Rain at Smith Rd? ...it was the mud from hell at Casey's PV day!

mooch

PR Elite
Hopefully the folks who went to Smith Rd's vintage races had better conditions than we had Sunday at Casey!

Saturday worked out ok at Casey as the rain didn't start until after the vintage races were over, but it then came down hard with about 3.5 inches dumping in a few hours and then some drizzling through the night. Sunday's post vintage practice was fairly muddy but things got way worse as it started to rain again. Second moto was rough for me, had trouble keeping my momentum up in the thick muck and after tipping over it was tough to get going again as mud was gumming up my chain and sprocket and I was literally smoking my clutch trying to keep going. Without a doubt the worse kinda mud I've ever had the pleasure of riding in!
 
Yeah all this talk about Smith Rd. and then not a peep after it's over.....

Lincoln Trail is an awesome track, and they ran us on a modified version of the Bomber track. It was pretty cool how they laid it out, some parts we actually ran backwards compared to normal modern bike layout.

But yes, that was the mud race of death. I actually sort of had fun, completed all six of my motos, never crashed, and ran all the laps. It was all about momentum -- getting some and then trying to hold it. Lining up and racing in the rain is definitely not one of my favorite things to do. I'll post some pics later. My bike is thrashed.
 
My kids are throwing the mud cakes in the creek now. Mom is washing all 4 bikes and dad is in the air working. It's a miracle. Bikes are trashed. Mud everywhere. Rims have 2" of mud on the inside . Holy mud batman . My trailer needs to dry out till I can power wash it .
 
You guys missed two perfect days that were close to home!

I will post some pictures & write up later tonight as was there for the weekend spectating.

Maico Mark
 
Oh…. the Bomber track?
Any idea if they still use the Classic track?
Think it was because of the rain or is the classic track toast?
On Mini’s -small two stroke’s the classic track was fun.
Good turn out?
Mud with vintage machines can’t be too fun. Unless you have endless parts.
 
Smith road was great. It was run well and the track was excellent. Same track as the 70's weather was perfect with a light turn out but some very good riders. I had a ten on a ten scale of fun. Great racing. Can't wait to ride there again. Hope AHRMA returns again with a better turn out. Back to back races may have hurt turn out along with competing AMA race. All I know as AHRMA had TWO fantastic vintage races back to back! Unadilla and smith rd. way to go AHRMA.
 
That's good to hear that the Smith Rd race was a fun one from a participant point of view. Larry has been working hard to make the track better for riders since he's taken over.
 
I went and watched the racing at Smith Road. It was very fun to watch, and smelled great. Everyone looked like they were having a blast! It was a short day, but I'm glad I went.

Here is a quick clip of the guy who was riding the #1 Moto-x-fox RM125. He was ripping!

 
Oh…. the Bomber track?
Any idea if they still use the Classic track?
Think it was because of the rain or is the classic track toast?
On Mini’s -small two stroke’s the classic track was fun.
Good turn out?
Mud with vintage machines can’t be too fun. Unless you have endless parts.

The classic track is certainly still there and looks like it's being maintained. I asked at the LLQ which track and they told me the classic track, so when we pulled in we went all the way down and parked. Then the next morning they told us the modified Bomber track, so many of us had long walks/rides over to the other track!
 
I took my pocket camera & not the one with the better optical zoom so need to crop my pictures.

Anyone know of any free on-line software the works well for cropping pictures with?

I did pick up a very nice Smith Road t-shirt they were selling for only 10 bucks. Some cheap-o was trying to get 2 for $15 so I said come on
buddy get real and pay 20 bucks for 2 as most tracks are 20 to 25 bucks for one....the lady selling them smiled plus I think he did but 2.

Maico Mark
 
A couple Casey photos. Kari only took a couple motos as the rain came in and the camera was put away.

Track was muddy in practice, then started to shape up! Then the rain came and really never stopped. Just glad it's over, took me about 2.5 hours to wash my bike tonight and I had to disassemble half of it to unpack all the mud.

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Smith Rd. was great....some really good riders, some good battles despite a lower than expected turn out. Lots of good racing on a great vintage style track......typical Smith Rd. ....wet practice, cool ruts formed into racing lines...little dust and afterwards, lots of smiles and BS'ing....Elmar Kruza wasting the Vintage guys and jumping everything onto the downside like he was on a modern bike.....PV was a show for young Gatrell from Galion (I think) and he was scrubbing jumps like a boss on an old RM125 that would have lapped most of the modern 250F's a la Jerry Robin....good stuff! Thanks to Larry and Kathy from Smith Rd. & the Smith Rd. Staff ....as well as AHRMA for a great weekend!

I hooked bars a bit off the moto 1 Vintage start into the first corner with NQ1965 on this board (was your GoPro on!?...lets see that start)....Sorry Mike!...but, I was on a 125 and he was on a 250...he should have been wayyyy ahead by then...lol...he was hauling A on that old YamaHOG......nice ride Mike....

