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EPIC - That is all!

What a way to kick off the the new season!

Collins never surprises, it's always rough and challenging, yet somehow it's so much fun. We couldn't have asked for better conditions. Dirt was perfect minus one sloppy section, rocks were plenty but after mile 4 it was a breeze.

Good luck to everyone driving home and rest up, only 6 more days til Milford!

Best race of the year stop now.We had a great time track was just about rite, To the guys I ran with shredder, Barry Harris ,had a blast just happy the old bike and me did not take a digger .Just happy to get a good ride in after a bad winter.great job every one who put in work

Totally Epic!
Man what a blast going back and forth with Barry and Jim. It was the perfect storm for me. When Barry pulled up I wanted to make some heat and let er eat! Barry spent a lot of time draggin me along at Chadwick when I was painfully slow and awkward and I wanted to show him that I was still working on the basics he taught me. Man I was ON FIRE! Came thru scoring on lap 1 in first and saw "Leader" - WHOOP! So this is what it feels like! Well momentum is your friend till it aint. Took a bad kick and put the bike square into a tree. Thanks to the dude (?) who stopped and wouldn't leave me till I stood up. I did ring my bell and I wasn't mad at ya I just had the wind knocked out of me...which made me even more determined to get that #1 spot back. Not to be. After that crash it kept dying every time the course got "bouncy" . I'm sure I kicked my bike well over 165 times today. It was hard to start, vapor locked some times. I didn't think fuel injection could do that... Man that rear wheel locking up on an uphill is just embarrassing but rear wheel lock up on a greasy down hill make ya feel like a baseball player on a rainy day. By the last 100 yards I was done, got my fill. Best Collins ever with all the different flow areas, terrain chainges and different soils. Well done and I thank you all who worked on this race.

It was cool seeing everyone again today. It was cool getting to talk to Todd about that pass he made while I was kicking my bike on the last lap, he felt bad (dude it's cool that's racing!), Got to meet Jim (trex) and his marvelous mystery machine that I just hammered HARD today - he came by the trailer and I got a high 5. I didn't realize he had won till after I saw the trailer sheets, modest guy, and Barry....well ya still got me today my man but I'm hoping someday I'll put together all the stuff you and Danno have taught me and I won't be a "grass hopper" anymore.

More power is always good till you use too much.

I'm sorry that I didn't make this shorter....I just didn't have the time!

Oh I forgot! At the start realized after watching all the starts that Gentlemen's Club line was lined up pointing right at the loose soil, whoops and the hard left hander turn past the gate. I look over and see where I want to be and guess what, there is good ol Mr Ed! I go line up over there and wow what a difference that made not getting caught up in a traffic bottleneck. My start was not so great but I ripped it up down the hill, stayed outside away from the neck, hit the afterburners after the left turn and BOOM! 3rd into the Woods! Another cookie for Ed! Here here!
(I think I'll hang closer to him more and maybe some of his coolness will rub off onto me.)

Spectator report:

So Collin's day started out with him realizing there was no brake fluid in his rear brake about 30 mins. before the start. Got that fixed and then his bike wouldn't start until the class had about 100 yards on him. So I try to sit down and enjoy watching the race, knowing that the ride home might not be very fun.

Jadan has a nice run in the top 5 all day and I watch him as he leaves scoring after his second or third lap. There was a rider in front of him, sorry I don't remember his number. From my spectating view, it appears Jadan is setting him up to pass him on the right as they take off down the hill from scoring. Then I see the other rider moving to the right to get out of the way. They bump, Jadan drives off, and the other guy's bike goes at least 10 ft in the air flipping end over end. Jadan looked back, but I don't know how much of that he saw. Several of us run to the aid of the rider who was stunned and had no idea what had happened. The marks in the ground told an interesting story, Two sets of tracks, then two sets of tracks intersect, then one set of tracks, then 20 ft. later a gouge out of the ground where the other guys bike landed. I don't know if that guy kept riding, but I can tell you that bike got some serious air. Hope that guy is ok. I really don't know how that could happen.

Well Collin fought his way up to fifth and salvaged a decent finish. Great racing and great dinner at Sugarfoots BBQ on the way home.

Collin wanted to apologize to the Pumpkin patch racing crew, he said he ran into 2 out of the 3 of you yesterday. That is a product of riding mad after a bad start.

See ya'll in Milford.

Speedysdad wrote:Spectator report:
Collin wanted to apologize to the Pumpkin patch racing crew, he said he ran into 2 out of the 3 of you yesterday. That is a product of riding mad after a bad start.

It's all good. At least 2 of the 3 of us will return the favor some time this year.


As for the "old man"; he got it put on him. And deservedly so; the kids are getting fast, Tim is still fast, and my training regimen consisted of putting the bike on the stand after the 100 miler and taking up 3 months of solid wine and food training. Not the best plan, by the way. That's how they roll up there in Chicago.

But very happy to be back in KC and see so many friends this weekend.

Did anyone notice that Mr. Terry G. tearing it up yesterday?
Brought a smile to my face as always.

