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Amazing course layout, Thanks to all the hard work setting up for the event.
Here goes nothing. The narrowing start was like looking down a tunnel. Got a decent start 4th in the 500 class. After banging bars with a few riders off into the woods we go. Mother nature was good to us, cool temps No dust to contend with and wide variety of conditions, I settled in with the pack conserving as much energy as possible for the first 3 laps. The track started to get warn in, making way for faster lap times as the day went on. Caught the leader and made a clean pass on a double lane section and went through scoring with 5 minutes left. 1 lap to go finished smooth in 1st. Really good day.

Holy Smokes! I'm as wore out and beat up as when I first started doing this crazy stuff. I don't know if it was the course, trying to keep up with the top 700 riders or both! What a great day.

Got to Walters about 4:30 pm Saturday and made one lap. I really liked the course and was excited about racing in the second race so the fast guys and the Vet-40's could break it in. Then helpeed Todd Sexton finish getting his bike ready for the race, had supper and hit the sack. Only to be harrassed by Flyn' Ryan reving my camper at 11:00 that night on his CRF! What a goof!

Got to the gate and worked with Andrew Sexton until the first race started. I like working the gate 'cause you get to see everybody you know as they come thru and meet the new ones too.

Totally excited for Todd #1063, (or is it #700?). He was on rails yesterday and won the Vet-40 class! Way to go Todd, see you in the 700 club soon!

Well, my race started (briefly) really good. Lined up next to John Gordon and my bike started perfectly when they dropped the board. Got a good start and was in front of Gordo then hit the breaking whoops just before the hole shot and knocked my bike down a gear. Gordo shot by me like a rocket and someone on my right did (I think it as John Meyers) as we started down hill. I think I was in 7th at this point.

Got around John on a shorter line pretty quick and stayed with Gordo for a while but just couldn't keep up. Then Flyn' Ryan takes a line thru the leaves and brush and drops me back a spot. Now I'm on Ryan's fender and it will me and him (5th and 6th) within just a few seconds and trading spots for 3 laps.

On the 2nd lap I passed Ryan and Gordo on the last rocky hill climb. Ryan got hung up on the right and I took the left. Gordo was at the top kicking his bike. I stayed in front of Gordo till the last berm just before scoring then I heard him hit the gas and pass me just as we went around the first tree. I knocked his rear tire pretty hard with my front to let him know I was not going away and I would see him again. Ryan was right behind me.

On a lose and rocky up hill an 800 rider got sideways in front of Gordo and knocked him off his line. He in turn (getting on the gas) rolled a couple of logs out in front of me which knocked me off my line. The next think I know my front tire is parked on Gordo's right foot and he ain't going anywhere. Shoot! I shouted I was sorry and hit the gas. I knew Ryan was right behind me so I had to go.

I held Ryan off for the remainder of the lap and went thru scoring 6 seconds ahead of him. Then he got me with another pass thru the leaves and brush. I kept up for a while and then comes John Meyers! I haven't seen him for 4 laps and he just blew by me. I followed him and Ryan as close as I could and we all went thru scoring 28 seconds apart! Last lap, here we go.

Erick Schnider was right behind Ryan as they went thru scoring. I caught Eric after he went down on a lose rock hill climb but there was no hope for me with Ryan or John. They must have gotten their second winds and I was starting to lose my rhythm.

I stayed in front of Eric pretty Far until I started playing pin ball with the trees. I wrapped my right bark buster around one which put my on the ground. I was back up pretty quick but that let Eric close the gap. Then shortly after that I hit 2 more small trees that fortunately were dead and knocked them down but brought me to a stop and made me step off the bike. This is were Eric passed me back.

So I got back on the 736 Rocket Ship. Took it easy till I got my wind back then worked on just riding clean and finishing 5th. My goal was a top 5 and there was no one in sight behind me.

THEN I SEE HIM! 5 1/2 mile mark and Eric is off the bike out of gas. Crappy luck. Worst thing is he has a big tank up on the shelf in his shop! One mile to go for 4th. All I gotta do is ride clean.

Well, I did and that's it. I guess I'm stuck in the 700 club for now. But it is a cool group and I hope Todd takes the plunge and moves up. It would have been even better racin' between the 2 of us yesterday.

As usual, I loved the course. I always dig Walter's Ranch. Sure wish it wasn't so far from my house. Still can't believe we can put these bikes thru this crap and they still keep running. I guess that counts ourselves too!

Thanks to the 600s I passed and the few 800's and 900's I lapped. Walter's is tough for anyone and you guys and gals did great letting us 700:s by. I really think Dan has hit a home run with the new starting line up!

