https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W18w7yvKow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASQm19BDJJ4
Forgive me guys but I have had about all of the sweet talking, feel good Vet 40 Stuff I can stand.
Let's get down to it.
First off, I knew my day was going to come down to my start. I added a hole shot device to my bike at the advice of PK.
Made a practice lap at 9:30 scoping out every alternative route I could catch. Then at 12:30 (along with some other riders) I started working on my starts. 12:45 we were informed by Mr. Congeniality Paul that practice had not officially started so we could not practice out starts.
Dan had placed a sweeper at the end of the hole shot so we would not interfere with practice traffic but in light of what I went thru with Paul at Carbondale 1 this year I elected to just wait for the race.
I have to say I am completely done with Paul and Carbondale. These rules as you go and being less than pleasant
to those of us just trying to have fun (and paying to do it) is enough for me. He is not too old to keep doing this, he is too old to keep doing it by himself because no one will work with him.
I truly don't get it! I really think it is unfortunate since Carbondale can be such a cool place to race and nobody marks a course better than Paul. I hate to say it but I just don't need the grief so I really don't think I will be racing Carbondale again in the future. Okay, enough of that.
Got a lousy start. Bike didn't fire right away so best I can tell I started somewhere between 10th and 12th. Did a pretty good job getting passed guys in the S turns before the woods then ended up behind the infamous #1063 Todd Sexton.
Damn! Here we go again.
Rode his tail pipe until we broke out in to one of the grass sections and tried to make a pass. I will give Todd the benefit of the doubt and assume he was holding his line for the inside of the turn but at about 5th gear, who knows how fast and right beside Todd to his left he drifts left and pinches me off in to the trees just before the last whoop before the big left turn!
I lay on the brakes and get out of the gas which makes me nose dive the whoop! Holy Sh#&! I'm over the handlebars, feet off the pegs thinking "Oh Man, 1st lap and I'm gonna spend the afternoon in the emergency room!"
Well, I pulled it out, don't know how, and I'm back on Todd's fender. Shortly after that we come up on #1010 Bill Thomas.
You all can say what you want but Bill has been a great sport thru all of this. Todd got around Bill much quicker than me but it had nothing to do with Bill. Just circumstances. I finally got around Bill and for Both me and Todd Bill did not give us anything but picked a line, held it and did not interfere with either of us.
Both me and Todd made quick clean passes. Thanks Bill! Now back to Todd!
So we get around Bill but like I said, Todd passed much quicker than me so I had some ground to make up. I had gotten passed by the sweetheart on the Beta with the horn just to pass her back when she dumped it but it did not take long for her to pass me again. Way to go young lady, great passes and to be honest, I'm okay with the horn. I'm thinking of putting one on my bike. Do you think Todd would let me pass if I did???
FYI., I have audio of her thanking me when I let her go. See the video above. It really is cool.
So I finally get around Todd at a bobble opportunity but by this time the Carbondale foliage has reached out and ripped my helmet cam off my head. Fortunately Riley Scholler and his buddies stumbled on to it on their way back to the pits but by then it had been run over so many times (probably by Todd
) the Gorilla glass screen was broken. I hope I can get it fixed.
So now I'm in 5th??? This is where I think I need to be to win all the marbles. I'm pulling away from Todd and no signs of any other Vet 40's behind me. I'm gonna run smooth and clean from here on out. Or so I thought!
On the back side of the Chat pits I wash out on a rutted up hill and lay it down. I hit my head pretty hard which knocks me kind of senseless and when I go down I'm on the gas. So when I jump back up I don't completely have my wits about me and my back tire still has plenty of velocity. As soon as it hits the ground I'm chasing my bike up the trail trying to remember which dog gone race this is! Well, I get it together, jump on the bike and take off a gear lower than I had been to try and get my stuff together. In the mean time I get passed 1063, 1031 and ????. Sorry, I was a little dazed!
To be honest I really don't think I fully recovered from that one. The best I was able to muster from there was 6th. Ran a respectable race but just could not catch Todd after that.
