Hank's Place Race Reports

[shredder]

OK - let's go with the crickets.


I will agree that sometimes I don't "let people by" in my own class because they overtook me slowly or what ever. I'm not giving up my position just because you want it.

Now having said that, I will say that I also don't "go out out of my way" to consistently block someone either. All of my cam-padre's will attest to this. I run hard and if you go to pass I'll hold my line and see what happens. If your super spunky and tearing it up and I'm not really feeling it - I'll let you by, shoot I'll even point to which side to pass me by. Sometimes I'm resting up, going for a sip of my secret cocaine concoction, or maybe breathing hard to get the O2 level up before a difficult or technical section or what ever, I'll catch up and catch you later. If I see you again I'll go for the pass. I love being the guy in the rear. I can write a novel about all the tactics and stunts I can pull. Off course now that I think about it I could write a novel about watching mud dry. Anyway the point is I am very aggressive on riding someones coat tails and I just wear em down so some of them actually want me to pass.

I think (yes I actually have thoughts of my own sometimes) that a little mutual respect for each other is a good idea here. We all run at different speeds at different sections at different tracks. Sometimes we find someone that always seems to be around where we are and it comes down to not only skills and our machines but sheer will power to endure. (that's the cool part - for me). But one thing that is frustrating for everyone is when you come up on a slower racer in any class that goes out of their way to block. It's best for everyone to let the faster guy pass. Then if you can continue pressuring the guy you let by, well, man it's on now! Swapping places back and forth is racing. I'm not saying that every rider that stands on your coat tail you should just wave them by, ok, but the guy who is squealing and screaming is surely getting frustrated for some reason and when several racers are pointing this out to you, well, maybe give it some thought.
That's all.

Bill.
Please.
Lighten up a little, then these guys will cut you some slack.



I just hate to see these kinds of threads get nasty and hurt feelings. No need for that. There have been a group of guys experiencing what they consider
a reoccurring situation over the year and are trying to clear it up in a sportsmanlike manner. I hope it works out that way. We don't need anyone getting crashed unnecessarily.

Injuries...................

I still don't walk right because of my broken left foot. Wearing my stilts at work makes my foot burn after 1/2 an hour.

My broken wrist has accelerated arthritis and my dentist was able to rebuild my front teeth and make it hold for a few years if I wear my mouth guard at night when I sleep. If I break the crown off again I'll have to do the whole post route and another couple thousand dollars.

Still have 2 thorns in my left arm that won't show up on an x ray. Every once in a while they will start talking to me and brother I don't like what they have to say. I was able to get the 2 thorns cut out of my leg I received at Drexel - maybe some of you remember the pics I put up at the er.

I have a lot more stitches, scabs, burns, poison ivy and scratches - was it worth it? You bet your butt it was! Look.....I'm listing all these injuries because they were all "self induced". They didn't happen because of an interaction with another rider. It would be sad to sustain a crash because one guy got frustrated and pushes a bad position to get around ya Bill. Let's all simmer down a notch.



Bill your my friend and I respect you dude.

Please.

Be the Mr Bill you....Not the Hospital Bill......

[tbarthree]

Shredder I miss ya man. This has all got twisted and I do not get it This started at Carbondale. I went #2 on the start and in 250 feet in, I was in the lead. Gibbs leaves that part out and his video shows us battling at the grass track. Then we drop in to the woods and Gibbs is yelling to let him by, "he is faster". He drops back and just sits there, cool. Back out on the grassy area and then 3 or 4 bikes jump out and pass and so did Gibbs. I never block them out, just let them go. Merwin 2 45 min motos, I get two good starts and Gibbs ends up behind me. He never tried to pass until we drop into the woods. He makes a good pass and he is by, I never block him. All the gripes about me have been in or on the first lap of a 2 hr race. They get around and most of the time I do not see them again. I somehow became the bad guy of the 1000 class. You say lighten up a little then these guys will cut me some slack. How do I do that? Not try to race? Pull over and let my class by? There has been no squealing and screaming just letting riders by and yelling go go (insert name here) go go. I have given all this a lot of thought : Dan told me this was coming and just keep doing what your doing. So all this happens in the first lap and I am the one that needs to lighten up . It's a race that last 2 hrs. I am not the one holding anyone back in the long haul. Just trying to have fun.

[shredder]

Sometimes I am driving down a hilly, twisty, freaky 2 lane road, my trailer in tow on a Saturday afternoon, just pluggin along at 4 or 5 mph over the speed limit and I look back from time to time to check on things and all the sudden I notice 4, 5 or maybe 6 cars lined up on my rear bumper, it looks like they are drafting me. I look again and notice the tailgater dude on my ass has his panties all in a wad for some reason. They couldn't have been there long as I'm checking the rear view every couple of minutes or so. I may not be doing anything wrong necessarily but the folks behind me are gnashing their teeth to get around me. Still, one way to diffuse the whole situation to just let em pass.

I'm always talking about my wife. I really am married - been married for 31 years (same lady). She never reads these posts so I'm always free to use her as an example and this is a perfect time to do so.....Stacey has been driving since 1980 - that's a little more than over 35 years. She drives about 13,000 miles a year so that's about 455,000 miles - give or take. She has never been pulled over for speeding, improper lane use, overtaking another vehicle - etc. Nothing. Notta. seriously - not even had a parking ticket. But there are times when I'm riding shotgun.... I ride shotgun a lot....most of the time really.....In fact, I rarely drive when Stacey is with me. Seems that Stacey doesn't appreciate the effective, efficient time saving driving techniques that I've spent many years cultivating and honing my craft to it's finest and highest level..... Anyway she gets on the highway or freeway and moves over to the center lane and drives 65 MPH in a 65 MPH zone. Theoretically this is like music - we should be flowing along and not missing a beat, clicking along with all the other traffic - right? - right? Hell no. As people pass us with their horns blaring and a couple of middle fingers being flown as I just sit there just looking forward as the cars, pick ups and semi's fly past us on both sides with my sphincter at 11, I'm filled with the thought, that it is, in fact, possible that the seat cushion I'm sitting on may just have to be surgically removed from my ass if we don't get off this freeway soon.

