Tag: ADV

Upcoming race prep!

Posted on by

Things are looking up! It’s March. My GasGas is up, running and feels like a great machine. My YZ now has a WR transmission, 290 Big Bore, and may or may not have a Rekluse Z-Start Pro going into it. I hadn’t really planned on that, but I found an almost new one for the price of an EXP unit, and the DynaRing unit I have will NOT grab with the added power of the 290 kit. Kinda wild that a couple HP difference, and it just slips. Go figure.

On top of that, I’ve added a “toy” to my working out.

I love feeling really worked after a good row on this thing. It’s like doing pushups, crunches, and leg presses all in one. Come race time there’s a good chance I’ll be down around 170#. Not bad considering last year I was closer to 185-190. I feel good knowing that its the “excess” I’ve been whittling down. Rebuilding muscle at the same time is just a plus.

Only downside so far as of late, is that I have not gone to the indoor MX track as much as I had planned. Heck, I haven’t made it there since I last went. Basically life got in the way, and then I got antsy, and tossed the WR gears & big bore on the YZ, which took much longer than planned as I busted the cases while doing the swap.

Hopefully get there one more time this month. Supposed to go to a race middle\end of March, but based on how the weather has been, I forsee a total slop fest. Not exactly in the mood for that. Then it’s down to Trials Training Center first weekend of April with the GasGas to do some skills improvement work. Then end of April is a trip to the UP for some trail riding with friends.

The season hasn’t begun…..but already has. 

Time to go row & get some dinner with my wife.

Andrew

Now that we’ve got that out of the way.

Posted on by

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not excited to be reporting that I finally completed my first event of the year.  I am excited however in how the day panned out for me.  It wasn’t a top finish as I had been hoping, but all things considered, I felt I did really well.  In my class were 12 riders, of which I placed 6th.  Out of all the B Group riders, I placed 19th out of 54.  While not the most stellar, there were a few things that definitely didn’t help my situation.

I began my morning with an appropriate breakfast (albeit at 4am) of 4 giant strips of bacon, 3 eggs, and a pile of home-made home fries.  Plenty of energy packed in there to keep me going through at least the morning.  Hopped in the truck, and I was on my way over to Johns to reload my stuff in his truck and get going.  The drive down was quite uneventful with plenty of jokes about whether or not the Husqvarna was the right choice for the day, or if I should have chosen the Mighty XR for the event.

We arrived at the event with plenty of time to spare.  Rows 10 through the end were already spoken for, so we found ourselves on row 7.  It didn’t bother me, as I figured the trail would be what it would be.  Before I took the bike off the stand, I gave it an inspirational speech….Telling it it WILL finish the race today.  I dropped the bike off the stand, fired it up, and rode a couple little circles to get some blood flowing to my arms.

We pulled up to the line, along with a couple others.  I noted the one rider was on a brand new WR250, and noted that the red\black looks 100x better than the older blue\yellow, but I suppose that’s all subjective.  Either way, our minute came up and the other rider on the Husky took off.  He was going a decent pace, so I figured I’d ride behind him a bit and find a groove for myself.  This proved to be a good strategy as the rider was at the same speed as me, but much much smoother.

First section was a bit so-so for myself.  I knew it’d take at least that section to get my blood flowing.  Completed (docking 3 minutes), and onto the next section.  I took the lead this special section and found that while I rode faster than the other guy on my line, my form did not allow for me to maintain the higher pace for the entire day.  I messed up a corner or two (or 10), and was passed by him.  I was ok with this, as I keyed off of him again, and found myself to be more consistent.  The following section, I rode behind the other Husky rider as well.  This proved to be a good strategy.

The 2nd special was interesting to say the least.  Most of it seemed as if they chose a random line through the woods, and just tacked up some random arrows.  Since there were so few guys ahead of us, we were making wrong turns quite consistently.  The section just downright sucked.  I like riding as much as the next guy, but when you’re just bashing through shrubbery, trying to guess which way to go based on some random arrows, well it kind of sucks.  It also makes you wish you had an auto clutch. haha  By the end, it opened up a bit and had me feeling much better.  That initial part just annoyed the snot out of me.

