Chuck Vincent Racing

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As the winter riding died down, I took a leap with the idea of MX cross training.  I added a new bike for 2008.  The tool of choice is a 2008 KTM 250 sx-f.  I updated it with springs to support my style and ability on a motocross track, which is complete beginner.  A Friday night mini series is the goal, with the idea that more seat time and expanding my riding abilities.  As some of our harescrambles include some motocross this seems like a good idea.

As the snow is now flying in Minnesota and the temperatures have dropped into the single digits, you can now see snowmobiles everywhere you go. As an off road motorcycle rider, you can not take time off just because its cold outside. Motivated by some new racing friends, and partially inspired by seeing the first round of the WEC on TV last week (it was a snowy race in Sweden) I have am going to embark on winter woods riding.

After a short research period I have decided to go with the very popular Trelleborg Winter Traction series tires. I will give you all a full report on the handeling of the new sneekers after our trip out this weekend to Northfield MN.

You can see a lot more photos of the tires by clicking here: Winter Studs Pics

I am slowly getting everything set up. It’s taking some time, but I will try to back fill this site with all the results and photos from 2007. I will keep posting updates here regularly now, so look forward to ice racing details as the winter is on it’s way here in MN.

With the 2007 off-road season now in the books, its official, I am a “B” rider. By winning the vet-c championship I am forced to move into the vet-b class for both enduro’s and hare scrambles in 2008. I am actually looking forward to longer races, and more competition, i just hope it’s not too overwhelming. At the Cambridge event this year, we (the c class) rode after the a-b classes because of a special event taking place and at first I was worried that the track would be destroyed. I was used to having a near virgin track, with the exception of some mini riders on it earlier in the morning, we were the ones that created the ruts and bottomed out all the mud holes. But to my surprise it was actually nice to have lines to follow, in most cases there were some ruts and obstacles that would not have been present if we rode first, but with good line selection, I think I was faster on the used track. Then again I might be biased, as that was my first win on the new KTM 300 xc-w.

I was easily the most nervous I have even been, thinking I could vomit on the starting line, next to the only guy that I had to beat to my left. It had been raining all night, and we were in the middle of a harvested corn field lined up in mud that was slowly sucking our bikes down while we were waiting for the start.

The shot gun blares, and the e-start button becomes my best friend, as we are drag racing to the first off-camber right hand turn I see the green KX of my rival to my left and I follow him into the first turn. What comes next can only be compared to being shot with a potato gun at shot range. The roost knocks the wind out of me and blows my goggles off. The first mile was this high speed race from turn to turn in the very muddy field easily shifting into 5^th gear and finding the top of what the 300 can do. The three classes before us had ruined any possible traction and the racing line was a 15 foot wide pile of pudding. I spent the next two turns very wide, ducking the mud missiles launching from the bike in front of me. I take a run to the inside and take the line in the fourth or fifth muddy turn, I make sure I down shift to make the roost as damaging as possible and give me a second to get an advantage before I have to bang handlebars in the next turn.

The pass sticks and I quickly cycle though fourth and then fifth trying to hold the bars as straight as possible in the ruts created by the first three waves and the tractor that worked this field before Mother Nature decided to soak it all night. Pushing as hard as I can in this last of the long strait-a-way’s as I can see the woods rapidly approaching. I can already see the tail end of the Open class stacking up on a small hill at the entrance to the woods section of this first lap. A quick whoop-whoop cleared a few of the guys just trying to survive the course and knew the screaming 2-strokes ascending on their position were not slowing down to wait a turn. Big bore bikes toppled to the left and right, I decided third gear wide open, up the middle was the best way to go. It also turned out to be a good decision, what would turn out to be a series of good decisions today. The bottom end power was not lost in this deep mud, and as soon as I was clear of the hill, it was a sloppy single track with no one in front to roost me, as I am now stuck with no eye protection.

Passing slower riders became survival, and doing so, trying not to waste any energy was paramount. I could no longer here the KX behind me, but I was not about to look, or even think about it. I concentrated on making clean passes in a mud bath that trumped Budd’s Creek in 2005. At one point I came back onto a clear corn field, and I could not be happier. Compared to the greasy single track, the fields allowed for a wider line selection and a lot more speed.

Diving back into the woods, via another steep hill littered with bikes, this one with more riders off their bikes, some catching their breath, some helping push others up. A course worker was trying to direct traffic, but was standing in what I thought was the best line, and I was not above heading right for him. He got out of the way, and I did not have to slow down. With every pass I made, I secretly hoped my competition would struggle passing the same slow goers.

