Maryland weather is just not ideal for racing
quads. The humid summers are bearable, and the
spring and fall are perfect, but riding in the
dead of the Northeast winter just wears on you.
Screwing ice studs in your tires, stuffing foot
warmers in your boots, stopping every 20 minutes
to warm up your double-layered gloves with your
exhaust, and especially trying to find a car
wash with heated power washers so you're not
shooting icicles at your quad while you are
trying to wash the snow and dirt McFlurry mix
off of it- let's just say it gets old real quick.
After sloshing around for months in the ice
and snow, I was happy to head down to Mexico
for the San Felipe 250.
After starting my first full season of desert
racing with a win at the Parker 250 in January,
I was ready and eager to help Team Christy's
defend their 2008 Score 450 Pro quad Championship.
The team's win at last year's Baja 1000 sealed
their championship and established them as a
favorite to win the San Felipe opener. The Parker
race was a great opportunity to get familiar
with the team's program and winning combination
of talent, experience, and teamwork before we
headed to Mexico. Craig Christy is a master
of organization and leadership, and with a faithful
and able crew of a dozen or so chasers and pit
personnel, his team handles races with the precision
and execution of a factory effort. Our plan
was to head down to San Felipe and dissect the
race track to familiarize ourselves as much
as possible with the course and the terrain.
My prerunning consisted of roughly 100 miles
a day for 5 days, and I switched between a Raptor
700 and a CRF450X. The Duncan Racing built Raptor
was a lot faster than your average 700, so I
really had to man-up to use all the power I
had on tap. After using up 8 of my 9 lives doing
unintentional power wheelies through every type
of desert plant imaginable, and running off
a few turns that I just could not throw out
the anchor fast enough to slow down for; I used
some tips I had picked up while watching Championship
bull riding on TV and started to feel comfortable
on it. The CRF was quite a bit easier to ride
fast, and there is something to be said for
having a few extra inches of suspension travel
and a hundred or so less pounds of machinery
to direct around the course. The narrow width
of the bike let me blaze lines through the desert
obstacles, but it was then I discovered the
"exploding cactus". As if the sharp, pointed,
down right aggressive ground cover was not enough,
there is actually a very common form of prickled
plant that upon impact propels it's pointers
in all directions including but not limited
to your wrists, forearms, torso, and legs. And
to top it off, the needles have barbed tips
that rip your flesh even more when you try to
pull them out! I thought pine trees and sticker
bushes were bad- they have nothing on desert
plants! During prerunning we checked out as
many of the available lines as possible, and
tried to determine the fastest combination through
the sections. Each of the four racers on the
team concentrated on his part of the track,
and tried to explore all the options for making
time on the competition.
Race
day dawned with mild temperatures and totally
clear skies. Dave Scott, who was on the Christy's
team for the Baja 1000, would be doing the first
60 miles, a valiant feat even for a renowned
whoop-riding master like Dave. He started 8th
on the grid, and moved through the quads ahead
of him to put us in 2nd on the track. Steve
Abrego would take over at the 60, and utilize
the awesome power of the Duncan National-motored
TRX450R in the super-high speed dry lake section
where the quad is going full-song for minutes
at a time on narrow washout-filled graded roads.
Steve went back and forth with the lead quad
for miles, swapping the lead numerous times
and using enough expletives on the radio that
we started to think the Mexican version of the
FCC might come looking for us. Steve handed
the quad over to me at the 122 mile mark with
the leaders in sight. I used every bit of my
course knowledge and riding ability to track
down and pass the lead quad, and tried to open
up a gap. My 70 mile section was 80% Florida
GNCC, 10% Arkansas OMA, 10% indescribable rock
riding, and 100% off-the-hook fun (except for
the invisible rocks that lurk underneath the
ruts in the sand washes and instantly put me
in a full extension handstand like 5 or 8 times
in the Matobi Wash). The 192 mile mark came
up, and as I got off the quad and Craig got
on, we counted 11 minutes before the 2nd place
quad came past. Knowing Craig's vast knowledge
of the course and his excellent riding ability,
I knew we had the win. As I drove with the chase
crew to the finish, I heard over the radio that
Craig crossed the finish in first place. The
feeling of reward for the countless hours of
work and preparation is irreplaceable, and I
was relieved that I had done my part in securing
the win.
With wins in the Best in the Desert and Score
opening rounds, the team is in the driver's
seat for both championships, and I'm fully focused
on doing my part to keep the ball rolling. Unfortunately,
I'm back in the frozen tundra of the Northeast,
eagerly awaiting the spring thaw, replacing
some worn out studs in my tires, and getting
ready to pick up a case of hand warmers for
the coming weekend's ride. At least I have a
nice tan!
