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My name is Jim Saucier and I am from Boulder
Creek, California. When I was a kid I was always interested in motorcycles
but never owned one until I thought I was mature enough to handle one. I
was crazy enough in a car let alone on a motorcycle. I bought my first bike
after I was married and had two kids. It was a 1985 CB650 NightHawk that
had under 1000 miles on it. No that is not a typo, it had under 1000 miles,
it had been stored off and on before I bought it. I brought it home in November
and rode when ever it was not raining but some days it was so cold that
there was ice on the roads, but I was hooked and I had to ride. After several
months of riding on my own I discovered a riding clinic that was being put
together by Chiropractior by the name of Dr.
Harry Wong. The clinic's were small 25-30 riders and we would work on
one item to improve and then we would break into groups and ride around
the surounding mountains. The core of this group would meet every monday
for diner at the famous Alice's Resturant in Woodside, Ca. Here we would
plan group rides and it is on one of these rides that we got our nickname
"HOOLIGANS". But that is another story in it's self. After couple
year and 38,000 + miles I Upgraded to a brand new 1995 Honda CBR 600 F3!
After a good year of riding my new baby I had the bug to go racing. Several
of my "Hooligans" buddies had already made the leap into racing.
In the winter of 1996, it was set that I would race in the AFM
1997 season and Bear Creek Racing was Born. I came up with the name because
Bear Creek was the twisty mountain road that I commuted on everyday and
so the name Bear Creek Racing. I did not do much to the bike but get after-market
body work and safety wire everything. April was the first New riders school
which was held at Sears Point Raceway.
As new riders, we were told that during the track session that if you crash
before you have "graduated" you will have to come back the following
month and try it again. So that was all I could think about was not crashing.
I went just fast enough to pass the class and show that I knew the racing
lines. Then comes race time and I am nervous again because of my first race
and the fact that I have all my friends here watching me and so I dont want
to crash out. I wound up finishing next to last, but I was not the last
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