News of the Misawa Dirt Riders

The Latest Dirt on the Misawa Dirt Riders

Sunday, November 27, 2005

SUGO Trip Report

Ok I’m sure you all are anxious to get the scoop on the road trip to Sugo. Did Wargo do the big double? Did it rain like it usually does whenever OF wants to ride? Was the track Sa-weet? Did it cost an arm and a leg? And most of all, was it worth it? Hmmm! It was worth it only if you like a wide-open, smooth, medium to hard pack track, with STEEEP 150’+ uphills w/kickers at the top that land you into a right hand berm , awesome tabletops and doubles with a step up thrown in for good measure; long sweeping turns with berms on the outside if you are fast enough; 60 degree weather, no wind, no rain (both days); heated toilet seats, and gourmet food at Chateua de Don. Total cost = Y17,400 ($150) Track Fee 3700 x 2 Toll (down) 3800 Toll (back) 1800 Fuel 4400 Oh YES, it was most definitely worth it! It would be worth it to do a one day trip! Of course it took 5 hours to get there and about 7 to get back, but that was because we went thru downtown Sendai during the day. I think I can get it down to 5 hours and approx Y3800 if we go at night/early morning and get off the expressway in Ichinohe and back on at Izumi or jump on rt 457 and get back on at Sendai-Miyagi. Let me know when you want to go! And yes Wargo did the big double and subsequently proclaimed the trip most definitely worth it! Dave and Don were happy to finally get on a track where they could use 4th and 5th gear on! Dave was lovin’ the up hills on the big thumper; Don enjoyed the uphills as well, but had a little fallin’ out with one of the downhills. On the downhill drop-off he let off the gas a wee bit too much and almost endoed! He initially saved it…but, not satisfied with ALMOST experiencing his first OTB, he gathered himself up, rebounded off the handlebars and grabbed a handful of throttle for his first whiskey throttle…this time, however, he was immensely successful and jammed/broke his thumb trying to save his a$$ as he flailed off the bike of the bike. Now I didn’t get to see the unfortunate incident but Dave did and said the whiskey throttle part reminded him of another poor sap on a KX250 at Mustu …I won’t mention any names but he now rides a thumper34! So the next trip I think we should pack light, hit Fujisawa(Y2500/day?) on Saturday then drive to Sugo Saturday night and sleep in the van, ride Sugo Sunday and then head home! All for less than Y20,000! So with a good yen rate and if you are thrifty that could be less than $150 to ride on 2 of best tracks in Japan! PS It got down to about 35 degrees at night so if you want to hang out you’ll need a heater and an enclosed canopy. Wargo invested in the zip up walls for his 10 by 10 and that was the ticket! I took the small kero heater with the propane lantern it made it quite toasty! As for the sleeping? With a decent sleeping bag, plus heavy blanket I was fine both nights, but if gets any colder than 35 I think you’ll have to fire up the van once or twice!

