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Let it be known, this was the last race I do on a 2-stroke motorcycle. Don't get me wrong, I would like to thank Bob VERY much for the use of his 2000 KTM 250EXC, but the 2-stroke thing just doesn't do it for me. Here's the story... ISee Fixing the 400 for some background as to why I borrowed Bob's bike for the race. Bob decided not to race since he is a starving student and had to study for class on race weekend. OK...he's not starving at all, but he still needed to study. I left San Diego Saturday evening to find a hotel room near the race so I did not have to get up really really early. I got to Castaic around 9:30pm and got the last room in the Inn. Whew... The hotel was about a 15 minute drive to the course. I got to bed early and planned on having plenty of time to get ready for the race. Got to the race lot around 7am, and got signed up--given a spot on minute 68. So that meant I started at 9:08am. Awesome-- plenty of time to warm up and get used to the bike. The rangers were there en-masse and being real sticklers about the noise levels of the race bike. The dB limit is 101dB. A lot of guys with aftermarket exhausts were over the limit and scrambling to adjust the mufflers to meet the requirements. Bob's bike passed easily at 89dB. I got to spend 15-20 minutes riding pretty hard to get warmed up, but I spent most of the time in some small river washes working the sand. I got pretty comfortable and plenty warm. Came back to the truck to make some last minute adjustments and headed to the starting line. The start was uneventful-- I was with a guy on a new 520EXC, a Yamaha WR400, and a older Yamaha 250. I ended up starting nicely and being first off the line. There was a special test a few hundred meters from the start, so I got to go into the test first. The test itself was on pretty easy terrain. Mostly wide-open singletrack, and hardpack trails. These trails were REALLY hardpack--so about 1 mile into the race, I came around a corner to see a sweeping turn ahead so with a pretty good knot-package, I wound the throttle on fast, as I would on the 4-stroke, and was rewarded with the rear wheel losing traction and a 30-meter slide straight down the trail on my side. I had just passed a guy and he came up behind me fast and in avoiding me, ended up in the ditch next to the trail--surprised but otherwise uninjured. I picked the bike up and vowed to be more careful. Of course, about 1 mile later-- it happened AGAIN!!! Ugh...oh to have smooth power delivery! I eventually learned to move the throttle a little slower when I want to shoot out of corners and didn't slide out too many more times. The race continued well for the rest of the first loop. The only other bike issue was learning to use the brakes instead of the engine to slow down before corners. After
the first loop, it was a special test out of the gates on the second loop.
I had a pretty good run on this test and was feeling good on the bike.
A long un-timed section followed by a 3 mile trek on a paved road took
the race to the "back-country" as riders around me were referring
to the area. Immediately off the road, the course took us up a nice tight
single-track around the side of a steep hill-- near the top, stopping
us to begin a great Special Test. Knowing what the previous terrain had
offered, the Test promised to be challenging-- especially in passing people.
I was lucky to have a nice place to pass the two people who started directly
in front of me easily. There was one rider just in front of me who was
riding pretty fast, and I couldn't quite catch him-- just kept him in
sight. After a long time, he seemed to get a little tired and allowed
me to pass. I came upon a group of four people stuck behind someone who
wouldn't allow a pass even though he was obviously riding significantly
slower than the rest of us. I slid out once as the crowd kicked up a huge
dust cloud in front and I missed the proper line. |
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  Finally we got around the slow dude, and I passed a couple others. Next, I came upon a guy on a Honda XR who wouldn't let me by...I was right on his tail when he decided it was time to crash! Fortunately, he fell out of the way as I proceeded to ride onto his bike as I fell. Our bikes lay on top of each other in the middle of the singletrack. We were both fine, so I picked up Bob's bike and proceeded ahead of him. I was getting back into the groove as I came around a tight corner with some big braking whoops coming into the turn. As I rolled on the throttle, the 2-stroke gods frowned upon me once more and gave me a very unexpected shot of power. Enough power, in fact to send me airborne and over the side of the trail! Unfortunately, there was a particularly steep drop-off. The bike and I ended up coming to a stop about 10 meters down the side of the hill. The soil was sofy and hard to stand in and the bike was lying with the wheels towards the top of the hill. This is not looking good for the Dreamstriker. I got the bike turn upright and proceeded to notice the damage. The handguards had ripped off and severed the hydraulic clutch line as they went-- and there was a big hole in the pipe. uh oh, I tried to move the bike up the hill-- not a chance. A guy, Mark, stopped to help. He wasn't having such a great race and wasn't worried about his time anymore. We tried a few ways to get the bike back to the trail. It wasn't going to happen. So I thanked him once again, gathered all the parts scattered about, and began the unenviable trek down the hill. There appeared to be a not oft-used jeep trail in the meadown below (about a mile away) so I figured I could get there and then ride the bike back to camp. Wow-- that was an interesting descent. Sliding most of the way down the hill while balancing the bike and preventing it from tumbling out-of-control... I got to the bottom and was able to ride without the clutch until I reached the first locked gate--replete with barbed wire fence stretching into the woods on either side. I wandered around for a while before find a section where I might be able to squeeze under the fence. It tool me a while to shimmy the bike under the fence, but I eventually made it. Back on the road until another locked gate. This one with a sturdier fence, but a u-shaped walkway designed to keep out motor vehicles. As it turns out, the "anti-moto" walkway wasn't impenetrable. I was able to manhandle the bike out the walkway and get back onto the Hungry Valley property. I had no idea where I was or where the camp was, so I eventually tracked down one of the rangers and he gave me a map and directions back to the camp. Thanks Ranger Rick! Thanks to Ed and Brenda for sticking around to see the carnage and help pack up. I needed it. I was a fast ride home--traffic was moving at 90mph almost the whole way. Not too many police I suppose... Damage
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