Here's the helmet cam from my last hare scramble - NCHSA Round 8, aka "Brown Jug." It was very hot, dusty, and the course was rough. I made a squid move at the start which cost me and I was dead last at the first turn so I dined on a dust buffet for my afternoon snack. The course was very rough most of its 7.4 miles and pretty slow, I only got out of 2nd gear on one or two sections. The helmet cam makes it look smooth, but I assure you it is not. Not as hard or as rough as the prior race I did which was "Flat Rock," but still a challenge. I saw several people laying along the side of the track and one person curled up in a ball. All had help or said they were OK, so I didn't stop. At least one of them got an ambulance ride from the heat and dehydration. The effort you put out in one of these is pretty intense and combine that with the heat and a slow course like this one and it can take it right out of you.

http://www.vimeo.com/5601357

 

Thanks Brian,
That did look very bumpy and tight.
Cheers

 

gotta love the tense few seconds before the start

 

sounds like ur lugging that thing NB. is she too powerfull to tach out in the single track? looks like fun dusty but fun

 

Yeah it was fun, I recommend anyone try one at some point, it's a hard work-out, but a whole lot of fun. I wish I could do more, but most of them are 3+ hours away for me and the racing doesn't start until 3:15 in the afternoon, which makes for a long day and not getting home until usually very late, and then have to be at work the next morning. So that limits how many I can get to, not to mention all the other stuff I have going on with family and all that, so I don't get away for one of these very often.

On the lugging, I tend to lug it a bit anyway, just the way I ride. But it was made a worse because 1st gear was a little high, and 2nd gear was a little too low on this course, I really needed a gear in between. And I didn't want to clutch it too much for fear of overheating in the heat on this slow course.

Did you see the guy about take me out toward the end? That guy was nuts, man, feet off the pegs, totally out of control. I'm surprised he saved it. My strategy in these things, perhaps to my detriment, is to treat it like a marathon, not a sprint. Maybe after I get some more experience, I'll be willing to ride on the edge a bit more, but I'm not riding the whole series or competing for trophies or points so going out there and blitzing it is probably not too wise just so I can get a wooden plaque. It's just a fun thing to do every now and then for me, a way to ride different areas and bring some sport into it as well and be a part of something bigger. Even so, I still finished in front of 60 or 70 other people, so I don't think I'm doing that bad.

 

i hear ya on the being a part of something to do with the sport you love. it's a good feeling and adds to the fun so much more. work the next morning would suck, you should quit the job and just race full time! No? yeah wifey probally would fly with it.LOL
looked like there was young kids in the scramble too, or am i seeing things?

 

Yeah, lots of kids. The very first race of the day are the minis, they go first. Then the Pros, AA, A, and younger B riders go in the "morning" race which is at 12:15. Then the afternoon race is at 3:15 which is the "C" class, and older "B" racers. We get the track after the its all beat to hell after the 100+ rider pro race runs it for 2 hours. They are all freakin' fast, though, there's no way I'd win my class or any class for that matter unless I really trained hard probably for several years and then maybe I'd be competitive. But it's just not possible for me to put that much effort into it, though it would be fun to try. All I can get away for are a few races a year and ride recreationally a weekend or two a month these days.

But most of those guys, even in C clase, are flat out hauling. And in my class, I think I'm the oldest at 43. All the rest are half my age. If I race any next year, I will race in Senior C 40+. But those guys are just as fast as the younger 20 y/olds in the class I'm racing in now. Looking at my lap times, I would have still finished about 12th in the Sen C 40+ class - not as good as I did in Heavy C where I got 10th with the young and the fit. Just goes to show that old age and treachery beats youth and skill.

Most of the folks there race the whole series and they are very good riders. Don't let the "C" class term fool you, they are good riders, race hard, and are very fast. Just as a point of reference, the overall winner in the afternoon "C" class race would have placed about 16th in the morning race ahead of a couple of the Pro riders, and all but 7 of the AA/A riders and all of the B riders, that's based on their avg MPH. So the so called "C" class is really pretty stacked w/lots of skill and speed.

After doing a few of these myself and seeing how hard the are, I've got nothing but respect for anyone that lines up at the start on one of those races. They are by far the hardest sporting event I've ever participated, and the hardest most physically demanding event I've ever done. And they put themselves through this because it is "fun." And it is, being on the start before the flag drops and the whole first lap is one of the most exhilarating experiences I can think of. That feeling must be why people jump out of airplanes.

Even the kids are tough little buggers. At a little league soccer game or pee wee football, a kid takes a hit and doesn't get up right away, he's got 5 adults running full speed to help him up, dust him off, pull him out for a few plays while he catches his breath and gets a drink. During the morning mini race I was walking the track back in the woods where there weren't many people and this kid comes flying down a straight and misses a turn goes off the trail and into the woods at a good clip and takes a heart stopping digger into an embankment. I run over help him up, and try to help him pick up his bike and offer to start it for him, and he just looks at me from behind his goggles and I see the determination in his eyes. I think he's too winded to say anything, he just waves me away, kicks a few times, and then roosts his way out of there and back on the circuit to disappear up a dusty hill. I just shake my head and think dang, you don't see that kind of fire and toughness in young kids too much these days. Moto is a tough sport and most of the guys out there have been doing it since they were the age of that little kid.

Me? The above vid was my 3rd race. And I'm 43 and started riding when I was 40, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

 

LOL thats awsome bro! those dang whippersnappers...lol you gotta be tough in that sport. good times!

 

Local photographer shot this one of me, this is probably the closest thing I'll ever get to a trophy in the near future. But I've had two top 10's in two races, so that's not too bad, or at least I'm happy with that, all things considered.

 

You going to these events with HardTaco and his new to him ktm ?

Ya always posted he was fast and he was still on a klx