After the 2nd special (I think?), I decided to take a look down at my little roll chart I had taped to my fuel tank.  I believe I was supposed to be heading towards fuel or something along those lines.  I was heading down an open grass area, with corn to my left, and a drop-off & ravine & corn to my right.  I glanced down for a second while still accelerating, and found myself heading right towards the drop-off.  I would have been able to pull out of it, but the drop-off was all this really tall….corn like stuff.  No idea off hand what it was, but it sucked me in, and down I went.  I couldn’t let gravity do it’s work to help get me up, as there was a creek or something down there & a bunch of water.  I had the joy of lifting the bike uphill up this drop-off.  It sucked for sure, but really pounded in my head to pay attention.  I got the bike up and worked my way on down to go fuel up my bike.

I realized while filling up the bike that I would have been fine using just the stock sized fuel tank (which I’ll be doing at the next Enduro).  I attempted to eat one of my energy bars.  Unfortunately it was just too rich & dense that I couldn’t put it down.  I took in a good amount of water and then headed out to the start of the next special with the other guys on my line.  When we got there, we had a good 30 minutes to relax.  In this time, I was able to put down one of my protein bars, so that provided me with some energy for the “5 mile” special we were about to head out on.  As soon as we took off, I could feel that my body was running low on energy.  My proper breakfast held me up for 1/2 the day, but no way it was going to hold me over for the entire event.  I failed to bring the proper “quick energy” supplements (sugar\carbs), so found myself really working as things went on in this 5-mile section.

This 3rd Special was to me kinda like the 2nd special.  Just a bunch of annoying stuff, though I suppose that is why this was an Enduro race.  There was a long section, which appeared to be on a slight ridge.  The trail was pretty much straight, but you were riding under low hung trees\shrubs for what seemed an eternity.  You had to stand in an odd crouch position to ride quickly, and this quickly sapped the energy out of me.  I also managed to have a branch catch on my hand guard, and promptly fling into the tip of my thumb.  I decided to not stop and investigate, as I figured I’d be seeing some blood.  By the end of this special, I was really feeling drained and wishing I had more stuff on me to give me some much needed energy.

Just before the 4th & final Special, I ate my last 3 Gatorade energy blocks, and hoped for the best.  Not quite the greatest plan of attack, but what you gonna do?  About 1/4 mile into the special I had the strangest thing happen.  A random tree jumped out right in front of me.  The thing pile drived itself into my shoulder\right arm.  The tree literally stopped me in my tracks and knocked a good bit of wind out of myself.  I did my best to push on, and rode as hard as I physically could.  I got through to the end, and was mighty thankful that it was the end.

I had no idea what place I came in, no idea of much of anything, but I was quite pleased at how the Husky rode through the day, and felt pretty positive in my own riding through the event.  I was kicking myself for not having a better source of energy for the event, but it was a great learning experience for the next one.  I’ve also decided that my bike could handle some slightly lower gearing.  Currently my gearing allows for me to do 85+mph, which is more than enough for these events.  I’ll be adjusting that and see how it goes at my next race.

I also found that my riding style needs some slight work, as I was having a heck of a time with front end confidence in the loose stuff.  This was my own fault, as I was using too much front brake, and putting too much weight over the front in general for turning in the softer sandy areas.  It seems this Husky steers with the rear, which is another reason for dropping my gearing.  2nd & 3rd Gear just need that little extra pep that I think it will get with this gearing change.

Anyway I cut it, I’m ready for the next event.  I’ve got 2 harescrambles this month, then a weekend off for my birthday, and then I’m off to the UP for a weekend of riding with some friends.  Looking forward to the riding I’ve got ahead of me.

-Andrew

ps – If you’re riding an Enduro…..make sure you have a kick-stand.  I’m kicking myself for losing mine the last time I rode.  Sure you can always find a tree, but what a pita.  Time to make one!

