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Funky Chicken With all the rain this year we were expecting it to be wet up in Oregon this year. We were right as it was raining as we arrived on Saturday. Big Al, Gregg, and Dave North all had gone up together and were racing on Saturday. Al got off to a third place start in the Super Senior class and by the third corner was in the lead. Al rides good in the mud and likes technical races so this was right up his alley. Riders were spread out from the beginning and soon talks of bottlenecks were circulating the pits. Dave and Al were both on the move and were doing very good. At the end of the race Al won the Super Senior class by over five minutes even though he is eligible for the gentleman's class. Brian and I used this race as time to put on the new Maxxis front Sand and Mud tires so we would be able to turn on the slick grass track sections of the course. The club had everyone line up for the race as they went through tech inspection so we were sure to get there early for a good start spot. We were both on the inside which was preferably for the tight right 180 degree corner. When the gun went off Brian got a good jump but realized he wasn't going to make the corner so he drifted wide. Shane Watts and myself were both on the inside on 200's and tucked in on the first corner and were 1-2 on the start. I was really happy since with all the mud it is way easier to start in the front and avoid struggling with other riders. Soon Brian and Jason Raines made it be know that they wanted to go fast so they got by me and I followed them. Brian was right in front of me and I feel comfortable riding with him so I just followed him. Jason made his way to the front with Shane right behind him. The course was awesome as always in Oregon. They took out some of the technical sections due to the rain but the course was still pretty tough. We found the hill that all of the Saturday riders had problems with. It was just an uphill fireroad but was very slick and I could see how they would have problems. I finished the first lap still in fourth. Billy Russell apparently caught up to me on the second lap. When we got to the slick hill for the second time it was much more rutted out. I made a slight bobble and Billy made a run on me but I got going just in front of him and filled him in with mud. That took the wind out of his sails and the pressure off me. The grass track sections were really slick and we later heard stories of riders getting stuck on flat ground because it was so slick. I tried to go on the edges in the grass and was having luck with that. Also the S&M front tire and KTM 200 are a good mud race combination. I was comfortable on the course at this point and was trying to catch back up to the front three who had gotten a gap from me. Brian had also lost a little time on the top two but was still charging hard. There were many riders all over the track but I managed to only make one mistake all day when I got over aggressive and got sideways in a corner. At the end Shane had a few problems which allowed Brian to catch up to him. They had a good race to the finish and even went over the man made log section at the end of the race side by side. Shane kept ahead of Brian in the last corner for second and Brian rounded out the podium in third. Jason Raines won the race by a couple minutes and get himself back into the points chase. I had a great finish in fourth followed by Kevin Bailey. |