2007 Vikings Race Report

Just found this on my computer, thought it would be of interest. Sad though as Hutch was pit captain that weekend. In fact it was the last time I saw him alive.

SMOKIN? VIRGIN RUN

Made arrangements to have Matt meet me at my office after work Friday; we were the only Nays to make the trip this weekend. It took him 1 ½ hours to get from Burbank to Irwindale! Since it was so late we opted to have dinner locally and then make the drive, best choice of the weekend. After some great Tex Mex food we hit the road around 7:30 P.M. and sailed most of the way to Bear Valley Rd. A quick top off of fuel and we were off to Johnson Valley. Heading up Bessimer (what a piece of crap road that is, cuss it out every time I pull the trailer there) we were wondering if the Hastings had come out earlier so we had a camp when Matt?s cell phone rings and it?s James Jenkins looking for us, we were quite surprised that he and Russ were already there, didn?t figure on seeing them until Sunday morning. James met us in the Rhino and guided us in. After unloading we joined a small group around the campfire, three was Russ, Mike and Michael Hastings, the two Brians from Bishop (Jones and McKenzie) and ex-patriots Bryan and Sandi Anderson. We hung out at the campfire for a while shooting the bull then hit the hay, really nice weather, T-shirts and shorts, meanwhile thinking, ?If it?s this warm at midnight, how hot will it be tomorrow??

Well Saturday was bright and clear as expected and just the faintest breeze so out came the awning as it we getting warm quick. We had a few out for just Saturday?s poker run, one old member Julian with his son John and Albert Jones came out with three friends. Around noon or so John Hutcherson showed up with his daughter Maggie. Julian, John John, Maggie and I signed up for the poker run and took off around 3:30. In the meantime the Kudla?s were a bit late for their clinic that Matt and Brian McKenzie were scheduled to attend so they hung out and waited for them to set up while we headed out for the poker run. Let me tell you the poker run was a MAJOR disappointment, not one theme check, only three checks period and whoever laid out the course found some really clapped out SCORE road to take us down. No parties, no ?adult beverages?, nothing. Next year Viewies, we gotta show them how it?s done! As I see it our streak is still alive by default since no one did a theme check. Oh yea and none of us won a thing. Matt and Brian really enjoyed Kudla?s clinic, Matt got a lot of good instruction that he said he can really put to good use and Brian got some useful tips as well.

OH YES DID I MENTION IT WAS FREAKING HOT?

The usual Saturday evening campfire, supplied by Russ was loud and fun as usual and Deanna and Josh Jenkins made it out so the Jenkins family was well represented. Hit the hay and anticipated a hot morning, and were not disappointed.

Sunday morning we were up at 7:30 and it was already HOT. As long as you were in the shade it was bearable but not in the sun, and there was not a breath of wind, the dust was just hanging, just like Invaders last August. Matt, Josh and I took off for the bomb to watch the first couple of rows come by and just when we got there a nice breeze came up so if you lined up on the right you were fine, Jonsey didn?t and was about ¾ of the way back when he passed us, didn?t see Russ and Mike Hastings was about ½ way. The National boys were really flying, Pearson, Destry, then Kendall. I stayed and watched the Novice start while Josh and Matt headed back and out on the second loop, Brian McKenzie got a great start, top 5 and riding real smooth when he came by me.

Back at the pits Hutch and Sean Grattan had everything set up and ready (we only had 5 racers). Russ came in first, first in class then someone rode up and said Mike Hastings was out of gas pushing into the pits. In the meantime Michael has pulled off and was done for the day, bike and rider both badly overheating at a bottleneck. Hutch ran up and helped Mike push the rest of the way in and we got him set, he said the bike was running poorly but he would soldier on. Jonsey came in as Mike was getting out and got around him. Brian came in running third or fourth overall Novice, 6 minutes behind first. Got him out of the pits in one minute!

Headed over to the finish and watched Russ win by a decent margin, Jonsey was fourth I believe but no sign of Mike. Brian Anderson came over and said he last saw Mike in a canyon kicking his bike, said it was running really bad, so now we figure we?ll have a rescue mission and wait for Brian McKenzie to give us his where abouts but lo and behold here comes Mike, bike running ratty but still moving (can you say ?new top end?). So now we have all accounted for except Brian so we watching for Green stripes and who is the first one we see? You guessed it, Brian is first overall Novice!! And a vet at that! We have now adorned him with his earned nickname, ?Sandy? short for sandbagger, he really needs to be an intermediate but still needs two more transfers and prefers to be the big fish for now, he should do well as a yellow striper though, all the guys on Saturday said he?s super smooth and fast without using a lot of energy.

So with only 5 riders we still got two firsts, and one was an overall, not a bad showing, especially considering the heat. When we got in the truck to leave at 3:00 it was 101!