The Chanute Report

The Forward Motion series continued yesterday with round #8 - Chanute, KS.   This event marked Christopher's first hare scrambles last year.  How much has he improved over one year of riding? 

This just might be my favorite race.  Great course with a good mix of everything.  Some technical rocks, fast open areas, slow tight sections with slick rocks that really tested your balance, enough mud to put a smile on your face but still not cause you to have to worry too much about getting stuck, creek crossings (some did get stuck coming out of these), and no dust for the most part. Trail conditions were near perfect which was a surprise to me because it was so hot and had not rained in a couple of weeks.

Carolynn took some pictures while out on her Walk in the Woods - 2013 Chanute Hare Scrambles Pics.  The pictures are from the first race of the day. 

Christopher lined up with 28 riders in the 900 class.  At the 1/2 point of the series he has had results all over the place.  Some good (2nd place) some very poor (14th place).   Hopefully some maturity and training has paid off with more consistent results.

Because it was so hot they let the Starter girl do her thing on top of a roll of hay. 

I liked how they had the start at Chanute.  A nice wide starting area with a couple hundred yards before you hit the woods.  Safe and fair.  I got off to a good start.  A little delay in my reaction time and I tried to make up for it with a hand full of throttle and not enough clutch slip.  Still was able to get 2nd off the start. 

Christopher took it easy on the practice lap since he had to break in his engine after Doug's rebuild last week.  

He got off the line well, but was still afraid to over rev the motor and ended close to the top 5 by the woods.

By the end of the first lap Christopher was holding his own in 4th place.

The trails were in great shape and flowed really well.  No dust at all in the woods and even a little mud to keep things interesting.  I got by the early leader Russell Armstrong when he went the wrong way on a trail.  Trail was marked well he just went down the wrong path.  Christopher did the same thing in his event and had to do a quick 180.  Fortunately we practiced this and he performed it flawlessly.

Christopher fell back to 6th place on the 2nd lap when he stopped to help a fallen rider.  They were working their way around another rider who was stuck in the mud. The route they took caused him to fall and he got stuck under his bike.  He screamed to Christopher to help.  He knows all too well what it feels like to have a 250 lb bike on top of you and stopped to help. 

Back on the gas Christopher worked his way up to 3rd place at the finish. His Stone Works tuned/rebuilt motor was running strong.  Race winner Matt Williams and runner up Chad Janeczko had great rides and were way out front.   Christopher's finish earned enough points to move into 1st place in the series.  I think he has improved a lot over the last year.  Still looking for that first race win but it will come if he puts in a little more seat time and gains some upper body/core strength.   

I had a good ride and finished up with the win over Joe Lederhouse and fast improving Randy Wade.  The last two laps I started hearing some strange noises coming from my rear hub area.  I did not know how much of a lead I had so I kept riding.  It turns out I had a long vine that had somehow attached itself to my wheel.   

Another fun weekend for us.  Yes it was darn hot but we had fun.  Carolynn got another great hike in the woods while out taking some pictures.  She got some good ones of other riders and I will post them up tonight.