[twitter name=”zerosinfinity”]

Saturday Ride @ FVOR

Posted on by

Saturday went pretty well with testing the bike, and getting some good seat time in. We rode from about 10:30am until 3:30pm. Aside from the changes on the bike, I made the decision to try just a roost guard instead of my complete pressure suit. I was quite glad I did, as the temps were hitting the mid 90’s. I got so much better air flow over my body and honestly in the woods, didn’t feel any less protected. Though I’m sure I’ll feel otherwise the next time I crash hard. 

The riding area is a combo of a mini MX track, and some very sporadic woods trails. There is absolutely nothing defined in there, and is 2-way traffic. Though it could be called 360 way traffic, as the way the trails intertwine with each other, you could run into someone from any and every possible direction. I shouldn’t complain though, as it gives me a good idea of the random trails they may tie in for harescrambles there.

The real downside is that it is next to impossible to ride the same exact course twice. I could try all I wanted, but yeah just not happening. So what I ended up doing was alternating between a few hot laps on the mx track, and then duck into the woods for a bit. I found that doing 5 laps on the mx track was like doing an hour in the woods. I found though as the day\heat grew, that it got to me, which will be addressed with more\better pre-race hydration. I guess I just haven’t been drinking enough water, and I felt it.

On the upside of all this, I really like how the bike was feeling. I felt strong and planted on it at all times. I had installed some CR-Hi bars that put me in a much more relaxed position while standing. The grips I installed gave me some blisters on my thumbs, though that could also be a product of my body sweating profusely and the gloves slipping on my hands. I may ditch the pillow-top pro-tapers and go back to the half-waffles that were on the thing stock.

Check the post below for footage: http://andrewgore.net/?p=590

-Andrew

PS – More footage on the way.

Some y00per Fun!

Posted on by

Well this past weekend was spent re-energizing my riding batteries. A lot of time spent on the bike, in a non-competitive, non-race situation. Granted I still pushed myself while tooling around, but in a way that just puts a big ol smile on my face. Me & 2 other riding friends loaded up the toy-hauler and drove due North to the great y00per (The Upper Peninsula of Michigan). The plan was to ride some fun 2-track loops based around our camp & if we were up for it, hit up some of the local singletrack. Some\most of the pics courtesy JZEE

The 3 bike crew:


JZEE on the KTM 530xcw
Jburroughs12 on the Honda XR350R
Me on the Husky WR250

We were all having a blast out there. Essentially all of the 300ish miles we rode, we didn’t pass a single other dirtbike\4×4\ATV\UTV\ORV\Car\Truck\Bus\Logging operation. It was just some good pure fun. I realized immediately I shoulda re-geared my Husky. The OEM 13/48 gearing left a lot to be desired in the speed department. On these same trails on my 450, I could cruise 10-15mph faster and not feel like I was revving the snot out of the bike. My fault for not gearing up for the ride properly. Not the end of the world, but in some of the more open riding (and sandy areas), I really like to open the bikes up, and being topped out around 65-70mph, just wasn’t enough.

On the 2nd day of riding, just after a rockier section….followed by a high speed whoop section, I was flagged down, with John & Joe pointing at the rear of my bike. I thought I had some deadly animal attacking me, but soon found the problem.

A rock (presumably) shot up a hole through the center of the rear fender, and the following whoop section sealed the deal and that rear fender was toast. No biggy. First some duct tape, which was the replaced by just looping the thing onto my Nomad Rider pack. Initial repairs took place at the local Ace Hardware:

After that, we continued riding, and remembered part way through the 2nd day that the loop we were on, was one of our least favorite. It had a few road sections & way too much gravel road for our liking. It wasn’t much, but more than we’d care for. There were a couple more spirited sections, but nothing overwhelming. It’d be a better loop if you’re worn out on harder riding & just looking to have a more relaxing final day of riding. When we got back, Joe had the look of “I need some singletrack”, so we tossed our gear back on, filled up the camelbak & around 6:30pm rolled out to go hit up the Bass Lake singletrack loop (videos earlier in thread).