Sunday, November 6, 2005

You shoulda been there! Towada II 6 Nov 2005

Well! Well! Where do I begin? There were so many story lines this weekend it’s hard to get them all in. But in the spirit of the good ole AF let’s try a bullet style: • Kyle was flying on the RM125 on Saturday, but decided not to race because of shifting problems, starting problems and money problems (rebuild OK…expensive)! • I spent all day Saturday trying to fix the jetting on my bike; stock main is a 178 and I’m now up to a 210 and it is still lean! • Louie made his return to racing after a 3 month medical leave and only 3 rides on his bike. He was on the gas, but like me, he almost had to ride the B class because of a qualifying race crash! • I was bumper car’d from my right-hand starting position all the way over to the median by the big table. My clutch cable was in a false detent so after the start I had no clutch; I stalled it 3 times in the first lap! Rode like mad for 3 laps before I could even see anyone in front of me; it was Louie recovering from his crash…9th and 10th we made it up to 4th and 5th -- Top 7 to the A-main. • Whipple debuted his 06 machine; he had the speed last weekend but lost it somewhere during the week??? Have you seen it? Suspension was too stiff, tires sucked, lotsa slow guys blocking etc. etc. etc. • Louie got DQ’d for loud exhaust; thought he wouldn’t get any points but still get the trophy, but on the podium they made him pass the trophy… in a classic act of coolness, Akira Narita’s dad gave Louie his trophy and presento’s as if to protest the enforcement of the sound rule at a local NB Open race! How cool is that? • All of us got bad starts all day long, except for Louie’s monster holeshot in the A-main! No matter how far back I got, I just could not get traction and the bike just spun! No holeshot device, same technique, just different tires--D756’s vs the D739’s I like at Towada. BTW Louie was runnin’ a D739 on the rear! • Kawamura-san had us all set up and feeling like pros. He is good! • Kazu (Kazuoshi Odagiri) was flat out rippin’ on a borrowed RM85. I’m talking bar draggin’ WFO thru the turns! Although I think Saya Suzuki was gaining on him!!!!!! Wargo reported that Kazu would be riding a Suzuki RM85 next year, but I’m not sure if he will get the sex change operation and race in the Women’s class or not. Just kidding for those of you who didn’t catch the sarcasm…. • They had a Special 50 race for the modified CRF50 pitbikes! It was cool but they only ran the 50 course (cut the track at the table and before the split double). Too bad because I think the split double is do-able on one. • Kaga was flyin’ on a RMZ450; that’s just too much power on that little track! • Shiro Uchida was racing a RM250 2 stroke; he was giving Kaga fits in the first moto ‘til he crashed or something. It looked like his suspension gave up ‘cause it was kickin’ him all over the place compared to the rest of the pro’s. • Yoshi wasn’t going to be able to race because he had to work but managed to sneak away somehow; unfortunately, he had to be back at work by 1600! Didn’t get a chance to do the post race debrief so I’ll have to get the scoop later. • Tomo looked to just settle into his position in the first moto after crashing but finished 4th overall, I think. • Nobuo Odagiri raced the special werks machine again; I didn’t get to watch him much, but he looked good and was happy! • The twins on the CR85’s were haulin’ booty! (#67 and #68) They finished either 1 and 2 or 1 and 3. In the NB Open A-main Louie got a monster holeshot and had 5 bikes on us before the 2nd turn. I slid sideways on the start again but managed to come out of the second turn in 3rd place. Whipple was right beside me going into the first turn and in front of me going into the 2nd but I anticipated the usual bottleneck and had checked out an alternate line during intermission that paid off nicely! I kept my cool and rode my lines; I got around the 2nd place guy (#43 YZ250F JASDF) and starting closing in on Louie by blasting the outside lines. After the 100th lap (ok 4th…maybe), I kept the power on down the start straight and crashed into the outside berm, hoping I didn’t lose it and get de-nutted! Louie bobbled slightly on the inside and that’s all she wrote. Woo Hoo! I was in the lead! That lasted for about 2 laps; coming up the hill after the big table I dove to the inside line around the bowl turn before the split double, but out of the corner of my eye I saw this yellow blur rail the outside line. I knew no one but a pro could MAYBE pass me like that, especially if I pinch ‘em just a little…well this kid #77 launched beside me on the drop off and then out-jumped me on the double! WOW! I was impressed. I kept him honest, although he may have been tired from coming thru the pack, I might’ve had a little something for him, but I had that same old dilemma--risk going down or hold down a sure 2nd ? Since I had crashed at about the same time, place and circumstances at Misawa and the first Towada race, I decided on the latter…besides that was one heck of a pass! You shoulda been there! So it was #77 on a Suzuki RM 125, me, then Louie. Kawamaura was more excited then me! You would’ve thought I beat Ricky Carmichael! It was a great time, no one got hurt the weather was awesome finally, and the track wasn’t too bad. (It wasn’t a Mike Ward prepped track but it wasn’t bad). I should be at Misawa some this week, ridin’ or dozin’ and definitely on Friday! Y’all come out and play and get ready for the race on the 20th Snow or Shine! Anyone up for a Fujisawa trip between now and X-Mas? Bring it up on the forum, it’s the kind of thing that needs pre-planning and weather flexibility! Although I might not be able to make it, one good idea is to do marry the Goynes’ Kenji world trip the day after Thanksgiving with a Fujisawa trip. Stay in the hotel at Kenji world and commute to Fujisawa. BTW according to their website, Fujisawa is open Nov 23rd, 26th and 27th. Let’s roll!

