Perfect weather, BBQ, Crap Shoots...Must be Fernley!

Fernley International OTMX

The International Oldtimer MX at Fernley, Nevada could almost not have asked for better conditions. The weather cooperated by being cool in the mornings with afternoon temps only in the high 80’s. But the most appreciated weather condition was that the normal afternoon desert winds did not materialize. The weather was incredibly perfect for a desert summer day.

The Fernley OTMX chapter put on an event that I think could be classified as their best event ever.  I can’t remember attending one that was run so well. So the unfortunate small turn out meant that the riders that missed the event only hurt themselves. We were treated to a great sand track that was run on the first day and then the club had gone to the effort to run the second day on another completely separate track to give the riders something new and spice the weekend up a bit. It worked because both tracks were very well prepared and run opposite directions from each other. The club also hosted a raffle, provided an awesome dinner consisting of Tri-Tip, Pulled BBQ pork, assorted veggies, soda, beer and sports drinks to keep everyone happy. There was also a slow race that went from the starting line to a designated finish line. The idea being the LAST person to cross the finish line was declared the winner. The rules were simple, you must ride the bike you raced and you couldn’t put a foot down and you could not go any direction but forward. The entry fee became the purse and the winner takes all. It is very difficult to go slow in the sand without putting a foot down as several people discovered. 

Then there was the CRAP SHOOT. Now the game gets interesting. A piece of plywood is laid on the ground and it has been sectioned into small squares numbering from 1 to 200. Each square costs $2 to buy that numbered square. There is a fence placed around it and then a chicken is tossed in and wanders around until it CRAPS on one of the numbers! That is how the CRAP SHOOT works. The chicken cooperated and didn’t take long to make a deposit on #116. Now I don’t know if this is coincidence but the guy that owns the chicken bought one square, the square with the #116.  Wait a minute it gets better.  The chicken owners name is……………Gilbert CHICK.   I couldn’t make this stuff up, it really did happen like that.

The weekend was a huge success and there was some fantastic racing to go with all the festivities. Terry Sage dominated the really old guy class (+60 Master) and the +50 Masters had a good dice between Doug Goodman, John Volk and Ed (sneaky) Marchini.  With Ed coming out on top with the overall win on his Dungey replica KTM just ahead of Doug Goodman of Arizona riding his DAYSTAR sponsored Honda.

A great weekend was had by all and we are already looking forward to next year. Although I am wondering how in the heck the Fernley Oldtimer club will top this year’s effort.

#33

#33...Everyday is a day off!

On any Monday

What happens when you take 2 retired guys, give them a couple of off road worthy dual sport motorcycles and turn them loose on a Monday, when most people are working!  Oops, did I say that out loud…..

You get a long day with a lot of miles covered over some very scenic terrain with some great photo opportunities. There was an abandoned 1960 something station wagon, abandoned mine shafts with bats to scare the two would be explorers, seldom used trails that were in total disrepair and a couple of worn out Geezers from riding all day in 100* heat,  mostly in first and second gear!

Hope you all had a good Monday too!

#33

Dual Sport Fun!

Racers Under The Sun (RUTS)

The Dual Sport ride put on by the RUTS organization on August 18 & 19 was nothing short of spectacular. They started their 2 day event in the Elkins Flat OHV area in northern California at a Resort named “Sopiago Springs Resort” that caters of off road riders.  The event was 2 days of riding with an overnight stay in Minden, Nevada.  RUTS provided a shuttle truck to take an overnight bag for the riders to the lodging in Minden.

The riders were treated to some of the most spectacular scenery imaginable over the 2 days of riding, crossing the Sierra Nevada mountain range at Ebbitts pass on the first day and South Lake Tahoe/Carson pass the second day. The mileage for the event was approximately 300 miles for both days combined. Just enough to make the riders tired and happy but not worn out to the point of exhaustion.  The ride had a variety of terrain from paved roads to dirt roads with a good amount of single track thrown in to challenge everyone.

We were treated to Sunshine, Cool overcast and even a few showers over the 2 days.  The event also had a route mapped out for the Adventure Bike riders that bypassed the tighter more technical sections so there was a course for everyone no matter what type of bike they brought.

 

Thanks to the RUTS crew and see you next year,

#33

We Don't Need No Stinkin Dust!

2012 Baja 500 (Geezer Style)

The Fly-Works Connection-MX43.com Baja 500 team for 2012 race consisted of Marc Prince, Doug Smith, Dave Potts, Ray Spore and Eric McKenna. They seem to be on a roll with their win at Baja 250, now the 500 and hope to continue to carry their luck/momentum into the 1000 later this year in November.

