Amatuer Shamrock MC Dual Euro Scrambles

OK, so as some of you know or don't know, Rack and his son Gman have taken the plunge and joined D37 and started racing some select desert races. A handful of years back when he was talking about it, I told him I would come out on a couple and join in on the fun. I picked a few events that would work for me and this one is one of them. That date came up fast.

First thing I had to do was re-join D37 and get a number. I decide since it has been almost 20 years since I raced desert, I would go into the Amateur class. I signed up as an old fart in the 40+ HWT Senior class. That is anything 251+ cc. and ages between 40-49. I prepped the 300, loaded it in the truck and off I went to meet Rack in the Dez.
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I drove out early as this event was Saturday only and we had 2 races to do. First one being at 10:30am. Needed to get out, signup and get ready.

Got out there, hit singups, got my transponder loaded on the lid and linked to the computers and headed over to Racks camp to unload.

Unloaded the scooter and did some finally prep work and we are ready to shake off the cobwebs.
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I will say, that is one sexy bike...:drool:

Stay tuned...
 
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So, I'll give you a run down on how the Dual European Scrambles work. Typically it is a two day even with 2 courses of anywhere from 8-12 miles long. You race one on Sat and the other on Sun. They lump classes together and you run each race for 1 Hour. You will normally get in 3 laps on average. This event is setup the same but both races were run the same day, Saturday. They lumped all the 40+ Amt/Novice riders together for both races. So that was 0 - Open cc. That means Rack and I would race together. He is currently in the 40+ 0-250 LWT Sen Novice class. (not for much longer as he has been winning his class). Our races are at 10:30am on loop B and 3:30pm on loop A. The temps this day was going to be peaking at a cool 100 degrees. When I arrived at 7:30am it was already 80 out. I LIKE IT!!!!

Since I was racing, I left the camera at home and did not get any pictures, so you will need to use your mind....

Race #1 - We ride over to the start and find a nice spot to start. We decide to line up side by side and see how far we can bang elbows.... Euros have a short bomb run ans this one was about 400 yards and then took a right up a rock littered hill with only one line getting up it. You needed to be there first to have a chance of clearing it without someone wading in front of you and stopping your momentum.

Rack and I had a good line right to the hill with a single track about 300 yards out that we would have to share. We were standing around waiting for the race to get going and Rack and I were getting the 411 on all the fast guys lined up with us.."this guy, will be us by 20 mins, he shouldn't be in this class." " this guy is racking up all the points and is fast too."..blah blah blah. I have no idea as I have not been out for years. Rack is talking to a couple guys that he has battled with already at pass races... Ok, so it is time to race. The banner is up and all bike shut off. You have at least a minute to sit there and sweat and ponder why you are here...The banner flickers and BAM! kick starter is slammed or e-button pushed and off you go. OH before we took off, I did a head count and there were 30 of us on the line....So Rack gets the jump on me by a wheel, I took off in second and when I crabbed 3rd, I pulled up on him. We could touch elbows as we were that close. I grab 4th and started to gain a little.. I saw our single track coming up and decided to drift left, hit the virgin stuff and give up the trail to Rack. I hit the hill dust free and started to panic that I would bail and jam everyone up behind me. I cleared the hill no problem and set off to have some fun....

I felt good on the first loop and about half way around the second, I could feel my girlie office hands getting sore. I looked down on my right hand and saw a blood stain forming on my thumb...Great I am getting a blister...same thing on the left inside thumb...Oh well I am hammering this out anyways...The loop was just short of 10 miles and we got the white flag on the second lap. I can push for another I tell myself. I finished and was alive. I had a smile on my face the whole time as I was having way too much fun. It was hot, but I was loving the racing action again. Rack pulled off a 2nd in class and was not too far behind the 1st place dude....He will get him on the next race I know it....

We watch Gman pull off a 3rd overall, 2nd 250 novice in his race right after and headed back to camp to recoup.

Stay Tuned...
 
My old photo sponsor is still out there taking picture (Photos by Grumpy) and grabbed a couple of me riding by....

I blew the turn on this one an was coming in from the left, so I was a little crossed up and still sitting down when I hit this rise. Still a cool shot.
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This was the second time around and little more straight on....
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Stay tuned for the second race...
 
OK, Race #2:

The heat in the Dez is increasing and it is sitting around 100 degrees for our next race. I ended up with one blister on my right hand and two on the left (tells you I switch up and can use both hands :lol:). I break out the duct tape and tape them up for the next one.

