By Jenn & Kandy:
Headed out to Lucerne early Sat morning figuring we would encounter epic conditions. Ground wet in V?ville.. Good sign.. Ground wet in AV... another good sign... dry lake before Lucerne, bone dry.. Uh oh.. Bad sign! No rain in Lucerne for Saturday, but things would definitely change! Headed down Bessemer for the 1 hour drive to the staging area and pulled into Viewie Camp and found Brian (Sandy) MacKenzie and the Gamaunt family already set up. We were getting ready to head over to watch Erica race and here come Todd Iles bombing into camp with only a few minutes to get Steven signed up for the Kid?s event... Prospective Chris Bodkin(?) came out with Todd along with his son Connor. Prospect Austin arrived shortly thereafter and we all headed to the Kid?s event.
Steven and Connor raced first and we all had a great time cheering for the 2 boys on their KTM Senior Adventure 50's. They were standing, railing the turns and making some good passes out there! Erica made an awesome pass in the next race right in front of us and the crowd went wild!! Congrats to all the Mini Viewies - DMC gave away great loot bags along with the trophies. Headed back to camp and John decided the club needed a ?Family Ride?. Big John was the ride leader followed by Kyle ?Freestyle? Nay, Jon ?XR?n the Dunes? Thornton, Erica, Steven and Connor. Jenn and I followed in the Rhino. We headed for the sand dunes and thought we would only make it a little ways before the tykes faded. NO WAY! These kids stole the show. Not only did we make it to the dunes, they rode the heck out of them! Jenn had to abandon the Rhino to lift the 50's out of the sand along with Erica?s bike and they didn?t want to leave. Meanwhile, Kyle was entertaining us all by jumping the highest dune out there. Saw one overjump... but no splatter....
We made it back to camp just as the sun was going down - another great day in the dez!
Cold and windy on Sat night, but good friends and conversation always warm things up. Kyle, Pete Medina and Norm joined us for dinner and then we all headed out to enjoy the campfire. The Captain, Jack, Jose and Crown R also joined us and everyone had a good time (some more than others!) High winds and rain started late Sat night and Sunday dawned clear and cool with the smell of wet desert.... Ahhhhh....
Headed into the pits after watching from the end of the bomb run and Pete had everything set up and running like a well oiled machine. We were anticipating Jim McGrath as our first rider to come and he did... but with 2 flats and well behind where he should have been. DNF?ing is unheard of for Jim, so he replaced both tubes and waited for Sandy to pit. Jim followed Sandy out and trail rode the rest of the race. Pits went smooth until Kyle ?Rag Boy? came in with no clutch. He was ready to hang it up, but Pete and Uncle convinced him to ?Man Up? and head out on the second loop of a DMC Nat?l with NO CLUTCH?!?!? Damnnnn..... that?s brutal~!
We had lots of finishers and only 1 DNF and although I can?t remember exactly where they all came in ...here?s my best shot:
Todd ?The Soloist? Iles - Group of riders finished.. Then nothing... nothing... then Viewie jersey in the distance coming across the valley into the finish.. And it?s Toodles... then nothing... nothing... Todd felt like he was in a Twilight Zone episode and was the only racer out there... no dust to see in the distance!!
Jim ?Tire Iron? McGrath - the master at work changing tubes out... and he went back out to nip at Sandy?s rear fender!
Brian ?Sandy? MacKenzie - The Sandman finished well (maybe won his class)!
Matt ?Can I Buy a Plug? Nay - DNF at a road crossing out at Camp Rock with a fouled plug. DMC ref reported him to our pits and he made it back to camp safe and sound.
?Stormin? Norm Takaki - Norm chose the one loop option and enjoyed DMC?s epic first loop!
John ?I Love DMC? Thornton - John has always enjoyed DMC?s National and since he hasn?t raced in over a year, decided to come back at the National?! Okayyy.... well he had a good ride and really enjoyed the well-thought out first loop... and survived the crappy, boulder strewn, endless valley runs, virgin ?because a bike can?t go there? second loop. He is probably a lil sore today...
Kyle ?Who Needs a Clutch? Nay - As stated above, Kyle ran the entire second loop without a clutch and it looks like he won his class!
Austin ?Participant? Coulson - Austin has finally added a true ?Finisher? pin to his collection. Austin has had a little trouble finishing an event and finally truly earned that coveted ?finisher? pin! He had the dazed look of a war survivor... but he did it!! Congrats Austin - this is a finish to be proud of!
Jonathan ?Flat Tire? Gamaunt - the name says it all. Jonathan came into the first check with flat... but finished! Way to go Jonathan... that course could not have been easy with a flat. Also big thanks to Julian who seemed to have worked on everyone?s bike this weekend (and always with a smile!).
Chris ?I hate you Todd? Bodkin(?) - Chris? first desert race and Todd brought him to do a National! He finished... but I'm sure he thinks you all are crazy!
Great pit service by Pete ?The Man? Medina, Julian ?I thought this was a day off? Gamaunt, Aaron ?Dakar?s Dad? Price, John Gable and lots of extra helping hands. Sorry if I left anyone out!
Viewfinders MC
