Treeshot: (Pit 14 to Finish Line)
Wow, man do things change when the sun goes down. Big ole fires out in BFE with a bunch of drunk guys around them cheering you on as you go by. Jack rabbits smeared across the course everywhere. Lights from racers in front and behind that you can see but know they are miles and miles away. And just the general oddity of tearing across the desert at high speed when you have no idea what's next and everything around you is pitch black. The last 10 miles also happened to be the worst part of the whole 500 miles. Rough, gnarly, rocky, drop offs, tight, steep,and on top of that the thought of breaking down so close to the finish line. There was some serious carnage here. Shredded tires, tires on rims that looked like they had been beat on with an axe by a pissed off gorilla, bike parts, dudes parked along the side of the course looking dazed and confused from a crash. Everyone we talked to or heard on the scanner was saying how bad that last part of the course was. Most of the downhill stuff I just kinda held on while the bike danced around under me and tried to aim for the middle of the course. I was getting worried the bike was going to come apart because the course was so rough and we were so close to the finish. It held though and when I crossed the finish line Des was there and I could see the huge smile on his face. 4th times a charm man, congrats on finally finishing the race and thanks for providing me with a one of a kind opportunity. My first desert race ever that happened to be the longest off road race in america and we finished.
|
Desracers closing words:
Treeshot crossed the finish line around 10:15pm or so. We started racing around 7:30am. We had about 2 1/2 hours of downtime due to 4 flat tires, battery bolt loose, battery loose and had to adjust it to keep the battery in place, Swing arm bolt incident. Other that it was normal racing day.
The following day we took a better look at how much the bike took the beating, Swing arm skid plate and frame guard took nasty beating. Both of them are toast. It was brand new before the race and now it's junk!! Also the fan bracket broke off the radiator.
Would I do it again? The answer is yes!!
For some of the people that don't know, that was my 4th attempt at this 500 mile race and I finally made it to the finish line.
The first 3 tries I DNF!!
There You Have Our Off-Road Adventure!
|