I started out on the Husky and Joe on the XR. I figured I’d offer up the Husky to him, since he’s more used to a 250 2T. He gladly swapped, and I gotta say I was quite happy to really ride the bike on some more aggressive trails. What a blast. That bike was so much fun. I was able to maintain a 15-20mph speed on the loop without trying too hard and was just having a blast while doing it. The only downer with the bike was the rear drum brake. I may have overshot a few turns and ended up in the weeds, but what a blast. I’m really loving that little bike.

Day 3 was our last, and unfortunately cut short. Before we rolled out, I pulled the Rekluse autoclutch from the bike. I didn’t miss it on the XR the day before and figured it’d be a good chance to really test the bike out without it in there. Things started out really well, but unfortunately about 20 miles into the loop, I came down from a roller, and noticed when I got on the gas, that it felt like the rear wheel was spinning. Odd, but it seemed to grab again, so I figured it popped out of gear. Again, another roller and this time it felt out of gear for good. I pulled the clutch cover and immediately saw the problem. My primary gear (on the crank), the nut had backed off and was somewhere in the engine.

I tore things down mid trail and found that the nut thankfully fell in an area where it caused NO damage, but then found that the keyway on the crank\primary gear had sheered itself. I also destroyed my clutch cover gasket in the process of all this, but knew at this point, I wasn’t riding that bike under it’s own power back to camp:

With that we figured the weekend was done. We just had to get back to camp. Luckily we were only a couple miles from a paved road, and luckily I had a tow strap in my kit, so we were off…….and with that I have the pic of shame:

Stuff happens, I’m just glad nothing more went wrong. A 2$ keyway, and 10$ in gaskets and the husky will be back in action for another day. I learned a lot though on the trip. For one, I immediately listed my Rekluse for sale. I just don’t need it. Shane Watts was spot on with his assessment on how it affects the bike. I just had to see\feel it for myself. I found I also learned to ride wheelies on the WR really well. Apparently all the tooling around on the XR translated over, as I can now click through all 5 gears and just rest at the balance point for as long as I want.

I also feel I need to do some work to my suspension. Higher speed stuff, the Husky is pretty good. Low speed stuff, the XR feels so confidence inspiring, and feels like you’re riding on pillows. Low speed the WR feels like it’s being jarred like mad. High speed on the XR…..well you just don’t. lol I’m really looking forward to my next race, whenever it may be. I’m just gonna go have fun with it. I found while riding the singletrack loop, that yes I could push myself super fast right off the bat, but I lose energy too quickly, and overshoot things. If I tone it back to 80-90%, I overall end up much faster. Heck, we rode the loop in 1:35. Not bad at all, considering the last time I rode it, I finished in 1:45.

I’m ready for riding.

Andrew

Another tough day at the races

Posted on by

The morning started well, a good breakfast, followed by loading up the truck and getting off on the road.  The weather reports showed that rain wouldn’t be a factor until the later evening, and the sky seemed to echo the same.  We arrived at Fox Valley Off-Road in time to see my friend head up to the starting line for his earlier race.  Just as the flag was dropped, the rains came.

For the next 30 minutes, the rain poured down.  I made the hike down to registration, and despite my better judgement, thought “this is gonna be fun”, handed over my AMA\District cards and money and get signed up.  About 40 minutes into the rain, it let up a bit, so I got myself geared up, thinking it’d be raining for the rest of the day.  As I finished gearing up, I saw my friend riding up to my truck.  I thought it was odd, as it was only 45 minutes into his 90 minute race.  He looked spent, and said the hills were terrible, and it seemed they were cutting some of them out.

My time came to fire up the bike.  The sun was beginning to show itself, and the rain had all but subsided at this point.  I did some practice loops on an oval next to the pits.  The XR felt good, but definitely wasn’t the Husky I would have rather of been on.  Starting an older 4-stroke is a little different than it’s newer 2-stroke counterpart, but it was what it was, and I was glad I was able to make it to the line.

