No more smack for the monkey
Well that didn’t go as planned. The Norseman did a great job of setting up the course and the weather finally turned nice, but I found out the hard way that I am not in shape yet. I am blaming this on Mother Nature and Old Man Winter. They have conspired to keep things ugly for us riders and have dragged out winter as long as they possibly can here in the upper Midwest. In fact a week before the race we woke up to more snow on the ground. I have been working out some, but nothing gets me fired up like some good seat time, so even my workouts haven’t been what they need to. Again this is ALL Mother Natures fault.
With that said, when Sunday morning rolled around and Sticky, Stumpy and I (Leafy) headed off to see what the day would bring. I was a bit nervous for my first B class race (and the two hours of racing that went along with that) and I think that has a lot to do with me getting tight right away as we entered the woods at the start of the race. I have never had this problem before and I hope I never do again. I was most of the way through the first lap when we hit some higher speed more open sections that I was able to loosen up a little. I still could not get into a groove and stay there. I smoked a stump pretty hard with my left foot and then slid past a tree on the right side, hitting my right knee and foot. With being so tight, I felt incredibly slow the first lap. The second was a bit better and I was tuckered out on the third lap. The leaders had come past me at some point on one of those laps and I was thinking I was on the last lap when I went though the checkpoint. To my utter dismay I was informed that I got another lap. Thanks, but this body already had its money’s worth! I did a quick look at the score card on the front fender to double check and make sure that I had only completed three laps and yes she was right. Damn! This would also explain why my brother and a friend weren’t at the gas pit on the last lap since I told them I was going to stop after three laps. Well that meant they would be there now and I could get off the bike for a second. I dropped to my knees in a pitiful display of weakness as they graciously (and as far as I am concerned way too quickly) filled my bike and even restarted it. I took a breather through the field section and was back at it on the fourth lap. As I had left the pits my brother yelled that I was a good distance in front of Sticky. I toiled with that tidbit over the course of the next lap. It has been a goal of mine since we started racing last year to beat him since he always manages to one up me. So the question was… Was my brother messing with me to light a fire under me or had I passed Sticky along the way and not even known. If the later was the case it was most likely because I was going so fast. Well I completed the last lap and was very happy to see the checkpoint come into sight. With that I rode back to the truck. As I pulled up I saw that everything was already loaded; including Sticky’s bike! Damn, my brother had lied to me. Or so it appeared. Truth was that the leaders came past Sticky a short way before the end of his third lap, thus ending his race and sealing his fate. I have now beaten him! That was the best thing to come out of the race!
We grabbed a pork chop from the nice lady working the food shack and sat and waited for the results. Not good for me. A measly 13th. Looks like I have some work to do before next weekend. Sticky came up with a 14th and Stumpy got 20th (250C). With a quick stop for a Blizzard at a Dairy Queen along the way; we were home in no time.
A big thanks to the Norseman for putting on a great race. The course was challenging and the weather was perfect. Whoever ordered the weather should place an order for the rest of the year!
Psycho Monkey