How was the Can/Am Area 51 Race???

They needed nothing. It was THE best racing on a kickass track. My first time there and worth every mile, gallon and dollar. Compiling the video footage for a proper edit this week. Ever think about going? GO.
 
I was just getting back on to type up something. It was huge and a lot of fun.

Zman, myself, Lotts, FMXPaul, Deiter174, Davey Jones, Lutton356, Chris Opliger, NOWA, Crute, Hands, and Parma Dave were up there, along with many others I didn't even realize I'm sure.

We rolled in on Friday evening to a packed house! Ended up parking way out by the road with most of the group listed above, but it was a great spot (except for not being able to hear the PA).

Some quick notes.
-The track is awesome. I had a few small gripes about the track when I went there last year, like how after the start you went right into a bunch of big step ups. That is now changed and you don't hit those big jumps until almost the end of the lap so it's great now, much improved. The track is super fun to ride and race with a good flow of jumps and hills.

-Zman and I got a ton of bike time as we both rode practice on Saturday, then raced the grass race, then raced two classes in the Night-Cross, and then 3 classes on Sunday. We rode our old bikes on Saturday races and had a ton of fun.

-Lutton got hurt Sunday, looks like the dreaded separated AC joint. He ate it hard on the big downhill ski jump. Opliger also hurt his wrist but still raced all day Sunday.

-Parma Dave is back with his holeshot mastery by ripping two nice ones in the +45 class. He's not up to speed or endurance but still finished 6th o/a.

-Zman doesn't know his Country flags very well. After getting his and Mitchy's bibs and then paying to get their name printed on them, I later pointed out they were Canadian bibs! DOH!

-5 bucks to get your name printed on your bib was a cool touch and I think a lot of people did it.

Couple Negatives they need to work on
-I know they got swamped with a ton of people, maybe a little more than expected, but still some things could have been run a little better.
-Signup was kind of disorganized and you had to go to three different windows to get registered
-PA doesn't reach all of the facility and their FM broadcaster didn't work. So we were blind as to what was going on.
-Awards Sunday was, I'm sorry, just downright ridiculous. You had to walk all the way to the top to get a trophy and then had to go all they way down to another building to get prize awards. Each of these only had one window open and huge lines.
-These are just nit-picky things I'm sure they already realize and will improve anway.

Overall it was an awesome time and I'll be back for sure. I can already imagine all the "I'm in next year FOR SURE" posts.....I'm surprised more of the "Posse" didn't want to go. Awesome place.
 
Sounds great! I had too much to do this weekend. still bummed I pussed out on BC.
Now get up a couple pictures. Work can wait..haha.
 
(yeah Pit's totally correct with his comments) It was so great, that I pretended the things that were "different", didn't matter. And yeah, some stuff was weird but I heard from the locals that they had never had that big of a turnout. I think they did pretty darn good. Biggest race I'd ever competed in. Next year I will bring some type of pit transportation, all that walking is a bit much for my fatass.

I have pics but they're going to have to wait a little bit...
 
ROUGH!!!!!!! I was dead last moto of the day (open am). was also moto 8, big difference for the 2.

General positive comments: Awesome facility, awesome layout, very fun track, good dirt, huge turnout, huge gates, bibs were cool, etc

In order of events, Saturday practice was SLOPPY in the morning. However, I think that was very necessary as the rest of the day the track was nice. Did not get a lot of track time which was kind of a bummer. Riding a new bike I needed all the time I could get, and I didn't get enough. I understand they did the grass race and the night cross, but I would have rather they ran practice longer than did any of that other stuff!!

The night cross looked kind of lame. Maybe fun for a pit bike or 80 riders, but I was very on the fence as to if I was going to race it or not, after spectating I'm glad I didn't. Fun to watch though, better than sitting there bored all night.

Registration was kind of weird, but kind of cool also with the touch screens and such. less room for error with that. It was open most all day saturday, so you had plenty of time to sort that out. I could imagine sunday morning being a little chaotic if you were just arriving sunday.

I don't think they put down nearly as much water for race day as they did for practice. The track got tore up pretty fast and they didn't seem to do much work to it inbetween. I also am not a big fan of watering during motos.. nothing like coming up to a section that 1 lap was dry and the next is icy. However It was definitely necessary and with that # of riders, they had to do what they could do speed things up. I heard a lot of cmments from people that the track was usually better and stuff. Last 2 motos were open pro and open am which both had pretty big gates, and after the start if you were mid pack you couldnt see a thing. launching the down hill into a bunch of ruts, nearly blind = dangerous.

My last moto got cut to 2 laps, kind of disappointing. Once it was like 6:00 and they still had 15 motos to go, they really started to speed things up. Had they kept that pace up all day they probably could have got all motos done earlier, and not cut laps like that. They had no choicie at that point though.

awards was ridiculous.torture to make us walk up that big hill after riding to go get our trophies lol. waited in line for about an hour, it got dark, went back down to get the prizes, waited for probably 30 min, somoene held my spot, i had time to actually go back and shower and come back to my spot in line, which didnt actually move more than a few feet. by that time it was like 9:30. glad i didnt plan on going home!!

monday they left the track open for practice. was told they were not going to prep. woke up late expecting to load up and leave and saw a watered and prepped track. hurried up and got gear on and did some riding before it got super hot out. i had way more fun and felt a lot more comfortable monday. finally got the rest of the jumps down nad stuff and felt decent on the new bike for the first time.

sorry for the rambling, but those are all my thoughts. sounds like im whining a lot but im really not. i understand the # of riders and conditions and all that. it is what it is. i had a really good time, love the track, will definitely be back at some point.
 
