PhilMoore
oops
Registered: Dec 2001
Location: It depends
Posts: 641
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D23 first Harescramble of 2004: Monticello
May 2, 2004 Monticello MN
The first district 23 Harescramble race was in Monticello Minnesota on May 2, 2004.
The day was perfect for racing. The temp was cool for spectators, but racing was about ideal. There was a dry breeze to help keep the goggles clear, and the riders cool. The course is approximately 11 miles, mostly in woods. The entire course was rough, except for about 3/4 mile of TT or “flat track” style section laid out on a cornfield. This section contained many corners, including some highspeed sweepers, and one large jump with a flat landing. The TT section was extremely dusty, to the point of causing a serious hazard to riders and their lungs. The rest of the course was very tight woods in most places, with a few stretches that would allow for a pass if you could handle the roughness. At one point, in a meadow area with young Norway pines, there was a small double jump. I did not try it, and I didn’t see anybody else try it. There was a side trail around it. Another point of interest was a dual route water crossing. The shorter route through the creek was about 2 feet deep, the longer route was about 6 inches deep, and had metal grating laid out on the bottom. Overall I enjoyed the track immensely, except for the cornfield section. There were numerous bottlenecks with trees close enough that my rear tires would both rub as I passed between them. I saw at least one DS650 on the course, and I really feel sorry for him!
My race did not go very well however. I chose two hour duration quad B, and there were 26 machines lined up. We were the second wave, and when I saw the catastrophic dust cloud the 13 quad first wave kicked up, I seriously thought about letting everyone else go, and taking off after the dust settled! I went for it however, and before I even got to the first turn, I bumped, or got bumped by somebody. My wheel went up on his and I spun completely in a 180. I saw a 450R coming at me and gunned it through the fence on the side of the track. I was able to get turned around and roll again. It was a miserable ride to get to the woods. After turning around, I got behind another 450R. He had a tail light, with an active brake light, which came in very handy! Thankfully, he appeared to know which way he was going. At some point, he tangled with a YFZ450 and I snuck around them. I made it through the 10 mile wood section without hitting a tree. Many riders got hung up, and there were quite a few broken quads at the end of the race. I was able to hop logs or do what was necessary to get around some of the hang-ups. Overall, I thought I did well on the first lap. After passing the checkpoint, you enter the farm field again. They had set up a medium jump with a flat landing after the first turn. This was bypassed at the start. Now we had a choice, to take the jump, and shave a few seconds, or bypass it. I chose to jump on the second lap. This was a foolish move because I did not scout the jump before the race. I hit it too slow, and slammed into the back side of the divot they created when they pushed up the jump. This bottomed my rear suspension bad enough to sever my rear brake line. I didn’t realize it until I charged into the next tight corner, at which point I over shot and went through the ribbon. I ran the next two laps on front brakes only, which by the way seems to force you to ride a little smoother in my opinion. I over shot one corner in the woods when I forgot I didn’t have rear brakes, and hit a tree. I had to hop off and drag the quad back to get out of there, so I lost about half a minute. On the third lap, I let three of the utility quads pass me. I tried to keep up, but man, they were fast on those behemoths! On the fourth and final lap, I was trying to keep up with a Suzuki I had let by me in the woods. I was doing ok until he chose the big jump, and I took the detour. I had him in my dusty sights, and was gaining on him, until I got sideways in a high speed sweeper. I tried the non existent back brakes (what a nasty habbit!) and lost it. The quad spunout, grabbed, and flipped me off. I landed directly on my shoulder. I hopped up to flip the quad back on its wheels and realized something was wrong. I got it straight, and started, but I couldn’t lift my left arm up to adjust my goggles. I sat there for a minute contemplating whether I should try going another 10 miles through pretty rough trail, or DNFing. Finally, after about 3 quads passed me, I decided I didn’t want to try it. At that point I could hardly squeeze the clutch. I putted back to the truck and called it a day.
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ATV Riders Forum > ATV Riding & UTV Racing Information > ATV / UTV Racing > D23 first Harescramble of 2004: Monticello
05-04-2004 02:16 AM
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Better luck next time. That was a rough course.
