First Hare Scramble - KDX 200 - VCHSS @ CVTR
Posted: 11:16 am Oct 01 2020
Finally made it to my first hare scramble, went to the Virginia Championship Hare Scramble Series race near Charlotte Court House, Virginia this past weekend. They did a doubleheader weekend and we chose to do the Sunday race. Fortunately with all the rain we've had our course was fresh (not the Saturday course!) and the conditions were improved from Saturday's mudfest. My son has raced once before at one of their events closer to home so I had a pretty good idea how things would work. We also had some friends racing and their shared experiences really helped us prepare.
We drove down the evening before and set up our tent in a very damp field in the dark away from most of the generators. Glad I packed my ear plugs because those blasted things ran all night. That morning we awoke to a heavy fog.
Having been racing mountain bikes (XC, Marathon, & Enduro) for twenty plus years I was excited for this new two-wheeled challenge. I signed up for the 50+ C and was happy to be starting behind my 15 YO son lined up a few rows ahead in the 200C on his '08 KTM 144SX.
My plan was to start in the back and stay out of the rush at the start, but try and do a race start from the outside of the line. I figured this would give me a chance to gain some experience and not cause a wreck. My race start was a fail however because when the flag dropped, my bike didn't fire. My fault - I'd forgotten to hold the clutch lever in after shutting down in gear! She fired up on third try though and away I went! I actually caught the tail end of the field at the first corner and passed two guys by the 2nd corner and another going into the woods.
After I got into the woods I just tried to stay smooth and relaxed. I found that 2nd and 3rd gear worked well with the rolling terrain and tight wooded trail. There were some steep rutted and wet climbs in places, but the KDX shot up them like a rocket passing a lot of folks stuck on the side. This bike really likes to race and I found myself getting into a good flow.
I immediately learned to scan for the 'B' lines and pick the shortest and straightest option unless there was a faster outer line that carried more speed. I also learned the hard way to look out for deep ruts, especially ones that had a big root going across! After the first lap, I felt pretty good. Standing on the pegs really helped me stay smooth, and the bike felt really good. I was glad to not be riding blind for a change and hoped to turn a better lap with everyone now more spread out. This didn't happen though because I made some more mistakes, including dropping the bike, riding up too close behind someone having trouble on a greasy rutted hill, cracking the throttle on a wet wooden bridge leading up to a sharp climb, and other things too numerous to mention.
When I gassed it on the wet bridge I was looking up ahead at the knarly wet hill I was about to climb, I guess I forgot how slick the bridge was. The front end of the bike turned right and up the creek when the back end spun off the end of the bridge. No wreck, but I was tangled up in a heavy sapling and needed to get out of the way of following riders. I managed to keep the motor running - till I didn't, kick starting in this position was awkward and exhausting. I lost some time here getting sorted out again. Thankfully a course worker offered assistance. On another creek crossing I washed my front end just a bit and missed my intended line and dropped the bike. I looked down after picking up the bike and thought I had a stick in my wheel, but it wasn't. I was my odometer cable dis-attached from the stock odometer. Not familiar with how it works, I just secured it back to the upper fork with a zip tie and went on. I've since examined it, nothing damaged, after reassembly everything works, so I decided to just unbolt it and save it for when I might want it on the bike again - probably never! Probably saved my two pounds.
It was actually fun getting lapped by the fast guys, trying to follow them for a bit was educational for the short period of time I could hang on before making a mistake. My son's buddy (our neighbor - his dad races 50+A) in the 200C class lapped me on his way to a 3rd place finish. I'd hoped to make three laps, but took the checkers after two 40+ minute laps - I was actually pretty tired, but felt like I could still do another. I guess that's a good sign, but I just need to make fewer mistakes to earn that third lap. I ended up 9th out of 14? and had a blast. No real damage on the bike, no injuries. Definitely glad I had good knee braces, I know they protected my knee from a hyper-extension at least once on the course. My son finished 11th out 31 and lost his clutch lever perch bolt. That probably cost him some time, but he's now learned to loctite and check his bolts before the race, which he admitted to not doing.
Looking forward to the next race at the Rattlesnake, Wytheville Speedway next weekend. I now have my AMA card and ordered some proper number plates. Racing is fun!
We drove down the evening before and set up our tent in a very damp field in the dark away from most of the generators. Glad I packed my ear plugs because those blasted things ran all night. That morning we awoke to a heavy fog.
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After I got into the woods I just tried to stay smooth and relaxed. I found that 2nd and 3rd gear worked well with the rolling terrain and tight wooded trail. There were some steep rutted and wet climbs in places, but the KDX shot up them like a rocket passing a lot of folks stuck on the side. This bike really likes to race and I found myself getting into a good flow.
- cvtr1.jpg (219.12 KiB) Viewed 8374 times
- cvtr3.jpg (657.91 KiB) Viewed 8374 times
It was actually fun getting lapped by the fast guys, trying to follow them for a bit was educational for the short period of time I could hang on before making a mistake. My son's buddy (our neighbor - his dad races 50+A) in the 200C class lapped me on his way to a 3rd place finish. I'd hoped to make three laps, but took the checkers after two 40+ minute laps - I was actually pretty tired, but felt like I could still do another. I guess that's a good sign, but I just need to make fewer mistakes to earn that third lap. I ended up 9th out of 14? and had a blast. No real damage on the bike, no injuries. Definitely glad I had good knee braces, I know they protected my knee from a hyper-extension at least once on the course. My son finished 11th out 31 and lost his clutch lever perch bolt. That probably cost him some time, but he's now learned to loctite and check his bolts before the race, which he admitted to not doing.
- cvtr2.jpg (510.06 KiB) Viewed 8374 times