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Yesterday was round 1 of the Transworld Motocross Race Series at Milestone. TWMXRS is one of the most popular race series here in southern California, as evident by the huge turnout for this race. Up until now I have been racing 450 Novice and 30+ Novice aboard the MXR at a much smaller local series at Fox (Pala) raceway. I was dominating the 30+ class and was consistently a podium guy in the 450 Novice class, so i decided it was time to step it up a bit.
I entered 2 classes initially; 450 Novice (C) and 30+ Intermediate (B). I found out there were only 4 entries in 30+ Intermediate (B) so I decided to switch to Vet Intermediate Open which had 7 riders. 450 C had 17 riders.
450 Novice Moto 1:
I was the oldest guy in this race at 31 years old. The next oldest guy was 10 years younger. It can be fun battling with the younger guys as it helps push me to ride harder and ultimately get better, but many of these younger guys have little/no fear and often ride over their head and can be dangerous at times. I knew for a fact 2 of the guys in this class previously races 450 Intermediate, but both decided to move back down because they weren't doing well in 450 Intermediate.... yeah, i know.
Milestone has a concrete start and this was my very first start with the MXR on concrete. Didn't have a chance to do any practice starts during practice because they had the gate blocked off. I lit up the rear tire pretty bad out of the gate and didn't get that great of a jump. Then, carnage, as usual in this class, ensued even before we got to turn 1:
This incident, combined with me just not feeling comfortable on the beat up track with my suspension settings, combined with my gopro falling off my helmet on lap 2, kind of ruffled my feathers for the entire moto and ultimately hurt my performance. The track was over watered in sections, ruts were super deep in some sections, and many sections were one lined making passing sort of difficult. I had a few battles and made a few mistakes, but ultimately finished mid pack in 8th out of 17 guys. I was pretty disappointed with how the race went and knew i could finish better.
Vet Intermediate Open Moto 1:
I decided to go 4 clicks out on compression damping in the fork, 2 clicks in on low speed compression damping, and half a turn in on high speed compression damping to help the bike turn a bit better and bite the front end, as well as prevent bottoming on the shock. This change ultimately made the bike feel better in the rough stuff.
This moto I got a decent start (still spun on the concrete a bit) and funneled in behind the leader, and we just battled the entire moto. I was within 1 second of him the entire race, but i could not get around him. There's a section on the track where its a fast straight away after an off cambered right hander, and he would go inside and i would rail the outside and be side by side with him going down the straight away into the next corner. Then he would edge me out coming out of the corner from the inside because i was taking the longer outside line in that next corner. Super frustrating. I just couldn't get around the guy. We were both the same pace. I almost made the pass on him a few corners before the finish on the last lap, but made a small mistake and finished 2nd out of 8, 0.899 seconds behind 1st.
450 Novice Moto 2:
I had a much better start this moto and almost had the holeshot amongst 16 450's, but a guy on a 19 KX450 snuck on the inside of me into the left hander turn 1. The section after turn 1 on this track is a rolling whoop section that had a big wide outside berm and a couple tight, choppy inside ruts. We both took the outside. Going into the rollers the guy infront of me cross rutted and jumped sideways off the track to the right into the super soft dirt that lays off the side of jumps. He tried to ride it out but ultimately swapped left/right/left/right and then the front end dug into soft stuff and literally catapulted him into the air, feet over head, right infront of me. Being a vet guy i backed way off in case the bike was going to go cartwheeling across the track. In doing so, 3rd place snuck past me into the lead, and I gathered myself into 2nd again. I held 2nd for the first lap, only 2 seconds off the leader as we crossed the finish line. Then i made a few mistakes and 2 rippers got by me by the end of lap 2. I gathered myself together and rode a smooth race and finished 4th in the moto.
Vet Intermediate Open Moto 2:
I got a terrible start in this moto. I spun really bad on the concrete again and didn't have good traction when i hit the dirt, and got pinched off half way down the start straight. I went into turn 1 in last place. Ate a ton of roost all moto and was just frustrated all moto. The track was completely wasted by this point and it was super 1 lined as well, moreso than the beginning of the day. I wound up battling back to 5th place by the end of the race.
