A dirty race report from a roadracer

Saturday: Arrived at Winchester Speed Park and met my hosts Dave and Suzanne Boisvert and Motocross Racer Kip Komosa. Very nice people. The beginner racer class had 9 eager students. After the intoductions the class began with the rules, bike set-up, race procedure, etc. Then off to the SX track. The first thing was a track walk followed by practicing starts. After around doing 8 of these I was already exhausted. Then we practiced turning. Then it was lunch provided by the school. A welcome and well needed treat. I had a Gatorade to wash down cheeseburger. I really needed a cheeseburger and a case of Gatorade. After that we practiced jumps. A little one first. Not bad. I can do this. Then off to a larger one. Oh boy. I actually was amazed at how well the bike absorbed the front wheel landing first. And the rear wheel bouncing off the top of the double hill when I failed to clear it. Fun so far. Then they cut us loose. The whole course. It seemed like a endurance race I was so beat and then I thought I would try jumping a little further. Like on television. The Yamaha might have 14 inches of travel but needs more like three feet. I made the jump but did not survive the next whoopdedoo. Over the handlebars and my helmet hit the dirt pretty good. Dave asked me if I was alright. "Sure". Boxers say the same thing when taking the standing eight count. But I did ride some more at a much slower pace after that performance. Only a bruised ego and ribs. Next we went on a safari across the street on the motocross track. This looked easy and fast.
Sunday: Awoke and except for the soreness in the ribs and now the left hip I sorta felt I should not do this. Paced back and forth at the signup window and right before cutoff I thought "This is why I came here" I signed on the dotted line and it is rather cheap. I skipped practice because there were too many bikes or some excuse that worked. But now this track is not looking like that same track we did a tour of. Oh boy. I got the 14th race. I pick the lane that sends me wide in the first turn. I ride thru loam that was very deep. Steering was nearly impossible. I came out of turn 1 in 12 place. At least I got two riders behind me to race against. Then at around the fourth turn I was taking the inside line and I hit the barrel. Well actually I was on the bike and the loam and lack of steering put me on the inside line and I hit the barrel. Down I went. Getting this bike up and getting back on it was so tiring. I finally puttered away. After about 1 lap I started getting some speed up and went on the inside line. I did not make the corner and rode down the back of the berm to the outside berm and hit loam and down again. I finally get the bike up and restarted and off I go and now I am getting lapped. I am glad. One less lap for me. Its over and I manged last. The second moto I have a plan. I will start in the lane closest to the corner. Get a holeshot and get into the corner first and they all will have to go around me in that deep loam. I figure they cannot do this. Well they can. It worked as planned but I was last coming out of turn one anyhow. Frustrated I go to Plan 2. Just take a leisurely ride on this course and call it a day. Nope. About half a lap I washed out the front again. This time it stalled and won't start. Finally push it off course cause here everybody is coming. A cornerworker helps me start the bike. Thank You to whoever you are. I never could push it back. I finished three laps and it was over.
Summary: I had lots of fun even though it was bruising and I am not any good at it. I am very sore today. Even my fingers are tired. Just every muscle I have and some I discovered today are sore. I met a lot of people. All were so nice. The facility is awesome. Clean and just so nice in the mountain setting. I am very happy I did it. I do not think MX is for me at age 54 though. I think I will go trail riding. And stick to roadracing. As a added bonus when I see it on TV I will have a much better understanding of what is going on. I hand it to you guys. It is a tough sport. Thanks to all that made this past weekend a time I won't forget.