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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thes 5:16-18 |
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Today is: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 |
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02/04/07 Barnwell Race Report Good Morning race fans! The 2007 Enduro racing season started on February 4th, and the TRIC warriors were ready to battle another year of fun. It was at The Barnwell Mountain Recreational Area outside of Gilmer Texas. The race was an AMA National, running the new rules of restart test sections. We went, we rode, we talked to the Pros, and we had a good time. Chad and Shawn showed up at my house at 7am on Saturday to help load. We met the rest of the warriors at the IHOP in Greenville at 9:30 for breakfast. The race was only about 2 ½ hours away, so the drive was easy, and we arrived about 12:30. We met Cheri, Joseph, and Tara looking for a place to park. We heard they had places to plug in the RVs, and we found a place by the air compressor. It was great not having to listen to the generators all night. We went to sign up and the first available row was 64. We filled rows 64, and 65. Pat and Marked showed up later and got on row 74. We were estimating over 350 riders would be racing. Parts Unlimited sponsored a free BBQ for everybody, and that was some great food. We all ate too much. While we were waiting for the serving line to open, Kathy managed to end up first in line. She said she was just talking to some riders, and ended up in front. We were all back around 10th in line, so we spend some time picking on her for cutting in front of everyone. In retaliation, she walked by waving her food at us. Deb took off after her trying to get her plate. There was lots of running, laughing, and great fun. Next time I’m hanging close to Kathy, so I can get to the food first. We had about 25 people at the church service. Art did the worship, and the teaching. He told his testimony, and how God delivered him for a bizarre marriage, and restore his relationship with his kids, and is continuing to bless him daily. God does miracles all the time; we need to be looking for them. The next morning we went to the riders meeting and we told there were very few danger markers on the course. Danger started from the start, and went all the way to the finish. The whole course is dangerous. Dick Burleson explained the format, and Gary Hazel told us to be safe. Being on late rows is great. This gave us plenty of time to get ready; however, it also meant that over 200 riders were ahead of us. This was good and bad. All the rocks would be knocked out of the way, but all the ruts would be deeper, and all tree roots would be exposed and slick. When our time came to leave the start, Chad took off like a rocket. I fell in behind, followed by Dave, Shawn, and Deb. About 100 yards later, Chad clipped a rather large rock and went down. I zoomed by as he skipped a crossed the ground, and so did the rest of the row. By the time he regained his composure, Dan and the boys on row 65 were coming toward him at speed. Chad got going just before Scott did a mirror image crash in the same place. We pay to have this kind of fun. It was 4.8 miles to the first restart, and the trail getting there was littered with k-narley up hills, steep down hills, and tight single track trail. We all made it with time to spare. We checked into the test one and rode 4.5 miles of some really technical terrain. The hills got steeper, and longer. The rocks got bigger, and more abundant. The ruts and roots got deeper and slipperier. It would be like this for the next 28 miles. At the check-in to test two, my clutch started acting up, and after 2 miles of stalling the bike, and over shooting turns, and found a road back to camp. Deb made to all the way to test two, with the help of Mark Bottoms pulling her out of a mud hole. She had enough fun for the day, and went back to camp. Chad completed test two, after Mark pulled his bike off of him on a steep down hill. Chad succumbed to the torture, and came back to camp. Jeffrey’s clutch cable broke, and he tried to finished, but got too far behind, and the check crew sent him back to camp. The rest of the warriors were still in the fight, except for Scott. He made it all the way through test two, (very impressive) and got stuck in a mud rut. He called us on his cell, and we told the sweep riders to pick him up. A little while later, Dick Burleson (the 8 time national champ, and race promoter) pulled into our camp with Scott on board. He had pulled Scott out of the mud, and got his bike to the road. We got in Mark’s truck, and went to pick up the bike. The rest of the warriors went the distance, and have great storied to tell. Log on to www.tscec.org to find out how we did. The following results are unofficial: *Ralph (clutch problems) White – 9th 50+ C Class *Deb (that cute wife of mine) White – 4th Women’s Class Joseph (riding the B class) Southerland – 5th 200 B Class *Dave (I’m not tired) Baxter – 7th 250 C Class *Mark (may I help you) Bottoms – 7th 40+ B Class *Pat (I’m tired) Brook – 6th 40+ C Class *Dan (the B course is tough) Frank – 4th 250 B Class Chad (auto clutch) Norris – 4th 200 C Class Shawn (I’m out of shape) Rife – 6th Open C Class Scott (riding with King Richard) Frank – 5th 16 and under small wheel class I didn’t get scores on Jeffrey, *Art (Who’s boot caught a strand of barbed wire, and pulled him of the bike), and Josh. As always we want to thank our pit crew. Kathy, Brenda, Cheri, Tara, Jayne, Conner, Brandon, and Preston, Thank you for being there, cheering us on, and feeding us. You are great!
Reported By: TRIC Prez |
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Racing and Event Reports |