1/15/02 Race Report -- Jackrabbits

Found this in 'Drafts' on work comp, fun times!

Hey Viewies! The 2002 Race Season is ON! The Jackrabbits H&H was held on Sunday at Red Mtn. There was lots of excitement in the air, around the fire and in the dust. The Viewie camp was hopping all night with various characters/adolescents/Jackrabbits on mini bikes with lanterns hanging from the handlebars, etc. showing up out of the darkness while the entire Viewie camp yelled "Got Wood?" at 'em. Though we were low on wood, somehow the fire stayed hot into the night. The campfire gave us a great opportunity to meet some prospective members and get to know everyone a little better. Kevin Bentley and his friend Christine Meyers were out and we also got to meet Steve and Steven Beard. Its always great to have new faces and personalities around the campfire. Kevin is a Vet 250 Novice rider and Christine ran her first ever desert race this weekend! Steven Beard is a 15 year old 250 Amt rider who started racing dez 2 years ago on an XR 650! (Picture that one!) Tom Henkemeyer, who has been an inactive member for a couple of years also showed up. Da Blur was on hand to entertain us as always.

The Jackrabbits bomb was the same old tired bomb run across the road heading south, minus the ditch this time that funneled into a tight canyon about a mile and a half from the start. Of course this failed to string out the riders, so we pretty much raced the entire first loop like a blinded freight train all bunched together. It was fast with 2 decent uphills to keep it interesting. Paul Cunningham stopped for a downed HBMC rider who injured his hip (unofficial report - broken or dislocated hip/surgery today). In true desert racer fashion, Paul sacrificed his race to help a fellow racer.

The Second loop was choppy, sand whoopy and got real interesting towards the end with plenty of rock climbs and single track. The sand whoops took their toll on Don Brand who blew up his gear box. Julian stopped to see if he could lend a hand and they tried to start the bike. After about 30 mins, Julian decided to ride in and tell the pit crew Don's location, he was gonna need to truck the Big CR out of the canyon. Many thanks to Julian for stopping with Don, since many other Viewies decided Don wasn't hurt, just taking a break? You know how Don goes on these playrides and has picnics in the desert during a race.... Rumor had it that there was a "Bunny" at Check 6 doing a "rack Flash". It was too dusty for John to get a look when he came through, all he caught was the shirt going down! This was a great first race of the year - short and dusty (short being good - 66 miles). Unofficial count had 480 riders signed up for this one. It would be great to see those numbers stay that high at all of the races!

We had a large Pit Crew this weekend when Dangerous Dave Springer's foot peg sheared off of his bike on a playride on Saturday and Norm Takaki twisted his knee on the same ride. Both these guys hung out to help Keith Jones, Charlie P. (Da Blur), and Lee Henderson keep the crew gassed, goggled and hydrated. Big thanks to Keith Jones who tracked down a course map to locate Don's position. Keith and Dave drove the truck out, while Randy Walker took the dual sport bike with them to find Don. Great job guys! Good size pit board:

Ron Shuler (V1) - 8th overall and 2nd in class. This race ends Ron's string of twenty-something first in class wins. Ron got a little lost and couldn't recover to take the first in class.

Travis Livingston (8x) - Travis was in the running with the leaders into the pits, but suffered a broken foot peg and rear flat. He held on to finish in the top 20 overall.

Allan Laframboise (F12) - "Razz" gave the new red bar a good run. Not sure where he finished, but probably top 25. Quote of the race "The expert class is a lot different, when you pass these guys, they pass you back!"

Don Brand (O3) - Don was running 3rd in class when the gear box blew up and his race was over for the day.

Todd Iles (F6) - Always nice to have the Club President make a cameo appearance! : Þ He had a great race also!

Sarah Schilke (W5) - Sarah wrestled her WR to another finish!

Roger Van Matre (M24) - Roger had a good race and should have a good in class finish!

Julian Gamaunt (O37x) - Julian had a great in class race looming, but in true Viewie brotherhood, gave up his ride to help Don Brand out. Julian was able to help the pit crew pinpoint Don's exact location so they could get a truck out to him.

Steven Beard (95x) - This prospective member also had a good in class finish and really enjoyed the race!

Matt Henderson (11c) - Matt just keeps getting better. He was riding with the flu and still pulled a 2nd in class finish!

John Thornton(O19x) - John was clueless as to where he finished, but happy. He slowed "slightly" to see if Don and Julian were conscious, verified they were and rode on. Nice guy! John crossed the checkers holding his broken kickstand with one hand (which broke with about 12 miles left in the race)

Kevin Bentley (V19x) - Kevin is a very enthusiastic racer who was excited to start a new year. He passed John out of the pits, John got him back, then Kevin went down with a rear flat tire and John rode on (again).

Paul Cunningham (085) - Paul gave up his race to help an injured HBMC rider. Class act Paul!

Tom Henkemeyer (O228) - Tom is a old Club Member who hasn't raced for a few years. It was good to see him back out in the dez. He went one loop to get back into it and had a BLAST!

John Sneddon (19L) - John gave the TTR125 a good run in the mini division. John has moved up to Novice and that green bar looks good on his bike!

Christine Meyers - Kevin brought Christine out for her first ever desert race and she found heaven! Look for this new woman racer at the next 20 races - she has been bitten by the race bug!

That's it for this report! The Dirt Diggers have hit up the Club to help out with their GP the first weekend in February. We will be making a list of those who want to volunteer. Let me, Keith or Todd know if you are interested. I will get the deets and send a quick"e" out in a couple of days! For those of you riding the UEA Enduro this weekend - keep it rubber side up! We'll see everyone at the Dez MC Nat'l in 2 weeks.

~Kandy

P.S. When the race is this dusty, and we offer you a wet cloth at the finish line - USE IT or we start taking pictures of you smilin! : Þ