Category: AZOP

The second endurance race of the season was in Tucson, AZ at the MC Motorsports Park.

Like the first, it was a 2 hour timed event.

I like the MX track a lot better than the Speedworld one.  The turns were wider and way better groomed.  The jumps has more kick on them.  The desert section was a lot rougher with a few wash-outs and lots of trackside cactus to avoid.
This track definitely pushed my bike harder and as a result, my front, left shock failed.  I guess it’s to be expected with the original shocks from 2005.

I completed the race at 3rd place in the Ironman class.

This was my first time riding after installing the Motion Pro Twist Throttle Kit.  I should have practiced first, but there was never time.  My speed was definitely way slower as I learned to control the throttle.  I found it difficult to slow down for turns.  It was nice to not have a sore thumb after the race though.

Here is a sequence from one of the small jumps.  You can see the suspension compress, then you can see me compress.

This is in the air, with the suspension extended.

 Here is the landing with suspension compressed.

And here is me acting as suspension after the 400 ran out.

Here’s a shot of a little lean in the corner.

2 hours was a lot more difficult than I had imagined. I had dry mouth after the first lap and fatigue less than half way through.
I recorded the entire race with the Zephyr heart rate monitor and Sport Tracker Pro. It was interesting to see that my heart rate was around 200bpm throughout the race. That’s way higher than I had expected.
Here is a link to the data: Track map

I did finish the whole thing and I only crashed twice.  The first time wasn’t my fault.  I was passing a slow rider on the left when he suddenly decided to go off the track…. to the left.  He clipped my back tire with his front and kicked me sideways.  The course was muddy so I slid sideways for a while and ended up on the burm, sliding toward a huge tractor tire.  I tried to gas it, to get back down on the track but the tire dug in and the quad rolled over.  I got sort of catapulted off the bike and landed on my back, sliding down the track.  I felt like a turtle as I slid through the mud, spinning around on my back.  As soon as I stopped, I got up and ran back over to the quad.  It was wedged in the mud on the burm so I couldn’t get it upright.  Luckily there was a flag man right there who helped me get it on the wheels again.  I franticly tried to start the engine as more racers were getting in front of me but it wouldn’t fire.  Then I realized my engine kill cord was dangling off my vest.  I plugged it back in, fired up the motor and got back on the track.  I did look over at the guy who clipped me.  The impact had peeld the tire off his rim.

The second crash was not as exciting and I’m actually glad nobody was around to see it.  Towards the end of the race, I was getting very tired and I took a turn a little too fast and I didn’t lean quite enough.  The quad high-sided up on two wheels and I planted my foot on the ground to stop from falling.  The back tire hit my boot and knocked me down, then it ran over the rest of my body.  I actually have some road rash and bruises from this fall.  The track had dried out and the ground was a lot harder than it was earlier in the race.

All in all. it was a great race.  I didn’t break anything and I finished.  It did make me realize that I have a long way to go in order to be fit enough to endure 1000 miles of racing.  I was just short of 70 miles in this race and it was tough.  The results haven’t been posted yet, so I don’t know what place I finished in.

— 2/20/2012 edit —

They posted the results and it looks like I got 2nd place out of 11 entries in my class.