We always like Area 51 but this year it was not as enjoyable. Especially for a 50 parent. They had the 50 srs run as 1st practice and 1st moto for nightcross - the track was freshly prepped should that should say enough - most of the kids couldnt start their bikes when they pulled off because all of the mud. Pressure washed before the moto then all was good.
Then on Sunday they had the 50s as the first moto - everything was good for the first set (except we had bike failure) but when we came around to the second set of motos my husband changed the gearing and back tire for a dry track - not knowing there was going to be a downpour the track was a muddy mess with no lines for the 50s to ride. I will also note that one of the new little guys was probabaly 3/4 way to the checker last kid on the track and not but 1 turn away a roaring group of 250s right behind him. That was EXTREMELY concerning. Simpson 57 could enlighten more on that we were both screaming at the flagger.
We love the track and we will go back just a few minor glitches. We were hoping to have a good weekend after we had to leave Briarcliff early Sunday due to Ryan having the flu. All he wanted to do was podium to have pictures with the Monster girls.
 
PitRacer said:
-Zman doesn't know his Country flags very well. After getting his and Mitchy's bibs and then paying to get their name printed on them, I later pointed out they were Canadian bibs! DOH!

I'm surprised more of the "Posse" didn't want to go. Awesome place.
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Zman..... LOL!! I really wanted to go but I had my kids this weekend and didnt want to try that big of an event with them yet (2 1/2 YO). Next year they will be old enough if I have them that weekend ! And yes, I am IN next year ! LOL
 
You guys all forget that Zman is from the French speaking part of AVON!!!! With his French accent, and boyish looks, they knew he was obviously from Canada!!!!
 
didnt take pics of anything other than this one, and then one of the bib because they are cool. first one is a full 360 from on top of the camper. doesnt look too crowded but the place was packed with sweet rigs. IMG_2275.jpgIMG_2282.jpg
 
Almost pooped my drawers watching it, but thankfully the little kid made it. I know hearing those bikes coming really scared the heck out of me. Apart from that it was its usual great time. Can't wait for the Halloween race. Not so good finish wise, but when you are leading a race and get a flat....Oh well. Lots more Eh riders this year, and I think Erik beat the Electrical tape #1 rider at XBOX :) The deep fried wings had to be grilled due to technical difficulties, but still good with some Sweet Baby Rays. Some of the best brownies ever (ate the whole box..sorry Mrs. R) Blue cheese burgers on Saturday, camp fires, no noise after 10, and I got to black flag the entire golf cart field (bunch of cheaters :) Lotts new pups slept a lot, but are cute. Good times. That's what it's all about.

RYDN25 said:
We always like Area 51 but this year it was not as enjoyable. Especially for a 50 parent. They had the 50 srs run as 1st practice and 1st moto for nightcross - the track was freshly prepped should that should say enough - most of the kids couldnt start their bikes when they pulled off because all of the mud. Pressure washed before the moto then all was good.
Then on Sunday they had the 50s as the first moto - everything was good for the first set (except we had bike failure) but when we came around to the second set of motos my husband changed the gearing and back tire for a dry track - not knowing there was going to be a downpour the track was a muddy mess with no lines for the 50s to ride. I will also note that one of the new little guys was probabaly 3/4 way to the checker last kid on the track and not but 1 turn away a roaring group of 250s right behind him. That was EXTREMELY concerning. Simpson 57 could enlighten more on that we were both screaming at the flagger.
We love the track and we will go back just a few minor glitches. We were hoping to have a good weekend after we had to leave Briarcliff early Sunday due to Ryan having the flu. All he wanted to do was podium to have pictures with the Monster girls.
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Zman can better speak to the 51cc on the big track stuff, but I agree with the comments that they maybe should have been run a little different. Putting them out there right after fresh watering and discing didn't look like the greatest idea.

Cool pics Stacy. I will go through pics tonight.
 
Place was pretty clean. They provided a dumpster and most folks drove by and dumped (lots of OH and PA riders with carts). They also had a garbage detail on Saturday evening emptying cans. When I pulled out Sunday it looked pretty clean. Definitely no scrap aluminum money like Red Bud. I counted 838 on the trackside scoring but there were a few DNS. Not sure if they subtracted those to get 730. It might be a 2 day event next year, that would be cool.
 
lol literally. they came and stole all the garbage cans sunday night. lots of trash left everywhere when we left monday afternoon.
 
No, on the way out, at the end of each pit lane, there were stacks of garbage bags ready to be picked up and taken to the dumpster. Everyone was very good about it- I had big contractor bags that I actually condensed a couple piles for them while taking ours out. It looked exceptionally clean at the end of Sunday. 730 riders? WOW!
 
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