Category: News

First time on the new bike.

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I’ll work on getting video done this weekend, but I did make it out to the indoor. Felt good to be back on the bike.

It was about 35 degrees inside the building. My fingers froze up after the first lap around the track. I stopped, put my jacket on and shook my arms and hands back to life. I had some arm pump crop up which diminished gradually as I rode more. I tried to remind myself that I hadn’t ridden a bike since November, and to take things slow. Not exactly how I like to ride, but I’d rather not injure myself before the season even really starts.

I had a few close calls as the rear spun up going up the face of a couple of the jumps. The bike took the sideways landings in stride, though it did require some heavy body english from me to not get too huckabuck. I fought quite a bit with the bike on the track though. The dirt there is quite different. It’s completely bone dry, so you end up with this powdered silt on top of slick hardpack. 90% of the turns are 180 degree bowl turns that don’t lend themselves to maintaining corner speed. You end up diving into the turns, and working the clutch to shoot out of the turn as quick as possible.

I need to work on trusting my front end again, but considering it’s my first time on the bike, I’m quite OK with how I rode. My fitness is definitely up. I could feel myself a bit drained towards the end of my riding, but I still had the strength to work the bike through the turns, albeit slightly sloppier than I’d have preferred. I ended up packing up when both my goggles were so fogged up that I could no longer see the track. Yes, bad day to wear smoke tinted goggles in a dark indoor track.

I’m excited. Bike feels good. My body feels good…..well it’s a bit tight today. I hope the place stays open during the week (I was 1 of 3 people riding there last night). I can workout all I want at home, but there is absolutely no replacement for seat time.

Video soon.

Andrew

Team MGH #205 – Midwest Harescramble Rambling

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I figured I’d start a new thread for the 2014 season. If you’re bored & want to read up on the 2012\2013 seasons…Check HERE.

It’s been snowing since November. My motivation for getting ready for the upcoming race season has been around -5000. I didn’t have a race bike until about 2 weeks ago (more on that later). I’ve been rowing off and on through the winter….though more off than on. My buddy I go racing with has been giving me crap about getting off my ass. He’s been exercising far more than me, though I still like to remind him I’ll beat him in a race any day .

I was greatly motivated after watching this interview with Bob Hannah:

I realize I’m doing this racing thing for fun, but the concept of beating the guys now….before the bike ever touches dirt has stuck with me. I want to earn an A plate\number. Why? I don’t know. I guess I want to prove to myself that I can go that speed, and heck A sounds better than B 

The first race is March 9th. I’m committing myself to working out every day for the month of February to help get ready for the upcoming season. This first race will be to shake the cobwebs. The race is notorious for sandy whoops. Everyone says they hate this race. It’s about 4 hours away….so why not go?

The biggest change this year for me is that I’ve gone KTM. I had been planning on going with a 450, but with shelling out this kinda $$$, I wanted to insure that I’d have a plated bike for when we do trail rides\practices up north. I also knew that I really didn’t NEED the 450 umph. I wanted it, but I know the 350 will do the trick. Heck, if David Knight is destroying people on a Sherco 300 4-stroke, this KTM oughta be more than enough.

So here it is, a 2013 350exc-f:

Street legal stuffs have been removed. Wiring has been fixed (pretty bad for a $$$ machine). Gearing has been changed. Euro map has been flashed to the ECU. Now I’m just waiting on handguards & skid plate to arrive.

My plan for this year is pretty straight forward. There are far too many races for me to even try to win the District 17 Open B Overall. I’m too far North in Illinois to make that a feasible option. So that said, the local Fox Valley Off-Road has their own mini-series which I intend to win the Open B Overall in. I have complete confidence that I can win it. I took 3rd this past season (5th in 2012) and considering I missed two of the events this past year, I see no reason that I won’t accomplish this.

I’m looking forward to a successful race (& Riding) season for 2014. We’ll see yah at the races!

Andrew