"Ways of Skinning a Cat"

 

"There is more then one way to skin a cat".

I personally never skinned a cat, but I can only assume there are various methods to achieve that goal.

 

My father had a saying; "my way or the high way" He had other sayings but most of them can't be printed on a family web site.

 

I once had a foreman that was famous for this gem; "there are three ways to do things, the right way, the wrong way and my way".

 

On this Sunday, riders had to traverse the one hundred plus acres of Fox Valley in some what soggy conditions. Once again the weather was co-operative for race day but the ground had taken a rain pounding during the week and the grass was wet, the creek bed had big puddles with slippery banks and the hills were greasy. 1.5 inches of rain fell on Friday alone!

 

 While setting up, we had a pair of staff members lose a quad at the top of a slick hill, the pilot and his helper were able to jump off the quad before it went into a barrel roll back to the bottom. Damage wise for the quad; it was put back into service with a roll and a half of duct tape. Putting the pilot back into service required an extensive dose of Anacin. This happens as age sets in.

 

Going back to skinning a cat and the right and wrong ways to do things, I noticed there are many ways to get a two hundred plus pound motorcycle up a wet hill or over a slick creek bank.

One way is to get about half way up the bank and then jump off and push the back of the bike as hard as you can.

While this is minimally effective, it sure is fun to watch the thing wobble and then smash into the ground.

Another less effective way is to run into the rider in front of you, that gets him up the bank but leaves you a bit short.

Choosing  an alternative line has mixed results. Sometimes the new line doesn't go the way you want to go, and choosing a line that has yellow or red tape protecting it will almost always get the attention of the boss, Mr. Revallo found this out, early in the big bike race, ducking under the tape on the access road, effectively taking off about 10 ft of course, cost him precious time as he had to go back under the tape, wait for traffic, and then proceed, all the time "talking to course official" about the "tape was down", LOL that was the same tape which was ducked.  Needless to say it was taped much more aggressively and no chance to miss it the next lap! 

Going up hills in the mud is an acquired art.

The experienced guys hit it hard and fast, stay the line and the bike is up and over before it has a chance to slip out.

The older guys chug up with a firm grip and feet planted on the pegs.

And then there is the in between; get half way up, lose the line and hit a tree. This causes you to lose momentum. Momentum is an important factor in getting up a hill, it keeps you from falling over. Falling over causes the guy behind you to make an adjustment in his line. You can see how this could become a vicious circle.

 

I noticed there were other popular ways up a hill on Sunday, one was to suddenly pop a wheelie near the top and lose your grip on the bike. It's that momentum thing again.

Missing a shift just as you get into the really slick stuff is a momentum killer.

 

For some riders, the 'third time is a charm' attack worked well, this is where you slip out and hit a tree on your first attempt up, pop a wheelie on your second and finally, a wide open throttle, clutch smoking blast up the hill, cursing the whole way.

 

The day started with the quads lining up first, and after a short delay while the boss took another dose of Anacin, he dropped his hat.

Quad A Class Shea Dickson(25) and Ramsey Ellis hit the trail first and were quickly assaulted by Shane Guant and John Mccarrens (165) from the B class, twenty six riders went in to the woods and this Sunday was perfect for the quad jockeys. No dust. Quads are not effected by things like mud and slop. They thrive on that stuff and they make going up a hill look easy. After an hour of steam and sweat Shea had the A and overall win while Shane came up second in the overall and on top in B.

Rodger Swim aced +35 and an overall fourth on the day.

C class riders only saw the back of Bill Payne in his wire to wire win.

 

 

 

Over on the East side the 85's, 65's and Woman squared off. 85 class Keagan Schmidt and Scott Sexton battled for ten laps with Keagan besting all twenty one riders. Derek Rice made the trip up from down south to see how fast the north guys go, he stayed on the lead lap but a slow start he could never recover from. Of course when the "north" boys go south, he is the boy to beat down there. Andrew Porter split the four riders and ended up third. Muddy uphills, and slick off cambers made a course change necessary on the first lap as only 4 of the 85 riders made it up the hill and 2, 65 riders. This shorten the lap up a little but kept the flow of the race going smoothly.

In 65cc class, American C.N.C./ Team Megacross, FVOR's favorite son Travis Ward wreaked havoc along with Ian Beller to where the 85 riders were moving aside. Ian stayed the pace, until lap 6 and got into a little predicament. Losing about 2 minutes and letting Ward get away. Ian came back strong the next lap but to little to late. Both boys did very well running 1st and 2nd in 65cc class, and overall in the 85/65 class taking 5th and 7th on the day. (85cc takes off 30 seconds ahead of 65cc class). Cole Evans put in a good ride with Joe Voegtle pushing up from a bad first lap. The first uphill looked like a yard sale of machines and took several minutes to get all the 85's and 65's off of it. The big surprise was Cindi Seibert in Woman's, not only is she racking up series points but she bested another Seibert who was not in the Woman's class, that had to be a long ride home for Jake.

 

The little people had a wet day skinning cats on the small tract. Cody Kennedy in 50 brought home the big plaque while over in 50 Jr. fourteen riders came to the line and after another hat drop they saw Haydon Schmidt come back from a disastrous first lap to try and catch Shawn Thompson. Shawn held on and Haydon brought home second. I have my eye on a guy named Garrett, soon, he will be tearing it up like his old man, except he will be better looking while he is doing it.

 

In 65 Beg. Kurt Harper held off all fifteen starters for his win, his biggest threat was Mason Schuhler who had a bad start and had to pick his way through the pack to try and catch a pumped up Kurt. Of course the other thing that Kurt had to worry about is seeing through his bangs.  You see Kurt has let his hair grow out, dad is a little jealous since his is disappearing. But a tight goggle strap kept him in the lead and being able to see the trees.   

Thumpers were back on the west side this day. Comments were heard about how much better it was to be back in there own area, and not the whole course. No notoriety, no hoopla, just a good ride in the woods in which John Conley won going away since he found out not to bring his "friends" who are faster then he expected along to beat him! Mr. Conley did a good job in the wet conditions and is fully recovered from last years broken leg episode.  

Big bikes had a rough day, they not only skinned cats, but elbows, knees and knuckles.

The first rider to get skinned was Jesse Keith in A, he was making a pass on his second lap around a downed rider who had dropped HER bike in the barrels, just as Jesse came along side her, she got the bike upright, a little too upright. Just enough upright to knock Jesse over. It was a memorable moment for the guy who sponsors both of them.

Kevin Finefield made it through the maze to a first in 40A, Jozef Janus ran the hills in textbook style to top 30B and Will Heitman did it for 30A. Special note, want to know where Will is on the course, just listen closely over his RTR 525 KTM, you will hear his whooopin and hollaring as he comes up on slower riders. Will is not bashful.

The 86-200 C class used every trick they had to conquer the hills and creek banks, Jeff Tazbier conquered the class and Theresa Lanute didn't knock over any more riders, sponsored or otherwise. She did do the best 'wheelie at the top of a hill' I saw all day. It was so rewarding, I get to buy a new pipe.

 

Nine riders made it off in the 'over the hill' class of Plus 50. They made it over every hill, Gary Peterson (635) made it first and my old buddy 'Sportsman of the year' Bob Mitchell made it back to Fox Valley. I had a brief visit with Bob before the race, he was signing autographs and selling copies of his new book "The History of Racing and I've Been There From the Beginning".

 

 Dan Brackney and Bob Johnson did it for 86-200 B,  201-C was a monster class sending out thirty two riders, lots of lead changes, plenty of well executed hill climbs and one really happy guy, John Horn.

 

On a serious note, please use caution when riding in the pits, one rider per bike (they are designed that way for a reason), leave your scooters at home (you can bring the girlfriend) but she can get a ride around the block, not up and down the hills. Wear a helmet on your head even if you are just headed over to the concession stand or to get Bob Mitchell's autograph.

 

We will be back in business on August 26, keep checking the web site for updates.