Saturday morning it was off to the not really sunny Okanagan for the races. After a couple stops in Kelowna it was up to Malcolm Hett's house to help him finish prep on his DRZ400E (yes, he races a DRZ400. In the pro class, no less. I think he's nuts) and then convoy up to the race site. The DRZ has to be one of the most awkward bikes in the world to work on, but we managed to get everything buttoned up and ready to go. We finally arrived up at the Bardolph riding area around 3:00pm and got camp setup. I went out with my girlfriend, Victoria (she races the womens' class), for a pre-ride on the night loop, then it was time for sign-up, dinner and final prep before the race got going a little after 8:00pm. The first lap is run with some daylight still available to give all the riders a chance to see the course and any hazards before it gets dark. This is important as lighting systems are as different as the riders, ranging from expensive HID systems down to flash lights duct taped to the bike and helmet. My home-built system fell somewhere in the middle.
Monty, the organizer, decided to start the experts (A class) motocross style. Engines running, go when the flag dropped. The start area was pretty grassy and was tough to get good drive on, especially in the evening with dew starting to form. Off the start, I was a little to aggressive with the throttle and spun out sideways. I corrected, but the damage was done and I was relegated to last place (4th) off the start. I quickly caught the rest of my class though and went to work pressuring the 3rd place guy. The course was pretty tight with m
inimal passing opportunities. I decided since we were all bunched together to just try to pressure 3rd place into crashing, but not push to pass if he didn't crash. Unfortunately, I couldn't force any major mistakes so I was still in last (4th place) at the end of lap 1. After the first lap I switched on my helmet lights and was really impressed with how well they were working. I was still right on 3rd place and by the way he was riding, knew I'd get around him soon. Unfortunately, half way through lap 2 my helmet lights suddenly went out. I figured the quick disconnect had come loose and I just needed to plug it back in. It was still semi light out (well, not really, but I didn't want to stop) so I pushed through to the next check point to get them to plug it in. By this time it really was dark and I was riding solely by the headlight on my bike. I made it to the check still right with 3rd place but I got some bad news. My battery fell out of my camelback! No wonder it felt lighter...
inimal passing opportunities. I decided since we were all bunched together to just try to pressure 3rd place into crashing, but not push to pass if he didn't crash. Unfortunately, I couldn't force any major mistakes so I was still in last (4th place) at the end of lap 1. After the first lap I switched on my helmet lights and was really impressed with how well they were working. I was still right on 3rd place and by the way he was riding, knew I'd get around him soon. Unfortunately, half way through lap 2 my helmet lights suddenly went out. I figured the quick disconnect had come loose and I just needed to plug it back in. It was still semi light out (well, not really, but I didn't want to stop) so I pushed through to the next check point to get them to plug it in. By this time it really was dark and I was riding solely by the headlight on my bike. I made it to the check still right with 3rd place but I got some bad news. My battery fell out of my camelback! No wonder it felt lighter...I finished off the lap having issues seeing but still staying close to 3rd place. I had one crash into a stump on a downhill that set me back about 15-20 seconds but I could still see 3rd place not far ahead of me. At the end of the lap I stopped to get my parents to give me my other battery. They zip tied and duct taped it in place so there was no way it would fall out. I headed out mixed in with the vet experts determined to catch back up to my class. I pounded out laps 3, 4 and 5, watching my lap times steadily drop. On lap 5 I caught 3rd place and blew by him. By this time it was completely dark out, the course was a chewed up mess and unfortunately for me, my helmet light battery was dying. On lap 6 I alternated between running the 35W and 20W light separately to try to conserve battery power. It didn't work. Maybe a quarter of the way through lap 6 the helmet lights weren't giving off much light and I was riding almost exclusively by bike light. The only saving grace was after so many laps I knew the course well. I came around after my 6th lap, sure that it was cutoff time (they were running a 2.5 hour cutoff). Much to my surprise, they sent me out for one final lap. I was starting to get a little sick of riding only by headlight, but headed out into the dark determined to catch 2nd and hopefully 1st in my place. I rode hard the final lap, but had a crash on some slippery roots hidden in the darkness. I got going and finished the race, but couldn't catch the leaders. At the end of the race (7 laps) I ended up 3rd expert and inside the top 10 overall. I'm kind of happy with this result, but know I can do better with a trouble-free ride. Next year....
