Beer Ranch East Race Report

[Gibber]

Okay Folks. Here is my much anticipated, highly entertaining and sometimes educational race report!

Got to Beer Ranch about 9:30 and found a spot right next to the start and scoring. In fact, it was so close to the start they had to raise the ramp on my trailer to get it out of the way of the 600's. Okay, maybe too close but it was awesome!

Got to watch the start but didnt see my ole VET 40 buddies race cause I was helping out on the gate. Hope to watch you guys this weekend but at least I got to see a great start.

My race started perfect. After taking a practice lap I felt real comfortable on the course. I had had a little low end issue with my bike in the previous races but after that one lap I knew I had it dialed in.

Technically I got 3rd in the hole shot but Archibald's bike stalled out just as we made the hair pin turn after the start so I entered the woods in 2nd behind Spooner. With new jetting, new woods high bars and new grips the 736 Rocket Ship was on rails. The race was on!

Rode Spooner's fender as we started to catch some 600 riders Spooner and I both were revving the you know what out of them but there didn't seem to be any love. I guess as a kid it is tough to accept that the old guys behind you really are faster! Well anyway, with a little coaxing and a fair amount of rubbin' we made are way around them.

We get to the easy / hard gnarly hill climb and Spooner goes hard line. I had already made up my mind that with all these weeks off the bike I'm going easy line. Well, Spooner changed his mind but too late. I was gone.

Put some distance between me, Spooner and the rest of the C Vets then all of a sudden here comes 770 on a green machine. He tried to pass me on the first dam crossing but I held my line/speed longer than he was willing to and I held him off. We raced fender to fender for at least 2 laps but by the end of the third lap the time off the bike and behind my desk at work was taking it's toll. I couldn't hold him off any longer.

Gordo, Spooner and Flyin' got me 4th lap (I think) and at the begining of my 5th lap got tangled up with an 800 rider coming out of scoring that I was trying to let pass. No harm no foul but by then I was toast. Ended up in 5th. Mid Pack in the 700's again but 2nd in the points. I'll take it.

Awesome day though. Perfect weather, perfect dirt, perfect course perfectly marked. Wow, perfect day back on the bike. Great job Dan, I know you were shorthanded but it sure didn't show. BTW, the plaques were really cool too. Dan gave me one because I think he felt sorry for me!

Only thing I might add is the passing. Like Dan says, if a rider from a class behind you comes up on you he is a minute faster than you. In Hare Scramble terms that is an eternity so let him go! However, there have been a few issues of "INNER CLASS REVVING" so I am not willing to let you pass unless I can confirm I am not racing you. That being said, let me know what class you're in. I can hear you and will let you got. But let us 700 guys go too. Well, let me go, I dont care about the rest of them! Anyway, It would ba a shame for someone's race to get jacked up over passing a guy you're not even racing. Please give it some thought.

Like Porky Pig say's, "THTHTHAT"S ALL FOLKS"!

See you at Beer Ranch West next weekend!

[jgordo]

Well Gibbs you were close...but it was after the second lap you lost 1st not the 4th!! Should have dove down in the creek and gotten wet and muddy!!!

The Rocket really did fire on the start! I was excited for another good start but unfortunately forgot to keep my clutch pulled in until after I kicked!! At least it fired second kick and I was able to slide into 5th and follow the freight train for that first lap!! I got past Spooner and Flyin on that creek and then pushed to hard trying to pass 770...he finally made a mistake and I passed but I was getting gassed and hit a tree on an uphill and he went right around! Then I dumped it twice getting cross rutted and Spooner and Ryno went right around me! But alas, as they were waiting for the small dirt trail on a hill to clear I decided to go through the overburden to the left and got them both back! I caught back up to the point I could just see the 770 and the Rocket Ship. Then it happened, they both took the long way around the creek! Again!! I never saw either of you guys again!

