40th Annual Sierra Old Timers International Moto Cross

This was the 40^th annual event and was held at the Prairie City OHV Park and the home of the Iconic Hangtown Moto Cross National track.

The weather couldn’t have been much better for us riders who live in California and Nevada. Some of the riders from up north thought it was a bit warm. The previous weekend was over a hundred so all in all the weather was just about perfect. The track couldn’t have been much better either. (The first race on Sunday was a little over watered and resulted in some riders not being able to make it up big Moe) The track was home to a Loretta Lynn qualifier the week before and they had worked lots of rice hulls and some sand into the track which kept moisture in the track and kept the usual deep ruts from forming in the corners. In fact, a lot of the corners never developed any real ruts at all.

As is becoming the norm the 50 novice and intermediate classes were the largest. Full gates for each class, if they continue to grow we might actually need to have two gates for each class. Growing classes in those age groups bodes well for the future of our sport.

We had enough ladies sign up to have their own gate drop. We as a club are going to encourage more women not only come to our race but join us at our ride days.

An interesting side note I know of three riders this year who lined up behind gate number two next to the dog house on the right hand side that got stuck behind the gate because it didn’t drop as fast as the others. That happened last year as well I know because I was one of them 

I don’t think the ambulance moved all weekend. I know there were a number of riders who went down and the EMT’s were on the track looking after them. But I think they all were able to walk or ride, some in the cart, off the track. I had one little tip over myself, some of you might remember Artie Johnson from Laugh-in when he would be on his little three wheel bicycle and just fall over? My little tip over reminded me of that, came into a corner the bike stalled my momentum stopped my feet were on the pegs and I just tipped over. I don’t remember if Artie was wearing his German helmet or not when he was on the bike, or if that was only when he was peeking out from the little palm bush.

Some of you still might remember the Fish award an idea that came from the fertile mind of Eric McKenna (#33). This is one those Billy Bob Bass things that hangs on a wall and wiggles when turned on. Eric thought it would be good to have an award that would be given to the rider who pulled off the dumbest of the dumb shit moves of the weekend. It travels around with the recipient from one race to another until it is deemed by an impromptu committee meeting during the weekend that someone has proven themselves worthy of the award. A couple of years ago Mark Kestner who was at the time the proud keeper of the fish brought it to our race at Prairie City hoping someone would take it off his hands. And the gods smiled down on Mark that weekend a rider named Mike Harper a very fast 50 Master who was the second gate drop behind the 40 Expert/Masters, Mike got so excited he left with the first group thus earning him the award.

Well Mike came out on Saturday to race with us at this year’s event and brought the Billy Bob with him telling me we needed to give it to someone else this weekend. Well we did and guess who that was? Mike of course. When all the transponders were turned back in he was one of two who forgot. So I called him Sunday and he’s on his boat on Lake Folsom and when I tell him what he did, he says I guess I get to keep the Billy Bob huh.  

We used transponders this year after we had some scoring issues last year and we didn’t want a repeat. There was some grumbling at first, but when the riders found the results were posted minutes after their race and they could also see their lap times I think that grumbling turned into a lot of oh yea’s.

My perspective of this year’s race is a little different than last year. Last year I just helped where ever I could with setup and tear down. This year I’m the treasurer of the club and was very involved in it. There are four new officers in the club this year and we all wanted to put on the very best event we could.

We couldn’t have had the event we had without the Armstrong’s (REP Racing, they operate Riverfront, Est. and Prairie City moto cross facilities) and they really do know what they are doing. And the Armstrong’s were very complementary of us racers and spectators. We were very observant of the yellow flags for downed riders and were the cleanest neatest group they had ever had at any of their events period. Which proves my point that we older seasoned citizens know how to conduct ourselves. I believe we treated everyone fairly. We certainly tried and when you do that people respond in kind. 

One of the things we wanted to do this year was to bring back some of the comradery we all feel when we can sit down in one area after a day of competition and break bread with each other. We did that and had our raffle at the same time. I think I can say that it turned out great. I’m sure most of you have done white elephant gifts where you draw numbers and the higher your number you get the better your chances of getting something actually worth keeping. I know the rules of the game vary but swapping or stealing gifts is part it. We didn’t have any stealing going on but we did have some raffle prize swapping, it was a lot of fun.

We were all very tired and sore after the event had ended and everything was torn down and put away. We were sitting in the office waiting to put the final touches on the financial end with the Armstrong’s and looked at each other and said this wasn’t so bad was it, especially with all the help we had and at that moment we basically committed to do it again next year.

