Results from my first race!

[04whyzee]

Today I entered my first race at Nocona Mx in Nocona TX. It was the benefit race for Jordan Miller's family. I rode 125 Beginner on my 04 Yamaha YZ125. I have pics and possibly some videos that I will post soon.

Saturday
Track got a 1/2" of rain on Fri night so it was a mess when I got there but I decided to practice anyway. Riding in the mud really helped me ride. I was sliding everywhere but still managing to maintain control! There were a few corners were there were some TERRIBLE ruts that my skidplate was draggin on! These were the good lines too. I only rode about 4 laps when I first got out there because the mud was so bad. I just relaxed at my truck for about an hour to give the track some time to dry out. I jumped back on my bike and flew back on to the track. THere was significantly more traction the second time I went out. I rode 5 lap practices the rest of the day to prepare myself for the next day.

Sunday
Rider sign-in was at 7, rider's meeting 8:00 and practice thereafter. I was late to the gate for my practice and only managed to get in three laps of practice. It didn't matter because I rode 3 of the best laps that I had all weekend, thanks in no small part to 4 hours they spent prepping the track the night before and good hour of prepping in the morning. My race was the first one of the day at 9:00. I was very nervous because Nocona has a concrete starting pad! I have never had my bike on the street. There was nothing I could do about it so I just lined up pretty close to the outside and prepped my gate while my brother held my bike. For some reason which I still can't figure out the 125 and 250 beginner ran together. I figured they would start the 250's first adn then let the 125's go 10 seconds later but we started at the same time! I wheelied pretty hard off the line and actually hit the guy next to me. Neither one of us went down but man did it suck. I managed to not be the last one into the first turn. I think I was in 5 or 6th coming into the first turn. I held my position well and was preparing to pass a few riders in front of me when on the third lap when disaster struck. I caught a little too much speed on the big double and slammed hard into the face of the triple downside. It wasn't too harsh but at the speed I was going my bike just did what it wanted and threw me down the jump. I rolled to my feet and jumped up thankful that I was alright. There was a sharp pain in my knee and I knew that something didn't feel right. I was in pretty bad pain so I pulled off the track. Turns out I busted me knee pretty bad. THankfully there was almost 4 hours before my next race beacuse I needed to rest. I slapped some ice on my knee, eleveted it, and went to sleep for about an hour. I woke up and my knee was pretty swollen. I could put all of my weight on it and jump with little pain so I thought that it would be ok for the second moto. There wasn't any serious bruising so I didn't seem to be worried too much. There was a raffle before they started the second set of races. I ended up winning a grab bag that had a t-shirt, some Silkolene Pro Prep, a Moose hat and a bunch of random stickers. After the raffle I line up for my race again. This time I pick a farther outside gate so taht I can take a wide line and carry more speed through the first turn. Well it didn't matter because this time I killed it on the line and ended up the last one off the line. I was pretty bummed about that but confident that I could ride a smart race and possibly catch back up to the pack. I didn't end up even catching up the pack until the end of the race but at least I was close to finishing. At the beginning of the last lap I had caught up with a rider on a Honda 125 and made a clean pass on him pretty early in the lap. I managed to hold him off and make up a little more ground on the rest of the field but he was pressing me pretty hard. I made a mistake near the end of the lap that cost me pretty bad. I landed on the downside of a jump a gear to high and almost stalled out! I managed to save the engine from dying but wasn't able to save my position and the guy blew right by me. I was right on his tail in the next turn and all the way through the woops. I was sure that I had him passed everytime in the last 3 turns but he managed to slip away from me and keep my in next to last place. It turns out there was one guy that was even slower than me! I ended up at the end of the day with a DNF and an 8th place! I guess it's not too bad for my first race after only about 15 different times on an MX track.

My knee hurts pretty bad after the second moto. I was pushing myself a lot harder during the second race to try to catch up. I'm goign to see an orthopedist this week to see about getting some knee braces through my insurance to make sure I DON"T seriously hurt myself next time. Everything seemed to happend twice as fast when I was racing even though I was going the same speed I was during practice. Kirtwell is the only ATM member that I saw out there. He was hauling some serious butt on his 426!

[psyklone393]

it sounds like you had fun, which is what counts. bring on the pics!

and how's the knee?

-Z

[Keetoman393]

Great job! I hope your knee is ok though.

[Imahoot393]

Sounds like you did good on your first race ever. Sorry about the knee though and yes, knee braces sound like a great idea.

[Racer#857]

gotta give ya props for finishing your first race i wasnt' so furtunate, but glad you had fun and didn't end up like me.

[Blitz393]

awesome results!! how many were in your class? that sounds like a great experience, now bring on the pics!! lol

Rob

[04whyzee]

Pics will be posted tomorrow when I get them from my mom who was nice enough to take pictures and video for me. Next time I'm getting the holeshot and taking 1st place!

[char393]

great write-up. bummer about your knee, but great job on finishing! i hope your knee feels better and can't wait to see the pics.

hmmm...sounds like the racing bug may have bit someone

[TRXman86]

Originally posted by Racer#213
i wasnt' so furtunate, but glad you had fun and didn't end up like me.

i had the same mis fortune when i broke my front sprocket. tore the teeth like a piece of paper. my first moto i forgot to put it in gear and was last off the gate. i ended up in 4th and a DNF in moto 2 due to breakage. sorry about your knee. hope it aint serious and u can run again. congrats though.

[paul reed]

yup,there`s allways a next time to show`em who`s "the boss"

[Woody_393]

Congrats man. That's not bad at all. I took dead last my first two races.

[KLRay]

Congratulations whyzee!

[04whyzee]

Got a little update on my knee. Looks like i'll be off the bike for at least 2 weeks. I haven't gone to see a doctor yet (got an appt with an orthopedist on Thursday), but I cannot even climb 3 steps without considerable pain. My left knee is about twice teh size of my right knee and has a HUGE bruise on the inside and a nice size one on the cap that looks to be from direct blunt trauma. I won't know anything for sure but I am most definitly out for at least a week.

[Woody_393]

ahhh... that sucks man... Let us know what the doc says. I hope it's just a good ol'e bruise and nothing more...

[Jason450]

That is awesome 04whyzee, that post brought back alot of memories about my first race and how nervous I was and how badly I wanted to go out there and win. Sorry about the knee, that sucks but like Woody-CRF said hopefully it is just a bruise. Some of the best advice I ever got is "it is better to jump way long and land hard than come up a little bit short." Good luck on recovery and I hope you whoop them in the next race!

[ddfh_4_life]

Thats awesome man, congrats. Didnt read it all, but the stuff that really counts, lol. Sucks about the knee, but the raffle and the day in general makes up for it. You will Always remember that day, trust me. My first race was awesome, but with mishaps. A guy almost hit the flagger at the finish line, so I didnt see the flag, went around and whipped it around by accident on a drop off and slammed down pretty good. But enough about me. Sounds like you had a pretty decent day, and good luck on your future races!