I felt painfully slow my last couple of laps because other than a couple other class riders I wasn't seeing anyone! After my fourth lap I actually pulled through scoring and waited at the entrance to the woods to see who was in 2nd...and guess who finally rolled through?? Flyin Ryan himself!!! I whooped and hollered and egged him on and TOOK off!!! Every once in a while I would catch a glimpse of him but I just kept extending the gap. There was an 800 rider on a Honda that I let pass then he went down and caught up and I let him pass then he went down...everyone has one of those days!! Well I'm cruising along the ridge right before the last creek split and I hear a bike come ripping along, so I pulled over in the grass where there was room and good ole Ryan goes rolling by!!! By this time he has discovered how much faster it is to go through the creek so I follow him down and get right behind him in the peewee section...as we came to the off camber I started yelling at him and actually slowed down so we could yell back and forth...unfortunately neither one of us could really understand the other so off we went again!!! In the corner before the last little uphill he went wide and I cut below him and hammered it as hard as I could! The mighty X dug her fingers in the dirt and hurled me forward!! Ryan tried desperately to come up beside me but didn't quite make it! There was a lapper in front of me and I think I scared him with my yelling because I never let off the gas and flee right by him! I didn't realize how close Ryan stayed on my fender until I saw the final times posted, about 45 hundreds of a second!!!

The course was one of my favorites 2 years ago and I'm glad Dan and his crew were able to make some changes that allowed the second race to go off fairly well. I had a blast and the gaps between the five of us on the first laps just shows how close we all really are!!!

[Spooner]

Lets just keep a 700 class theme going here

When I showed up in the morning I was a little unsure how I would feel on the bike as I broke a couple ribs in my upper chest a couple weeks back but thankfully on the practice lap it didn't really affect me so I was good to go for the race. Got a decent jump off the line and was able to duck on the inside line going into the woods and into the lead I went. I was really focusing on having a clean first lap because after talking to the guys from the first race it was pretty apparent that grip was at a premium and there were several tough sections to deal with. I see that Gibbs was feeling my pain as we caught the 600's pretty quickly and they were generally quite unwilling to move which was frustrating. At the end of the lap I missed the fast line through the creek and coming around the long way I saw John Gordon scurrying ahead of me into the woods and found I was demoted to 4th coming through the finish. I made several dumb mistakes on the second lap and I think on one of those I managed to bend the front rotor. I didn't realize it until sometime on the third lap when I figured out my brake was dragging constantly and I could feel it pulse when I used it. That made front grip even tougher but I kept pumping it and occasionally it would free up.

Overall I felt like I was just crawling around out there so slowly but it looks like a lot of people were being extra cautious. I think a day or two more of drying and we would have had tons of grip but I liked the no dust! I liked the course too-having something thats rideable really makes it more fun and you aren't totally beat from the super technical sections. Looking forward to this weekend for sure, I hope the course is similar!

[orangecrush]

This is really good stuff. Makes me jealous that I should've been there. Hopefully in two weeks I can.

[vetteracer77]

What a day. Showed up kinda late and Gibber tried to convince me that there had been a schedule change and the 700's were already racing and I should go home.
Nice try! On second thought maybe I should have.

I had just enough time to go out on a practice lap. My "new" 300 xc/xcw hybrid bike was just glorious. The grip was phenomenal! I was really loving the track and was looking forward to battling it out with the 700's. I hadn't been on the bike much since Walters. I broke a engine case the week before Big Springs and the bike had been down. I was really looking forward to this one.

