Oh boy,
What can I say? It started off great, or did it?
My wife and kids were supposed to come and cheer me on, but that fell through the cracks. It was going to be hot. 95 plus, and my wife was not amused about spending a full day those conditions. Plus she was going to have to get up at 4 am with me and get the kids ready so we could be on the road by 5am. I had to be there before 7:30am for signups... Its a 2 hour drive from Modesto to Marysville. Also my youngest boy Tony is a pure wild child. He requires a lot of attention. So to be there potentially from sun up till sun down was not very appealing to mom... Cant argue with that judgement call.. I then tried to get my oldest son Gino to go, but that was a no can do. Once he found out mom was gonna take Tony swimming, Gino was sitting this one out too. He also asked me to stay home because he wanted to give me something for fathers day. Uh Oh! Karma Police are knocking at my door. Moral dilemma......... So I call my buddy Dan. Dans out too. Its a long drive a lot of gas and he raced elsewhere friday night and made out big. So he's sitting this one out. Decisions, Decisions????
Sunday Morning I wake up to the alarm. It's 4am. Damn, I'm tired. I'm thinking screw it, I'm staying home and sleeping in.... But, I cant do it, I wanna race. So I get up and go log on to the club web site and check the boards. It looks like there will not be a big turn out. I'm in Second in points in my class so this would be a good chance to distant myself from third place in the points standings. Still there is a side of me that's not too enthusiastic about going. I'd rather just climb back in bed. But, I cant.... I'm up now, I'm going racing.
With the truck now loaded, I'm off.... Its pretty quite on the roads to Merysville. Not to mention being alone has giving me more time to think. Not good! Now I'm second guessing my decision to go racing vs. staying home and spending fathers with wife and kids..................?
I arrive about 7:15am. Got a good parking spot, and off to sign ups I go. Sign ups were interesting. This was a Sierra Old Timers MX event that the Over The Hill Gang was invited to. So it was their show. Sign ups were a little questionable. There was minimal info on the OTHG side of the house. So I had to do quite a bit of leg work to determine my moto times and line up etc. I soon found the Gang motos were combined based on class only, age groups need not apply. Thus all ages of novice riders were combined to complete full gates. Not to mention the womans class was added as well. There were a lot of moto's to be run it was panning out to be a long day.
Moto 1
Long day it was... First moto was around 11 am. I got a decent start and rode a good race. There was a lot of riders on the track so you had to be on alert. The moto was long so you had to pace yourself. Been awhile, but if I'm not mistaken it was something like 15 minutes plus 1 lap.
For those that dont know, E Street is a sand track. It's rough as hell. The layout was long and demanding. Just the way I like it! The track prep was killer as usual, and great layout. I felt really good as the race went on. The longer the better! My confidence was high, and I was very comfortable in the corners. My bike was hooking up good, and when it was all said and done I managed to finish 1st in my age group. Of course there were only 3 of us in the 30 Novice. Either way I did well.
There were some problems with scoring however that really gave the score keepers trouble. I had to file a protest because they had me as a DNF for the first moto?? Turns out my race number got confused with another rider. Problem solved. But I was thinking that this day was just getting to be too long. To compound things it turned out that there was not even going to be trophy's for us at the days end. I had it in my mind to hang it up and go home for the day!!! Then I got to thinking that what I had paid to make the day and well I might as well finish it. This would turn out to be a bad Idea...
Moto 2
It was after 4 pm. Were on the Gate. 30 Second board is up. It's hot out and as a result of the long day it was decided to cut the moto laps back to get us out of there. Cool. The 30 second board goes down and the gate drops... I got a killer start. I was in 5 th place going into the first turn. I feel great, my confidence is high. The bike is working great. I'm going for it...
As the race goes on the the track is deteriorating quickly. It's choppy, and rough. The jump faces are tore up and you had to pick good lines when hitting them. With a couple of laps to go, I had made a couple of passes and was rolling 3rd overall when Lightening struck!!!!
I came through a turn right before the finish line jump that had 2 distinct lines through it. One outside and one inside. Well there were some lapped riders taking the inside line which I had been using because the finish line jump had better lines on the inside. So I took the outside line to get around them. As I was coming out of the turn I could see a the lip of the jump was really tore up, so I thought I would slow down a little and try to keep the back end from kicking out on me. Bad Idea!!!! As I hit the lip of the jump, the back end kicked out pretty bad and because this style jump was a step up it had a higher landing. Well I was not going fast enough to clear the landing and the back tire hit the second lip and threw the rear tire of my bike even further out. Well I took my left foot off the the peg and extended it down to brace my fall. Another bad Idea!!! I should have pinned the throttle to try and straighten out my bike and left my foot on the peg.
At this point, I remember hitting the ground with my leg first then my bike right after it. I fell off the bike and hit the ground hard. I got up and immediately fell to the ground again. My leg was in bad shape. By this time a couple people had come out to help drag me and my bike off the track... I was pissed. I begged them to start my bike and put me on it. They refused for good reason! Damn, I knew it was bad, but didn't want to admit to it. I certainly did not want to call my wife and explain to her that I had fallen and got hurt again, or work for that matter. I was beside myself, my pride was broken.... Not to mention MY LEG. As I would soon find out.
So now I'm begging my help to get me back to my truck, help me load up so I can get the hell out of there. Not happening! Instead the paramedics got to me. Damn this is not good. So they load me onto a board and haul me back to the ambulance. I'm not liking this. Once inside the ambulance the medics begin to cut my pants off. When my left knee is exposed, I can see its out of alignment. Not good. I know it's bad, but I don't want to admit it. So beg the guys to let me go. They just wont budge. I told them in one last plea to just take me to my truck and I will drive home. An hour and 30 minutes away. OK they say. But before that we want you raise your leg and bend it. If I can do that, I can go. So I raised my leg and from the knee down it just collapsed and fell out of alignment. Shit that hurt. My buddy Steve was standing out side the door and saw that and his eyes got big and he just turned away..... I was screwed at that point. I knew then it was bad and the medics sealed my fate. Next thing I know, I'm being strapped down head and all. They didnt want my head moving for fear of existing trauma or injury. I fought that but lost that battle as well... So now I gotta call my wife. Not good. Enough said. Fortunately my buddy Steve got my bike and gear loaded up and locked my truck. I was off to the Hospital. Bummer!!!
Hours later at the Hospital loaded up on Morphine and feeling no pain other than my broken pride, I find out Ive broken my left Tibia in multiple places just under the knee and was no doubt going to have another surgery in less than 8 months time..... Not good.
By the End of it all my poor wife had to come rescue me from the hospital and arrange to get our kids to her parents and recruit her father to assist in picking up my truck, transporting me home, and getting all my gear unloaded in some 300 plus miles of driving. The debt I owe to my wife, off the Charts. Not to mention my Father in law, Buddy's Steve, and Dan for their help and support during the night, and my cousin Frank for coming over at 12 midnight on a Sunday help my wife unload everything.
Happy Fathers Day!!!!
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