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Illinois Hare Scrambles Brian and I picked up Illinois Troy on the way down to Crab Orchard. We arrived late Saturday night and parked the van and awoke to see that a little moisture overnight did wonders for the days conditions. The start area had a grass track section but the rest of the course wound through the woods. The club added six miles of fresh woods to the area that normally gets ridden to lengthen the course to about 11 miles. We all lined up for the start and I was warming my bike up when the guy with the flag waved it signaling the start of the race. I wasn't really ready but threw it in gear and took off. Shane Watts got the jump out of the gate but was overtaken by Fred Andrews in the first corner. Brian was just a couple spots ahead of me, with Dave Neumeister wedged in between the two of us. Jason Raines took over control of the race a couple miles in. I was mixing it up with Neumeister and Blair Bersano on the first lap when we came to a wooden bridge and saw Brian turned around backwards with his bike stuck about a foot deep in the mud and water. After Brian got out of the mud with the help of some course workers he began to charge his way back through the pack. Up front Jason opened up a good lead and took it to the finish followed by Fred, Doug Blackwell, Shane Watts, Brian, Bersano, Neumeister, and then myself. At the trophy presentation we had our little interviews and when they called Neumeister's name Troy went up to grab the check since Dave had began to drive home. He gave a good interview and had a good portion of the crowd cracking up since he is from that area and they knew who he was. The best part was we got him to finally buy dinner on the way home. Thanks Dave. |