Drexel Race Reports

[blister]

I had a great time today. Thanks to everyone for putting this fun event on today. I started mid pack due to not getting the KTM fired up right away. Ended up passing a few guys in the Vet40 class and found myself in first place at the end of the first lap.....unbelievable! I think I was able to take advantage of a log jam somewhere in there to get in first. I also want to apologize to whoever I rubbed pretty hard as I came inside of you on the sharp left hander. I came in too hot and bumped you pretty hard. No crash but I did knock you off your line. Again, Sorry.

I believe I led the entire second lap but went down on the slick creek bed towards the finish. Too much front brake...Slammo, right into the bad ribs again. After moaning like a sissy for a few seconds I stood to find someone had picked my bike up for me and asking if "everything was okay". I jumped back on and headed up those slick rocks to find John Joray, 1027, on my heels. I believe he passed me right after we went through scoring. We went over the obstacles and he took the bridge. Oh man, should I jump the creek? I did and didn't crash...unbelievable! In first again. We had a great battle. So much fun. Out on the motocross track in the middle of nowhere I doubled the last set of bumps and landed too hot, blowing the left hand turn. John made it perfectly and was gone. I was in hot pursuit. Then, soon after the left hand turn mud bog, there where it gets fast again, I was right on his tail and I hit a rut or something which sent me sailing. I mean flying. I separated from the bike, my body was flying sideways in a horizontal fashion and I came to a stop as I was t-boned by a small tree right in my back. I figured I must be hurt bad. First thought, can I wiggle my toes. Seriously, a little scary for me. Here is why I was so quick to post this evening. I wanted to thank the 2 or 3 guys who immediately stopped to help. I don't think they were sweepers, but racing. I was so discombobulated and tied up with that tree and half buried in the brush, I don't think I would have ever gotten up on my own. So, again thanks. You guys are awesome. Please let us/me know who you are. I would sure like to know. I got a nice bruise out of the deal but okay. Needless to say, John got away....dangit. I finished a couple more laps.

I really enjoyed this course. The variety of terrain, speeds, obstacles, water, and technicality was very nice. And man did that shower feel good. My new goal is to finish just one of these races without crashing, please.

Congrats to John Jorray, 1027. It was fun doing battle with you for a while.

Chad

[Btrigg88]

Wow Chad, after the race you forgot to mention all the excitement you had out on the track. By the looks of you, I would not have guessed you accumulated so many frequent flyer miles out there. You laid down some fast laps! Unfortunately my race wasn't as exciting.

I arrived early with 740 and 929 and got set up to run a practice lap. I jumped on the line after scoring and started through the logs and jumps. I wasn't paying close attention to the end of the road and came upon the creek ski jump. From a few feet away it looked like all the other jumps that I was just kind of puttering over. On closer inspection it became obvious that this was not part of the enduro cross section. I was going too fast to stop and too slow to clear the jump so I had a dilemma of sorts. Do I jump off the bike or just lean back and see what happens. I remembered what my Dirtwise teacher told me when things get out of shape like this - stay with the bike - don't bail out - let the bike do it's magic. So I leaned back hard and basically fell off the cliff. The bike did it's magic and I powered out of the bog. As I was coming up the hill there were several people running over to the place where I disappeared from view. I tried to look as though I planned the whole thing but I don't think they bought it. I yelled out through my helmet that I had just discovered another easy line. Not a good start - I was covered in mud.

I made the practice lap and found several juniors hating life already. Wow, the course was so different than last year. There were only a few wet parts last year. As I rounded one of the last turns and headed up the creek I saw a crazy sight. There was an ATV winching a bike out of a 6 foot deep water hole by the large rock ledge. I never saw the rider but I hope they could swim.