The starting line was just slop.  As soon as I set my feet down, the mud caked onto my boots.  It was more of a soft and squishy clay than a wet dirt type mud.  I knew it was gonna be hell, and really wished I had the Michelin S12XC tires over the tires the XR had on it.  I knew the tires wouldn’t shed the mud as I needed, but it was what it was.  I got my game face on, and when the flag drop, was thrilled to have the mighty XR fire up first kick and pull me off and away.  From what I gathered from the start, I managed to take off in 2nd or 3rd place.

Things got more and more sketchy as the course went on.  My tires instantly caked in with mud.  No matter how much I spun up the rear, the tire wasn’t shedding the mud.  I did my best to keep the tips Shane Watts gave me in mind, but it grew more and more difficult.  There were really only 2 real hill-climbs in the race, and they were pretty mellow.  Unfortunately, if 1 person gets hung up on one, it messes you up pretty quick and its just a domino affect.  Each time this happened sapped more and more energy from myself.

First lap wasn’t pretty at all, and the 2nd lap wasn’t getting any better.  In normal conditions, this track woulda been easy, far too easy.  Unfortunately my bike was going all over the place.  No matter how fast I’d push myself, the front tire wouldn’t shed the mud and slipped around like a sportbike tire in the slop.  After running through timing and scoring, I found myself coming to an off-camber section.  Earlier laps I went high and shoulda stayed a bit lower.  This time I messed up, went low and upon doing so, spun out, casing the bottom of the bike into a tree.  Nothing major, but by now, the sun was out and me & the bike were feeling the heat.

My body was over-heating sitting on top of the air-cooled beast.  The bike for some reason was being a royal PITA to start, and I was stuck in an odd precarious position on the trail.  I managed to push the bike into a position where I could kick the thing.  Unfortunately due to all the mud, the kick starter would continually stay down after each kick.  Suffice to say, I was at my witts end.  I saw my buddy who raced earlier standing on the trail by where I was.  He was getting a good chuckle out of my situation.  I set the bike down (gently mind you), and walked off a couple feet to cool myself from the bike.  I needed energy to get the bike going and get up and running.

Unfortunately when I got back to the bike, it was no easier to start.  This seemed odd, as normally even when hot, the bike would start 1st or 2nd kick, every time.  After plenty of kicks, I finally fired it up, only to hear an awful tick coming from the head.  At this point I cursed the day 4-strokes were born, assessed my situation, and realized at this point I wasn’t having any fun.  I was frustrated with the bike, myself, and the mud.  I knew I had to just call it before I hurt me, the bike, or anything else.

I rolled back to the pits, feeling defeated, but better as soon as I got my gear off me.  We loaded up, and made our way home.  I accepted the day for what it was, and looked to ways I could improve things.  So despite the race itself being a bit of a letdown, it was at least a continued learning experience.  So things I learned:

1.  If there is ANY chance of rain in the forecast, bring the enclosed trailer.  Gearing up in the front seat of a truck is a pain.  No thanks.

2.  Invest in some mud tires.  It’ll cost a little bit to have them on hand, but they really could change the outcome of a race.

3.  Warm weather gear needs addressing.  I need to find an alternative to the pressure suit.  I like the protection, but it’ll make me over-heat in a hurry.

4.  Don’t invite family to first Harescramble of the season…..especially if it’s gonna be a wet\soupy one.  They got to see me get tossed from the bike as I crossed over a tall log by the timing\scoring section.  I’m sure plenty amusing for them. haha

All in all, not a terrible weekend.  I got to inspect the XR, and it was good I stopped when I did.  One of the tappet nuts came off and was floating around in the head.  Thankfully it caused no damage, and I was able to fish it out of the head.  I’m ready to go back for another one, but will feel much better being on my Husqvarna.

I’ll post up pics when I get them from my Dad.

-Andrew