Monday, October 17, 2005

Race Report-Fujisawa 16 Oct 2005

This points racing thing kinda stinks! I went in to this last race at Fujisawa needing only 5 points to move up to the NA class. Woo Hoo! I was also going back to the track I had my best finish of the year so far…an 8th place last May and that was at my first time on the track! Needless to say my expectations were kinda high, unfortunately I got caught up in the points chase mode, it’s similar to a “prevent defense” in football that never seems to work; I should’ve known better. Actually it worked out, but it certainly doesn’t make you feel good. For some reason the folks at Fujisawa don’t like to run practice if there’s any moisture in the air; it was drizzling but we walked the track on Sat morning and it was sa-weet! But since it was supposed to rain all day they canx practice; it continued to drizzle off and on all day but at 1500 the track was still just about perfect; however after the 2100 to 0700 deluge, the track was a total mess! With a smooth track and no berms established, Sunday am practice was a mudfest! ( It could have been run in nicely had they allowed practice on Saturday). I set up the 125 first, since it was the first class to race and rode it in practice—it stunk! I couldn’t get it to turn in a 10 acre field, although it plowed rather nicely! I swapped the 773 from the 2-fitty, made a few suspension changes and headed to the line for the NB2 (125) main. I picked the safe outside starting spot and managed to avoid the first turn pile up, but I also got a 26th place start (Kazuoshi Odagiri was pit boarding for us--how cool is that!) Anyway, I timidly moved up to 18th, the bike was working fine and the track was coming in; I managed to get 3 points but I rode like a turd! BTW Whipple got a 3rd place start and ended up 12th! Kudos to him, but I wish I could have seen him so maybe I would have picked it up a notch or two, especially since he was doing the big jump and I was short jumping it! I think there would have been a little motivation there…maybe! BTW the tabletop is only 62’ long, but the face is 32’ long and about 15’ high! In the NB2 Open class I picked another relatively safe outside starting position, hoping to out muscle everyone to the first corner and move on over on them, but if not then I would just sneak safely around the outside. I got a good jump and as the 2-fityy power came on I began to pull away except for this one guy just to my right, it must have been the same guy at Sugo because he just plain ass didn’t turn! He rode straight to the end of the straight away and went 30 feet out of the way before he decided to turn, I ended up braking and tucking underneath him but he still took me out enough to let the others catch up so I rounded the 2nd corner in about 8th , from there the turd riding resumed, it wasn’t as bad, but there were a couple of areas that really cost me and I just never got into a comfortable rhythm. I was protecting lines and trying not to crash vs. racing. I ended up 13th and Whipple was 16th; I got my points but more importantly I learned a valuable lesson, “Just race baby!” It just wasn’t fun! I had considered sandbagging so I could stay in the NB class, but I didn’t really want to do that either. My goal was to make the NA class and I did that, so I’m happy! I should finish somewhere around 12th for the year and that’s with missing 2 rounds. All in all it was a great experience, I wish we had more company but I understand ‘cause it is WAY expensive! Definitely need to do the car pool thing with one 250F in both classes and share the expenses. It cost me $128 in tolls to Fujisawa, $60 in fuel and $120 to race 2 classes with one 10 min practice and one 10 min moto in each class …heck, I’m getting fat and slow because I’m not riding enough! I’m just sitting around watching the rain, eating bon-bons waiting for my 10 minute moto! Thanks to everyone for your support, I’d like to take this time to thank my sponsors for getting me where I am today: Keri my lovely and understanding wife and Jessica my sweet and sneaky daughter…Odagiri with a laughing grin, “Mike-san, Isn’t that your daughter and Whipple’s kids down there with her shoes off, playing in the infield pond?” Why-yes it is! “Jessica, if mom had seen you she’d beat your @$$” Jessica, “It’s ok dad, she couldn’t see us from there”