I lined up and got a good start - top 10 maybe. I'm thinking this is looking good! After the 2nd ski jump I prepared to enter the bog section. I found loads of bikes stuck on the left most ruts so I went right. BAD IDEA. My race was done after about a minute. My bike was buried up to the air box. I've never been so stuck before. The scene looked like some crazy GNCC mud race. It took so long to dig my bike out that the 600s had come back around. There were still people stuck so I put the bike on the stand and went back in to assist. I spent the first lap trying to throw off about 25 pounds of mud. My seat was caked in mud and was trying to depants me every time I tried to stand on the pegs. I had no Idea mud could be so sticky. My gloves and grips were coated and I didn't have very good throttle control. I stopped after scoring to grab dry gloves and and wipe off my grips. I spent the rest of the day cruising and having a great time. I was able to make up 9 spots without much pressure (due to most people stopping early). I was very glad to see the bog section closed off after the second lap. It was one of my worst races, but I really had fun out there. I saw lots of people go down hard and I hope everyone is all right. My two travel buddies got 2nd place so two out of three isn't bad!

[shredder]

WARNING!!! - LONG READ!!! - Please don't try to read this Drexel Report in one sitting - may cause loss of control to lower extremities due to lowered lack of blood flow, hemoroids, hip and / or leg cramps - etc, not FDA approved. Just print it out and read it at the next mud application pit while waiting your turn, Use caution when reading, light fuse and get away....do not play ping pong while reading Drexel Race Report.

Drexel, Drexel, Drexel...... Honey It's a love / hate relationship. I love the race and atmosphere but in years past I've broke down, stuck in mud, thorns to my leg removed at the local ER and flat tires. It's like Charlie Brown getting back up and running towards the football really expecting to kick it thru the goal posts, year, after year, after year, after year. I figure statistically speaking I'm due for a good run. I ran practice and this year the track had a different feel to it, so I'm thinking ok, different is good.

I line up and can't get my hole shot tab to click in and engage. I try and try to hit the front brake and compress my forks but because my back which was loosened up by the mornings hot shower, gets a message that the body is going out for another pounding files a grievance with the spinal muscle's labor union and shuts down on me. I keep grunting and sighing and give up. Todd who's lined up next to me watches me struggle and just leans over and with one hand pushes the button and waves me forward with the other and engages it for me. Without any further ado he goes back in to his pre race trance and ready's himself. My head is really buzzing now. I already know Mr Sexton wears a white hat but that was the coolest thing I've every seen. So now I'm sitting all cocked and ready to rock but the problem is now I got all this Todd all up inside my head. Board drops and I do the usual but I wake her up more aggressively than usual and, and, and and, I'm in neutral. Yes, yes , I know how to dance to this song already so I do what I gotta do and finally get off the line - 9th. Not too bad.

I had an epic day. I slip long on a few corners, slid out completely on on one but really ran hard, clean and fast. Kept picking them off. On lap one I dropped down into the mud application shop and took my turn. I was figuring that might even things up a bit if our entire class was all bunched up again. A Junior rider had his bike stuck in that deep rut so bad his seat was only about 8" above ground level. Poor guy, he was really trying hard to get it out. I got off and grabbed his rear and together we got him out.

Caught up to 810 - Seth Thomas and I'm thinking wow I usually see Seth when I'm stuck, broke down or doing some ravine jumping or taking a gasoline shower. I caught him and as a gentleman move he was going to let me pass, well until he looks up as he moves over. After he ID's my number plate he slides back in and grabs a handful as if to say "come and get!" He smacks down a good hard run and flawlessly executes a hard right hander and turns it on again. I back off so I don't push him into a dumb mistake but he just keeps going....So after a while I say OK enough of this and get out my "A" game book. I return to his rear fender and when he hears me moves over and lets me slip by. I was past due for a drink break and go for my water hose at the metal gate area by the over flow and because I'm still in high gear chug it at the rocks, Seth pulls up because I'm blocking the trail and yells "oh come on DENNIS!". He is hilarious. I take off and got serious again but wow Seth has really been improving consistently throughout the year.