Again Rack and I head over early to the start as this bomb run has more obstacles in it with some small to massive boulders. We stake out a line and this one has us sharing the trail again with a slight left about 100 yards up to avoid a VW size rock. After that, you stay right of these massive cluster of rocks and make a hard left behind them which is the end of the bomb and head out onto the course.

So after we setup our spot the rest of the gang starts showing up. We lost a couple so there is only about 25 in this race. We are all standing around waiting and the conspiracy starts to kick in. Everybody wants to only run 2 laps on this course because it is hot, late in the day, the course is more technical and it is tapping into our nap times. They want to get the group to run a slower pace to get the white flag after the first lap...They said that the leader of the first race needs to back it down on this one as he was like 6 minutes out front of everybody.

So after about a 20 min delay and backing in the sun some more, the banner is up....Same thing as the last race, banner flickers bike lights up and off we go. This bomb was a little more sandy and a slight up hill off the start. Rack gets a better jump on me and pulls out to about a half bike length as he had a nice new shinny back tire mounted up...I grab 3rd, then 4th and start to reel him back in. As I pull up next to him and before we get to our left of the boulder section, Rack chops the throttle and I go on by. Not sure why, I should have backed off too so he would have dropped in front of me, then I could have yelled at him the whole race. As I was getting to the end of the bomb, another guy from my right dropped in front of me and got the holeshot.

We made the left around the rocks and headed on out. I dogged him for about a quarter mile and when he over shot a right turn, I made my move and dropped in the inside and took over that spot...The course was laid out sweet, a lot more technical with some rocky single track and a couple rock littered uphills that were chewed up from the handful of races that already cranked through there. They had a hard way split that took up a rock infested hill. I screwed that all up the first time and was zig zaging and dog paddling my way to the top. We dropped into some fast and slow sandwashes and more rocks....It dropped out on the desert floor to swing back around with more rocky terrain and some big G outs. It then dropped onto a what used to be a fast wash/trail but was chewed up and had some rock exposure. I found some new lines off in the bushes and jumped on those. The course wound back up into the hills and popped out on a downhill into the finish shoot. They threw the white flag (I guess the leader ran slow enough) which means one more lap. My hands felt good as the duct tape was holding. It was hotter and with more canyons, the heat was felt more. I cleared the uphills better the next time around as I selected my lines better. I was in a good rhythm and the bike was running great. I do not have a stabilizer on this scooter and it would have been a plus.

I came over the last hill and saw the checkers flying. I was kind of bummed as I would have liked to get another lap in, but oh well. I finished and was in one piece. Smiles all around. Rack stepped it up and finished 1st in class on this one so he went 2-1 on the day. He should be moving up to Amateur soon...:smirk:

I went over to the start as GMan was getting ready for his run. I gave him a few pointers on the up hills and to get off the main lines if possible. He would see the single tracks and to grab those as they were fast still. Gave him a smack on the back and headed to a location to watch him race. He did awesome, finishing 2nd overall and first in class. This kid is getting fast and has a smooth riding style.....Scaring the crap out of his old man.

So it was a good day by all and everyone survived the heat and no injuries...

May have to check the calendar and do another one soon....
:ride:
 
Wonderful write up CDA. I think you forgot some of the color that goes with this story.


@EvilGenius and his daughter came out and entered their very first races as well. They came out with the goal of "finishing". I am happy to say that both finished their respective races and came back with HUGE smiles on their faces! Good job and we hope to see you out for many more events.

Let's see what else......
 
Oh I remember now. We forgot about @dirtybiker450 aka RedLawnDart.....

He came out and entered his first race as well. He initially planned to stay Friday night race Saturday then head home after the race. After his 2 races in the heat he decided to stay Saturday night as well. The heat took a toll on all of us. Here it is Thursday and RLD still doesn't want anything to do with a dirt bike. :lol:

I'm pretty sure there is more to this story but it's late and I need to get some rest.

I'm sure there will be more to follow.

:snooze:
 
Thanks Rack. I did leave out our other riders, sorry about that. All in all, we had 6 racers flying the CTR banner and all did well. I need to watch out for that Rack guy though, he is one fast old guy. Yeah RLD was not excited about the heat.
 
Thanks Rack. I did leave out our other riders, sorry about that. All in all, we had 6 racers flying the CTR banner and all did well. I need to watch out for that Rack guy though, he is one fast old guy. Yeah RLD was not excited about the heat.


Let's talk lap times.....

Some of those ladies crushed it based on the first results that were released. I mean how many of us can run a 4 second 10 mile loop?
 
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