Race Report: AMA National Hare Scramble Series Round 2

The race was put on by the Salinas Ramblers on PRIVATE club property next to Clear Creek Management Area. This race was gnarly to say the least. It had snowed the day before and it turned out to be a complete mudfest.

Stacy raced the first 1hr 1/2 race which featured the C Riders. She did not complete one single lap as did the other 14 women in her class. Mud Rut Bottlenecks. I climbed up the hill (on foot and in the mud) and convinced her to just go around it, screw the results, ride and try to have fun. She ultimately forfeited and I told her that her bike would thank her for it.

Pro Race was the 2nd race going for 2hrs. Brian and Pat Garrahan won after Husqvarna's (and Canada's) Cory Graffunder had led for 3 laps. 9 mile course averaging 29 minutes a lap.

My turn, B race, 1hr 45min and 3rd and last race of the day. Almost got taken out on the hairpin start. Mud City with gorge size ruts that i was basically doing gound level heel-clickers to get through. Imagine Charlie Barney trails that 200 people had ridden hours before youDid good, stayed on the bike and survived. Got stuck in a mud bog and lost a ton of time. It took myself and 3 sweep riders to get me out. Luckily there are sweep riders sweeoping the course while the race was going on, otherwise i'd still be stuck there. 21 B 250 riders, i was 15th. Not too proud of my results, but definintely patted myself on the back just for finishing. They cut a few pro sections out for the B race so it was about 8 miles. I was doing 45 min avg lap times. : (

Good riding to be had here, sans the mud. Im not a mud rider, im used to dry desert sand. But this race was flat out grueling AND fun.