On lap 3 however when I dropped down into the mud application shop there was a sign posted "Please take a number" sign posted next to a round spooly thing. I rip off a number and it says #935. One of the workers steps up and yells "NUMBER 66! SERVING 66!" I realize I need to get out of here before the park closes - ya know? Do to poor planning on my part, I do not have time for this. I have a tight itinerary today so I gotta do SOMETHING quickly. I study the creek wall carefully and hired a landscape artist and after the oil painting was completed it confirmed a sweet spot on the creek bank side. From a dead stop I rocked the bike back and forth, back and forth and shot out and up out of the creek. I got much more air than I planned as I was over zealous with the power. As I was gaining altitude I saw someone coming in on their re-entry and I heard Houston Controll Giving Chad 1040 the emergency procedures check list for re-entry without a bike over the headset in my helmet. (I so glad your ok Chad, I heard about you in the pits afterwords). I hit the flat land and looked back and wasting no time at all is a blue Yammer - 914 I think and he did it too but with a lot more grace than I did. Good job dude! We tear out of there together. By the end of the day there were four well established lines outta there!

I ran hard and attacked all day. As I came thru I was relieved to see that I get to have another lap. Stacey and Pam have been cheering me on all day and are yelling "go get em! He is RIGHT THERE" and pointing forward. There is a dial on my helmet with settings 1 to 10. When I reached up to turn it up from a 9 to a 10, a low tree branch smacked it up to 12 before it ripped it off completely.

I go to full after burners and attacked every corner and actually ran 20 seconds faster on my last lap than any other lap of the day. WARNING!!! - hitting the afterburners not only re-burns the exhaust but it also injects additional fuel so although it provides an extreme amount of power and thrust, it also depletes the available fuel left at an alarming rate so be careful not to hit the afterburners too soon. I finally come up on Tom 1035. Tom was doing a great job but I was relentless. Like bee's on honey. Shifting left, trying the inside, going out side, pushing on the straights, hammering the corners, even did my patented front wheel lift as we come out of the corners which is a real crowd pleaser!!! You can't set Tom up with any kind of bait, he just know how to ride. He runs his race and nothing your going to do will make him wavier. Tom is wise and realizes we can't keep this up I'm guessing so he honorably waves me by. He clearly wasn't on survivor mode yet but his elbows were lowering and I think he was going to let me by, get some water and breaths and hit me again somewhere just before the finish line after I wore myself out or slipped in that slick corner OR...the roller rocks still lingering at the twisty rocky section. Did one of those rocks have my name on it? I could always hear him him back there and I'll tell you what Tom is patient, smooth and makes great line choices so the threat of an immediate attack was always clearly on my mind.

I realize I'm really over thinking the pass on Tom and realize because of my 3 laps yesterday and 5 1/2 laps down today I know every twist and turn, rock and root this place has to offer. I realize also that I'm riding way too fast at 12 so I reach up and rip off the energy modulator box from my helmet and then I realized that the tree limb has already knocked it off my helmet. I feel around and pull the wires out so I can slow back down to a level #10 and keep from crashing. Well funny thing, ironically by pulling the energy modulator box wires out, it short circuited and it went to a failsafe mode and the damn thing went to # 15 which, I though it couldn't do - only with a doctors script or if the rider was under the age of 21...

As I speed up even more it becomes clear to me as the trees blur and the tires begin to complain at the excessive stress that I am truly doing a personal best today, and the extra air flowing over my body feels great too....

Then I hear something else. A slight harmonic sound....like someone may be hanging behind Tom...hhhmmmm. I can't look because my vision is only clear in about a 12" circle and decision making is much quicker at this pace. I know this sound... hhmmm...So what? All the fast guys are running their own race and they haven't whooped me so It's either some one who is enjoying the tag along or a fast sweeper. I figure at this speed aint no body going to get by me anyway - running at #15 and all.............

