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This is going to get long...
the backstory: all last week my wife was out of the country. that left me with the baby and animals alone. needless to say i was busy. there's a whole list of reasons i should've just written the weekend off, but i'm kind of stubborn, so i pre-reg'd.
i had intended to leave friday night from work, but thursday evening i could sense my plan was not going to come together, so i resolved to come home after putting the baby to bed at my mom's and go from there. my suit (that was supposed to be done monday) wasn't ready until after 9p friday night, so i bagged it, and decided to roll saturday morning.
i get up there with the dog in tow too, and it's cold. like the kind of cold i didn't really want to ride in. i was on a pretty shagged rear, but inteded to skid it the fuck out during the scheduled supermoto version of the motard race, so i didn't really wanna cough up the coin to replace, and then destroy a brand new tire. at check in, i learned there wasn't going to be a supermoto race, and i had to leave saturday evening anyway (the wife was due in, and i knew would want the family home). this left me with singles and ulsb. oh well. i could leave a little earlier now.
so i skipped first practice. (too cold and wet still) and went out for second and was skidding around all over. i was kind of pussyfooting around anyway because of the cold, so that's what i guessed the problem was.
it didn't put my headspace in a better place. i was ready to call it a season after practice. real ready.
my teamates helped me along in deciding to stay for singles, and give that a go. i go to get dressed and my 2piece suit has the connection zipper sewed in so the tab pulls around the inside! if i were a skinny dude, this wouldn't be too bad, but i carry a few extra, and it's a nuisance. then i discover the dude forgot to put one of the elbow pads back in! luckily lovely miss jane had brought the spare suit i picked up on here, and i put that on, and put my pucks on too. the knee pads are huge and stick out way more than my regular suit. this is annoying at best. (see the calamity building?)
i go out get my normal real shitty start, and start turning some laps. i can see shaw is still right there, so that's a little motivation. i pass scotty james, and marty (that one was real tight to this end of the pit wall) and am getting confident.
i see a yellow coming into 3, and no bike or rider down. i thought i missed something so i motor up the hill as usual, and see aj standing against the tires to the left. its a split second that i see him, look up track, and there's his bike, right on the line. i have no idea how i missed the thing. scotty, marty, and myself were real tight together, and somehow, we all made it around. next lap, i'm looking for the bike in the same spot, i can feel scotty breathing down my neck and decided to protect the inside into 6 because i am guessing he's sizing me up, and when i dump it in, i knew i was all wrong. mid corner corrections always go bad, so i try and ride the thing out, tight to the curb. well it was too tight, i unload the front pivoting on my foot and the curb and there it goes. i end up on the flat part of the outside of 6, and see a few flashes of color whip by, and luckily (this time) i don't get run over.
i crawl into the rocks, run out to the tires, and flop down to enjoy a front row seat for the rest of the race. timmyduck and his partner get my bike over to the gap, and as the race is over i push it back to t1a. i knew i should've listened to my gut and gone home.
that's the season. i scrub ulsb, and pack it up. the dog is either shivering under her blanket, or barking in the car, and i'm really not feeling it, so that was an easy decision. it's been a great season over all. i moved up automatically with the license renewal, and made expert in 15 races run, and 6 weekends. this, i know, is something to feel good about. i get down to a 20.6 which is also pretty respectable for a dirtbike. i really wanted teens this year, but that'll have to wait. if it weren't for the support of my family, friends, teammates, and especilly cliff's cycles, it wouldn't have come together at all. for this, i'm really grateful. what's on tap for next year? i don't know yet. i REALLY want to get involved in some control riding and instructing (hint, hint), but the budget will be the deciding factor.
to be up front and competitive with the turd, it'll get much more expensive, that much quicker. tires, motors, i've gotten away pretty cheaply to this point. to continue progress the costs/reward/risk/time are all in play. i'm going to have some tough decisions to face this off season.
so...to keep this from becoming a full novel, that about does it. thanks to everyone around. everybody on here, and up at the track, has helped in some way. shedding a little insight on this and that, or helping out, sharing a laugh has made racing an experience i'll cherish forever. hopefully this won't be the end of it, but i can't say at all right now. i'm just really happy to have done what i've done thus far.
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It's a long day sitting in that stand for nearly 10 hours!
Originally Posted by 5TOEZ
