Family – Moto – Etc
No, not me. I’m talking about the bike. Quicky details:
2004 Yamaha YZ125.
Eric Gorr Big Bore 144.
Shinko 520 Soft\Intermediate Tires (possible swap for Michelin S12XC)
Moose Hand-Guards
Moose Skid Plate
Soon to be add-ons:
OverSized fuel Tank
Revloc Dyna Ring
This will be THE woods weapon for the 2011 Season!
Andrew
An unconventional addiction to them crazy 2 wheeled things called Motorcycles. Right now the flavor has seemed to be motorcycles in the Dirt variety. I’ve come to the realization that with Kim’s current work\school schedule, any sort of short motorcycle road trips are basically out of the question. This is not then end of the world, as noted before, my passion of competition has been reignited.
In the past year I have bought, traded, sold, and fanagled a handful of various motorcycles and dirtbikes. I can’t quite pin point what my deal is. Previously I’ve maintained a solid reputation for having zero emotion when it comes to mechanical machines. I fear this had in the past caused me to be distant in my mechanical\physical relationship between me and my machines, but it appears that the past three bikes I’ve gone through have torn down my mechanical walls.
I swore after I rode a CRF250R that the 4-stroke bikes were the answer. The way the power was always there; the way I didn’t have to try to get it to do what I want. The reality of it was that I was angry and upset with the KTM 300. On my last race with it, I got the crap beaten outa me. Now this wasn’t all the bikes fault (smashing your foot into a tree 10 minutes into a 2 hour race is bad idea k?) but it sure made me feel better to put the blame on it. I faulted the WP Suspension, I faulted the “over-powered” feeling, I faulted everything about that damn bike. I however did not fault the fool sitting on the machine.
Enter 2004 Yamaha YZ250F Stage Right. I will now admit the obvious: This was an impulse move on my behalf. I was sure though that it would solve all my riding issues. And to a certain degree, the bike did. I gained some important experience on the machine and learned a few more things in regards to my riding. The 250F helped me see another aspect of what I do and what I don’t like in a bike. Little nuances, the small things I would otherwise overlook when going for a bike. I am now seeing to be quite significant factors in what I like or dislike in a bike. Unfortunately the thing I realized I wanted most in a bike, was lost by the KTM 300 Storming out Stage Left.
Pingers, Ring Ting Tingers. I was warned. I was told I would be back. I retorted that I had seen the light. The writing was on the wall, however. I will say it, and I don’t care what anyone says. 4-Stroke dirtbikes HAVE NO SOUL! You can put it however you want, but the 4-Stroke bikes are just lacking in the excitement part. I’m sure I wasn’t riding fast enough, or pushing hard enough to feel things in the same excitement level on the 4-Stroke, but that is the issue. The way the power is delivered, it just doesn’t add up to be an exciting ride. I felt a need to be back on a 2-Stroke, someway. Somehow. Now I must admit that there are a couple contributing factors to my passion for 2-Strokes. It could be the wicked power that the KTM 300 has, or I admit (fear?) that it may be rooted deeper.
When I originally began racing dirtbikes, I had the misfortune of picking up probably one of the worst dirtbikes known to man. A 1986 Yamaha YZ125. A basket case to say the least. From the poor power, to weak suspension, to me not knowing what the crap I was doing with maintenance. Everything added up on that thing to equaling disaster. Yet for some reason I had a desire to race it, and race it I did. Unfortunately for me, it put me on a vintage bike against kids on new 125 machines. It was 1999 (or 2000?) and even a bike 10 years newer than mine, was light years ahead of what I had. So why the heck would I want to go to a 2-Stroke, 125cc, Yamaha? The very same bike that I loathed all those years ago? Soul.
The 250F made me realize that the 4-Stroke bikes had no soul. No emotion, nothing, nada. So now I am wondering all what I have here. I am at the end of the racing season. I have a 2004 Yamaha YZ125 in the garage that needs some TLC, and in my eyes, I pissed away a perfectly good racing season. That being said, I am much further in my riding abilities now, than I was at the beginning of the season, and as such, I look ahead. I am looking ahead towards the winter here for cross training, for planning my attack on a race series for next season. To compete and be able to compete at the top of my game. To be pushed beyond what I thought I could do.