On a long wide left sweeping turn an F-18 going super sonic blows by and flying way too close to the ground. As it blasted by me it yanked out all loose rocks, grass, little tree saplings, all the wet and dry encrusted mud from my Husky, my decals and valve stem caps off both wheels (they were these little cute chrome skull heads and cost me $2.99 at O' Reillys.). Just after the sonic boom (which hurt my ears by the way) wave went by I looked down and half my boot straps were gone along with my camel back, one glove and my shirt was missing. WTH? Did THAT just happen? All I remember was the numbers 1034. Ok, so for you people at home just because I just passed Tom - #1035 it doesn't mean that now it's time for the Waddawg # 1034's turn, Nope. Notta, it doesn't work that way. I reach down deep, deep inside to take back what's mine but my left hand is frozen and won't pull the clutch to down shift. My right wrist which up until now has been holding tough refuses to twist the throttle any more and my lower back has been calling my brain and leaving so many messages that my brains in - box was completely full....... I see the legendary Wadedawg pulling away and the hole he was making in the atmosphere created such a strong vortex that I was just happy not to be sucked into it.

I pop up and run across the damn but what ever THAT was had already made the corner and slid down the damn face and into scoring. I hit it and I slid perfectly at the damn corner and down to the first straight and see scoring and confirm that it was indeed Wadedawg who had a hook hanging off his rear fender and it catches a cable just before scoring and pulls him to a stop. As I went thru scoring after him, I didn't even stop at scoring and do my usual routine of collaborating with my wife for our debriefing about the days events and caught up to him on the gravel road and gave a hard fist to fist punch before we even came to a stop. I don't mind that you got me Randy I said but what stings is that when you passed me that you did it with such over powering force while I was actually having my personal best performance of my life!!! He grinned. He hesitated to savor the moment, paused, then finally says "well Dennis I finished 19th. I was running for fun today and helped out at the mud bogs. and then I jumped in and ran for fun." DANG IT RANDY!!! If I was only half as good as I think I am I coulda caught ya!

OH yeah!!! By the way Mr. Sexton!!!! At the end of the race as us three were BS'in on the gravel road I did love your tale of the two dudes that battled and raced every available inch of every mile that the Drexel had to offer, sliding into home plate visor to visor, but you forgot to mention that YOU were the dude who got the Gibber! That is no easy feat I'm telling ya!

And Scott I'm not telling your story but I was very impressed with how you did today with the hand you were dealt. I've had that same hand dealt to me before and it either shuts you down or it can build character. Yes, I'm saying that your a character....Mr Black Knight...(from Monty Pythons)
WHOOOP!

[getdirty]