This was my first time riding at Collins and my first time back on the bike since being broken in half at Chanute. Well, the people who are in love with this track need professional help! Did someone dynamite the first 4 miles of track, or was that just a sick gift from Mother Nature? Then all of sudden the trail is all nice and cozy and I'm thinking OK I can do this! Then the handlebar deep quick sand slapped me back to my senses. I got two laps in thinking there was no way I would make the cut off for a third. Rolled through with 20 mins to go! Here we go 3rd lap - just hold on and survive!
I passed so many plastic pieces it look like the trail was built from buried bikes. I was slow but survived. It was a great test for man and machine. I woke up a few times in a cold sweat last night dreaming about giant rocks sticking out of my body at odd angles but I cried myself back to sleep.
When I woke up I had the feeling that Collins was kind of OK.

I wouldn't have believed you if you told me at the beginning of last season that I'd be riding at KTM in 2014, but here I am now. I guess I've got the Pumpkin Patch family to thank for that, most especially my wife, Laurentheracer. Either way, I'm getting along with the KTM so far and really enjoyed riding the 300 yesterday at Collins. If you are getting tired of your current machine, I'd suggest you take a look at what you are riding and go out and buy the complete opposite of it. Going from a 250 4-t to a 300 2-t has taught me a lot about my riding but that's a whole different story for another time! Right now, its all about Collins!

At the start I got lined up somewhere in the middle of the A row and at the board drop the 300 lit easily in 2nd gear within the first 1/2 kick. I gotta say, it was pretty awesome watching my brother pull a HUGE holeshot from around the outside of everyone around that first turn, he had her pinned! I guess there goes all of my excuses I used for not getting good starts on my Honda 250f, that's a very capable machine. I pulled away 4th going into the skinny trail leading up to the monster uphill so I had plenty of line choices. Luckily, the line I scoped out in practice was available, unfortunately I did the same thing I had done in the practice lap and got hung up halfway through the hill. I'm sure mass chaos insued behind me as I saw Kasey and his bike come in next to me and stall as well. I quickly downshifted to 1st and heaved the bike up the rest of the way. To my surprise, I was still in 4th by the time I got to the top.

Within a few miles we I had caught back up to the leaders of our class with Issac and Kasey in tow. We made our way around my brother who was having some goggle issues and forced our way into the top three. I made a few mistakes that allowed Issac and Kasey bye but rounded the first lap in 3rd.

Laps 2-3 were pretty much cruise laps as most of the class was spread out decently by then. I was riding alone for most of it and would make a mistake that allowed the skilled Terry G draw close and pass me more than once. I'd catch back up and make my way around only to have Terry back by me thanks to a bad line choice or getting hung up in a rocky section.

Lap 4 I found out the true fuel capacity of my new 300. Let me preface this by saying that the bike has the stock tank on it and I didn't think that Collins would require the me to stop and re-fuel with the rocky conditions. About a mile into the final lap the bike bogged and died in a corner. From there I switched over to reserve and did my best to conserve fuel by running the bike a gear high, swapping the 'engine rev' for a 'WOOOOoooo" yell at the riders being lapped, and generally laying off the throttle everywhere. I can say that this opened my eyes to a totally different way to ride the 300, and it was just as awesome! I made the last mile on prayer alone and the bike died not 50' from the finish. As I coasted through the line with the board reading 3rd place I threw a fist in the air with excitement, partly from 3rd place but mostly because I made it there!

Collins is a great place to have available for racing and is a welcome change of pace from other stereotypical 'flatland' races. Thanks to everyone who set-up the course and the land owners for allowing us to ride on the property. Great rides everyone!

First off I would like to thank Dan and the rest of the crew for putting together Collins. It was a long brutal and fun course. The relief that came with getting past the first 4 and a half miles was what kept me moving. I started off decent before getting ate up at the first corner. I looked to my left to see my old man on his 350 blowin' me by. By the time we hit the woods I was in about 10th. Within the first mile I made a few passes and found myself behind my dad once again. He was moving kinda slow for my pace, sitting down chugging along (sorry mark). I passed him on one of the long rock uphills. I continued forward until I messed up at a creek crossing and found myself behind him again. I had to be a little more creative and saw a better line he missed. This time I put the distance on him and made another pass on the way. I found myself in 5th after the second lap. I rode alone for a while and I fell off the pace. Collin came around me rather quickly as he was riding smooth and fast. I tried to stick with him to pick up my pace but that lasted till I found myself on the ground again. I rode out the rest of the race in 6th. At the finish line I sat and waited until I saw my old man rolling in about 20 seconds behind me. WHEW THAT WAS CLOSE. Another lap and he would have gotten me. 6th place finish and hoping to improve at Milford. See ya'll next week.

No problem "son".
I'll get you back.

Actually very impressed to see how much Jared, Jeremy and so many other's skills have continued to improve during my "Chicago hiatus".

My thanks go out to Letko Cycles for putting many of us in position to be winners.
No excuses now!