I'm just saying she is doing absolutely nothing illegal. Doing nothing dirty or uncalled for, but if your pissing off more than a couple of people in the same outing - well you may want to re-think your driving and maybe, just maybe, just even consider that possibly a little tiny tweaking her or there MAY,..........possibly.........be in order........or not......

These things have a way of working themselves out. Don't sweat it. I just stuck my nose in here because I did happen to hear from different guys other than Gibber that you were probably in their opinion playing defense - offensively. I wanted to keep the tone down. But now that I think about it, this stuff come up every 2 or three years and about this time of year and always in a class where it's anybody's guess what is going to happen.


Now that I think about it I realize I don't even have a dog in this fight. In fact since we have over the 600 hits on this thread as I predicted, let's turn the fan on "HIGH" and let the dump truck lift it's bed and let the manure flow baby!!!!!


Please just let me position my goggles properly, adorn my NIOSH respirator and zip up my Tyvex suit first. I have a good seat with a great view. LET ER RIP!



Man I love you guys!

[shredder]

I've said this before but I'll say it again.

If your not the lead dog, the veiw never changes!

[Gibber]

https://youtu.be/cTBFpA7P9_o

Hey Everybody. Sorry about opening this can of worms. Seems to be a lot of spaghetti thrown against the wall in hopes some of it will stick. That's why I told Shredder I was gonna keep my mouth shut. However, there are just 2 quick things I would like to clear up.

The link above is video of the start at Carbondale 1. As you can see I am lined up for a very nice, straight run to the hole shot. But there was a pretty good crash I think in the 600 class on the other side of the large mound after the hole shot. This created enough carnage that Paul elected to re-route the start. As you can see from the video we went around the large evergreen on the left side just up from the VET 40 row. So now my straight had to go clear across the VET 40 row from right to left and it would seem a couple of them were a little confused. Bill on the other hand ended up with the advantage and got 2nd. Now don't get me wrong, luck of the draw is a part of racing but I felt it was important to add since Bill made note I had left out the part about him going in 2nd. Also left out was that I went in to the woods in 7th and caught Bill in about 1/2 a lap. Bill finished 14th and I finished 7th. At the end of his 3rd lap he was roughly 6 minutes behind me and did not take a 4th lap.

My real point to all of this is the fact there are 3 VET classes. All with a matched speed none VET class. C VET Advanced / C Advanced, C VET / C and VET 40 / Sportsman. All 3 pairs of classes share the same maximum speed and are separated by age. Only the VET 40 Class DOES NOT HAVE A MINIMUM SPEED.

The Speed for Sportsman is 74% - 68.1%. VET 40 is 74% and below. I realize at this point it is too late for moving folks up or down but with Bill's speed at 67.7 implementing and enforcing a minimum speed may solve the problem. Then when Bill is back to 100% and racing with the top 5 again then he can move up. Problem solved?

I realize I may get some grief over this post and maybe rightfully so since my speed is exceeding the maximum but you may also notice I have yet to when a race. I also realize if I keep this up I will be forced to move up. My average did not exceed the max until late enough in the season that I was not required to move up. I am also only 2 points in the lead. So Blah, Blah, Blah.

Once again, sorry for all the BS. See everybody at Melvern. Should be a good race.

GO TEAM LETKO!

[joking]

I know how you feel when your battling for points,but remember there is no money or sponsor ships involved. We are not pro's,we are old farts out here having a good time. Remember everyone that is a 10 is racing too, and they are out to win by using there skill's. Some guys are fast in tight stuff others in rock's etc. we only hope to sit down and try to relive that last pass or the tumble we took in the heat of battle or a top 3 finish. I enjoyed the Carbondale race and your video's. I had a horrible start at Carbondale. My bike would not start, but I managed to work my way up to 2nd on the first lap then had a great race with #1019 (kip) for first. He held me off till he blew a corner. It was similar to mine and your race (1036) at Melvern. To me that's racing. We gave it are all. See you guys at Melvern.

[orangecrush]

I sure hope Gibbs you win this one. My presents will not be there. Don't have too worry about that noisy four stroke hunting you down.

Maybe it will, of course work is still up in the air. I still haven't heard anything back yet. I will do my best to be at the last one.

I fixed my rear tire it grew some nobbies. I hope the glue holds up.

[Gibber]

Right now I'm worried about Joe King being there. I have chased him a couple of times with no luck. Plus I had a root canal Monday and I have had some complications with it. Took yesterday off and not feeling great today. I hope it's all good come Saturday for practice.

See, I'm already working on my excuses!

I will say this though, I believe my bike is dialed in!

[tbarthree]

Gibbs, sorry your having complications with your root canal. Rest up, get well, you can do this Win it all. Having health complications is a bitch. Good luck to the end ! You got this !

[joking]

Hey gibber. Take Motrin and make sure and take antibiotics just in case you have a infection. If it swells up go see a dentist. Do not worry about this race. I will make sure and place in 1st. I worry about old Yeller getting his MOJO back. Rode with him on Sunday and he was on the pipe.