So, if you ride a desert bike and in the last six months the only races you have done were off-road, does that make you an off-roader? Even though I ride moto every day, I haven’t raced a motocross event since Steel City last September. My older brother, who came along to the Lake Havasu WORCS race this weekend, insists I am converted. The four-hour drive through the desert was full of jokes about my big tank and how I should unload my bike and just ride it to the track. I guess he was just paying me back for teasing him about being too afraid of jumps and switching to harescrambles.
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I have heard many great things about the Lake Havasu race; mostly about how rough and sandy the course was. I was slightly disappointed when I saw the track was more rock than sand and while it was rough I thought the trails at 395 were way worse. But I was even more disappointed because I also always heard about how hot it is there and how everyone just goes down to the lake to watch the pro race. I was hoping to get a tan on these very white legs of mine, but it was cold and windy. Luckily, the sun wasn’t out because the glare off my legs would have blinded everyone.
As for the actual race, that’s where the real disappointment starts. I was in fourth on the first lap, and once again I had a hard time taking it easy. I am used to racing nationals where they’ve cut the women down to only three laps before. If you don’t get the holeshot, you’ve got to move right away! That “all out” mentality is burned into my brain, and I don’t really want to get rid of it because I am going to need it come Glen Helen in May. I ended up falling over after grabbing too much front brake to avoid running into the girl in front of me who went into the corner much slower than I anticipated. It was a stupid mistake that left me in last place. I should have just been patient and waited. But then again, I am hardly ever patient for anything. I came back to second by the end of the second lap, but by then Jessica Patterson had opened up a big lead and I was left to ride around by myself for the rest of the race. This meant I had about forty minutes of chewing myself out for crashing. One thing about off-road, you have a lot of time to think about what you did wrong on the first lap.
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I guess I was more bummed because I had a month’s notice about this race, unlike the first WORCS race I did when I decided two days before I was going to borrow a bike and do it. I had higher expectations, but either way it was still fun and I look forward to doing more off-road races – even though I don’t plan on buying one of those big, clear gas tanks I always make fun of my brother for. Luckily, KTM’s XC model comes with a sleek, black tank, which is hardly noticeable how big it actually is, although my kickstand is a dead giveaway. I just wanted to say that, even though I enjoy the long races, rough tracks and laid-back atmosphere of the off-road races, I don’t consider myself an off-roader. My true love is still motocross. I am just enjoying a little spring fling with its ugly yet super fun cousin. Shhhh... Don’t tell. ;)