After the race I quickly got changed, hung up the dirty gear to dry, stuffed my face with more food (gotta fuel the beast!), picked up my trophy at awards then went to bed. I got up around 9am the next day after an extremely restless night (not much sleep) to get ready for the day race. They delayed the start until after 1:00pm, but I was still tired and not feeling overly energetic. It didn't help that most of my class today had skipped the night race and was completely fresh. Oh well, such is life. After waiting around in the hot sun for way too long, we again did a motocross style start to kick things off. I had about a 6th place start and managed to move up to 5th on the grass track before heading into the woods. I caught up to my friend, Jordon Hett, on his RM250 pretty quickly and settled into a good pace following him. Jordon absolutely amazes me as he doesn't train or ride a whole lot, was out drinking the night before yet can still absolutely haul ass! I wish I had an ounce of his natural talent on a bike. I rode all over Jordon's rear fender for the first lap but couldn't find a way around him. We came into the scoring tent 2 seconds apart after the first lap. I tried on the grass track to put a pass on Jordon but couldn't get one to stick. So it was off into the woods for another lap glued to his rear fender. Part way into the lap, Jordon bobbled on a log crossing so I beetled around him and tried to put some distance on him. Fortunately, I managed to open up a decent gap relatively quickly. Unfortunately, I then gave that up when I made a bad line choice and got stuck in a nasty rut terminating in a huge root. Jordon squeaked by me while I was lifting my bike out of the rut and got a bit of a gap on me. I got g
oing and tried to get my rhythm but started making mistakes and going backwards faster than I could go forwards. Out into the clear cut sections (complete with HUGE mud holes) I saw the yellow RM250 with Jordon about 45 seconds ahead of me. Knowing this I started trying to pick up the pace and catch him. I made a couple dumb mistakes and came in at the end of the lap about 30 seconds down on him. For the 3rd lap I again tried to put in a mistake free ride and catch Jordon. Again, I fell just short. By this time I was getting tired and my shoulders were taking a pounding. I keep my suspension relatively stiff for cross-countries to let me hit things as hard as I can. Unfortunately this course was filled with braking and acceleration bumps and chop that was killing my shoulders. Especially after racing until 11:00pm the night before. I pitted for gas after the 3rd lap but had a pretty slow pit as I got some extra food and water to try to get some more energy. Jordon managed to pick up a spot on the pit and I left just behind Darryl Wright, sitting in 5th place. I left the pits about 15 seconds behind Darryl and was determined to get by him and Jordon. I put the hammer down and caught Darryl shortly into the 4th lap. I then crashed. I got going quickly and again caught Darryl, only to crash again. I repeated this way too many times on the last lap. I finally caught him and saw Jordon about 30 seconds ahead of us in the mud pits. I got right up to Darryl's rear wheel, only to crash trying to pass him on a log crossing. I lost some time picking up the bike and getting going again, but was going to try my damnedest to catch him and Jordon before the end of the race. I hammered through the rest of the lap riding as fast as I had all race. The fatigue was pushed out of my mind and I was solely focused on catching the riders ahead of me. Coming in to the final grass track I saw Darryl 2 turns in front of me. I pinned it, putting my previous ISDE experience to good use, but it wasn't enough. I crossed the finish a mere 9 seconds off Darryl in 4th place, and 40 seconds behind Jordon in 3rd place. I think 2nd place was a few minutes ahead of use and Bruce Baker (riding buddy of mine and former pro motocrosser) absolutely ran away with the expert class win in his first race back after missing most of the past 2 seasons with a wrist injury.