Sunday, October 2, 2005

Race Report-Sugo

Team Misawa Gets Good Ice Cream! Ok, so we shot our wad practicing on Saturday, doesn’t matter, we did all the jumps at Sugo including the big double. Woo Hoo! After that we really didn’t care what happened on Sunday! The forecast was for heavy and lots of rain on Sunday, so we knew that Saturday was our last shot of the year to clear the big double; we had no excuses, the track was nearly perfect. Knowing the rain was coming, if we didn’t clear it on Saturday we would likely be spending all winter wishing we had tried it and at least 6 months anticipating another day as nice as this one…very unlikely! So here it was, our last practice of the day, got the 250 dialed in, I’m almost awake and actually feeling energetic after working ‘til 2am and leaving Misawa at 3am (kids please do not follow my bad example), I just stayed on the gas and busted out the big table and got Whip to follow me, he returns the favor by leading me over the big double! He said follow me and I just stayed on the gas and figured “Sometimes you just gotta say, What the F***!” In the air I was wishing I had a copy of War and Peace to pass the time, but instead I just let out a big WOOHOO! It really was kinda easy but the landing was a little harsh, being a step down’ish double. To be honest all the jumps were easier than clearing the 74’ finish line at Misawa, but I couldn’t quite clear the smaller tabletop on the 125 because of the tight, slick S turn before it – I need some more practice or at least somewhat of a berm there. BUT THAT”S OK, WE DID THE BIG DOUBLE!!!!!! Off to an Onsen and then straight to bed by 8pm; I was absolutely exhausted!!! I never even heard Tomo or Odagiri arrive, or any of the partying-- maybe they all went to bed early too… NAH! Any way I slept ‘til 6:30 and only pee’d once (How do you spell pee’d, spell checker doesn’t seem to know either) . Oh…the next morning I was S-O-R-E, Ooops! Oh well, I had plenty of Vitamin M…although it evidently didn’t make it in my system before practice, I could hardly hold on to the bike, Whip felt the same but I reminded him that it’s OK, we did the BIG DOUBLE! By 9am the rain was still holding off but it looked ominous, the good news was that the weather man was calling for 70% chance of rain (you know they are never right) and they did not disprove my theory, as we only got a few sprinkles and the sun was shining by our second moto. Very Cool! In another streak of good luck there were only 33 entries, which meant that we did not have to qualify and therefore would only race 2 motos total for the day, normally I would be upset since it cost so much to race, I usually want to race the qualifiers just to get some track time in; I mean for $120 to enter 2 classes I want more than two 10minute +1lap motos! I feel they should have run a normal 2 moto format for each class (4 motos total) but I was tired and sore so it was OK…this time! In our NB2 moto, Whip and I made it to the line early and got good gate picks, he lined up next to my 125. I told him to not spin too much on the concrete, I wish I had listened to my own advice as I spun profusely and was pretty much at the back of the pack, I snuck around the inside and ended up midpack. I worked my way through and fought hard but ran out of steam, my arms were done! I felt like I was riding the 426, I just could not push anymore—guess I need to get in shape huh! The track was getting rough, I wasn’t gripping with my knees on the uphills and I wasn’t really moving that well on the bike, but other than that and the bad start I rode great! Ha! Can’t wait for the next moto on the bigger, heavier and more powerful bike! I ended up 11th and Whipple came in 23rd . Not as good as we had hoped but it’s hard to overcome a bad start! In the NB Open moto I still spun too much but I knew once I hit the dirt I should be able to walk the rest of the bikes since they were mostly 250Fs; and, for the most part I did but when I went to make my turn some banzai rider with a handful of throttle cut inside of me, not a big deal except that he couldn’t make the left turn. Luckily for me the guy on my right could make the turn, so instead of getting taken out I got sandwiched! It was like bumper cars and as we plowed to an almost standstill everyone passed us. Miraculously I managed to stay up and as the sea parted, I drove through ( I can’t believe I didn’t a get a footpeg in the spokes!) So I went from a bad start, to good start, to bad start but it coulda been worse! After the second turn I could see Whipple was a couple of positions in front of me; I tucked her on the inside and blasted up the hill and then just made it around him on the outside of the tight right hander at the top, he had the line but I had the power coming out of the turn. For the first 4 laps I rode great but I was getting tired, I was holding some folks off and making passes on the big jumps… Oh Yeah, that’s usually me getting passed! When I came around and expected the 1 to go board but didn’t get it, it kinda took the wind out of my sail, I had made up 2 positions since Odagiri gave the P 10 sign. But I could hear someone on my butt, I knew I couldn’t hold them off with 2 to go; but I tried my best without risking too much. I bobbled and lost 2 positions in the final 2 laps but I caught and passed one of them back. Anyway, with another bad start and no strength left in my arms, I managed a 9th place finish out of 33. Not bad, but my goal was to podium (top 6 in this series). Whipple moved up to 19th from the first moto, so he made his goal to be in the points, besides WE DID THE BIG DOUBLE! BTW the ice cream was REALLY good! Well, this weekend is the Mutsu race, Whipple is the defending champion so I’ll have to see if I can dethrone him to get the good ice cream, since there aren’t any big jumps there. We really had a great time, but it sure is expensive with the tolls; still, in 10 years I’ll be glad I did it. I still say we need to all get together and road trip it; Fujisawa is only and hour away from Sugo! Enough here, get out and enjoy the nice weather and “See you at the track!” Old Fart 86

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Race Report-Yayoi 11 Sept 05

