Jacob911.com

This last weekend was one of the most fun I have had all year. On Saturday I was able to play ride literally all day, and I think we went through about 3 tanks of gas.  It was cool to get out and ride with Bob Roberts and John Kearney whom I normally only see while I’m racing. We went up into some awesome single track trails that Bob showed us for the first time, and it worked out to be the perfect practice for the race on Sunday.

It rained really bad all day on Saturday and it seemed like we were able to get a tank of gas in between each major rain storm! At about 3 PM we went to sing up and run the bomb before it closed for the day, but the ground was so wet that it virtually didn’t matter where I lined up. After a shower we all went into Lucerne to get food at our favorite local restaurant.  Adelitas is a Mexican restaurant that we go to every time that we are out at the races, and the rain coupled with a low club turnout made for a perfect night to go get tacos!

Race Day

I woke up early to get my gear on a run the bomb one last time before having breakfast and getting ready to race. The dirt was still super wet, and literally every line was perfectly smooth. I think this was one of the wettest weekends even though it had only rained for one day!

After one last bomb run I returned to the pits to hear that the start had been delayed, apparently because of excess rain taking down course markings. I ended up having to sit for about an hour or so waiting for the 10 AM start time. My Friend Nick Burson and I spent time talking about the nationals and plans for the El Centro round (this coming weekend!)

About 9:30 we got back over to the start and just picked a spot on the line. I ended up towards the middle and actually was pretty happy with my location. As the 2 minute warning went up, I warmed my bike for a bit longer. The checkers had a smoke bomb go off, and then they dropped the banner. They dropped the banner and everyone went, except for me! My bike didn’t light so I went into panic mode> I kicked and kicked and then Ed yelled at me and I stopped for a second.

              One of the secrets to this Fuel Injected bike is that a slow and steady kick will get it to fire every time! So I did that and then I was off! Thankfully it was a dust free weekend!

Through the bomb I was trying to pass as many people as possible.  Every time I would come up on someone, I seemed to just bounce off to the right.  Eventually, and luckily before the trail started, I was sitting about 4^th overall. I could see Russell Landfield and Nick Burson ahead of me, and way off in the distance I saw Kendall. Russ was having a good ride, but I passed him at about mile 2. He let me over and later said that he ended up following Burson and I for a few miles.

Before we got to Anderson Dry Lakebed, I got around Nick. It widened out a bit and I just held it wide open. He was on the practice bike, which didn’t have a stabilizer, so I knew that it would be hard for him to keep up. I just held on and didn’t look back until I got to the top of the hill across the lakebed. It this point I could see that Kendall was well ahead, but just close enough that I could see where he was going. It worked to my advantage as I could almost see where the course was going before I got to the turns.

With about 3 miles to go on loop one, we crossed over the score road and into a tight sandy canyon. The dirt was incredible as rain provided a perfectly smooth trail for the most part. All of the sudden my bike began to cut out! At first I thought it was vapor locking, so I opened the Quickfill and realized that I was out of gas! That was no good.

So I’m sitting there waiting for Burson to catch me and I look up and see one of the Argubright Construction Trucks on the hill! HOW LUCKY WAS I! I yelled to my uncle Keith who was taking photos that I needed gas. My dad was there on the practice bike, so he came down to me. We used a water bottle to get about 4 miles worth of gas into the tank.  It all played out pretty quick cause I still hadn’t been passed, so what felt like a long time was probably only a matter of 30 seconds or so.

I came into the pits and they said I was about 4 minutes down. I knew this loop was going to be technical so I figured that I might have a shot to catch him. Unfortunately he just had too much. We rode this awesome trail called Checker’s Ridge. It was so cool! Twists and rocks, and the occasional echo of my bike made me think that I was really gaining on Kendall.  We finally got to the bottom into a check and I was in and out in the matter of a single downshift.

About 5 miles of sand washes later, we came up another ridge. I hadn’t seen Kendall’s dust for quite a ways, so I really had no idea where he was. After we came down the last hill and started to head back towards camp, I hit a checkpoint with some familiar faces.  It was the Paolino family, and they were excited to see me. I asked them how much further, mainly because I was worried that I would run out of gas, and they told me I was close enough to make it. He also told me that Kendall was about 10 minutes ahead of me.

Knowing he was physically out of range, I decided to play it safe and just cruise in for a finish. El Centro and the National are the important part of my schedule, so I knew that a finish was more important than a stupid crash.  I crossed the finish line about 10 minutes after Kendall, and got a second place finish which is good enough to keep me in the lead for season overall points.

This was a pretty good overall ride considering. It could have ended much worse, but I am just glad that I made it to the end ahead of a few riders who were all ready to pass me. I cant wait to get down to El Centro, and will be in the gym all week leading up to the National. As always I would like to thank my sponsors Kawasaki of Simi Valley, Kawasaki Team Green, Monster Energy, TBT Racing, BRP, FMF, IMS, Fastway, Pro Moto Billet, Rekluse, and of course Off Road Support.

Ed my mechanic was on hand all weekend, and really put in some hours this week getting all of my bikes ready for this race and the National next weekend. He virtually had to sit and watch while I spent the weekend playing in the rain! I can’t ever give enough thanks to Ed for everything that he does to help!

See you at the races!

Jacob911.com