The race started and ended in Ensenada with the early Saturday morning departure of 6am for the first motorcycle.  It was overcast with no wind which is not a good thing for this type of race with the bikes starting at intervals of 30 seconds per bike. Without the wind to help clear the way the dust just hangs and becomes unbearable in some places. Since I drew the short straw, I mean volunteered to do the start, it meant the first hour and a half of my riding would be like getting a last place start in a cross country event while riding directly into the rising sun on a dusty course without much help from mother nature to clear the air.  But since everyone else was in the same boat I figured it would be some riding and a lot of luck as to how things went. When I finally handed off to Doug at about mile 80 I figured I weighed an extra 3 pounds or so with all the dust collected on my riding gear and down my throat.

We did fine during the first 225 miles while engaged in a see-saw battle with another team until our first bike problem. I happened to be on the bike when it occurred. I was riding along on a paved transition section with a 60 mph speed limit minding my own business when the bike just quit! Just like it had run out of gas. I looked at the tank and could clearly see fuel so I knew that was not the problem. I immediately start to think it must be an electrical problem and am wondering how the heck I am going to find the problem and maintain the lead we had of around 8 minutes. It must have been our lucky day because I was stopped for less than a minute when Chris Haines and his mechanic, Jimmy, pull up to me and ask what is wrong. I know Jimmy has been a Honda mechanic for quite some time and tell him it was like the bike has run out of gas. I was double lucky to have Jimmy be in the truck when they stop and to also give him the correct description of what was wrong. He immediately went through the check list of fuel supply and venting and had the bike running in probably less than 2 minutes. He discovered the overflow line on the aftermarket tank had been kinked slightly on the last gas stop and was starving the bike for fuel by not allowing air to pass through the vent line.  I actually thought it was an electrical problem.  But when he told me to hit the starter and see if it was ok the bike fired right up. I stomped it into gear and was back in the race!  I am pretty sure I said “Thank You Jimmy!” when I rode off.

I finished out my section where Doug took over and put on a new rear wheel/tire. He did an excellent ride over to the coast with Dave taking the coastal section and maintaining a good pace with only one tip over if I got all the story right. Somewhere along Dave’s route he bent the rear brake rotor pretty badly where it was working the brake pad pin out.  Dave handed the bike over to Ray to get it to the finish where on inspection it was discovered that the rear brake pads were being held in by about 1 thread on the brake pin!  Doug inspected it at the finish and thinks if we had to go another couple of miles we would have lost the rear brake. So it appears we were lucky on more than one occasion during this race. But you know the old saying, Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.  In our case on this day that was true, because with everything totaled on corrected start times and penalties we won by about 1 minute!  That is a race when you have 2 teams with 5 or so riders on each team and it comes down to about a minute after almost 500 miles of racing.

So this 2012 year for the MX43.com team has been great so far with the win at the Baja 250 and now the 500 we are headed to the last round in November with the points lead and a chance to win the coveted 500X plate. I will keep you posted if you will keep your fingers crossed for us!

Buenos Dias my Amigos,

#33

Geezer Ride Day....Lot's of Fun!

An Old-Timer Ride Day

The Sierra Chapter of the OTMX race series recently put on one of their Old-Timer only ride days in Marysville, Calif.  At the MMX facility. If you have never been out to one of these ride days you may want to mark the next one on your calendar.

The idea being that you get to ride with a bunch of Geezers that actually enjoy riding together and have a great time battling each other to sharpen their skills. All this without kids trying to cut you off in each turn or over every jump. The added bonus is the lunch was included along with a raffle that provided some pretty cool stuff being handed out just for the privilege of showing up to ride with your friends!

It was a lot of fun to swap bikes and try other guys’ rides. I was lucky enough to ride a new 2012 450 Honda (thanks Terry) and get a pretty good idea of the improvements made to the new bike over the past couple of years. I also got to spend some time on a 2012 WR Yamaha (thanks Doug) even though it was not designed to be on an MX track, it worked pretty damn well! It was actually a lot of fun to ride on the track and had extremely capable suspension. That would be an awesome off road bike with such good suspension and an electric type power from the motor.

I almost got to ride the most beautiful 1980 440 Maico I have seen since……….well, 1980 on the showroom floor. I am not sure the ones on the showroom floor were this clean! The reason I say almost is because the owner, Gino, took it out to warm it up and be first rider since it is his bike and promptly had the rear brake rod snap off. Nothing wrong with the bike, completely mechanic error Gino assured me. He realized he had made a mistake when reassembling after the last detail session. Too bad because that would have been the ride of the day! That bike is beautiful.

 So it may be a good idea to check on the Sierra Old-Timer website and see when their next ride day is so you can make it. Besides the hamburgers and hotdogs that were cooked to perfection, I came away with a Works Connection hour meter from the raffle. I guess now this means I actually have to change the oil on my bike at regular intervals.

See you at the next ride day!

#33