Now we are dumped into a tight woods section with large rocks, this was also wet but strangely not as muddy as the rest of the track. However in the middle of this section was the obstacle called “the trailer chicane”. A single wide house trailer with a stack of logs piled up to the front door. Getting up the wet logs was not as difficult as making the ninety degree turn around the kitchen cabinets making a b-line for the rear door. Muddy carpet and wood flooring keep your speed in check, and tested your throttle control. Jumping out the hole in the rear of the trailer concludes the most interesting obstacle I have ridden though in quite some time.

Some more muddy single track leads us back to the motocross track. Knowing words could not do this justice, I will try. Imagine a medium to medium high skill level moto track, now image the first 14 inches of dirt and clay under your tires. The track promoter took some claw implement to the track which created these 14-18 inch deep ruts running parallel to the track. The consistency was enough to push your front wheel in whatever direction it wanted, and deep enough to actually make foot peg marks as you try to climb the huge muddy jump faces. I could tell I had to have passed more than half of the first three classes, as there were very few tracks though the mud, and no desirable “beaten path”.

This was a test of upper body strength and the ability to keep momentum. I was shocked at the shear amount of bikes stuck trying to climb these jumps, most were making half way up and sliding back down. Seeing this as the worst possible thing to happen to both my race flow and my energy level, I took a slow and steady approach, click the 300 into third gear and just kept the bike above idle. Even more disturbing was those I was passing now on these muddy mounds were the fastest of the previous classes. At the end of the moto track, comes the scoring tent. One fellow wipes about 5 pounds of mud from my front fender and number plate to be able to read my number and record my lap time on the fender tag. I look down horrified to see something in the 24 minute range.

Stopping just after the tent, Kelly and Patrick are waiting with clean goggles and words of encouragement. I must have been mumbling out of my mind, I just keep hearing Kelly repeating, calm down, calm down. The new goggles were brand new and had the new roll off system installed. Brand new anything in race environment is the worst thing you can do. I could not breathe with these goggles on; they were pushing down on my nose, so I took them off only seconds after putting them on. I figured I rode the entire first lap with no eye protection, what’s one more lap.

Starting back in the wide open fields, this time with no mud launching machine in front of me, there was still decent traction because the racing line was as wide as you wanted to make it, so in a zig-zag fashion I rode as fast at my 300 would take me, hearing nothing behind me was a welcome change. Of course approaching the woods again, more hill side dwellers with muddy bikes resting on trees littered the entrance.

The biggest difference on the second lap came in the single track sections. The ground was so punished now all hopes of traction were gone. You could now clearly see the right and left out-rigger skid marks from the boots of the riders laboring along in the mud and muck. A combination of the changing track condition and the ever growing muscle fatigue made this the hardest section. I welcomed the next open field section, where I came to find some familiar helmets of others in my class, now realizing they were still working though their first lap, I felt my pace was on par to keep my lead.

Heading back to the moto track for the second time, there was a large hill just getting to the entrance, this tested my traction as the bike screamed all the way up, at which point I could hear the hissing of the radiator and see the large white cloud of steam. I stopped for a minute and seen the overflow hose was blown off the top of the radiator, this could only mean the bottom of it was caked with mud and this was the only way to relieve the pressure in the cooling system. I spat a few mouth full’s of cold water from my camel back onto the radiator and the hissing stopped.

I restarted the bike (thanks again e-start) and headed for the moto track. I was pleased that there was something resembling a racing line, but it was still raining and nothing was packed or even “safe” to ride on the only advantage was the large ruts from the tracker in these places were knocked down into a brown-grey soup. I made my way around the track and was approaching the scoring tent, which was guarded by a 75 foot single track in some light woods. I pulled over just before the single track and shut off the bike. Puzzled, one spectator asked if I wanted him to open the gate, like I just wanted out. I looked up and asked “are they pulling fender tags yet?” pointing over to the scoring both 50 foot away. “I don’t think so”, he replied. At this point Kelly and Patrick started my way as they saw me stop short of the entrance to the scoring area. I confirmed my horror when Kelly told me the rider right in front of me was given a 54 minute first lap and sent out for another. I decided to hold up for the next six minutes, looking over my shoulder for any bike that might look like a muddy KX. Three or four more riders did come though, and sent back out for a third lap, I just shook my head. I was not prepared or even interested in racing for a better overall position; I just wanted my win and the glory of Vet C Champion. After my rest, I started the bike and rode though the tent 26 seconds after the one hour mark securing my season win.