We’ve already started a list of things we might want to change, add or subtract to improve next year’s event.

To all our sponsors and to all of those who came out, thank you very much.

Doug 21J

A Youngsters View of Aging

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind it doesn't matter.

Mark Twain

A look in the 2015 rear view mirror

As 2015 sputtered to its inevitable end I started looking in the rear view mirror on what had happened during the year.

And the reason I started this was I began noticing invitations from distributors and manufactures in the motorcycle industry for 2016 rider resumes. Now I know they are primarily looking for the up and coming rider, but I thought wouldn’t it be fun to send a few of them a resume from an old guy rider.

I’m always looking for the humor in things and actually spend a lot of time cracking myself up. I did write a resume and just sent one out but haven’t heard back yet; part of a rider resume is what your accomplishments for the year were. When I started adding up all the races I participated in this year and all the places I went to it honestly blew me away. I had thirty two race starts, in five different states, competing in Motocross, Cross Country and Enduro. That’s countless hours of driving, bike prep and riding. And the money it took to do this, no wonder I’m broke at the end of each month. I compiled eighteen first place finishes, nine seconds, four thirds and one fifth place finish.

Sure I wasn’t competing against twenty something’s if I had to do that I would have given up racing a long time ago. I get to race with and against my peers and that’s what makes this so special, the camaraderie is priceless. I’ve also found for the most part those of us who choose this sport are like minded in many aspects of our lives. As we age they just keep coming up with new classes for us. At one of the International Old Timers races this year there were five eighty year old plus riders all lined up behind a starting gate, that’s pretty cool stuff.

I know I have those who admire me for what I’m able to do, but also have hero’s young and old alike. In today’s society our concerns for people’s health is at an all time high, especially as the majority of our population grows older. Well in us you’ll find a group of people who in many cases deify what is termed as normal behavior and activity. Most would agree motocross for instance is considered an extreme sport, in terms of the risk, the fitness required to do it at even a basic level, the reflexes required, the mental capacity needed, keep us fitter and healthier longer than most of our peers, especially us older riders.

We don’t consider ourselves tough but we are. Injuries are part of it, we all fall off sometimes and it can hurt, sometimes a lot. We all know that but it doesn’t stop us and none of us think it won’t happen, we know better. But it’s just what we do, nobody takes it for granted and all of us are very thankful we can still do it.

I frequently thank the big spirit in the sky for allowing me to do this and when I’m finally done I’ll have no regrets but stories and memories to last until my time here is up.

Doug 21J

PS Before I read this to my wife I had told her I felt like a little something was missing. After I read it she says why don’t say something about just what it does take to continue doing it. I said you mean things like riding all the time and when you do fall off the first you do is move all your parts to make sure nothing is broken and unlike when you were younger you just lay there for a little while. And then you get back up and ride some more. Or how much you look forward to the next bike you get, or just how much you enjoy being with your riding buddies telling stories.

The special feelings you have on one of those almost perfect days, whether it is on an MX track, trail riding or riding dual sport bike. Or how much I enjoy tinkering and cleaning my bike she said yes, so I said I think I will.

Rear view mirror part 2

Even after I finished “Looking in the 2015 rear view mirror” I thought there was still more to be said. So I sat down again and started putting down more thoughts.

As I’ve gotten older my perspectives have changed a lot (a natural occurrence I would say).  My folks whom I was lucky enough to have in my life until they were both over ninety, who didn’t have to suffer some long drawn out ordeal. They both spent less than 24hrs in the hospital at the end. My mom had dementia, the worst cruelest kind in which she would have moments of clarity than sink back into the fog. My dad was very sharp right up to the end and was looking forward to living to hundred. He was a big man even at the end he was still over two hundred twenty pounds and not fat. Not many live to be ninety-one and are that big. Long life seems to favor the smaller versions of us.

My wife and I had taken a Hospice course in an effort to better understand how to deal with my mother’s dementia. Little did I know at the time how taking that course would eventually change my life.

I had known for some time my father was afraid of dying, because I was also afraid of dying. I doubt I’m alone in this. Seems kind of strange for someone who races motorcycles to be afraid of dying. There are a lot of people who say anyone who races motorcycles must have a death wish. It took me many years to figure out that racing bikes has nothing to do with having a death wish. You can be scared to death of dying but still race bikes and I think one difference is when racing you feel as though you have some sort of control over it, an illusion to be sure. But when it comes to actually dying I felt I had no control over that, which I don’t really. 

