Place: 8th
Site: Bryson
Guest Columnist: Cindy Gross, L613
Pat missed this race too. Hopefully he will be back for the next one.
We got to the track a little later than normal on Saturday. I quickly dressed and headed out to do a lap. Boy, was it a beating! Lots of ruts, sand, and rocks. I was exhausted and not at all impressed. When I got back to camp I talked to Pat and we decided I might do better on his 125 with its steering stabilizer. I joined up with Stephanie Taylor (L699), Sara Schmidt (L313), and Robert Taylor (Y669) and off we went. I decided that Pat's bike starts a lot easier than mine, but it was just too tall and the controls (especially the brakes) were extremely touchy compared to mine. I was off to a glorious start by getting a little out of control and falling into a bush with my foot stuck very firmly under the bike. Nathan Price (J398) and Stephanie helped me up and I managed to keep the bike upright after that. However, I decided that I needed a lot more practice on the 125 before even considering riding it in a race.
After a light rain Saturday night and Sunday morning, I had some faint hopes that the sand and dust would be a little better than in practice. That was not to be. For our midday race it wasn't any worse than Saturday, and I am extremely thankful that it wasn't as dusty as the afternoon race! I don't think I would have even taken off in that dense cloud of silt.
I got a pretty decent start (for me) and was in the middle of the pack. I was right behind Stephanie and there were a couple of people immediately behind me. We all passed a few riders who were stuck due to the sand and/or dust. There were several of us in a pack for quite a while, then Stephanie took a spill in a rocky section. I passed safely by, but Shay Bolling (L632) apparently fell on top of Stephanie's bike and I guess there was a minor slowdown for some of the others because I had a short time to myself. I was soon passed by some of the faster riders who were behind me only due to mishaps. I passed one of the intermediate riders several times as she seemed to be stalling out in sandy turns. She always passed me back again soon after.
About six miles into the first lap I ended up behind Kim Reynolds (L642). I followed close behind her through the barrels and back through the starting area. I managed to pass her in the straightaway, but she passed me back about five seconds later in a turn. I stayed behind her for quite a while. Around mile three the first mini expert rider passed by. I was disappointed (although not surprised) because this meant I was on my last lap. It was several minutes before the next expert rider passed and several minutes after that before Shannon McKamy (L1), Taz Kisor (L37), and a couple more minis passed by. I had a little difficulty getting out of their way as we were in a narrow winding section. I guess they distracted Kim though because she got stuck in a deep, sandy turn and I was finally able to pass her. This was about mile six and I was thinking that I was very grateful to only be doing two laps. All that sand and no steering stabilizer really wears you out! I didn't see any one else from my class for the rest of the race. By the time I got to the barrels I was once again thinking that I would really like to take another lap. Oh well. I was happy to finish in 8th place and in one piece.
Thanks for reading! See you on the track! Cindy