P.S. Cool trophy's from B&B Trophy in Brunswick (Mike Sinclair's place)...Has George Singler pics from various events in the 50's and 60's on the graphic....tre-cool! I even held George's "Cow Bell" 1st place trophy from the 1957 Jack Pine Enduro in my hands for a minute and thought to myself what an accomplishment that was 56 years ago (and 8 years before I was born!)..........and that George is still riding at the age of 80.....Will hang my plaque up next to some other George S. stuff I have in the shop.....
 

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Sorry for the delayed race follow up.

We drove up Saturday morning with bikes for both days. Our expectancy was race all day Saturday, get hotel Saturday evening, then race all day Sunday.
To our surprise racing, awards ceremony and everything was completed way earlier than we expected. Our son's wedding is this coming weekend, so we were mindful of our spending with the upcoming wedding expenses. So, after some discussion we decided we scratch the hotel, drive home, then do it all again on Sunday. (with one less bike of course).

While on the highway, I began stewing over the weekends expenses (my race day entry didn't help) and the costs I'll have in getting Poor Tom (my MX250) repaired and back in race shape for Mid-Ohio. I blew left front fork seals, blew out right rear Therma-flow shock, and lost 2 front lower engine mount bolts. I looked at Nancy and told her I was gonna scrap racing on Sunday! I was incredibly pumped over the days racing fun and results. We have both Helmet Cam and Camcorder footage, and I'm satisfied and don't really want any more expenses added on if I were to do more damage to my PV bike on Sunday. That was my gut feel and I went with it. She was surprised and a little disappointed but agreed.

I believe the Moto Gods were watching over us and gave me that gut feeling because on Sunday morning we received a phone call delivering unspeakable family crises news. And thank God we were at home and only 10 minutes from where we needed to be, when we needed to be there. Family always comes before our hobby and our passion for this sport and the friends we have. It would have been even more tragic had we of been at the track racing and 2-1/2 hours from home.

Now.........................About Smith Rd. Vintage AHRMA weekend.
(see next post).
 
Smith Rd. Saturday Vintage Racing.

Man.... What a blast! I'm not sure what everybody else thought but to me, you couldn't ask for a better, cooler race track for Vintage motocross.

The Gate:
This was my first race on a concrete starting pad. Not bad! No problems, had decent starts and was a nice change.

First Turn:
Wasn't really sure about the whole first turn and return loop deal? In fact nobody was real sure about it. Until we did it!!!!
Was actually pretty cool and once again, very different. And gave the spectators at the starting area the best view in the house because it brought the racers right directly back towards the start area. Sweeping left uphill turn, over and down hill exit funneling to a ribboned off section and to an uphill jump. Very exciting and action packed. Loved it!

The Track:
It was well watered, well disc'ed, rutted up as nicely as any modern day track in the turns and some straight sections, while also had numerous hard pack sections left untouched. Plenty of room for passing most every where. Lots and lots of turns. Lots of safe, yet good air jumps.
There was a lot of braking and acceleration bumps. Sweeps, rollers, twisties, Ruts, mud, dust, natural elevation changes and anything else you could ask for. It had it all!

I used helmet cam and wife had camcorder going. There are almost too many trees for good camcorder footage and you can't really see the whole track from one location.

Poor Tom and I raced Sportsman 250, Intermediate, and had very stiff competition from a 55 year old Bultaco Racer from California named Dan Baker.
Dan bested me to 2nd places in both motos, and for a 2nd place Overall.

We also raced 40+ Intermediate, where we delivered a 1st place moto 1, but with an anxious Texan named Gary Davis hot on my tail who took it back in moto 2, giving me and Poor Tom another 2nd Overall.

It was intense fun racing and banging bars with and against Pitracer members AHRMA361 (Mike Hartney) and SFDemo (Rob Thatcher). I was deeply disappointed that VLK943 changed class's out of 40+ and denied me another opportunity to go bar to bar with one who races as hard as I like to. It's always cool getting to watch other Pitracer members in other class's perform like McPeek in the A Class.

And though I did get to talk again with Half fast, I know there were other members there that we didn't get to meet and shoot the Bull with, as well as some of the out of towner AHRMA regulers.

It went too fast, but not an event we'll forget anytime soon.

I'll see if I can get some pic's and possibly some video uploaded.

PS: A question for the PC and tech experts on here. Is there any good way to transfer GoPro MP4 files to DVD or a some sort of flash disc or something for easier playback and viewing? And is there a simpler method for uploading to the site than You Tube? (what is this embedding that I keep hearing about?)
 
I believe the Moto Gods were watching over us and gave me that gut feeling because on Sunday morning we received a phone call delivering unspeakable family crises news. And thank God we were at home and only 10 minutes from where we needed to be, when we needed to be there. Family always comes before our hobby and our passion for this sport and the friends we have. It would have been even more tragic had we of been at the track racing and 2-1/2 hours from home

Hope everything is OK with the family Mike
 
Hope everything is OK with the family Mike

Same here Mike.

I rode my only decent running old bike at AC Saturday. So we are now tied in decade points until the next race.

I really have to give credit to the folks who keep their old bikes together and run an entire series. That's a huge commitment of time and resources.
 
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