I was alone in the hospital room when my dad pasted away. I didn’t know what to say or do as the process unfolded in front of me, I just sat there. I believe now he was showing me he was ok with it and it wasn’t anything to be afraid of. But that revelation took a few years to come into focus for me.

After my dad passed away I was haunted with the helpless feeling I had sitting in that room. I decided I wanted to know more about the death and dying process in the hopes of finding some peace around my ineptitude in that moment. I’m sure I’m not alone in experiencing that feeling. I became involved in Hospice as a patient volunteer. And of course heard the familiar “I don’t know how you can do that” and many other such sayings. For me it has been incredibly rewarding, I’ve certainly received more than I’ve given. I’ve been privileged to meet some incredible people at the end of their lives in the last ten years. Strong, brave, scared all at the same time kind of people. I’ve learned a lot and I’m certainly more comfortable in my own skin now.

I used to do most things like riding by myself, but somewhere in all this I’ve discovered it’s much more rewarding to do things with friends. I also discovered there are actually people who don’t mind being around me and vice versa. I have a whole lot of days piled up behind me and with a lot fewer days ahead of me, I only have room for my kind of people these days, the rest can go bother someone else.

 And my plan is to do it as actively as I can, as long as I can. No doubt you and I have been blessed to be able to do what we do. But we’ve taken advantage of our good fortune.  I doubt any of us older guys and ladies envisioned doing the things we are doing today. I should say something about diet and eating properly, so I just did. Actually some of us are more into what we eat than others, it’s sort of whatever works for you. We must be doing something right we’re still very active. I also imagine there are a lot more who discouraged us to do or keep doing what we do than those who encouraged us. It’s a good thing we’re stubborn, hard headed and not easily swayed.

I guess what I’m saying about us older folk is we’ve now lived a little, our view of life is not the same as it was back then. There really is something to be said about sixty is the new forty, I certainly feel this way, how about you.

 Doug 21J 

PS The main reason for adding on to the first article was to say more about what makes us older athletes different from the rest of the heard. But you know I don’t hang around many people my age, most of them aren’t doing anything. And those I do hang with are as good an athlete as I am or better. Do we sit around and talk about our aches and pains like other older folks do… yes we do. But a lot of those aches and pains are self-inflicted. You ever hang out and start comparing bumps, bruises, old scars, broken bones and hematomas the size of softballs? Old scars are of particular interest with trail riders or stories about how you almost died, that’s priceless stuff. One thing we all have in common is we are out doing something.

A lot of us older riders are hero’s to forty and fifty year olds, I’ve never been anyone’s hero, and it feels pretty darn good. Some day it will be their turn.  

Part 1 can be found in the Viewpoint section

Old Guys Rule Fernley International Old Timers Motocross

This was the second round of the 2016 International OT motocross racing season. The first round was held in Arizona.

A lot of riders showed up Friday to ride practice from 10-3, I was one of them. The weather was far from perfect, the north wind was steady with frequent gusts and it was cold. By the time I got there and did a couple of practice sessions the track was already getting rough. The track set up typically for Fernley is jumps that are safe and fool you into thinking the track is going to be too easy. Well, not true it does get rough and there are lots of sandy corners that are very soft and if you don’t carry enough speed you will wallow around and genuinely look like a squid. 

I was struggling a little with my suspension and was making numerous changes while practicing, without much success. A friend of mine says Doug you know about suspension right, (And of course I puffed up a little) he say’s I’m having trouble with my suspension and I read this article (He reads lots of articles) and in it they said if you’re experiencing this, do this. I say gee that sounds nice and kept going the opposite direction with my settings. After he had made a couple of the changes suggested in the article he tells me, it’s working great now. So after going as far as I could in the opposite direction I decided to try it the article’s way and low and behold it worked great. I did confess to him that I had made a couple of changes. (Big fib I made big changes) 

First thing Saturday morning is practice followed by a riders meeting, our national anthem, then Canadian national anthem. (It’s an International organization and event) then the first moto. Sunday is a repeat of Saturday except there are only two motos instead of the three on Saturday. The weather Saturday and Sunday was great!

