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Idaho ISDE Qualifier Once again we were lucky enough to get to stay with Dave Harris again whose house can be seen from some of the course. We had to do a little more prep than usual and get lights working on our bikes. Since we are riding the SX models this year we had to use battery power used the easiest system possible. After seeing the long line for tech inspection we decided to walk the grass track first. This year the grass track was faster than normal and looked really good. A lot of man hours over the course of a month to move all of the debris in the path get a track ribboned off but they always do a good job. Brian and I were riding on the the same minute with Steve Silvestri comprising of a full G Brother minute. We had a little bit of rain on Friday which was very helpful since it was already dry in the area and it made it good for the first half of Saturdays ride. Just four miles into the loop we had our first special test. I wasn't awake yet and don't usually ride the best at the beginning and had Brian catch and pass me in the first test, which he would finish second in behind David Pearson. The loop this year is one of the best in Idaho. We go into some of the lower country in the area where it is open and has some big fun hill climbs. After riding through the switch back section we came up the trail and we saw the freak (Eric Croy) looking for something. We asked what he was looking for and he kind of mumbled something but didn't want to talk. We looked at his bike and saw that he had lost his gas cap and was hunting for it. He had started the weekend with a hole in his tank and carried some extra gas with him. When he was adding some gas he heard some guys coming and hurried off with out attaching the gas cap, which we late heard he has tendency to forget. Anyways he never found it and duck taped it but still ran out of gas far from home. Brian felt a little off on Saturday and said he had some heart burn. At one of the checks he asked if anyone had any Tums. No one did but at the start of the next special test when we got there they had some Tums waiting for him and his day got better from there. We had a great time riding together on the day. When the results were posted David Pearson ended up winning every test except the grass track which had three riders way out front which was most likely incorrect. Kurt Casselli was second with Brian close behind him. I was farther back just outside the top ten and G Man was a little further back but leading the big four stroke class. On Sunday it dried out a little more and was a bit dusty. We were riding the same course as the day before but in the opposite direction. They kept us busy with six test on the day that were really good. We did the grass track right off the bat. It was fun doing the grass track but we should have done it twice with all the work that goes into it. We had a pretty uneventful weekend. When it is dusty we just have to follow each other a ways back and don't get to fool around as much on the trail as when the conditions are good. When the results were posted Brian won just one test on the weekend, which was the last one. David Pearson every other one and won the event by over a minute. Brian and Kurt tied on day 2 but Kurt got second overall with a better day one. Fourth was Washington rider Ben Hale, followed by Ron Schmezle, Paul Neff, Jeremy Puma, and Greg Gillian. I picked it up a little bit on day 2 and took ninth overall in the event with Bryce Olsen rounding out the top ten. |