I get lined up and I scope out the competition. I was suprised to see how small the class was.
The board drops and my bike doesn't start, four times! Now I'm dead last. I catch a group of two straight away. The lead guy went down in a heavily wooded area and blocked the trail. He got pretty quick and moved out of the way. I just knew the lead pack was getting away. I was able to get around the next guy fairly quickly. I was riding pretty hard and caught up to another 700, he motioned for me to pass on his left. I blipped the throttle and was in mid "thank you" when my rear tire lost traction in the laid over pasture grass. I dabbed my left foot and it collided with the ground, this caused me to fly off the bike. I felt the dreaded pop in my knee and I knew my day was over.
As I laid in the grass I could hear the pack in the woods. I heard someone cussing up a storm. The course worker that came to my aid told me a 700 rider almost went through a fence and was pretty mad. I was thinking it sounded kinda like Ryan. (maybe not) I'm looking forward to see his race report
I was able to get up and the worker picked up my bike. The initial pain was gone and my knee felt stiff. I started to think I could go back out. That's when it buckled and I fell to the ground like a 270lb sack of fertilizer. That's when I really knew I was done.
I didn't get the workers name (he said he raced 40 vet), but thanks for all your help.

I went to the doctor and she says torn ACL, next week I'm meeting with specialist and getting an MRI.

I was looking forward to this season. I think it's going to be a close one. Seems like maybe 5-6 different guys could take it any given race. No run away stars this year, like in the past. Just good close racing.

Like Gibber says... Or is it Porky Pig. "THTHTHATS ALL FOLKS"

[rebel617]

First off, man what a race! Thought it would be a little slower pace, being as we're C-Vets and all. Boy was I wrong! I had know idea what the numbers were that I was chasing, my idea was to get out front and get away. My last race was 2010 at Carbondale, only one I did. A friend loaned me a KDX200 because I wasn't sure I wanted to get back into racing, thought I'd test the waters first, lol. Got a mid pack start into the first corner, couple guys got hung up and I came out 3rd. Then it was a freight train. Managed to slip into 2nd somehow on the 1st lap. On the 2nd lap not sure who I was following, but I was waiting on that pond dam, we had em' pinned, side by side, couldn't remember if the turn was before the evergreen or after. My "I'm older and wiser" instincts finally kicked in and I backed off, or I wasn't making the corner. By the end of lap 3, I was spent. Waved someone around on lap 4, thought I could let them by and maybe catch a second wind, nope! Lap 5 felt like lap 10, so it was pretty much a trail ride to the finish. Great fun guys, going to try and hit a few more races, see if I can get back into some kind of racing shape. Mind was willing, on Monday my body says you're an idiot! Lol. Glad I didn't try this on my KLX351, would have been a 1 lapper. See you all at the next one.

[Iamdanjohnson]

I remember being there Sunday and I really thought there were about 12 classes racing. I guess there was only the 700 club.

I think some of you don't think anyone wants to hear how your day went. The truth is, most of us get a kick out of reading race reports. When you are the promoter, you really like to hear that people had a good time and you read every line to find out if you need to make changes the next time you set up a race.

Lets hear some stories from some of the other classes. Those in that first race should have some tale to tell since it was so slick at first and that creek caused a great deal of issue for many. By the way, momentum is your friend and so is that clutch!! If some of you saw how easier others were getting through there, you would likely rethink your technique.

Oh, and these race reports don't have to be exactly true, just based on a true event! It is your story so tell it like you want.

[JayShafe8]

As Dan called for, here is my race report from the first race.

With the weather being pleasant and the dirt slightly slick on the practice lap, I figured for a great course and even finer dirt. With the mud holes, there was an added challenge of line choice and commitment. As the race took off, I was cruising in third behind Joray and Toman (who got the hole shot while half blind). When we doubled into the woods, which was fun every lap, each of us took a different line at the first mud whole. Somehow we all ended up in the same order we began in. Nose to tail until the big mud hole, our class order drastically changed. I decided to take a hot line to the far left and it was a bad idea. I came out in second to last, plenty behind the lead pack. Exerting a lot of energy, I eventually made it to 4th at the end of the lap.