So this addiction, I won’t be coming clean. I aim to immerse myself even further in next seasons racing. There is plenty of fun to be had in just riding around, but the taste of victory; I crave NEED more.
Happy Roosting,
Andrew
About a month and a half ago (maybe 2) I was reminded that I would be going down to MotoGP in Indianapolis. It just so happened that I stumbled upon the website www.Endurocross.com. I saw that I could register, so I figured…what the heck, let’s do it. What could possibly be the worst that could happen? I competed in Trials and won competitions. I rip while riding off-road. What could possibly be different or more difficult about this?
I would like to admit here before anything else that I made one fatal error before doing this event. I changed bikes about 2 weeks before the race. Not only was I switching brands, but I switched from a 300cc 2-stroke Woods bike to a 250cc 4-Stroke MX bike. HUGE difference in the 2. Like switching from riding on a bed of pillows (300) to ride on well…rocks or something really hard.
This was not all bad however. I kicked out some great riding at Rocky Glen the weekend before Endurocross and gained a confidence on the bike that I didn’t think I’d get. I felt I can push faster through turns, be on the gas sooner, be off the gas later. I can push jumps and rough terrain at least 5-10x harder than before. I just feel downright comfortable on the bike (no..not while sitting, that seat is a freaking 2×4). It is as I’ve said…Magical. Downside I’ve felt so far had been the front tire. Right now wishing I coulda swapped it before the race, but what could I do?
So back to the race at hand. It was about a week before the event, and I had really no idea what was going on. I was getting the feeling that this race was a bit of a publicity thing. I had no idea when anything was, where I needed to be, or any of the information that seemed essential. I managed to get ahold of Beth (iirc) who was running registration and all that, and got the vitals. Noted to myself….be there before 7pm Thursday for registration (and forget that Indiana is 1 hour ahead of Illinois).
I arrive with plenty of time to spare, get my riders packet, and am greeted with the following:
I take a walk around the track via the stadium, and think about how it shouldn’t be “too bad”. My thoughts go like this:
Logs, I’ve ridden over those…that’ll be easy.
Rocks, I’ve ridden over all that asphalt rubble….those should be easy.
Whoops, I like riding those, off camber, but should be able to stay on the gas throughout.
Concrete Pipes, Those should be…fun, about a bikes length of gaps. Keep the front tire up?
Fire Wood Pile, WTF? Stay on the gas? uhhhh yeah we’ll see how first practice goes. haha
Logs V2, Hit the corners? Jump through?
Tires, HA! I practiced these. Cake walk, Aim for the gaps and slip through. Easy.
Rocks V2, Oh this should get interesting….Find lines during track walk. Stay on the gas, and keep your feet UP!!!
Sand, Shouldn’t be too bad..assuming it’s not too loamy. Keep on the gas.
Tires V2, OK, I’ve ridden over ones like this before. Easy. Stay on gas and let’r rip.
Simple. Right……?
Failure admittance #2. Thinking that I was properly prepared. I was not (still not?).
I quickly found during practice #1 that A. I needed food. B. I had been training in an entirely wrong way. I quickly realized that I had been prepping myself for racing for almost 2 hours straight. This race was gonna be less than 10 minutes and I needed to be able to go 110% for that entire time. No letting up, no breaks, no nothing. Just a full on onslaught of bike bucking, body jarring, intense riding.
My practices seemed to progressively get better, and better. Despite a bit of a doozy of a crash, I got back up and was rolling at the same or even faster pace. I was gaining confidence in me, the track, the bike, everything. I was feeling positive. I was ready for the main event. This is where I realized things would be….interesting. haha
I realized as I pulled up to the line for the main event, that it had been hours since I last rode. My body was not fully “awake”, and I could just feel that I did not have the same intensity that I had during practice and the heat race. I went into the race with the wrong mindset. I thought “let’s just make it through”. Anyone who competes will tell you this is not good. I won’t lament too far on the wrong as I’ve already changed that thought process. On top of that, I most definitely realized that it had been over 10 years since I had done a gate start. Luckily that was the easiest part of the race.
