This race kind of just popped up on our schedule last week…we thought we had concluded our racing season when dad heard about this event…sounded like a good way to get one more race in and as an added bonus, it was held in Union, which is 10 minutes from my house, so travel wasn’t an issue. I also had a little extra motivation going for this one, as so far, every time I raced at Union, I ended up taking a trip to the hospital, and I really wanted to break that curse.
Dad picked a pretty good spot at the starting line for me, all I needed to do is commit to “stay on it” through the 1st right hander and things should be ok. The flag dropped, the bike started and the bumping and fighting for position began. I ended up wheeling the first few feet (more traction than I expected), and in the process I was able to get my elbow on top of the guy next to me, being able to push his elbow down and run him wide. I stayed tough through turn one and two (yup – you heard right) and ended up in 3rd place going into the woods. The bike ran awesome, I felt great and we fought hard, trying to out-ride each other. In the process we caught up to a few of the AA guys – our pace was nuts…I passed for 2nd place coming into the scoring tent for the 1st time, my confidence skyrocketed (if that’s even a word) – I love riding A class!!! Tough racing – yes, stupid racing – no!
Somehow I ended up losing a bolt on my left front hand guard, not sure if it was lose from the beginning or something happened while banging bars at the start, but this would cause a major issue. The hand guard came loose and dangled on the right side of the handle bar, somehow catching the front brake line and completely ripping it out of the master cylinder. When I pulled the front brake lever in, all that happened was brake fluid squirted out…no more front brake. Then on a right turn the guard wedged itself right under the handle bar so I could not turn right at all and I blew a turn…this isn’t good. I found a way to get back to the pits where dad and Mr. Savage (the dad of Andrew Savage, a riding buddy) frantically worked on the bike to remove anything that was dangling and in the way…it took a few minutes, no one expected me to come in this early in the race, so nothing was really ready. I was a little worried about riding without a front brake on this course, after all, it is wicked technical and some of the down hills just get really sketchy when you know you can’t really slow down. Anyway, they finished the work on the bike and sent me back out.
Dad said something along the lines of “who needs brakes anyways”, and Mr. Savage just smiled and said "do what you can kid". Alright…off I went, I think I was back in 6th place when I went through scoring again. Here is the cool part…not having a front brake made me ride faster than I thought I could in some of the nasty stuff. Yes, there were a few spots on the course where I thought I was going to crash test my gear, but it all worked out pretty good. I got smoother and smoother and at about lap 4 I caught back up to the guys in 5th and 4th place. I pushed hard and made a couple of passes – probably had my eyes closed on one of them…it was a little bit like trying to fit a truck through the drive in at the bank at full speed, but it worked out.
I started to gap 5th place when I went past pit row again and dad gave me the “pit next lap” sign. I needed fuel. So I rode as hard as I could to make sure I had enough time to pit and not lose 4th place. It worked out pretty good, this time dad had everything ready, except…I forgot that I didn’t have a front brake and mowed down my entire pit crew like they were bowling pins…S-T-R-I-K-E. My sister got it the worst…she was going to hand me fresh goggles, instead she got tire tracks up her legs and a nice bruise – sorry sis. Dad lost a pair of jeans in the process…my foot peg hooked his rear pocket and ripped them wide open…uhm…
Anyway, overall, once they all got back up, fueling went smoothly, and I went back out. I was back in 5th, but not far behind 4th place. I think I passed the guy for 4th place in one of the many mud holes, I really don’t remember.
When I went past the pits again dad got his revenge (not on purpose – I know J) on me for taking everyone out in the pits earlier ….he gave me the last lap sign…so I went all out. I sprinted as hard as I could, crashed pretty hard once, but over all I think I had my fasted lap when I rolled through the finish expecting the checkered flag, and all I saw was the white flag…REALLY?! C’mon…I gotta do one more? Alright….I gathered what little strength I had left to pound out another lap…my hands were pretty numb at that point, my back started to hurt pretty bad, and I had to force myself to stay focused. Sprinting was out of the question, I really just wanted maintain my position and stay smooth, without any more incidents or crashes. After 2 hours and 20 minutes I rolled through the finish, in 4th place. I am totally happy with this result, Union didn’t get the best of me this time!! The bike was a mess after the race…how it ran as well as it did is beyond me. I snapped the starter cable, ripped out the fuel sensor cables, packed mud all around the throttle assembly, bent some stuff, broke some plastics, etc….you get the picture. The Husky didn’t let me down!!!! What an awesome bike.
This really was the last race of the season for us, time to rebuild the bike and get it ready for the next season. Thank you to my sponsors – Roxane at Moose Racing, Mike at Kenda Tires, EKS Brand goggles, Panic Rev, Halls Husqvarna, Summit Clothing, Amsoil, mom & dad, my sis and my grandparents.
2013 is just around the corner, sponsors are pretty much lined up (new gear for 2013!!), training starts now.
Everyone have a great Thanksgiving and an even greater Christmas!
Thanks for taking interest in my progress!
“Braaap”
Hunter “747” Neuwirth
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