Since this was my first race since breaking my back in January I signed up in the really old class. Our race consisted of two gate drops. The intermediates and experts on the first gate and the rest of us on the second gate. My normal class would have been the first gate.  After the first gate the second gate drops about fifteen to twenty seconds later. My first priority was to get the hole shot on my row then see if I could catch any riders who started on the first gate. I had no idea how I’d do since I’ve been off the bike for months healing. I surprised myself with both my speed and fitness. I was able to pass my way up to the top five in the expert class every race and actually ended up passing my way up to third on the last moto on Sunday. I’ll take that especially starting from the second gate.

Sunday’s motos started out different, my plan of getting the hole shots didn’t pan out. The first moto I found myself at the last second trying to decide how I was going to start and promptly got hung up in the gate. I thought to myself “what a rookie mistake.” So the first lap was spent catching and passing the guys on my row. The second moto went better but one of our club members who had been trying to beat me into the first corner on Saturday beat me to the first turn both motos on Sunday.  He was elated to say the least. “That made my weekend” he said. Unfortunately for him he used all his energy trying to stay ahead of me and got caught at the end of the last moto on Sunday by the rider he was competing with for the overall win in his class. He said it was still worth it. 

Our club referee was being pestered all weekend by a rider who wanted to move back down in class because he was so out of shape and was getting his ass kicked. Now this rider is a rather large man with a more than ample belly. When he told the referee he was out of shape I overheard the referee say “How you would know when you were in shape” I had to turn by back so I could laugh. 

My new Yamaha YZ450FX (Electric Start) worked excellent. The bike was very stable and even though the track got rough it handled the deep whoops well, no hint of kicking sideways. The SBB suspension worked great there was no harsh feed back to the hands through all the rough stuff.

The club had a great turnout and did a very good job throughout the weekend. The track held up well from a dust standpoint. I don’t think there were any serious injuries. The club had some nice raffle prizes. And the big news was the dinner, this year’s dinner was very good. They had it catered by a well known catering company. I’m sure they were trying to make up for last year’s dinner which was shall we say poor and leave it at that.  

I think most everyone had a great time. I say most, because there was the rider who showed up on a 2014.5 KTM factory Edition that his son had given him, who after Saturday’s races packed up and headed home. A long drive cursing the bike because it kept stalling. He was determined to ride the bike in third gear all the way around the track. (I don’t know what his skill level was, but I’d bet there were only few who were carrying enough speed through all those deep sand corners to stay in third) anyway he left blaming it all on the bike. 

The next race will be hosted by the Sierra Old Timers MC and held on the Iconic “Hangtown” track at Prairie City on June 11^th an 12^th. There will be an open practice on Friday the 10^th. 

Hope to see you there.

 

Doug 21J

Update on the update on the 350/390 SXF

Turns out I do have an overheating problem at least when I ride real tight (2^nd 3^rd gear) trails at altitude (5000 +) and plus eighty five degrees. All that plus little air movement through the radiators was perhaps causing the fuel to overheat making pop stalling an issue. I’ve been running waterless coolant which can be a benefit on one hand but can also be potentially a big problem on the other. No radiator boil over can give you a false sense of security and the heat just continues to build.

I decided to install a fan kit but found out apparently no one sells a kit that will work with an IMS over sized tank installed on a 350SXF. (I would assume the same would go for the XCF as well) Accerbis does make a tank that will work with a kit, but in order for me to install a standard fan kit I’d have to buy a new gas tank, which on one hand isn’t bad because disconnecting the fuel line to either remove the fuel tank or to change the little micron fuel filter is difficult with the IMS tank. Well, turns out replacing the IMS gas tank to install a fan kit isn’t the only problem, seems the output of the SXF stator isn’t enough to properly charge the system with a fan. At this juncture I wasn’t willing to spend the time researching a fan that uses very little power that I can cobble together into a system. With an electric start only and a Rekluse I don’t relish the idea of adjusting the clutch so I can bump start it if I forget to turn off a fan. Spending five hundred dollars plus for a tank, fan kit and stator for a problem that may only occur occasionally didn’t make sense to me.

I did decide to try the higher output water pump KTM sells and see if that would solve the problem. The kit was about $100 and was easy to install. I’m not sure how much it increased the water flow but looking at the difference between the stock impeller and the new one I’d say at least double perhaps triple. 

I’ve now ridden the same tight trails without experiencing the same problem, it wasn’t quite as warm though but hopefully this solved the problem, only time will tell. Installing the water pump kit would be a good investment for anyone having KTM borderline overheating issues.

Doug 21J