I made an early mistake of taking a risky line that proved to not pay. I went down in the first lap. I proceeded to sap all of my energy in a matter of moments, causing me to get sloppy in short order. I went down a couple more times, but did my best to keep my head up and push until the end. I managed an 11 out of 11. Last Place. Depressing to say the least.
Despite my feelings of defeat and loss, I knew one thing. I wanted more. I know I can be faster. The desire to win is about 100 times higher than it was before. Now if only they would have more of these events locally, we’d be set. I would go and do another one of these in a heart beat. No questions asked, I would be there pushing myself…..and that’s where I’m now.
I am pushing myself to be like the Six Million Dollar Man….Light, Faster, Stronger. I’ve also picked up a new motto for my riding. RLAW – TLAS. I’ll keep it at that. It’ll help keep me pushing. See you all at the next race!
Andrew
PS. If yall’d like to see the race. Check it out.
And a big thanks to my Sponsors:
If you haven’t really talked to me in the past couple days, you probably won’t know that I’ve turned a new page in my competitive whatever you wanna call it. I’ve decided that it’s time to get my head into racing mr. KTM 300. The little GasGas has gone to help fund a few goodies for the KTM, and will help offset some of the traveling costs, fresh tires, and things of that nature. But anywho, I am feeling it is time that I check out these Enduro type races. I know that there has been everyone and their brother who has probably raced one, but, well I haven’t. HA. I figure the KTM is a perfect lil scoot for the job.
Right now I’m a little unsure of where else to go with my thoughts on this one, but what yah gonna do? I’ll also be competing in some Harescrambles along the way with good ol Jam0. Looking forward to just being out at events again this year!
Andrew
ps…not sure why I chose this picture, cause I’m on Jamo’s 540 and not my 300. I knew something looked weird. haha
As of late I have been pondering my Hare Scramble race last May. I thought back to how poorly I did. Only being able to complete 45\90 minutes of the race. Pathetic if you ask me. Sure I was on a heavier machine than I should have been. Sure I hadn’t paced myself properly. Sure I had never raced something like that before. But should any of that really have mattered? NO. I can’t blame machine. I blame only man, and that man is myself. At the time only 23 and while not overweight, I sure as heck wasn’t (am not) in proper physical and mental shape.
Now what does that have to do with anything? Scoop is this. On top of competing in Trials events, I know that I can win in Hare Scrambles. There are a few “local” races for me to compete in before my Trials season gets underway, but I’ve needed motivation and more-so a reason to get into this. Reason: I need to be in better shape. No two ways about it.
So where does this put me now? Well for one I’ve hated what I’ve done to my BMW bike. Sure it rides great, but I’ve come to a realization of what I should have done (hindsight 20/20). I’m left at a place where I want-need a proper competition off-road motorcycle. Problem is that that doesn’t solve my non race winning streak. A better, more fitting machine will most definitely make things easier on myself, but that’s not the entire equation.
I need to address the other aspects of the race. Most of which drop down to my past and present physical condition. Now 24, I have realized I am greatly out of shape. It was depressing seeing for myself that my laptimes in the race were better than most other competitors, but due to my poor mental condition and my even worse physical condition, I couldn’t make it the full race. Down right depressing. I know I am a better rider. That didn’t matter. Slower riders ended up in better positions than me not because they were better riders, but because they could make it. I couldn’t.
And that right there is why I sucked it up and joined a gym with Kim. I finally have another form of motivation. I have other motivation, but this one has more or less pushed me over the edge. I will win at least A (1) race. I will NOT feel like total crap after. I realize that this is going to be more or less a serious change in pace of life. All for the better. So now I sit here with blisters and cuts on my feet after running more than I have in my entire life; legs not wanting to move, and arms that when attempting to bend straight, shoot pain through them like I’m being stabbed. No doubt in my mind, it WILL be worth it.
Andrew