Holy Smokes Shredder - that was a two beer read!! Well worth the beer though

A HUGE thank you to the town of Drexel, Chuck Martin and his crew of workers! I really like coming back to this event, and by the turn out, I am not alone with that thought.
My son and I load up and head out in time for Pee-Wee race. All is going well until it is was time for my son to go practice. His bike fires fine, but mine will not. So my son, his mom, our daughter and two cousins start walking toward the Pee-Wee track while I try to figure out why my bike will not fire up. After a few minutes, I realize I left a rag in the air box to wick any moisture from the last washing. I finally get down to the track and I ask my wife if our son has come around yet on a lap - Nope!. So I head toward the creek crossing and assume he is stuck and is need of help. I only wish that was what was causing his delay. I see Hayden -my son- On the other side of the creek on the back side of the dirt jump waving at me to come over. As I am getting off my bike Chuck Martin waves me down and lets me know he okay, but he went over the dirt ramp and straight down into the water! I head over and ask if he is hurt and look back at the drop that this 10 year old just took. It looked to be about 10 to 12 feet from the top to the water! Hayden is soaked from head to toe, and so was his bike. Well, I figured his day was done as Chuck and I load his bike into his side by side and head back to the truck. As we are unloading it, Chuck says, I think I got a bike he can ride. He makes a call and tells me he has a TT90 on the way. REALLY? Yep! Chuck -You are a top notch, One of a kind, over-the-top kind of guy. Hayden and I truly grateful for your help. The bike arrives and Hayden lines up with 30 or so of his fellow riders and has a great race! He lands himself a solid 7 place finish and cannot stop talking about his "Race Thru the Park".
So after all that is done, we head back so I can get ready for my practice lap. After I gear up and ask what time it is, I find that 30 minutes is not enough time to go out and see what is in store for us. So I go warm up the bike in the starting area and watch some guys/gals jump the creek just past the obstacle course. I head back and make last minutes preparations.
I head over for the start and see a sea of bikes! A lot of riders show up for this event!
The shotgun is raised and fired - my bike fires right away and I am off. Both riders next to me and I are gaining speed at the same rate, so I start slipping the clutch and gaining some forward distance on them. I shift and look over to my left and I see just some front wheels and for the first time in a long time that I can remember, I twist the throttle all the way and make the hole shot! We make a couple of turns past the first creek crossing and I loose 1 spot, then another to none other, than PK himself. I follow PK until a spot where we are in some grass area coming up to a muddy spot. PK twist the throttle and makes an effortless pass through the mud. I try to follow suit and make it halfway, until I cross rut and go down. I pick up and get back into the mix with other riders and we start making some good laps. Most of the remaining laps go pretty uneventful until I come up to a JR racer and he yells "HELP ME". I prop my bike as fast as I can and run back to him as other 700 riders and I are playing frogger - You remember the game. I ask him if he hurt - No. Hmm. It looks like your stuck, are you? No. What's wrong then? The JR replies he cannot start his bike. Moral dilemma hits me. I tell him that I will send help, but since you are okay, I need to go. Hate me if you want folks - but that is why we have sweep riders - and there were plenty of them for this race. And I was right. The next lap, he was gone from the location and I feel like I made the right choice, since there was injury.
The remaining of the day was spent with a fellow 700 rider and I playing cat and mouse. On the fast parts I could make the pass and gain some lead, then by the end of the lap, he was back on my tail and makes the pass back. We came through scoring and we were going through the obstacle section when the 2 hour blast rang out. I knew I needed to make the pass again and try to make enough of a lead to keep it. Got the pass in the starting field and I tried to race hard to every turn. I never saw him again we are toward the end of the lap. I make every effort to make myself ride smooth and get to the rocky creek section before the dam. Success! We stop after the checkered and chat for a while and return to the pits to get ready for the fast classes to take the field.

Thanks again for all those involved making this race and all the races fun for all. Your hard work does not go unnoticed.

[TMAN]

Well after reading the above the battery on my phone is screaming at me for a charge. So I will make it short, I just want to echo the comments relative to the town of Drexel, it's residents and especially Chuck Martin and the gang that made a great day and evening possible. Thank you so much for all that was prepared and endured during our event! This race is always a memory maker and in the end that's what it's all about! Thanks again, looking forward to next year!!!

[ktm1991]

Well as much as I dislike this race and try and find any reason to not race it I ran out of reasons this year and decided to line up. After the practice lap I still was far from impressed by all the fast sections but was pleased to see that there was little dust in most of the field sections! Well I go to the line ready to get the next two hours over with so I could drink a few beverages and enjoy the fireworks! I find out we're doing the run to the bike start I got David Martley to hold my bike and we went over strategies and found one that worked. Once the gun went off I hopped on started first kick had a little goon wheelie got it back down and was surprised to see everyone behind me look forward and see the creek jump and think **** I have to jump this now I hit it smoothly and just tried to gap myself as much as possible. I led the first 5 laps with Aaron getting close a couple times but I was always able to pull the gap back out. Then early on the 6th lap I got passed by someone I had never seen before and he was hauling kept up for about a mile then gave up and cruised to a second place finish. Was happy with the result considering my feelings toward this track!

Thanks to Chuck and his crew for putting it all together! Also many will be surprised but Jacob did most of the arrowing and ribboning so a big thanks to him as well! And also Luke Daniels for building the motocross section!

[KaseoDip]

I did backup sheet and rode sweep. It was pretty fun.