It’s now Friday afternoon and I can almost walk upright--not fully, but close enough to not to be noticed by the office cronies, “Another rough weekend on that dirt bike, huh” Of course, they’re walking with a crane from a PT injury. Anyway in case you haven’t heard, they changed the course at Yayoi and added “technical”, read: back-breaker section. It’s kind of a roller to step-on to tabletop that, if you double in, isn’t so bad. The problem is that there isn’t much room for error, if you come up short or your back tire clips you could be in trouble, going face to face with face of the table! And if you go long, you get to land in the face of the table; either way could end your weekend. The easy way was to roll the first jump and step onto the table—it works great in practice but at race speed I was having difficulty going slow enough over the roller that I would land hard into the face of the second jump and rebound up and land hard on top of the table…OUCH! It was ugly! I’m sure I could double in, but without any practice I just couldn’t see taking the chance, so I pounded it out every lap…I can feel every one of them too! Practice was good for everyone except the guy who broke his femur when he came up short on Pit Pro’s double and went OTB as well. The course was a little slick from the morning dew but in great shape. I felt OK; I dialed in the new section by doing the roll, step-on. It was FUNK! Don’t like it! As usual the conspiracy theory continues as Me Whip and Kyle were all in the 2nd Qualifier. 18 riders, 3 laps-- top 9 are in A. We all lined up left of the box; Whip and I were side by side. I got a good jump out of the gate, but wheelied a bit; it wasn’t my best start but I still managed to get the holeshot. In the new section, like I said, I was having trouble going slow enough over the first roller and was punishing my body by slamming into and off of the face of the step-on, only to be thrown skyward resulting in a hard THUD on the table. Needless to say my back was not happy! Some crazy guy almost landed on me in the new section but made the pass so I ended up 2nd, Whipple finished 5th but Kyle got a real bad start and ended up 11th or 13th , just out of the A class. In the A Moto 1, I got a good jump again but I wheelied again too and lost the holeshot to # 16 on a CR 250. In the last couple of laps I lost 2 spots in the new section and wasn’t riding good enough to make them up, so I ended up 4th, Whipple got a 13th. The B Moto 1 was in the gate when we pulled off, Kyle got a 3rd place start and from what I understand came up short with his Dale Earnhardt impression and ended up 6th, I didn’t see it ‘cause I was … “working on the bike” In the 2nd moto I figured I would try my holeshot device since I wheelied the first 2 starts. I hadn’t used it since trying it in the states, but to me it seemed to just make me sit n spin. It works the same in Japan as I found myself battling with the 125’s at the back of the pack. Luckily I was on the outside and was able to sneak around the outside and then tuck to the inside; I was in about 6th or 7th by the S turn. I had made a slight suspension and TP adjustment that seemed to be paying off, I was able to dice and pass my way up. I think K9 or Eddie was giving me 4 fingers but they were just in front of the new section so it was hard for me to see as I was preparing for the crash. On the last 2 laps I was hounding #29 on a Kawi and I felt like I could get him so I turned it on a bit. Now Kyle could take a few lessons from this guy ‘cause he had the blocking thing down pat. We got the white flag and I jumped the step-down on the right side and had the inside on him going down the back straight, he cut over on me and tried to put me into the point. I could have easily been the aggressor and punted him off the track but I regrouped and pulled alongside on the outside of the tree turn before the big table. He took the far inside but swept way out to take me off the course. OK no more Mr. nice guy! After the table I had been putting the pressure on him by railing the late outside berm. So as he went out to block me I brake slid into the middle berm and cut inside of him… In observance of the anniversary of 911, I treated him like flying terrorist and I parked him into the outside wall! I got the spot and didn’t hear from him again. As I came over the finish line I could see # 16 in front of me. Certainly I didn’t make it up to second did I? Evidently I did! Cool, I think a couple of riders tangled and fell early but I’ll take it! Overall I went 4-2 for 2nd , Whipple went 13-10 for 11th , and Kyle bested his first moto score with another good start and a 5th in Moto 2 to go 6-5 for 5th overall…on the podium baby! I had a blast and was glad I weathered the storm on the way up, it just goes to show, make the trip and then decide don’t make decisions about a track until you are at the track! Now, if it had been raining at Yayoi like it was in Misawa, I would have turned my butt around and gone back home. Mud racing, especially at Yayoi, is NOT fun! BTW the next Tohoku cup race is at Sugo on 2 Oct (The Family wont be going to this one so I have an extra seat if anyone wants to ride down!) and then the Aomori cup race is at Mutsu on 9 Oct. followed by the last Tohoku cup race at Fujisawa on 16 Oct. I believe the last Aomori cup race is at Towada on 6 Nov. Hopefully it won’t be white! That’s the scoop for now, so get out and enjoy the weather and your friends & family, they would want you to …keep it on two wheels and see ya at the track! OF86

