I backed off and took a "follow 'em" approach thru the first lap. The whole track has now dried up into an action-traction grade clay and everybody is moving faster.  This is also when I decide to take a chance and jump the "supercross whoops" on the back straight that I mentioned in my first post.  Kinda painful, but I figure out the timing and I'm able to stay with the bigger boys for a lap with a bonus being that I can now pull third gear almost all the way to the top of the Uphill section.  Only thing is that now everyone is going even faster on the Big Downhill and I'm on holding on to my Bucking Bronco for dear life.  I'm not catching anyone, and only an Ossa Phantom 250 rider (from VY- great guy - name escapes me...) goes by during Lap 2 and I'm bummed because he gradually pulls away too.   Lap 3 and it's just me with no one closing and I just work on my clutch-slipping thru and out of the corners with berms or well developed lines.  I cross the line and don't feel too bad about things...a check of the sheets at scoring and it turns out I crossed the line in 7th out of 15 pre-75 bikes.

Things I did better:  several times when I clicked into my favorite neutral, I shifted up to recover (instead of down) and found the right gear.
Things I need to stop doing:  I'm still grabbing gears on my 6B without the clutch sometimes.  I know...this is bad...don't yell at me, Poggers.  Just too many years on bikes that this behavior didn't matter.
Racing set-up: my current shocks (Red Wings) are fine for grass tracks and trail rides, but aren't right for "real" MX tracks like Berwick.  A look down the line of pre-75's revealed everyone to be on Works, Ohlins, or Falcons.  And boy...did they seem to be having a better time of it than me.  I need to stiffen up my forks (35mm Ceriani's) for these kind of tracks also.  Attention Ernie: carb clamps stayed tight, so I've got THAT one fixed.
Advil and Beer - administer in large doses immediately following the races and continue to administer on periodic basis for next 36 hours....

[Lew Mayer]

Continue beer regimen past 36 hours, as needed.[8D]

Lew Mayer

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Thanks for the medical advice, Dr. Mayer![xx(]

[Mark P]

Thank you for this great racing diary!  Im laying on the sofa, heating pad on the shoulder, eating Necco candy wafers and I feel like Im on the track breathing the pre-mix fumes and tasting the dirt!  lol

Wanted to comment on your post race choice of a beer-Advil cocktail that all of us "middle-aged" athletes-riders might use.  I had my ass chewed out last month by my surgeon for taking Ibuprofen as a daytime painkiller while I recover from having a severed left chest muscle reattached to my shoulder/left bicep(injury happened on duty during some police training-I only get badly injured on nonmotorized activities..). Anyway, doc told me that Ibuprofen actually stops the healing process and to stop taking it.  I guess its good for basic inflammaton reduction, etc but not something you should take when muscle-bone is mending.  I was unaware of it.  Always best to check with the doc.  Anyway, Im on Tylenol during the day now.  

Please keep your race logs coming!

[Ernie Phillips]

Bob,  Thanks for the great racing report.  Glad the carb stayed attached.  Now, about those shocks .... -EP

Ernie P.
Chattanooga, TN