I'm not going to make it up to Johnson Valley this weekend after all. Good luck to all who make it out. I will definitely be at the national next weekend!
You missed a fun one. I dropped 7 seconds on the first loop, and that was just due to brain fade, 2nd loop I think I dropped 5. The weather was unreal, high 60's and just a little wind
A perfect score would be all zero. At a "Tiebreaker" a perfect score is 30 seconds into your minute. They take tiebreaker points in either direction from 30 seconds. These are only used in the case of a tie on "Secret Check" points, where you just have to be in your minute. I was on minute 16, so when you pull into a check and you are on time, they would write "16" in the appropriate box on your card. If you come in to a tiebreaker dead on, they would write "16:30". If you are 7 seconds late, "16:37", or 7 secs early, "16:23". Make sense? So the preliminary results are up, and I dropped 7 TB seconds on the first loop, and 5 points on the second loop, and 271 seconds total. Luckily these are only prelims, not official because they have me in 11th and 205th OA, yet I have a better score by 57 seconds than the guy they show in first place and 72nd OA. OK, now onto your OA questions. Things are all different nowadays and it's harder to figure your OA against just the people in your class. In the good old days, the beginner row was the only row that went one loop and it was cut and dried who the OA 1 loopers were. Now you have the "Red Number" option, where anyone in any class and on any row can do just one loop for 70% points. So if you want to know your true overall against your row, you would have to go through the results and figure it out yourself by counting all the beginners that finished ahead of you.
Thanks for all the info Mike. Looks like I have a lot to learn in order to actually compete in an enduro. I'll stick to the HH, scrambles, etc. for now. Maybe run an enduro next year. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm driving up in the morning and hope to get there by 8:30 and have a couple of practice runs before they shut it down to race. We'll see - it's going to be tight.
MotoMike called it - it was not a Jackrabbits course - this beginners loop was tough! And like Eatpasta said about his first National (and first race) the arm pump started early. I went into cramps about 3/4 of the way through. I didn't want to stop to feed the drinking tube for fear of losing position and probably paid the price anyway. Lesson 1 - make it easier to feed the drinking tube while racing. Lesson 2, get there early enough to practice the bomb. I missed my opportunity once again by not getting there early enough. It was a long 40 miles with just about everything you can think of for desert racing, sand, whoops, flat, ROCKY up hills, ROCKY downhills, lava rock, deep soft sand going up a hill - crazy. It was hard enough to make me rethink wanting to move up to Novice and have to do a second loop. By the end of the loop I was completely wiped and ready to go home. I did not have my D37 number and so ran with a National "N" number (N404). I finished 7th out of all the beginners with the first place beginner being in my class. The 2nd through 6th beginners were all N plates so I have no idea how I finished. It could have been as high as 2nd or as low as 7th - depending on how many of those N's were 40+ HWT. As I said over on the D37 forum, I consider myself a decent off-road rider and this loop was at the edge of my skill level on my dirt bike (2010KTM690). I'm not sure how riders that are new to both riding and racing fared in this race. It certainly kicked my butt. I crashed twice (will post video) and laid it down 3 or 4 times. Some riders couldn't make it up one of the hills near the end and rode around the hill. I made it up on my second try and met the other riders about a mile or so later. I read the 2nd and 3rd loops were also a bit hard for the less experienced people who were in a class that could ride them. Lessons learned - maintain a good pace within your skills, keep hydrated and prepare physically for the event.
Well, you finished it and that's better than a lot of other people did. Since I turned 50, I don't have to ride the third loop anymore, and that makes me happy after reading some of the stories. BTW, I got 1st overall out of the two loopers. And I got a front flat riding from the finish back to camp
yeah one of the most valuable pieces of info Mike ever gave me was that - you'll find a pace, regardless of how fast it is, just stick to your pace. its great advice. sooner or later that pace will quicken but chasing down faster riders usually ends badly..... yeah one loop for me has been enough thus far.....I may never make it out of the begenner class Ill see you out there for checkers!
Good going! Looking forward to the video. BTW that other video was hilarous, guys falling over each other, others getting in the way and then all the heroes finding their own way up the hill in the sticks. Spinning bikes, what a lark. What I did not understand was the cameraman just watched it all happening. I guess he forget he was also in the race with the spectacle before him... Was that you?
You are the man! Which row did you start on? There was hardly anyone left by the time we got to row 4.
That's my strategy - ride at 80% and learn *how* to make my 80% faster. I was behind one guy that was really anxious to go fast but he kept using too much throttle and losing control - not smooth at all. I took a mountaineering course once that said for every misstep you make and lose your balance you use the energy of 10 steps to regain your balance. I use that same analogy in my other activities as well. Losing control and having to correct wastes lots of energy - the key would seem to be as smooth as possible (of course being in good shape always helps.) Not to mention how much extra energy it costs to actually pick up the bike once you've fallen. Checkers sounds good. I need to spend some time with my wife and son since they aren't into the off road thing yet - plus I may have to travel for work soon. I'll be sure to get there early this time - probably spend the night in a hotel in Lucerne Valley. I'll have to look you and MotoMike up.
I start on the first row. There wasn't much need to practice that start, there wasn't anything out there to run into. I got a great start, but with my fat ass on the 300, I was eating dust within a half mile of the start. There was a long run across a lakebed on the second loop, I thought I was gonna scatter the motor, but it just keeps running.
That video is SO FUNNY. Like eatpasta, I laugh out loud when I watch it. I'm not sure who took the video but one of the inmates (nobrakes) was in it for a short time. I was amazed that the cameraman stayed there to document the whole thing - it was GREAT. There was a hill yesterday that had a lot of folks stuck on it but nothing like that video. I'll be sure to post some video of this latest outing soon. I'm still trying to figure this whole editing thing out. My windows box only has 1GB of memory so it takes a long time to load each 3GB video segment. Maybe it's time to upgrade my 'puter.
Nice - that's where my big bike has an advantage (like eatpasta said was his Johnny Campbell moment) but I haven't run across a lake bed yet. I am very hesitant in the sand - I grew up riding on the east coast and still haven't figured out how to get comfortable with the handlebars moving all over the place. Much more practice is required!!
Another National in 3 weeks - 46 miles for the beginner loop. Sounds like another challenge. I need to give my bike a good once over - it sounded like something came loose on one of my two crashes but I couldn't find anything out on the trail or when I put it away. I would buy a bike just for racing but have no where to store it!
PUHLEEZ tell me you have a steering stabilizer?! :huh if you dont, DONT do another race without one. oh and the secret in the sand....... *drum roll* you ready for it? LOTS MORE THROTTLE if you having issues with handling it just means there is too much weight on the front tire. You got the 690 dood - once you hit the sand, LET EVERYONE KNOW IT! Im usually camped right new the Lost Coyotes and Mike's ugly 'Bago is around somewhere close to it.... look for the pink and green flags
yeah you'll learn a lot from faster riders - just keep paying attention and you'll keep getting taken to school. before you know it, you're going to be a lot faster. Its almost more important to know when to slow down though - I led my class once for a few miles and I could tell right away I wasnt ready to be going that fast. I held on as long as I could and I started to have some CRAZY close calls.... I figured by then it was time to hand it off to a better rider.
I do but perhaps I don't have it set firm enough. I'll give that a shot the next time I have lots of room to play. I do have a fender bag up front with a spare tube and a few other miscellaneous trail-side repair items - maybe I should move it to the back for next time. I'll definitely look you up.
