VCHSS Hillbilly (Rural Retreat, VA)

Welcome to the THUNDERDOME!!!



This was my first time at the Wythe Raceway, and it was one to remember! The start of the race and each subsequent lap was through the infield and outer loop of the banked dirt oval track. It was an eerie and exciting feeling to slide around the corners on the edge of control.

In the woods, there was relatively grippy mud, with offcamber root sections to keep you on your toes. Near the end of each lap, the singletrack widened and a motocross section emerged underneath the cover of trees. To say the least, this was my favorite course so far.



I had a decent start, and was near the front of my class of seven riders before sliding wide on a corner and chasing them into the woods in fourth place. Eventually I did reel them all in, showing 2nd place on the timing board as I headed into my second lap. On the start of that lap was the infield section. I passed a couple more riders (not in my class), but bumped the final rider in the middle of a turn, stopping my front wheel and forcing me to bail off the bike. I walked back to the bike only to watch several pass by. I slowly picked them off in the woods and was back in the hunt for first place within my class.

Eventually I caught the first place rider, Brent Lilly, and passed when an opportunity arose. As I approached one of the hillclimbs, I saw a mass of stuck riders completely blocking the way. My friend Lory went partially up the hill, but eventually came back down to where I was waiting for a path to emerge. Brent showed up and immediately tried to get around - and did! I was there for maybe a minute longer before deciding I could sneak around the outside to pass the struggling riders.

On the final lap, I decided to settle for second place since Brent probably had a decent lead after the hillclimb logjam. I let Lory by me so that he could battle for first in his class, which he successfully did. When I reached the finish line, I saw that Brent bested me by about a minute. I was glad to have made the decision I had in order to get through the day without incident.



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VCHSS Blue Ridge (Martinsville, VA)

After two days on the supermoto track, I think my legs were feeling a bit too "jello-ey" to be much of a competitor.

As usual, I was kickstarting while the rest of my class sped away from the start line, but luckily I knew the immediate bottleneck waiting just feet away would stack them up pretty well. In fact, I got tangled in a downed rider literally feet from the start.

Within probably the first five minutes, I'd slid sideways and off the bike for a moment, which was all the proof I needed to know this was going to be a "war of attrition."



I settled into place and decided to attempt to stay on the bike, rather than worry about jockeying for position.

After four laps, I finished in 7th out 11 riders. Still, though, I was happy to have completed the four laps without serious injury to the bike or myself.



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SMEC '23 - VIR (Alton, VA)

With all of the VCHSS races going on this summer, I really didn't expect to be available to ride or race this year's SMEC. As luck would have it, though, the VCHSS race ended up being only a short drive past VIR, so I was able to get in two days of SMEC practice before swapping dirt tires back onto the YZ for that Sunday's harescramble.

My wife Rebecca booked a hotel in South Boston for Friday so she could work remotely then join me at the track with our three dogs. I was also able to convince a couple of my VCHSS friends to stop by the track to check out supermoto for the first time. They were intrigued and I'm still holding out hope of making a few converts out of the harescramble crowd!



I was hoping to reconnect with a highschool friend who'd just gotten into miniGP racing. Unfortunately he broke his collarbone riding at CMP a couple weekends prior, so he was unable to attend the SMEC event.



It seemed to me that this year was the largest turnout I'd seen, including several new riders from New York. Also, a rider from Hickory, NC who was camping next to me. Another new face decided to make the drive after seeing my previous Youtube videos - just the effect I was hoping they would have to help inspire "newb's like me" to give the sport a try!



On Thursday we ran asphalt only while Steve Ingram shaped the dirt section, then on Friday we were unleashed to try our skills on the full course.



I liked the arrangement this time more than ever. The entrance featured a familiar jump, berm, and stepdown. Next, though, was a set of whoops followed by a berm before a double that was steep, but landed on a more mellow transition. Since that lip was so tall, you didn't have to worry about having a bunch of speed to clear. This was especially nice, since you didn't have to "shut it down" right away before the exit berm.

The first run, though, did claim a few riders as they had more speed than they needed - sending them over the final berm and/or crossing up the bars and collapsing INTO it.



I was one of the lucky few to stay on the bike the entire two days, although my very last run was capped with a near over-the-bars landing from the stepdown. I decided I'd tested fate enough and threw in the towel on that Friday afternoon.

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