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Race Report from Hirosaki slip-n-slide

I received a phone call around 2000 Saturday night. Hey-do you wanna go up and watch the Hirosaki Race on Sunday. Um-yeah-like flies to….so were we…spectators drawn to that first turn crash! The bench racing squad arrived around 0830 Sunday morning. We found a spot in the mud near the TEENAGE CAMP. It appeared we were just in time for the first practice. WEATHER REPORT 0830-FOG AND RAIN! Our racers today were Whup-@$$ Whipple, The Graduate (Louie), Demolition Dolman (Wes), and the UP-in-Comer (Kyle). Yes, the American Captain was not on location. WARD-WIDE Racing made it back that Friday afternoon. He had been doing some fine tuning on the new tiddler machine that rendered it out of commission. He was unavailable for comment. The entire team went out for practice. Those of use who watched/raced the 1st Misawa Race compared the two. Hirosaki was just as muddy as Misawa, but the twist is Hirosaki has hills. This made for some interesting riding. Onlookers positioned themselves at the right hander after the start which gave us view of most of the track to include the hills. The only person who didn’t get hung up on the uphills prior to the step down was WHIP. Everyone’s legs looked like willows whipping in the breeze. All we could hope for was that the track would come in for the MOTO’s. HEAT RACE 1…FOG/RAIN: The first heat saw Whip, The Graduate, and the Up-in Comer out to do battle. The gate dropped and our team had a good start. Everyone was in a nice tight cluster as they swept up around the first turn. I’d guess top ten start for all! No carnage for the spectators. Disaster ended up striking the Graduate, then the Up-in-Comer. Spinouts, tipovers, stalls, you name it, it happened and on the HILL no less! Whip continued to soldier on, never flailing, dropping back three spaces to finish a comfortable 9th. The Graduate righted himself and grabbed the last A class transfer spot. The course marshall began his sweep. He was held up by Up-in Comer as he battled the elements, the mud, his bike, the hill, his will to get that blasted Yammie started. To no avail. Kazu Odagiri came over from his flagger detail and performed his factory jedi magic and got the thumper started and relocated off the course. HEAT RACE 2…FOG/RAIN: This heat had Demolition rolling solo. The gate dropped, DEMO had decided previously to just take it easy and maybe it best to try a come from behind victory. He too finally succumbed to the HILL while missing a shift. He quickly pushed his bike to the left side, ran up the hill, and jumped back on his trusty steed for a quick start and go! Best remount thus far. His bike didn’t finish unscathed, as he later collided with a Japanese rider on the final lap and lost his clutch lever. Luckily PARTS UNLIMITED was on hand and able to get his new lever installed before the main events. A Class MOTO 1…FOG/MIST: Whip and the Graduate readied themselves on the muddy start. They were sitting in a puddle. The gate dropped, both had top ten starts heading into the uphill sweeper. Everyone made it up the hill without error. As they came around the finish, a quick count showed the Graduate and Whip 11th and 13th respectively. Whip did a face plant over the step up but was able to do a fairly quick restart. We were cheering for the Graduate when suddenly he did a donut on the uphill, he quickly regained his race face and pressed. Pending official results I would put the Graduate about 14th and Whip 18th. B Class MOTO 2...MIST: Demo and Up-in-Comer were ready for action as the gate dropped. Neither wanted to give the other an advantage so they held the gas on. Both had a top ten start. Up-in Comer smoothly coasted into 4th place, while Demo was about 6th. A gap began to open up after the 4th position. Demo battled with a Kawi. Up-in-Comer raced on. The Kawi wiped out, and so did Up-in-Comer. The slick mud sucked him in. He quickly restarted. As the moto wore on, places changed so much it was hard to keep up. But we saw the final lap as this…Demo, Up-in-Comer, and Yoshi. They disappeared towards the final portion of the track. How would it finish? Up-in-Comer tried to put a last minute move on Demo at the step-up corner, but spun out. Yoshi eeked past. No official results, but the bench racers estimate DEMO at 8th. A Class MOTO 1…CLOUDY/SUN SPOTS: Believe it or not, we saw the track try to come in-that is for a track that has been rained on for the past 24 hours. Once again Whip and the Graduate had their race faces on. The gate dropped another consistent start. Whip had it on cruise control. The Graduate was showing bursts of power in between donuts, slip ups, and re-starts. Whip was two corners ahead, the Graduate was using his fountain of youth to close the gap. The last lap showed Whip dropping of the step up and the Graduate a bike length behind. The disappeared toward the lower section out of sight. Bets were being made-how would it turn out. Oh, I see a helmet on the final double, it was the Graduate over the finish first followed by Whip. Interviews later disclosed the Graduate out jumped whip on the new section to make a daring pass. Unofficial results for the overall showed the Graduate 12th and Whip 15th. B Class MOTO 2…ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS OUT!: The teens lined up for the final showdown. It was a replay of moto 1. Consistent starts, neither wanting to shut off the gas first. Demo was in front of Up-in-Comer this time. He was looking for a way around. Everyone was rocking along nicely. Then disaster struck Up-in-Comer, he fell after the fun table and was hidden from our view. Time passed…the checkered flag came out, still he didn’t emerge from the blind spot. The Yammie said enough-it didn’t want to start. Back up was called in as the track was cleared. Unofficial results show DEMO in 8th. Hirosaki RACE 1 was a blast for the bench racers and a test of will, strength, skill, and patience for the RIDERS. KUDOS to all who entered; those on the bench know the commitment you and your pit crew made to ride in those horrible conditions! One also knows that cleanup often takes longer than the time actually spent on the track! See you next time! ACTION MAMA OUT!

