From: Bob White [wfo-bob@email.msn.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2000 5:03 PM
Subject: VCHSS mailing list - The Tweetybird Chronicles-Central Va. 100

Va. Championship Hare Scrambles--Round 4: Central Va. 100

This race is my club’s race and we are required to work on the course if we want to actually race, so on Sunday before the race, Bob, Jr. and I went up to do our assigned chores. As usual, the club had already filled in all the ruts from the previous race(s) and either paved or laid concrete so that the course would be nice and smooth for everyone. My job was to sweep and rake the course one last time and get all the smaller gravel, leaves and pine tags up as the other members had already gotten all the bigger stones and rocks up. In addition, Bobby checked to make sure all the trees were at least 32" apart (we prefer 40") and re-route as necessary.

This year, the club decided that they would have something for everyone. To give everyone a taste of the GNCC’s we incorporated the MX track into the layout and for the ISDE hopefuls we also incorporated a special-test grass course (the test was to make it around without crashing).

Master’s Race (+55)

I decided to ride the Master’s class in the morning and help work the checks for the afternoon race. This race is only an hour long so I should be fresh for the afternoon.

I’ve been running my KTM pretty lean all winter and it seemed to be doing fine, so for this race, since it was going to be much warmer, I decided to drop the needle two clicks and go even leaner.

On the starting line, I pulled in behind the women’s class as I headed up to our starting point. One of the ladies had " Who needs balls" stitched on the back of her pants. Not her, that’s for sure. Right on, sister!

There were only three riders signed up for the Master’s class, Bob Wick (points leader), Donnie Lewis and myself. On the starting line, I practiced starting the 200 as each wave took off before me. Bob had installed a Yosh pipe on the DRZ (as if he didn’t have enough of an advantage with electric start) and I figured I would need to marshal every bit of my rapidly fading motocross skills to get the holeshot. True to form, electric start and Yosh pipe made it to the first turn ahead of me, but my Tweetybird Racing/ Bob’s School of Motorcycle Maintenance/KTM Sportsmotorcycle’s 200 EXC started first kick (in gear) and at the approach to the second corner, I dived inside, made a block pass (well, sorta, kinda made a block pass) jumped a small rain ditch and put my bike into the lead.

Usually, I have race strategy before the race. I hadn’t really thought about it until now, but I decided this would be a good time to come up with a race strategy: Get the lead going into the woods (which was working perfectly), and hope Bob and Donnie would take each other out in the woods behind me (that was the part I would have to work on).

Almost immediately we were into the wave ahead of us and we started passing and dicing and staying in a tight formation as we worked through the woods. Bob and Donnie weren’t doing much to help me with my race plan, as they stayed glued to my fender.

By the time we reached the grass course, we had settled into a pace and I was hoping that the grass course would separate us some, but Bob put the big booming DRZ into the lead on the first straight. I tried to retaliate but when I grabbed a handful of throttle, the bike started revving to the moon, as if the throttle was stuck wide open! It scared the bejusus out of me and I almost looped out, but the bike settled down, so naturally, I grabbed another handful to catch up....and the same thing happened again. It happened a third time as we approached the first jump on the MX course.

By now, I was thoroughly shaken, so I pulled off to check the cable into the carb, which looked OK, and then it dawned on me—I had leaned the bike out way too much!

From then on I took it easy, so easy in fact that I had time to stop on the second lap and help a fallen mini-bike rider. He was crying and hollering when I rushed up to him and I asked, "Where does it hurt, what’s wrong?"

He mumbled, " Ehhdd, ihgjhfhfd my bajfuj!" "What, what" I asked frantically. "Where does it hurt?"

"I hurt my, my, you know, my, my, my balmnnsls!" "What, what", I asked again.

"I hurt my balls!" he finally screamed at me.

"Oh, " I said, "That’s no big deal, you’ll be OK in a minute". He looked at me disbeliveingly for a second, realized his manhood was still intact and nothing hurt anymore, and jumped up on his bike that I had started for him, and took off!

By then, I decided to go ahead and DNF since I deemed the bike to dangerous to ride and I would get 3^rd place no matter what.

The Main—Everybody else and the Senior B (+45)

I wasn’t going to ride the Senior B class but my ex-daughter-in-law along with my ex-grandson (by another marriage)—don’t even ask, showed up to watch my son, Bob, Jr. race. I quickly conned her into helping out the club, which released me from any club-duties, so that I could race.

The course was about nine miles long with the grass course and the MX track thrown in and the club elders decided to run five laps which meant the AA class would be doing two and one-half hours (we normally do two)and the rest of us would likely be doing three hours!!

I rejetted the bike and hurried to the starting line. I watched as David White’s class—Vet A take off and Dave had the lead by the time they got into the woods. He would finish up by winning his class (he always does) and finishing second overall!

My son, before the race, was walking around, talking quietly and getting his race face on. He was full of confidence because he has been riding this MX track since he was five years old (he’s 29 now) and knows the woods trails really well. When his class took off, he put his Tweetybird Racing/Bob’s Off-Road Tours/KTM Sportmotorcycles KTM 250 EXC on the inside going into the first turn (a 180 degree left-hand turn) and down the next straight he powered by the leader to make the pass even before he got to the next left hander. From then on he pulled away, easily winning his class and finishing twelfth overall! If anyone thinks KTM’s are down on power, they should see my 215 pound son go off the line on his 250

For the Senior B race I decided to use the Domino Theory as my race strategy (see chapter 12, "Proven Race Strategies" from my book, "Bob’s School of Motorcycle Maintenance"). What’s required is to get the holeshot and try to brake check the entire lead pack in the first turn, which will cause a domino effect on the rest of the class. Done properly, it’s a beautiful maneuver, but it’s generally best to make yourself scarce after the race.

On the line, my Tweetybird Racing/Bob’s School of Motorcycle Maintenance/KTM Sportmotorcycles KTM 200 EXC failed to start on the first kick! Wasn’t the bike’s fault—I didn’t put enough leg into it! (KTM brass, listen up—there is a group of riders out here—a large group of riders, that will pay to have electric start on their two-stroke. If you think this is as good an idea as I do, send an email to Rod Bush at www.ktmusa.com and let him know).

Anyway, I started in the back of the pack, quickly catch up to a freight train of riders in my class that were trying to work themselves pass all the squids (you know who you are) from the classes in front of us. I finally passed a bunch of them in a bad creek crossing and set out after the lead group. I couldn’t believe had rooted and rutted the course had become. All our work smoothing out the course was being laid to waste by a bunch of crazed dirt bikers. In addition, many of  the trees had grown back closer together—some of them were only 28 inches apart!

Getting 6" of air on the MX Track

Bernie Lunsford starts hounding me from the rear and on the second lap, he gets around and starts to pull away. Later as I approach a wooden bridge over a gully, there’s Bernie trying to get his bike out of the gully. He's spun out and did a 180 into the gully. I start laughing to myself and thinking, "this is too easy, now just take it easy going across this bridge ‘cause it must be sli…." Wham, down I go! The front tire washes out on the bridge! I can’t believe it! I was taking it tooo easy. Bernie looks up, sees it’s me and starts laughing back at me.

By the time I get the bike back up and going I’m worn out. From there on, I fall a couple more times, waste more valuable energy and finish out the race. Coupled with the Master’s race I’ve done three and one-half hours. Whew! Tim (Gimpy-legged) Norris wins the class on his KTM200 MXC

Next week…Martinsville Hare Scrambles

Bob Tweetybird White

KTM 200 EXC

Racing the 45+ class with a 40 year-old’s race attitude and a 57 year-old body