Gonna be good to have a couple of weeks off. Don't forget to reach out the Todd Sexton #1063/700 to work Virgil City. I am pretty sure he still needs help. You can reach him thru the message board or a PM thru FMHSC.

See you all at Virgil City.

GO TEAM LETKO!

I guess there were only two of you there. It seemed like more riders.

I don't care who you are. That's some funny stuff right there!

C'mon Flyin' Ryan. Where's the smack talk? You got 2nd so you should have some for us. Let's hear it.

Eric, I saw in your text you do have the big tank. If you come out to Virgil City early feel free to stop by the Steve Gibbs Racing Speed shop and we will be happy to install it for you! Of course, we may forget to hook up the fuel line? Now I'm not saying anything, I'm just sayin'!

GO TEAM LETKO!

I'll chime in, and give a shout out to Dan and the track crew as it was laid-out/marked perfectly!!

I was able to get a practice lap in before the first race, and knew I was in trouble. My arms were pumped after the first 2 miles, and I had hoped after finishing the lap I could get them loosened up for the race.

In the meantime I make a few friends, and focused on getting my brick fore arms to loosen up. Then 2 o clock rolls around and I head to the starting line. I was kind of surprised I had the only 4 stroke in C class. At any rate the bike has less than 15 hours on it and I've never had a lazy button before so I thought I would get a late start. I was wrong, I got 5-6 into the woods and ended up passing a few folks before the dreaded arm pump came back. It seems like the 4cs forks are great at everything but the first 4-5 inches of travel. In that zone it just jolted and kicked me all around. I tried everything to alleviate my arms from breathing heavy, to using my legs, and standing up. Nothing was working and I was being thrown all over the track.

It was about mile 3 when I really couldn't hang on very well and several riders passed me while I was trying to baby it back to the pits. I was determined to get one lap in before I ended up retiring. I was trying not to hold anyone up (in my class or the 700 class) and let them go by as they came up behind me. I finally finished a lap and retired before hurting myself and/or someone else.

Moral of the story, good suspension is key haha.

I'm looking forward to Virgil, and will have a new set of forks by then.

Well like Orange Crush I'm a little shy but I'll give this a try. For starters Grayson and Jadan did a great job setting up the course even though I'm not a big fan of ruts, rocks, or trees.
Was super pumped for Grayson to drop the board so I could go ahead and collect my hole shot but had flashbacks of the last 3 years as I was last to leave the line once again. Had a fun day battling back and forth with Gibber for a couple of laps once the race was under way.
I was on what I thought was my last lap and just before coming out of the woods I see Orange Crush ahead of me and all of a sudden it was on again. I don't think Eric knew it was me so I was trying to sneak up on him. He went up the left side of the little hill that leads to the top of the dam and I tried to pass on the grass on the right and not sure how I didn't loose it trying to force a bad pass but recovered and was able to make the pass on the outside lane while crossing the damn. I was pumped after making the pass and holding him off all the way into scoring. As I pull into scoring I'm fist pumping and yelling at Eric about the pass I just made on him as we come to a stop outside of scoring and Shane Weimer comes up yelling, "what are you doing? There's 13 minutes left, you have another lap." Eric heard it too so we frantically turn into each other and bounce our bikes off each other and pull half the ribbon out of scoring as we try to race back to the course.
I'm so glad that I made that pass on Orange Crush when I did because while trying to catch me on that next lap he ran out of gas. Can you imagine the trash talk if I could only pass when he was out of gas? Speaking of running out of gas..... How does a guy that has been riding the same bike since 1946 not know how far it will go on a tank of gas? Gibbs and I were talking after the race and are thinking about starting a go fund me account for Eric Schieder so he can buy a bigger tank.

Sorry for the video quality... Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQZvOowDTfk

Now here is my story.
I got to Walters early enough to watch the first race. Couldn't believe my fellow Vet riders couldn't get off the line when pit board dropped. They must have fallen asleep.

I was later talking to Ryan at the scoring area. He was giving a bunch of crap about he wasn't racing. I new better. Ryan asked me if I had a helmet cam or GoPro to video his hole shot he was going to get today. I laughed it up. I told Ryan if you get out front early, I will not be following you, you have a habit of getting lost.
Sometime later I talk to Gibbs, yep paying me back with more smack talk. I have been pretty quiet now the racing season has started.

I took a walk after sign up. Looked at the start. Yep I didn't need to practice the start or ride down to the woods. Already done most of the course three weeks earlier. Play riding with Jim (1004). Afterwards went got gear on and played around in an area I knew well.