Sunday, May 8, 2005

Dusters Rule!

It was supposed to be 70 degrees and no wind, the only thing the weather man got right was that it was dry! The wind wreaked havoc on my new Japanese camping outfit, but did manage to clear the air quicker. Good thing cause “Dust” was the word of the day…as in eating my dust on the starts! Yep, I pulled the holeshot in both motos! …got Y5000 for it too! Now if I could just stay out front. The gang was kinda thin, Duane’s TDY, Karen and Dave are in Okinawa, Brendon’s PCS’ing, Louis and Robbie are banged up, Nugget was playin’ cowboy, Mo was recuperating, Nick is MIA, and Wargo’s boycotting (…this year it’s Misawa and the MFJ). All you new folks out there that think you might want to race should really try it here in Japan. It really doesn’t matter if you are fast or not, I had just as much fun in my first race, when I was in the bottom half of the B class and that was only 7 years ago at age 36! And it’s a much more relaxed atmosphere here than in the states. AS FOR THE RACES, let’s see if I can remember all the riders: it was me, Whipple, Wes, Scholl, and Yoshi on bikes; Dolin, Spish and Jerry on ATV’s. We were smart this time and split up for the qualifiers; Whipple, Wes and Scholl went first. Wes got a good start and held on for a top ten and a trip to the A main. Whipple ran into to someone trying to pass on the inside and high sided—then couldn’t get the 4 stroke started (uhh hmmm) and ended up a lap down, but his speed was good! …unfortunately no points for this day. Scholl seems to really tighten up during the races …his result s are not indicative of his capabilities. In the second qualifier I got the holeshot and was winning until turn 2! After a fun battle with #24 on the Zook thumper, I decided to play it safe and backed it down a notch, I thought he got back around me and checked out but it was #73. I did manage to hold on to second. Meanwhile, Yoshi went down in a first turn pile up and charged hard all the way back up to 3rd. So it was me, Yosh and Wes in the A main; Whipple and Scholl in the B. I told Whipple to let it all hang out in this one and show ‘em what he’s got, since there were no points on the line. He obliged and got a monster holeshot; now if he would hold it on that long for the other 6 laps he would have finished 1st instead of 3rd. Again Scholl didn’t finish last and didn’t crash as far as I know. He keeps after it and I commend him for that; now if he could just ride like it was practice… After watching the B main, by the time I got my back and made it to the line I had a crappy gate pick, all the way on the right side. (I don’t know why they don’t let you pick your gate by the order of finish in the qualifying heats: 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 etc) Oh well, I’ll try to see if I can get out front -- not likely from this far out. I just concentrated on the starters shoulder and “boomyow” I was out front again! (2 Strokes Rule!) This time I was not going to give it away in turn 2…I at least made it to turn 3! Then #4 snuck around me as I tiptoed like a goon around the inside. On the rest of the track I was moving at a pretty good pace, definitely faster than my qualifier; I held down 2nd and wasn’t feeling tired at all until my front end washed out, 2 corners before the white flag! I managed to keep the bike running and frantically picked it up and did a running mount. Now I was tired! I did my best Dale Earnhardt to protect (ok block) my line from #73, who was flying in the qualifier ...thank goodness for lapped traffic; I passed a guy going down the hill after the whoops and he got in between us and I was riding much better in the lower section, so I held on to third! Wes got 9th after crashing 4 times, not bad for his first trip into the A main! Yoshi took some scenic routes through the woods, not by choice of course, it seems after his washout his running mount didn’t work out so well and he launched, out of control, into the trees! Unfortunately he ended up at the back for MX but, he was #1 for the Enduro! THE ATV RACES were DUSS -T! I didn’t get to watch much as I was recuperating, but I know Dolin checked out and won his class, Spish won his class and I believe Jerry won his class too! Dolin tried to make it interesting by not cleaning his air filter and almost had to push his quad up the finish line jump…uh, did I mention it was dusty? Rob from Broadway Auto changed everything on his son’s LEM and it paid off as his boy Elroy (Just kidding I can’t remember his name ATT, sorry Rob) won his class. TO WRAP IT UP, I had a blast, ate good, camped out with Jessica, finished decent and everybody went home in one piece! As I drove home in the Beverly Hillbilly wagon I couldn’t help think about the original Misawa Dusters and how they might have gotten their name and wondered if maybe they second guessed themselves after their first rainy season!

