HS 1 Pinetta, Fl 13th Place

Well we got to Pinetta early in the morning to get set up and ready for the race. My buddy Jeff came along to run his first ever Hare Scramble. When I got out on the 13 mile course for a practice run, about 2 miles into it I cased a whoop the wrong way and sprained my back. I spent the next 9 miles in massive pain just looking for a way back to the trailer. All I could think about was all the hard work and training I had put into this and now I was not going to be able to race. When I finally got back to the trailer I could hardly stand and certainly did not know how I was going to “run” to my bike to start it for the race. My plan was to at least run 1 lap so I would not get a DNF… who knows maybe someone bike would break and I might not be last.

So I am at the starting line dying in pain… the horn sounds and I limp to my bike, get up on my step stool to start it… first kick… awesome! I start to ease off and look across.. what the hell!! I am in the top five off the start. I get excited and grab all my throttle sucking up the pain knowing that if I can get to the first corner there is no passing room for quite a while.

(I am in the white helmet at the first corner in 5th)

So I am excited… not a bad start considering the events taking place. The next thing I realize is after 3 miles I have passed 3 riders, now I am so pumped up on adrenaline that I am numb (or dumb for riding in this condition). I start pushing as hard as I can despite the pain. I hold strong for the first 13 mile lap and blast through the check point for my second lap. On the back side of lap 2 I pull a third gear wheelie to get through a muddy section and my rear wheel catches a rut and sends me face down hard in the sand. Due to the pain I can’t even get my leg to push down on my kick starter. A spectator sees me in pain and come to my aide and tries to start my bike for me…. (this is where a 4stroke sucks) On about his 9th or 10th try I see a pack of riders in my class blow by me and now I am starting to get depressed thinking about what I have gone through to get here and just watching my position slip away when he finally get it started (God bless Him) and I am back heading toward the finish. When I rolled across the line gate and saw 13th place I was relieved… Hey I wasn’t last… I will take it. Thank God for my buddy Jeff (who finished 14th for his first ever race… Great Job) who was able to let me lie down in the back of the truck and drive the 4.5 hour trip home. With out Jeff and most importantly my son Cody I would have never made this trip. Thanks.

Now I have 4 weeks to heal before the next race in Chipley, Fl…