| The Great White Hope: 1. I hope I don't crash. 2. I hope I don't kill myself 3.I hope I don't finish last. |
| This is the page of my dirt bike adventures with my white 1994 Suzuki DR 350. I am racing in the Texas Championship Hare Scramble Series, for the first time since high school, starting 19 Jan 2002 My Number is T46 |
| The Great White Hope |
| 19-20 Jan 02: Raced my first race on Sunday at Skull Creek in Columbus, Tx. Sad to say but only one of my Hopes came true. Can you guess which one it is since I am here to make this update?That's right. I came in dead last in my class. I have since changed to a slower class. I also crashed twice on Saturday in practice and once on Sunday during the race. I am now a member of the "over the handlebars" club. Still, it was a GREAT weekend INJURIES: none, overall soreness. No worries. |
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| 03 Feb 02: Raced at Goertz ranch in Rockne,Tx. I switched classes to the "four stroke c" class. I had a good start into the first turn. I was eighth out of 27. I actually stayed in that position through the first lap. I stopped on the second lap to help a junior rider who knocked himself out during the crash. Stayed with him for 4 minutes. I crashed once, also on the second lap, and turned my gas off twice by accident with my knee. I will duct tape that thing next race. When I was trying to figure out why my bike stopped, four riders in my class went by me. Doh! Ran three laps total. I ended up in 21st place. One of the best days of my life. I had a blast and felt great! Two out three Hopes accomplished. I am moving up. I am, however, beginning to think that crashing is mandatory. INJURIES: my left shoulder hurts from clipping a tree trunk and left hip/thigh has big bruise from crashing. No worries. |
| Next race: 03 Mar 02 Wish me luck. Race was cancelled. I do have some news though. I installed a 435cc kit in the bike. The bike is quite a bit quicker now. I also installed some new fork springs and a new shock spring. This should help carry my large hmmmm.....body around the track a little smoother. |
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| 14 Apr 02 Raced at Richards, Tx. Outlaw Trax harescramble. I FINISHED 12TH!!!!!!! I actually was passing people. There were 22 bikes on the start line with me. The bike did not start on the first kick so I was near the back of the pack. I also did not crash! added bonus. All three "hopes" complete this time. INJURIES: NONE! |
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| 15 Sep 02 (my 39th birthday) Raced at Weimer, Tx Getting better. Finished 7th out of 14. I had a great 5th place start only to have someone much slower get a fouth place start. He held up a group of us for sometime. I ran off the track trying to get around him. 5 riders in my class passed me while I was off track. Later I fell into a ravine and landed on some logs. The bike was upside down and refused to start for about 4-5 minutes. Funny thing was that I was stopped when I fell over. Did I mention it was raining. It was. I did pass people in the air off of the jumps. I have been practicing at RIO, a local track. INJURIES: Bruised rib, numerous scratches. |
| 10 Nov 02 Raced at Richards, Tx. Outlaw Trax harescramble (2nd time) I had a 3rd place start off of the line, my best yet. This race was a mudfest. About 4 miles into the race I crashed right into a group of trees doing about 30 in 3rd gear. Ouch! Ripped my pants and of course my leg underneath. My forks were tweaked as was I so I rode very slowly the six miles back to the pit area and called it a day. I got my first DNF(did not finish) INJURIES: Badly bruised thigh and knee. |
| 17 Nov 02 Raced at Altair, Tx. Skull Creek (2nd time) This was the last race of the year. I got a 6th place start. This track is all sand and I fell a lot.(see picture) I managed to finish 10th and had a great time. INJURIES: None |
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