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Michigan Hare Scramble I flew out and picked up Billy's bike again for the Michigan Hare Scramble. I met up with Shane Watts in Illinois at Funmart and we loaded up the bikes and went for a little ride before heading out on the road. We went down to the bottoms and spun a few laps. I felt pretty good on the bike but the heat was pretty intense. Shane hit his shifter against a tree which resulted in his bike not shifting right so we went back to the shop and fixed it before heading out on the road. We met up with Brian late on Saturday in Michigan. Michigan had some thundershowers on Saturday night which knocked down the dust in the area. The rain did not break the heat as Sunday was supposed to be the hottest day of the year so far in the area topping out at 100 degrees.. We headed out to the track Sunday morning and took a walk around to see how the conditions would be. The motocross track at this race is really good but unfortunately we would only be running selected portions of it due to the rain. The start area was also moved to a grassy field which was an improvement over the normal start. However the woods were really slick as Brian figured out as he fell to the ground in a loud thump. A few other D-36 riders were also were at the race. Brian Spearle was there along with John Wear and Jonathon Davis. Brian had the third pick on the start and I had the fourth which put us on the inside of the field going into the first turn. We both got pretty good starts but Brian made some early passes to get himself into the early lead going into the woods. The woods were overgrown and finding the trail was difficult- especially if you were in the lead as Brian was. I got by a couple guys when they fell and a few guys got around me when I fell and overshot an unexpected corner. I didn't feel very good the first lap but could see the lead pack was just about twenty seconds ahead at the conclusion of the first 5.5 mile lap. Brian was about fifth at the end of the first lap. My second lap didn't go much better. It was extremely hot and I was having problems with the humidity in the trees. With the recent rains and slow speeds in the woods the still air was hard to deal with. At the end of the second lap Rich Lafferty caught and passed me. I know I can ride with Rich so I tucked in behind him and followed him for a couple of miles until I was comfortable, then passed him and picked it up a bit. I was happy that I actually got myself together and started to ride decent. Brian started to have a little problem with the heat on the third lap and was passed by Justin Williamson for fifth. Up front Chuck Woodford was leading but was getting run down by Jason Raines who had a first lap crash of his own. Mike Lafferty was on the move in third until he had a bad crash and called it a day. Robbie Jenks was next battling with Josh McLevy until Josh crashed himself out of the race himself. The fourth lap I was still on the gas until I got sideways on a short straight. I was headed to a slick Polish bridge completely sideways and my front wheel was going to miss the bridge. I knew I was going to crash hard so I gassed it and got both wheels on the bridge, although I was sideway and doomed. I was headed right for a tree and thought to myself that I was going to hit it and break my leg so I bailed the bike to avoid missing the tree with my body. The bike (Billy's bike) wasn't so lucky and it hit the tree and a bunch of logs. A guy happened to be right there in the woods and ran up to see if I was alright. I was so I picked up the bike which was stuck in some logs. I had to get off course to turn around to get up a hill I was at the base of when I noticed that my rear brake pedal was bent back to the footpeg. The brake was also stuck partially on so I had a slow time making it back to the pits. I didn't want to quit so when I pulled into the pits I mooched a brake pedal from Al Randt. Brain Spearle shoulder was hurting from a crash the week before that prevented him from doing more than a lap so he was there to pit. I asked him to get tools to replace the lever while Amy poured cold water on me to cool me down. A five minute break was really nice and gave me some energy to charge and try to make up some positions. My goal was to catch back up to Rich who had just passed me as I pulled in to the pits. I put in two strong laps before getting tired but even then I still rode hard enough that I was happy with the way things were going. In the end Jason Raines won the race with a minute to spare over Chuck Woodford. Robbie Jenks was third with Justin Williamson fourth and Brian was right on his tail at the flag for fifth. I made it back to eighth pro and I don't know what overall. All in all I was much happier with the was I rode than at the previous race and think I can put together a good race back east to pick up a top five finish. |