Mammoth Motocross 2013
Cool story bro...
Finally the moto gods decided I had paid my dues long enough to let me win a
Mammoth Motocross Wooden Bear. It only took me 11 years,
15 years after I started riding again and 31 years to
the year after I broke my neck. Mammoth is the kind of
race where it takes more than just being faster and/or
in better shape than the rest to succeed.
You have to pay your dues.
In addition to the shape you have to get in to
race motocross at altitude successfully you also have to
have the logistics down, the qualifying months in
advance; you have to watch your sleep through the 3 day
weekend. You have to stay hydrated and fueled up weeks
in advance. You have to load and unload your entire rig no less
than 14 times during the week, including practice day. That’s if you even wash
your bikes after practice and race days - many don't
even have it in them.
I've spectated at this race
numerous times throughout the years thinking what a shame I never got to race
the track before I got injured.
Prior to getting hurt when this race would come up I
was always either injured again or there was a series points race
somewhere else.
Spectating at this race is the primary reason I
started racing motorcycles again.
At first I just wanted the opportunity to ride
this track before I got too old, but then after a couple
near misses my goal was to win!
This year I was
more lucky than good....no denying it was my year, check
out this list of events. It started a couple three weeks
prior when I was practicing at Milestone and noticed my
shock was at the stiffest compression setting even after
just getting it re-built. Something was weird and I
didn't have a lot of time to chase solutions - They did
tell me though that my shock body may be getting worn
when I picked it up after getting rebuilt. Then the
next weekend I was racing at REM getting some seat time
and my motor started dying in the air and not wanting to
idle in the corners. I wasn't really sure what was up with that, but
took an educated guess and ordered a new piston; problem
was it wouldn't be in for another week and I wanted to
race REM again the upcoming weekend. I decided I'd
either put my stock barrel and piston on or race my bros
bike.
In the mean time I discovered my "shock
body" was indeed worn out which is a hard to find part without
buying a whole new shock which would take a while to get
delivered and dialed in anyway. This is where I start
cashing in my moto karma points I've built up. First I
get a call from Champion MC that they can get my piston
sooner, it still won't be in until Friday but I can
still get it after work and have it running for Sat REM
race.......Lucky break #1. I get my piston
in and the bike fired up a little after midnight on
Friday, it seemed to idle OK the limited amount I could
let it run in the closed garage. It sure seemed to
run good while breaking it in during practice, it idled
perfect. I was now a little more confident I
diagnosed the worn piston correctly or at least worn
rings since the piston actually looked perfect.....Another lucky break.
I've also located a shock on
eBay that is listed as "New" taken off at purchase and
replaced with aftermarket - I get it in like a day or
two. It wasn't actually "New" which I was OK with since
it obviously only had a couple hours on it and the guy
got it to me right away. Unfortunately it was actually
from a 250F not a 450F, which I was still OK with since
I could just replace a non-wear item (clevis) from my old shock
and the guy refunded me 50%!! Not only that, once I got
it back from Enzo with my stiffer valving I could tell
it was better just riding from the truck to the track
before I even touched any clickers, or bumps!........A couple
lucky breaks there I think.
The bike finished the day running perfect, so I guess it
WAS a bad piston last week, and the shock was awesome
and I hadn't even had a chance to go through hardly any
clicker settings yet; I guess that'll have to wait until
next week; our last testing day before Mammoth.
Unfortunately we choose Milestone for our last testing
session and they were on an abbreviated Saturday
practice schedule. We got kicked off the track before
I could really go through as many clicker settings on my
new shock as I wanted to. The bike ran good
and I was jonsing to ride again since we got booted off
Milestone before I was ready to quit.
Both Ian
and I had survived all the races and practice sessions
leading up to Mammoth this year as well as all of our
late evening MTB training sessions the last couple
months, which are almost as knarly as racing - This
means we will BOTH get to at least ride Mammoth practice
and if we survive that; we'll get to both race Mammoth
2013 which is easier said than done and has sometimes
been an elusive goal.
I wasn't exactly sure where
I wanted my jetting to be for the 9500' altitude. Yeah I
know, I'm old school like that; ever since VP changed
their formula for the 4.4 race gas though I've had
jetting issues at Mammoth (see last year’s first moto).
