Netra Gravel Run Hare Scramble, East Putnam, CT

The final round of the NETRA Hare Scramble series was held in Putnam, CT.  Once again we loaded up the magical clapper to go see if we could get another 2 hours out of the little 125 that could. 60 degrees and blue skies ensured another spectacular race day.  Since we have never been to this venue, I walked part of the course and all I saw was loamy dark dirt and sand pits and most surprisingly - NO ROCKS! This was going to be a #superfastgoodtime…and super flowy course too!

Dad, the bike just died!!!

 OK, race time!  I got up to the starting line and was warming up my bike and about 2 minutes before I was supposed to take off all I heard underneath me was bluh bluh bluh! The bike died.  My dad knew it was a fouled plug instantly.  So he sprinted back to our trailer to try and find a plug, no luck…he was running through the pit area asking everyone for help, sure enough John Day senior had a plug handy and gave it to us. Dad with the help of several “assistants” got it installed 30 seconds before the flag dropped. That was intense. Thank you to all the help from everyone around me – you saved the day!  

Boom! I was off! I got a decent start and forced myself to be patient and learn the course.  I had a few A-Open guys in front of me that were slowing me down a little bit, but I was able to pass them about half way through the first lap.

Photo: Art Pepin
www.offroadpaparazzi.com

I was riding solid and I felt good. I made a little mistake on an off camber section with a few roots and fell on the downside of the hill. I picked up my bike thinking it was going to be heavy like my 4-strokes, but the 125 is like a mountain bike, I nearly flipped over to the other side - yeah…I am THAT strong...not :)

I really started to struggle with arm pump, to the point where I was riding out of control. I couldn’t feel my throttle or brake or clutch lever, and was really just in survival mode, trying to shake this thing. It took me a while but eventually I found my grove again and was able to hammer out some solid laps.   Since we ran the YZ125 and we have a small moto cross tank on it, we decided that I would have to come in for fuel every other lap...boy was I glad we did that. One, I got to stretch my arms, and two, I used up 3 quarters of a tank in just 2 laps.

The 1^st pit stop went smooth (Thanks Mr. Federrico and my sister Haley for helping dad), no more than 45 seconds. I went back out on the track and felt really pretty good.  Lap 3 went very smooth, I didn’t make many mistakes.  The sand pits were already starting to form some good size whoops – woohoo, this is like Michigan (In case you didn’t know, there is sand and dirt there and that’s what I learned to ride on!!!!  I love sand. The 125 did struggle a little bit in the really deep stuff, but that’s to be expected.  On lap 4 I was really flying, the bike felt awesome in the woods, I was catching guys, and maybe I got a little too confident – BAHM!!!! I decided to go head to head with a big oak tree.  Yeah that’s right, I thought the trees moved for you but I guess this one really wanted to stand his ground.  I slammed into that thing hard, my left hand guard snapped, my number plate ripped off and my go pro got pushed forward just from G-forces.  My bell was definitely rung.  But I got back on the bike, started it up and just kept going. Scroll to the bottom, there is a little "crash video".  I knocked the wind out of myself, but I knew I could easily push through something like this. I tried to find my groove again and shake out the cobwebs.  

Photo: Art Pepin - www.offroadpaparazzi.com

I went into the 2^nd pit stop for gas. Dad just kind of laughed when he saw me rolling in, as I was missing a few plastic parts off the bike…(dad) ”what’s up?”… (me) “My face hurts”... (dad) “I don’t see any blood, you’re ok”. He gassed me, and Dave Dussault jumped in to help and push my clutch lever back up for me and I was back out there again.  I got a solid rhythm going and the 125 just wouldn’t quit, so I knew I could continue to push too. I focused on staying steady and smooth, trying to minimize my mistakes. I had one little slide out on a root but other than that things went well for the rest of the race.  I came in for my last pit stop – yes, we had to pit 3 times – dad and Dave took care of business, Haley had my drinks ready for me and as a last piece of wisdom while I was getting ready to head back out dad said “hey, your race starts now”. I knew what he meant…this is where I get stronger and others start to make more mistakes. I found my rhythm pretty quickly and stepped it up turn after turn, hill after hill…When I saw the white flag it was like a gun went off in my head, I just let it ride and I sprinted until I crossed the finish – it was on like Donkey Kong (never played it but dad says it’s only the best video game ever). 

After about 2 hours and 40 minutes I got the checkered flag and as usual, my last lap was one of my strongest laps. I ended up taking the win in the A200 class and finished 15^th overall. I am super pumped about that…the Magical Clapper YZ 125 proved it again, 125’s can definitely be competitive. This was the last NETRA Hare Scramble of the season, a great event hosted by the Hoot Owls – Thank You!!! Before we close up shop for the winter we will probably hit a few more JDay GP’s this year (One of them will be at my most favorite track ever – Southwick!!!!!) – can’t wait.

I know I’ve cranked out quite a few blogs lately, and if you are still reading, thank you for following me through the season, I really do appreciate your support. Please take a few seconds to share my blog, as silly as it seems, it really helps. My sponsors like the exposure and, it really does motivate me…and it is part of my school assignments – I call it the fun homework.

Thank you to my awesome sponsors for a great season!!!

www.flyracing.com; www.kendausa.com; www.magicalgogo.com; www.eksbrand.com; www.panicrev.org; www.fmfracing.com; www.renthal.com; www.offroadpaparazzi.com;

A huge shout out to my mom and dad, my sister Haley, my grandparents here in the US and over in Austria, all my racing friends – this was a super fun season!!!!

Keep the rubber side down people!!!!

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Rob "Moto Fro" Brown never misses a chance to have fun!