oing and tried to get my rhythm but started making mistakes and going backwards faster than I could go forwards. Out into the clear cut sections (complete with HUGE mud holes) I saw the yellow RM250 with Jordon about 45 seconds ahead of me. Knowing this I started trying to pick up the pace and catch him. I made a couple dumb mistakes and came in at the end of the lap about 30 seconds down on him. For the 3rd lap I again tried to put in a mistake free ride and catch Jordon. Again, I fell just short. By this time I was getting tired and my shoulders were taking a pounding. I keep my suspension relatively stiff for cross-countries to let me hit things as hard as I can. Unfortunately this course was filled with braking and acceleration bumps and chop that was killing my shoulders. Especially after racing until 11:00pm the night before. I pitted for gas after the 3rd lap but had a pretty slow pit as I got some extra food and water to try to get some more energy. Jordon managed to pick up a spot on the pit and I left just behind Darryl Wright, sitting in 5th place. I left the pits about 15 seconds behind Darryl and was determined to get by him and Jordon. I put the hammer down and caught Darryl shortly into the 4th lap. I then crashed. I got going quickly and again caught Darryl, only to crash again. I repeated this way too many times on the last lap. I finally caught him and saw Jordon about 30 seconds ahead of us in the mud pits. I got right up to Darryl's rear wheel, only to crash trying to pass him on a log crossing. I lost some time picking up the bike and getting going again, but was going to try my damnedest to catch him and Jordon before the end of the race. I hammered through the rest of the lap riding as fast as I had all race. The fatigue was pushed out of my mind and I was solely focused on catching the riders ahead of me. Coming in to the final grass track I saw Darryl 2 turns in front of me. I pinned it, putting my previous ISDE experience to good use, but it wasn't enough. I crossed the finish a mere 9 seconds off Darryl in 4th place, and 40 seconds behind Jordon in 3rd place. I think 2nd place was a few minutes ahead of use and Bruce Baker (riding buddy of mine and former pro motocrosser) absolutely ran away with the expert class win in his first race back after missing most of the past 2 seasons with a wrist injury. Sitting here now, I'm a little disappointed in my results at Vernon. I'm riding well, but can't quite put everything together to run a good race. Small mistakes are costing me positions and I need 
to get those sorted out before the Canadian Enduro Championship kicks off in July. As it stands right now, I'm sitting 3rd in points in the PNWMA series (Expert Class) and now need to decide if I'm going to pursue the PNWMA championship or stick with my original plan of doing a few PN races, but focusing on the CEC plus doing some more interesting races around the pacific northwest. I'm still talking it over with my sponsors to decide as I hav e a few weeks before a decision needs to be made (next race is June 20/21 weekend).
to get those sorted out before the Canadian Enduro Championship kicks off in July. As it stands right now, I'm sitting 3rd in points in the PNWMA series (Expert Class) and now need to decide if I'm going to pursue the PNWMA championship or stick with my original plan of doing a few PN races, but focusing on the CEC plus doing some more interesting races around the pacific northwest. I'm still talking it over with my sponsors to decide as I hav e a few weeks before a decision needs to be made (next race is June 20/21 weekend). I'd like to thank all of my sponsors for 2009:
-GasGas Pacific for helping me out with bikes and parts. I truly believe GasGas makes the best enduro bikes on the market and can't say enough good things about my bike. Want a bike that has the best handling and suspension right out of the box, not to mention a versatile engine that will lug along like a thumper yet still absolutely scream on a track? Do yourself a favour and check out a GasGas. Yes, they're different. But that's a good thing.
-Fasst Company for the Flexx bars, hand guard mounts and spoke wrench. Fasstco makes some of the best products on the market, and the Flexx bars have allowed me to ride harder for longer without getting arm pump. As a side benefit, the bars are stronger than conventional handlebars and offer superb bark buster mounting using the hand guard hitches. The spoke torque wrench is a wonderful tool that gets used quite often. It makes checking spokes a breeze, so I do it a lot more often.
-Dirt Tricks Ironman sprockets. Nate at Dirt Tricks recently stepped up to the plate when it was time for me to get a new chain and sprockets and man am I glad he did. The ironman sprockets are by far the strongest and most durable sprockets on the market, and you don't even pay a weight penalty for them! Do me a favour and order a set, and let Nate know who sent you!
-Motovan for their continued support. Through Main Jet Motorsports (www.mainjet.ca), Motovan has been helping me out with deals on any parts I need since 2007. They distribute a full line of motorcycle, atv and snowmobile parts and accessories, so help out the guys who are helping out racers.
-Finally, Main Jet Motorsports. Main Jet is a local Honda and KTM shop in Nelson, BC. Even though I ride a GasGas, Aaron has been helping me out with deals on anything I need. I can't say enough good things about the shop (except they need to start carrying GasGas bikes) as they are the best source for bikes, parts, accessories and info in the Kootenays. If you're ever in Nelson, make sure you stop by and say hi to good folks down at Main Jet.
I'm going to try and post a couple times a week from now on, but with an already busy schedule sometimes there's just no time for the blog. Thanks for reading,
Steve
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