450 Novice - 8-4 for 4th overall
Vet Intermediate Open - 2-5 for 5th overall.
Here's some clips from the day:
I entered 2 classes initially; 450 Novice (C) and 30+ Intermediate (B). I found out there were only 4 entries in 30+ Intermediate (B) so I decided to switch to Vet Intermediate Open which had 7 riders. 450 C had 17 riders.
450 Novice Moto 1:
I was the oldest guy in this race at 31 years old. The next oldest guy was 10 years younger. It can be fun battling with the younger guys as it helps push me to ride harder and ultimately get better, but many of these younger guys have little/no fear and often ride over their head and can be dangerous at times. I knew for a fact 2 of the guys in this class previously races 450 Intermediate, but both decided to move back down because they weren't doing well in 450 Intermediate.... yeah, i know.
Milestone has a concrete start and this was my very first start with the MXR on concrete. Didn't have a chance to do any practice starts during practice because they had the gate blocked off. I lit up the rear tire pretty bad out of the gate and didn't get that great of a jump. Then, carnage, as usual in this class, ensued even before we got to turn 1:
This incident, combined with me just not feeling comfortable on the beat up track with my suspension settings, combined with my gopro falling off my helmet on lap 2, kind of ruffled my feathers for the entire moto and ultimately hurt my performance. The track was over watered in sections, ruts were super deep in some sections, and many sections were one lined making passing sort of difficult. I had a few battles and made a few mistakes, but ultimately finished mid pack in 8th out of 17 guys. I was pretty disappointed with how the race went and knew i could finish better.
Vet Intermediate Open Moto 1:
I decided to go 4 clicks out on compression damping in the fork, 2 clicks in on low speed compression damping, and half a turn in on high speed compression damping to help the bike turn a bit better and bite the front end, as well as prevent bottoming on the shock. This change ultimately made the bike feel better in the rough stuff.
This moto I got a decent start (still spun on the concrete a bit) and funneled in behind the leader, and we just battled the entire moto. I was within 1 second of him the entire race, but i could not get around him. There's a section on the track where its a fast straight away after an off cambered right hander, and he would go inside and i would rail the outside and be side by side with him going down the straight away into the next corner. Then he would edge me out coming out of the corner from the inside because i was taking the longer outside line in that next corner. Super frustrating. I just couldn't get around the guy. We were both the same pace. I almost made the pass on him a few corners before the finish on the last lap, but made a small mistake and finished 2nd out of 8, 0.899 seconds behind 1st.
450 Novice Moto 2:
I had a much better start this moto and almost had the holeshot amongst 16 450's, but a guy on a 19 KX450 snuck on the inside of me into the left hander turn 1. The section after turn 1 on this track is a rolling whoop section that had a big wide outside berm and a couple tight, choppy inside ruts. We both took the outside. Going into the rollers the guy infront of me cross rutted and jumped sideways off the track to the right into the super soft dirt that lays off the side of jumps. He tried to ride it out but ultimately swapped left/right/left/right and then the front end dug into soft stuff and literally catapulted him into the air, feet over head, right infront of me. Being a vet guy i backed way off in case the bike was going to go cartwheeling across the track. In doing so, 3rd place snuck past me into the lead, and I gathered myself into 2nd again. I held 2nd for the first lap, only 2 seconds off the leader as we crossed the finish line. Then i made a few mistakes and 2 rippers got by me by the end of lap 2. I gathered myself together and rode a smooth race and finished 4th in the moto.
Vet Intermediate Open Moto 2:
I got a terrible start in this moto. I spun really bad on the concrete again and didn't have good traction when i hit the dirt, and got pinched off half way down the start straight. I went into turn 1 in last place. Ate a ton of roost all moto and was just frustrated all moto. The track was completely wasted by this point and it was super 1 lined as well, moreso than the beginning of the day. I wound up battling back to 5th place by the end of the race.
450 Novice - 8-4 for 4th overall
Vet Intermediate Open - 2-5 for 5th overall.
Here's some clips from the day:
