ATK Rider's Bulletin Board

[oldnbroken]

Well I was able to finish another fun but tough race on the ATK. Last Saturday was the 49th annual Sugarloafers AMA National Hare and Hound race at Cherry Creek in central Utah. It was 2 separate loops totaling 100 miles. Conditions were hot and extremely dusty, with emphasis on the dusty part. First loop was 48 miles of fairly fast 2 track with some fun technical washes and rocky hillclimbs. The second loop was 52 miles of almost all single track in the mountains through the cedar trees.

Conditions created an interesting day. On the first loop I had a couple of high speed get offs while riding almost blind in the dust. 8 miles after the pits I hit a rock and went down hard, breaking the clutch lever off of the master cylinder. The remaining 44 miles was tough without a clutch.

It was very satisfying to finish this race. I didn't podium this time, but this O/50 Expert class is proving to be tough competition. You can't spend as much time on the ground as I did and keep up.

I have to throw in a plug for FI. Every time the bike hit the ground it would lay there and idle perfectly. I would shut if off to save it from oil starvation, and when I got it right side up again it would instantly start right back up and away we would go for some more abuse. Dirt bikes are amazing machines.

Here's the AMA report: http://www.amadirectlink.com/news/story.asp?id=889

[atkrider]

Thanks for sharing your race results. I ran that race years ago on a 605 - I also had a few get-offs. A lot of fun trails. In a dusty section it was scarry to go slow (get hit from behind), or go fast and hit someone or something ahead.