The rest of the race involved shuffling between us top 3. Someone would take the hard hill within the last mile and make a mistake, the other wouldn't quite make it out of the creek nearest to scoring. With all of the swapping, it seemed like anyone of us could win. Eventually, Brawner gapped out into a 30 second lead. With one lap left, I closed his lead down to a corner ahead, but we were both moving through traffic. At the last mud creek, we both dropped in and he took the slightly longer and easier way around, while I took the shorter harder line. As I barely climbed out he was already zipping bye. I ended up finishing 3 seconds behind.

The chess game of racing was in full affect all day, and sometimes the risks you take pay off and sometimes they bite you. It's all a part of the sport and passion we love. I ended up 2nd in A and 6th OA. It was a great track with good flow and awesome dirt. Thanks to the land owner, Dan, and the workers for rerouting course and planning this event.

[motoracr199]

This is my favorite course for reasons unknown.

The practice lap led me to take some pressure out of the rear to help with that traction. I talked to Tim wirefryer and he told me about the easy line to the right that I would have completely missed otherwise. (Thanks)

Got a decent jump going into the woods and stuck to the inside and came out third after the first corner. All of a sudden, guy in 2nd place kinda stays at the same pace on a straight before the long curve towards the bottom of the hill. Simultaneously, First place messes with something on his shoulder, camelbak or chest protector, and just like that I'm in the lead

That was the weirdest start I've ever seen, after passing I knew I had to push hard to make up some sort of gap. Took the long way around the creek on lap 1, then on lap 2 I found the fast line. Afterwards I thought I had accidentally cut, but found arrows on the 4th lap so I knew I was good.

Fought brake fade in the rear and eventually lost them completely. Rode the last few laps waiting to be caught, battling with a few 300's that got caught in the wrong line at the wrong time. But I never saw another person in my class.

Super lucky to have come out 1st and I learned to ride coming into the corners faster than what I'm used to (from not having rear brakes.)

Fun day, Great course! Sorry Dan for not seeing your post about help needed. Maybe a sign at signup would help if you're short on race day.

Thank you to everyone that helps put these races on. See y'all Sunday.

[FlyinRyan]

Sorry to chime in once again for the 700 club but a report must be done to clarify some of the happenings of the 700 race. I will be brief. Had a good start going into the woods in 4th and was just trying to be patient and wait for 1st, 2nd, Or 3rd to make a mistake. Gibby and Spooner were two of the guys in front of me and was pretty sure that Gibby and his Rocketship would be in a free fall soon because I know you can't buy rocket fuel in Adrian Mo.

So once again I'm following Spoon Man (every race) and feeling pretty good when we come to a rock section that has a 600 rider down. Spoon Man and I hop off of our bikes and try to help the poor inexperienced 600 rider because we want his racing experience to be the best that it can be and then all of a sudden Gordo on his Billy Goat makes a new trail up the hill and around where we are unselfishly helping out a fellow racer. I hope you sleep well Gordo.

No Mike I don't think that was me because I don't ever remember being forced into a fence. Sucks to hear about your knee and hope you heal well. If it makes you feel better, Gordo did the same thing and thanks to those performance inhancing drugs he has been getting imported from Russia, he is in the best shape of his life. And as far as your comment about Porky Pig and Gibby, all I'm saying is that I have never seen them both in the same room at the same time.

Last lap of the race I knew that Gordo was in first and I was in second. I was able to always catch a glimpse of him and knew where he was and when I was getting close and working on a pass right before the finish he just simply pulls over and lets me pass. I'm turning toward him yelling what the heck are you doing as I'm passing him and feeling guilty the entire time. I should let you all know that the golf cart that I took to the races last weekend has a lift kit on it and John spent Wednesday night until 10:30 helping me put that kit on the cart. He refused to take anything for helping me so I figured what a better thank you then a 1st place so I pulled over and let him repass. You are a person that I consider a friend Gordo and you are welcome.

Dan Da Man, once again a fantastic race. And like Gibby said, if you were short handed you sure couldn't tell. The last minute course changes you had to make were the right calls and you and your team did a great job.