Now for the start, guess who lined next to me on my right, Ryan. I started jacking with his bike as his nerves got the best of him. He is off running to the bushes to take a leek. He comes back making adjustments even though I didn't really change anything. It was funny watching him making sure his gas was on and stabilizer was set right.

The flag drops bike starts on one kick off I go. The rider on my left and I were handle bar to handle bar. Once I got the clutch all the way out he started to fade. Grabbed next gear it was over. There nothing like it getting whole shot and carrying the front wheel up in the air as I went up the hill into the woods. I didn't stay in front long as I was starting to get too relaxed. Got pass by two. That was ok. I got two hours to wear them out. That's my plan.

Hey Ryan, some four strokes due have an advantage on dead engine starts than your two stroke. I was surprised I didn't see you come up on my right, you sleeping?


Ryan caught me on the end of fourth lap coming across the dam. Ryan flew around me, I didn't even here him coming. The race was on to pass him back. Didn't happen.
We both went threw scoring Ryan took second from me. Ryan pulled off after scoring like the race was over. Like a dumb**s I followed him. I was ready to call it quits. Somone yells out "what are two doing?" "You got ten minutes to go." The race was on.

Ryan, I almost was going to T-boned you on purpose. I grabbed front break and let you go first. Being a nice guy I am.

Off into the woods we go. I was already hurting and in the back of my mind I felt I was going to run out of gas. Ryan was later gone I just couldn't hold his pace.

I fell two times on that fifth lap. The only two times the whole race. My hands couldn't hang on no more.

Gibbs pretty much has rest of the story.

Running out of gas really sucked as it took forever for Gibbs to show up. I had a good lead on him.

The reason I don't run big tank. I didn't need it last year. When I needed it last year at Vigil, I had a four minute lead and made it through scoring right before shutdown. No body in Vet 40 was going to pass me.
I guess being in a faster class, I am using more gas.

Just wanted to say thanks to Todd for bringing me some gas. Even though I was no where near the course when he found me. I pushed my bike down an UTV trail in the flats. Started making my way to the pits. I got tired of pushing, found a tree parked the bike. Walked rest of the way until I ran into Todd.
I only did it because I knew where I was. Any place else, I would have stayed put.

Dan anytime you need me to get a rider out of the woods at Walters just let me know. I wouldn't want to spend the night in those woods broken down. Those four legged creatures of the night have the upper hand.

orangecrush wrote:

The flag drops bike starts on one kick off I go. The rider on my left and I were handle bar to handle bar. Once I got the clutch all the way out he started to fade. Grabbed next gear it was over. There nothing like it getting whole shot and carrying the front wheel up in the air as I went up the hill into the woods. I didn't stay in front long as I was starting to get too relaxed. Got pass by two.

Easy now orangecrush. Here's what really went down. I'm the guy that was on your left going bar to bar. Now from experience I know this is not a good place to be. I let you have it, because I had flashbacks of you taking a break from racing and lounging on my bike while the whole class went by at Milford. I decided that I wasn't going to let that happen again so I let up. I figured I'd just pass you in the woods.
As far as my race report - felt pretty good, second off the line not too bad. I got around orangecrush at the rock shelf and was in the lead for most of the first lap, got into a pack of 600's, but got by fairly easily. Near the end of the first lap I made a mistake and 741 got around me. I got a little crazy and wrapped my bike around a tree. I was trying to get it free while checking for orangecrush, who was luckily nowhere in sight.
My second lap was uneventful until the bike started to feel a little strange about 3/4 of the way through. I realized when I almost high sided it on the dam, that the rear tire was flat. As I went through scoring I decided that I had driven 4 1/2 hours to race so I'd take another lap and see what I could do.
I don't know if you've ever tried to ride on a flat Trials tire, but it's a squirrely feeling. I rode as fast as I could, but I knew my pace was way off. Towards the end of lap three I could hear that the oldest bike in hare scramble history was on my tail, so for the second time that day I let old orangecrush have it. I called it a day and headed home.

Thanks to Dan and his boys. Awesome course!

That explains a lot Mike. I was going to apologize to you the next time I saw you. I came up fast on you on a rocky down hill and "woo hoo"d you and you pulled right over and let me pass. I didn't realize it was you until I passed other wise I would have not yelled to pass. It makes sense now that you say you got a flat.

Thank you for letting me pass and thank you for the 2nd instead of 3rd because just like a Milford, I was not going to catch you. For a guy from McPherson Ks., you sure seem to handle rocks well. I look forward to trying to catch you at Virgil City.