Monday, April 4, 2005

Let the riding begin!

Get your MFJ membership now! The first race is 1 May at Misawa! Hope your off season conditioning program was a good one! Duane is running 3 to 7 miles a day, Karen’s been hitting the pool, Louie’s young and has been wrestlin’ and if we get to race on a treadmill, I might have something for you if you can’t do 45 Mins….’course I found out at my Loretta Lynn’s Qualifier that all of that being in shape is nice, but it doesn’t make up for time on the bike. BTW- I made it through the Area Qualifier at Sandhills MX Park in SC, now I move on to the Regional Qualifier, Jun 4/5 @ Muddy Creek TN, where all the top 8 from the other 6 Area Qualifiers converge to try and get the top 8 spots and an invitation to the “Ranch” in Aug. The new bike is….well I don’t even know. I rode it for so little, on a track I wasn’t used to, that when I got back here and rode the ‘ole 250 it was like my first time riding this year. It ran fine, I got the holeshot on my first moto against all 450’s and most importantly it looks good, huh? Now the 426 is another story, it’s down and out! After a long winter bling upgrade (Ti subframe, ti shock spring, CF airbox, CF engine mounts, CF skid plate, CF waterpump gd, CF exhaust, CF chain guide etc.) I finally got to take the beast out to test the new Hotcams w/auto decomp. It worked great...for a lap and a half ‘til the timing chain jumped timing and the piston and intake valves tried to occupy the same space—Klunk! Good thing I wasn’t trying to jump the big table or finish line jump at the time! The damage is one bent valve, and a dinged piston—will do a valve job and replace the piston, timing chain and tensioner. The biggest prob is determining WHY it happened, the cam is the correct cam according to the Hotcams website and thumper talk, and I am quite certain it was installed correctly…this time! So I’m thinkin’, either a cam chain/tensioner failure or a result of previous damage when the cams were installed incorrectly and we got that slight knocking noise for a few seconds….Never had a problem installing cams or having my timing chain jump timing on any of my 2 strokes! I guarantee you I will be a little gun-shy jumping that thing for awhile! For some good news, we had our first Offroad annual safety brief in conjunction with the base M/C briefing. Kudos to Karen and Dirk for making it happen. We also have a meeting with Gen Rew on 6 April to discuss some safety issues; our goal is to adopt and offer the MSF Dirtbike School to all our new riders and old ones too! Speaking of new riders, we have a bunch, so invite them all out to the track, show them our website and give them some advice, food and anything else to ensure they have FUN! The MX338 track was fixed by Mizoguchi on Saturday am, it was N-I-C-E! That said, please stop by Odagiri’s and get your season pass, I know the jacket thing is silly but hey, we have a track that’s 10 minutes from the base and they at least try to keep it up, so I don’t mind paying the money. Please help out by either getting a season pass or pay the Y1000 per day. BTW if you haven’t been out to the track lately, they now have timed practices. There’s a schedule posted on the track Bulletin Board; basically small bikes on the 30 min and big bikes on the hour 00. Yes it kinda stinks but it is safer. (most tracks in the states you only get 15 minutes of every hour and they are only open on certain days from like 1000 to 1500) Well that’s about it for now; I hope everyone is ready for another great riding season. I look forward to camping, cooking and riding with all of you. I also hope Duane makes it back soon(er) and Dave’s back gets better. I hope Whipple gets to ride and Wargo finds inner peace and compassion for his fellow man…and I can triple in to the whoops like Louie! Oh yeah, and world peace!