At the end of my 3rd lap going thru the S turns before the scoring loop I noticed the familiar thump of #1019 Kip Niswanger's Yamaha. SHOOT! I'm in sixth and the way I have it figured with the points worst case is sixth gets me a tie for overall in the Vet 40. I'm not giving it up!
Well, all I can say is, not only is Kip a hell of a rider but he is also a very good friend. On the last left turn before the scoring loop he had me on the outside by at least 1/2 a fender. I got on the gas to hold him off and blew the turn in 3rd gear on the gas and slid right in to Kip running both of us in to the trees. Kip shouted some positive words of encouragement, held his line and kept us both on our respective 2 wheels while making a less than graceful pass on me. Immediately after that, I think it dawned on him the points situation, he slowed up, flagged me on and let me go thru scoring in 6th. Unfortunately the checkered did not drop until we both had just passed thru scoring. So here we go for one more lap. I really think Kip was going to follow me for the next 6 miles. I hope everyone knows he took 1st away from me at Milford on the 4th lap. Kip is a hell of rider but a total Vet 40 Gentleman at the same time.
So less than a mile or so in to it I hit a rock with my rear tire and the next thing I know I have a flat. Kip comes up behind me and shouts, "Gibber, you've gotta flat!". Well, I already knew that and figured there was no way I could hold Kip off for 5 miles with a flat so I pulled out to the pits.
#292 Everhart swapped my spare in less than 10 minutes and I jumped back in to the course only 12 minutes behind my original pace. turns out I would have placed the same regardless but even still I was hoping to find someone with "slightly" worse misfortune allowing me to make up at least one more spot. Wishful thinking, (like thinking Paul will somehow become a a nice guy and quit threatening to cut throttle cables). So 7th it is.
Turns out 7th was good enough. I'm able to hold on to 1st place over all in the Vet 40. Whoo Hoo!!! I would just like to say congrats to the following folks.
Jadan Johnson 1st Overall
Tucker Smith 1st AA
Brennen Ladd 1st A
Grayson Johnson 1st B
Alex Meyers 1st C ADV
Silva Beach 1st C VET ADV
Jason Chandler 1st C
Bret Kyle 1st C VET (Wellsville)
Jared Toman 1st Sportsman (Wellsville)
Jacob Sturdevant 1st Trailrider (Wellsville)
Steve Gibbs 1st Vet 40 (Wellsville)
Mason Martin 1st Junior
Michael Everhart 9th Overall (Wellsville)
Drake Williams 10th Overall (Wellsville)
Tyler Toman 3rd B (Wellsville)
Tony Toman 3rd C ADV (Wellsville)
Drake Williams 5th A (Wellsville)
Reece Williams 4th B (Wellsville)
Luke Thomasson 4th Sportsman (Wellsville)
Last but Not Least
Gary Richard (Web site won't let me type out DDIICCKK) Top 15 C Vet ADV with only 5 races. Must have been that Super Charged, Rocket Fueled PK and Jimmy Blessed LTKO KTM! I'm not sayin' anything, I'm just sayin'!!!
If I've missed anyone please forgive me. However, I'm not the sharpest tack in the box but I'm think'in Wellsville has got the JAZZ!
But what do I know?
Thanks for all the support this year from the VET 40's, Friends, Competitors, Team Letko and the likes. It really has been fun. I can't wait to see everyone at the annual banquet.
P.S. My wife Colleen has recently gotten some Kick Ass photos including Melvern. I am working on posting/sharing them. Please stay tuned!
Thanks to Team Letko, My Wife for letting me do this crazy stuff, the Good Lord for giving me the physical ability at 51 years old, Tony Toman and Dan Johnson for talking me in to buying a KTM (I was on a Yamaha prior) and Micheal Everhart for forcing me to go with "Rider Preference" on everything I did to my bike while learning what my "Rider Preference" was!
Took me a while to figure it out but it's all good now!
GO TEAM LETKO!