I took another educated guess at sea level on a
different
needle this year. My bike fired first kick when I got up
to Mammoth which was......ANOTHER lucky break. After
being able to make a few low gear jetting runs in front of
the Corchevel condos I actually ended up with an
altogether different needle and clip setting with a
certain blend of race gas which nobody else really needs
to know about.
Friday practice at least ended
well. As soon as I started warming up my bike Ian
noticed my water pump seal was leaking, I don't have an
extra water pump seal! I immediately start walking
through the pits looking for one and start envisioning
an afternoon of wrenching (if I'm lucky) instead of
riding and maxing and relaxing. I'm not able to find one
and figure I'll have to hope Bishop Motorsports has one
in stock and make the 90 min drive to go get it as soon
as they open at 9:00AM. In the mean time I decide if I
have to I'll ride it into the ground during the race. I
decide to ride practice and see how much coolant comes
out, after 5-6 laps I pull in and the damn thing seems
to have FIXED ITSELF!! How does that even happen?? I
mean nothing is even coming out and it was leaking like
a sieve. Was it so cold in the AM that after it warmed
up a bit it sealed? I still have no clue and don't
really care, it was just my year - Why did I get a front
flat while leading my main a few years ago? Who knows it
just wasn't my year yet........Another lucky break.
During practice the bike pulled good on the uphill
so I didn't have to do anymore jetting changes or hocus
pocus with my fuel for the weekend. The suspension felt
perfect, so I uncharacteristically just left it alone
and focused on my riding it. I was feeling it and told
Ian I never felt better on this track, other than my
friends/competitors/(Rod) trying to play with me in
practice when I was either ready to pull off or slowing
down to check some line out. HA, Good fun!!
Race
days went well, you can watch the footie. I finally got
rid of my two year holeshot slump, led lots of laps and
most important brought home the Bear. This year was more
about the mechanical though, I put a lot of effort into
not only wrenching on my bike but also Ian’s when I
helped him change his crank and all his bearings. I feel I've paid my Mammoth
dues by all the 2nd place moto finishes, the flat while
in the lead, getting passed for the lead in the last
corner, getting taken out in the last corner, even holeshotting the wrong moto
one year back in the day when they had multiple gates.
The final thing
that tells me my result was destiny happened one turn
before the white flag in the first moto of Day 2. I
finally hunted down the leader and went for a pass over
the last jump on the Mammoth Freeway, I blew by him and
everything looked good for the last lap - except I
overcooked it into the big berm and stalled it. DAMMN!!
I was ready for this and just calmly pulled in the
clutch rolled down the berm across the soft track toward
the infield all while searching for neutral. While
searching for N I must have been slowly letting the
clutch out each time to see if I had it, I know the
first try was unsuccessful because the bike slowed a
little when I started to engage the clutch and I was
worried I wouldn't have enough momentum to roll to the
infield. If I thought I had ANY chance of bumping it
that would have been my first choice. I reached for the kickstarter and was just hoping to get one or two good
kicks in before I stopped rolling in the soft sand and
with both feet on the pegs, it was then I noticed my
bike was now RUNNING!! I didn't kick it; I didn't even
bump it - at least on purpose. It was like the hand of
Dave McCoy himself reached down from wherever it was he
was chilln that day and just said.....Not this time -
Bruuup!!! Try bump starting a hot 490 big bore starting on an
imperceptible incline and waddling with both feet in
sand! How does that even happen?? I didn't even lose a
spot and almost got the guy at the end
again........Another unbelievably freakish lucky break!!
But not the last lucky break. I left my $150 flannel
at the track on the start line, My bro Ian went back the next
day and I wasn't even the least bit surprised to hear it
was right where I left it. Do you think that would
happen at Milestone, or ANY other track in SoCal? Ha.
Thanks to all the competitors and congrats to all the
winners this year and........
~Long Live Mammoth
Motocross!!
GoPro Helmet Cam Footie:
Saturday Moto 1
with interview
Saturday Moto 2
with interview
Sunday Moto 1
Sunday Moto 2
2013 Photos
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