A fitting end to a great summer, the Don Wise Memorial Race at Oak Ridge Estate was another fast-paced race with plenty to enjoy. This course has got to be one of the quickest, with the 10-mile laps elapsing in record-breaking time. With higher speeds come more risk, but I was fortunate to get through the race without any off-the-bike moments other than slight mishaps getting through traffic.
I did have one issue, though, when my YZ lost high-end power near the end of the final lap. It did get me out of the woods, though, so not all was lost.
I'll try throwing some parts at it (starting with a fuel injector) and hopefully have it back to good running order in no time.
With nearly fifteen weeks passing since the last race and ZERO dirt bike riding in between, my main goal for this event was to survive!
With dirt wheels back on the YZ and compression settings of the front fork dialed out for full squish, I headed east to the sandy destination of Pipsico Scout Reservation. Once at the event, I said hi to a few riders and started readying myself and machine for the extremely dry course.
As per usual, the race line left while I kicked three or four times. Luckily, the group had issues filtering into the singletrack, which afforded me the luxury of zero contact with other riders or bikes. Settling into a groove and adjusting to the six inches of silt on the track, I kept coaching myself to maintain composure and stay upright above all.
Although I did notice a few of the riders I'd passed during the first lap were in my class, I certainly didn't think I'd caught them all. This assumption was corrected as I passed the start/finish for my first of three laps IN FIRST PLACE!
After that confirmation, I again repeated the mantra "take it easy, don't wreck!" and continued on for the remainder of the race. Aside from incidents during passing attempts (resulting in two stalls), I stayed on the bike the entire race and finished over two minutes ahead of the next racer in my class.
After such a fun return to the series, I'll likely have a hard time sitting out the next few races as I return my focus to the schoolbus renovation.
Since the SMEC round this season was rainy, I decided to save my money and sit it out. The following month, though, Patrick at the VIR Kart Track announced a trackday for the low, low price of $100.
With that announcement, I was swapping the 17" wheels onto the YZ and loading the Crosstrek up with awning and misting fan to help keep cool in the June heat.
A high-school friend of mine had started riding MiniGP bikes a couple years ago, so we decided to meet at VIR to get in some track time together and catch up on the last 20 or so years since the 12th grade 😁
The day was a success, with only one lowside which resulted in no injuries and a couple runouts while I was attempting to back-in the rear of the bike. All in all, a great day on the track!
This summer I'm attempting to focus primarily on the conversion of our schoolbus, so the harescramble races have been few and far between. Although the Peninsula Classic is the 6th round, it was only my second race of the 2024 series.
As fate would have it, adjusting my chain tension minutes before the race was a big mistake. When tightening the axle nut, I felt a release of torque and the immediate sinking feeling in my stomache that accompanies the realization that the threads have just stripped. With little option left, I removed the outside washer and retightened the nut on the one or two threads left unmolested. With that, I told myself to baby the throttle and rear brake during my race.
This decision to "take 'er easy" might have been a blessing in disguise, as my calm pace meant only one fall, which was actually caused by another rider veering into me.
Surprisingly enough, the axle stayed in place for all four laps and I ended the race in second place out of a class of fourteen.
With the temperature rising around 20 degrees ON A MONDAY, I really only had one choice...a trip to Krispy Kreme on my way into work [and pulling into the parking lot with the PWC in tow] really did the trick to butter-up the boss for the 2pm ask 😁
When three events line up on the same weekend, most people would simply choose one - not me!
Since the stand-up jetski event "WaveDaze" typically begins on a Thursday, I decided I'd simply attend it for two days, then head back into town (and back out-of-town) for Saturday & Sunday.
My friend James decided to join me at VA Beach for the jetski event, despite the forecast predicting highs in the 50's. We left Richmond in the early AM and were unloading the Superjet onto the sand by 9am. A few hours on the beach and in the surf, absorbing as much sun as possible, were followed by a round of putt-putt at our regular spot.
The next day I got in a couple runs on the ski before packing it all up and heading west to Richmond.
That afternoon I swapped the ski for mountain & dirt bikes, departing relatively early the next day for The Blue Ridge School. I met my friend Chris at his property and joined him and another friend to preride a few stages of the Moonshiner's Enduro race.
That night we enjoyed a bonfire on Chris's property before settling in for the night. The next day I rose early and set out for Oak Ridge Estate in Arrington while the rest of that group had a day of enduro mountain biking ahead of them.
I arrived for the VCHSS harescramble just before 9am and was on the start line by 11am, anxious to see how the event would go since I hadn't been on the YZ since last year's race at the same venue - one that resulted in a banged up bike & body!
The bike must've been just as nervous as I was, stalling four times in the first lap. In a way, it was a good omen since I wasn't much worried about placing well after being delayed by probably three minutes after all the kickstarting. To my surprise, though, I reeled in my class of 22 riders over the next three laps, ending up in fourth place overall!
Most importantly, though, I survived the race without hitting the ground once. The bike looked nearly the same as it did when I started the race, except for a bit more mud adorning its plastics ;-)