[JayShafe8]

It was an interesting race to say the least. I planned on racing kasey's 350 for fun. He made me some sweet duct tape graphics, however I ended up not needing them. After a practice lap I decided to move up to A class. Fighting off the nerves I just told myself to have fun. It was a cool feeling to finally line up in the second row! My sister held my bike for me and she did a great job. I hopped on and it surprisingly fired quickly for a 4 stroke! I took off and had 4th to the jump when everyone seemed to check up. Ryan took the jump and had a solid lead. The rest of us funneled through the creek. I held second for a mile until I fell back to 7th. It was difficult to run with the intensity on that lap. After that one I got comfortable and ran down remy and passed him. I settled in at 6th and finished there. I was happy with the finish as it was my first A race ever. Can't wait for the next one!

Thanks to Chuck and everyone who set the course up.

Cya at the end of summer!

[shredder]

OOPS!

Drexel assessment...

Stacey, Pam and Alisha - Thanks for all your support, cheers and info as I whizz by. I turn all that into even MORE adrenaline instantly and I appreciate it!

Luke Daniels - I know you didn't put together the moto cross section in one afternoon. Great job and well done. It adds an extra element for us riders and an extra bonus to the spectators and on race day some of us folks are both! It was challenging enough for our junior riders to get over and if the big bikes didn't pay close attention, it could bite ya.

Chuck Martin - Thank you so much for all your efforts. Stacey and I both were thrilled with everything. The short grass back at camp, parking well defined, good flow for folks on foot or motorized vehicles, well positioned ports potties and great track. It seemed that every time I looked up you were there talking, making decisions, giving orders and I'm guessing that is why the whole event felt like it was well managed. You put enough people in the right places to handle what need to get done. Best Drexel track I've ever been on and totally epic trophies - nice touch, I might even be bold enough to say that I think you out did yourself! Thank you!

Lions Club - I enjoyed a tasty breakfast with all the fixin's and a big glass of oj at a modest price - thanks!

Dan thanks for just glaring at Todd and 'th Gibber last lap at scoring as the 2 war birds landed and slid in to scoring and looking more eager than a 14 year old girl with Maria Carey tickets. Technically the scoring lane didn't start until the left hook into the cones...Thanks for letting it slide - like Todd and 'th Gibber did!

Superfast - I look at the pics of the motocross section and just smile to see the amount of control and air you're getting on a flat rear! Wowzer! I looked at the times and with 3.5 laps with a flat rear you still spanked me by finishing over 5 minutes faster overall than myself with ALL MY PARTS ABOARD AND CORRECTLY POSITIONED!

Tank - that pic of you in the moto cross section is SWEET! Buy it and hang it up on the wall!

Rider #914 - It was a hoot to blast off out of that mud application section on a split second decision whim and then look back to see ya attached to me like a bug on the windshield! Sweet move my man!

Devon - Is it just me or are you working out with the posting exercises? Nice post! Sweet!

Aaron Holder - many thanks for winching out the bikes - that's exhausting hark work - especially after running hard for 3rd! sweet!

T-Climber - Every time I see you I think DANG your tall! It was cool seeing you at the creek crossing, I wanted to pull my front wheel and make a huge wake to make you proud but every time I saw you I was stuck freight training. Good to see ya Jeff! Sorry I missed you at camp.

Mr Jorray - Please let me know where to find those cool pics your wife got as I would love to see them. Good job and hard work! I didn't get to even see you today, I didn't see you in the waiting room at the mud application shop either. I admit it still stings more that I came up one minute and twenty seconds short to be banging bars with you than the locust thorn I dug out of my shoulder. You rock man! - (to be continued...)

A special Thank You to all who helped pull this fun event off!


OK...I feel better now.....it was tough still carrying all that around...

[dvl104]

First time back to the Drexal race in a few years. I thought the course was the best one I have rode there.
My first race on a Ktm 2 smoke. Karl was my holder and I got the holeshot and rode out front most of the first lap. stayed in the top 3 the rest of the way. Thanks to Eric Smith for a sweet pit stop and to my wife and daughter cheering me on. The moto section and the rollers after it was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who helped with set up it was a fun course that had a little of everything.
thumbs up on the awards also.