USRA Round 6: Monticello Hare Scrambles at Bull Hollow

Originally intended to be my third race for the season, the AMA National Hare Scrambles West at Bull Hollow in Monticello, Utah ended up being my fifth. Paul said I would get hooked...he was right! (At Right: Carlo with some hang time)

The race took place on June 15, 2008. If you don't have a calendar then I'll point out that it was on a Sunday. I wasn't too happy about this for what should be obvious reasons, but added to that is the fact that it was a good five hour drive away. So after the race I would have to hurry home in order to get a decent bed time and then go to work the next day. Not very appealing to say the least.

I had never been to Monticello before though, so I was glad to go there. It's a pretty neat place - a little higher in elevation and really green for Utah (as in the color...you know, from trees and the like). Bull Hollow Raceway is a motocross track just south of town (and town it is...it's a very small place) and it's a lot of fun. An old school track that follows the terrain and uses it in various creative ways. Though Mesquite was called a Grand Prix, this was a similar style of race - motocross track plus a desert loop. The loop this race was around 15 miles long and the race time would be two and a half hours.

There was a practice session on the track on Saturday night, so we got there early enough to get some warm up time on the track in. Practice was great, the track is definitely one of the most fun I've ever ridden. Most of the jumps I was able to clear just fine save one or two pretty large ones that were just too intimidating.

Come race day I was feeling good. Because of the style of the race the divisions raced separately. It was cool to watch the Experts as the way the course was set up allowed you to watch various parts of the race and see how they handled the terrain. There were some incredibly fast Expert riders out there and it was great watching them.

When the Amateurs were up Paul and I lined up next to each other on the start line. Since it was just Amateurs they lined us up by our classes. My class was combined with the 250 class, and then there were about four other lines behind ours.

Ever since Firebirds the Blue Tank had been having problems starting and I was a little worried about the start. We only had about 50 yards before the first turn on to the track so getting a good position before that was critical.

Instead of dropping a flag they used a sort of stop light thing. As all was quiet and we were waiting for the green light I made a fool of myself by trying to crack a joke, "What if you're color blind?" Nobody laughed. Yeah.

When the light changed I kicked with a vengeance and to my surprise the Blue Tank fired right up. I opened the clutch and gunned it right away but ended up being too fast with the clutch and stalled it. As everyone on my line took off I kicked away while the next line got ready to go. So much for a good starting position. (At Right: There I am, having just stalled. Paul got a good start though; he's just to the left of me.)

Just like Firebirds I finally had to stop kicking and just sit there to let it cool off. After a minute I kicked again and it came to life and I took off, practically starting with the second line instead of my line.

Again like Firebirds the nice thing was going for the first little while dust free. However it didn't take long to catch up the tail end of the guys I was lined up with. And yet again the dust was like a wall and breathing it was the most dangerous part. It was impossible to see through, so making passes on the people I had caught was dangerous and difficult as well. However there must be a trick to it because when the second line caught up to where I was the fast guys got by us without a problem.

I had some troubles on the first loop. First was the dust problem, then the mass of bikes (a lot of the trail was tighter and more technical which made navigating with a lot of other bike a problem too), then I had a couple crashes and a few blown corners. All of this took a lot of energy which slowed me down as well. When I came back to the track after the first loop I felt like I was in near to last place.

However the second loop went much better. The riders had thinned out on the course which made the dust more manageable and since I wasn't fighting as many guys I spent less energy so I wasn't tired. Going over the same terrain also helped because I knew what was coming and was ready for it. I gained several spots as a result of this and was feeling good.

I decided to stop at the pits after the second loop to switch out my goggles and get a drink. The course was demanding enough that there wasn't any opportunity to drink while on the course. Upon putting on a fresh pair of goggles it was like seeing the world anew - the layer of dust on my first set was thick!

I did even better on the third loop. I think I probably had my best lap on this one, passing several more riders and feeling like I had moved up to the middle-front of the pack. The War of Attrition had begun here too - I could see many of the other riders were very tired and slowing down because of it. I was doing great energy-wise, and riding at 100%.

I came in to the pits after this loop without the intention of stopping, but when I rounded the corner I saw two familiar bikes at our pit stop. (At Right: I'm sure this picture looks familiar. I need to update the picture of the week I guess.) Carlo for sure was one of them, and I thought the other might be Paul. I couldn't resist pulling up to taunt them somewhat. As I pulled up the other bike wasn't Paul, just someone with a bike just like his. But I stopped next to Carlo and revved up so he'd hear me then took off. He didn't know I had been behind him, because he had passed me on the first loop after I had blown a corner so bad I was behind some trees and you couldn't see me from the course.

This loop would prove to be the most fun of the race. Knowing Carlo was behind me and that he wouldn't be happy about that made me push pretty hard and I was riding good and fast. As I rolled up to the first check point I quickly looked behind me to see how close he was and he was right there. After getting marked I popped the clutch to spit some roost at him but instead just stalled the bike again. As he passed me I could hear him laughing.

I started it pretty quick again and got behind him, and was able to pace him just right to avoid his dust. Then the weirdest thing happened - I started passing a lot of other riders, all of whom were just pulled off the course and standing there. It was as if Carlo was a wrecking ball and clearing the path ahead! I figured I'd stay here until near the end and make a quick pass on him and if he kept it up till then we'd finish 1st and 2nd!

However with Carlo you can always bet that he'll crash. It wasn't long before he did so I got around him again. He tried pretty hard to catch up but I was able to keep the distance on him. As we got back to the track though I was feeling the burn and the energy crisis would soon become a problem again.

Getting to the track there was a white flag - one more lap. I had to get gas this lap because I wasn't sure if I could make the last 14 miles and didn't want to DNF for that. I was far enough ahead of Carlo I thought I could gas and go before he caught me but it took longer than expected and he passed me in the pits. I didn't see him on the course again.

When I took off for the last lap I at first attempted to catch him. It only took a mile before I was completely spent. I felt more tired here than I had at Sage Riders and I pretty much went into survival mode, just trying to finish. I got passed by a few guys as a result, but was able to make it back, feeling like I had placed well.

I did too - best finish yet. I got points for 20th, which was really great. And I had lasted at full energy much longer than normal - and this was a really tough and challenging course. A fun one for sure - probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite up to that point actually. It had a bit of everything on it and was just laid out really well.

I learned a lot this race though - having a pit strategy for one. Before this race I had never really thought about it and only figured on just riding well and having enough energy. (At Right: Paul hanging it out for the camera.) But my choices in stopping at the pits this race proved to slow me down, and smarter planning could have improved my placing a few spots I think. I learned a lot about over-doing it too. I spent more energy the first loop than needed, again because I was angry at not getting a good start. Had I just played it cool I probably wouldn't have crashed and blew those corners, which both slowed me down and spent precious energy.

But all in all I was happy with my finish and happy with the course and the race in general. It was one of the more fun races, and battling with Carlo was great too. Paul had a good finish - getting points for 2nd place. Carlo was around 15th or so. I definitely want to make this one next year! And with this, I'm nearly caught up! One more race report to go and I'm on the mark. The next race is on Sept 13, so hopefully I can post the last race report before then so I'm completely caught up.