This is how I spent my February 28th, 2009. I spent it riding my KTM 250 xcfw through rocks, sand, tamarack, and just plain dirt, racing in the 2009 Rhino Rally. Now in the picture to the left you will notice that there is dust in the background and that I failed to mention that I rode through dust. Well the reason is that to avoid the dust you must be near the front. The other way of avoiding the suffocating dust is to be waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy in the back. Guess where I was.
This race was always supposed to be my first motorcycle race, but this just happened to be one year late. I originally wanted to run the 2008 race, but my woeful lack of motorcycle experience delayed the adventure till this year. The first weekend in Feb was spent pre-running what we thought was the race course. It turned out that we pre-ran only the last 5 or so miles of the course. So how did I do? Well within the first 10 minutes of the race I had dropped my bike into a shallow ditch like ravine off the side of the trail and then spent the next 10 minutes trying to extract and restart the 2 fiddy. At this point I discovered I was probably in last place. I chased down some riders, passed them, and then came to a hill that was full of rocks the size of cantaloupes and watermelons.
Up until this point I hadn't dropped or crashed since that first episode (falling over in feather soft sand does NOT count as a crash) and was feeling energized and confident. This mountain took all that away and then gave it all back. About a quarter the way up, I lost all momentum and came to a stop with my front and rear wheels against ledges. Hop off the bike, try and walk the bike over this obstacle, stall the bike, begin the kicking. At this point in the story lets go back to preparing the KTM for the race. I went through the bike tightening, checking, re-checking, etc. everything I could think of. The only thing I wasn't able to do is top off the battery with a charge. I wasn't to worried because after 5-10 minutes of riding the battery will charge enough to start the bike pretty easily. I used up the battery during the aftermath of my first dismount (really the battery only turned the motor over a few times before totally dying) and my nap in the feather soft sand confirmed that the battery was still kaput. So here I am, a quarter the way up this gnarly hill with only the kick starter available to start the bike. To make matters worse the kick starter is on the wrong side of the bike in relation to the slope of the hill and the angle of the bike. Whats a short legged racer to do? Back the bike down 10 feet or so and kick it. During this contemplation of my navel, two riders passed me. A third stalled out just passed my point of stallation (my thesaurus is not working) and slowly backed his bike down past mine. We started talking in between kicks and he asked why I didn't just push the button (up until now I hadn't tried)? I told him that my battery was dead and to prove it I pushed the button. That's when I heard the noise, a noise I hadn't heard in a while (it seems like an eternity when you are kicking a bike on a hill and its not starting), the engine running. I quickly jump on the bike, yell goodbye and good luck and off I go.
My first challenge was getting past the point of the previous stallation. That cleared, I now focused on smoothness, clutch work, and momentum. I made it look easy heheheheh. The hill of death and life was left in my dust. The rest of the race was great. We came down off the mountain and into some of the washes we pre-ran. I focused on being smooth and slow :). I came to a turn that led out of a wash where course workers were directing me up a small sand hill. Now my nemesis is small sand hills. I stopped to look at the hill when a course worker came up to ask me if I was all right. I nodded but must have had a look in my eyes that said otherwise. She asked me again and I nodded again, but I wasn't as alright as my nod suggested. All I was thinking was that I didn't know if I had the energy or desire to pick up the 250 if I tipped it over on the sand hill. I was spent. The hill presented no problem. I then picked up speed and chased down one of the riders who passed me on the hill of death and life, and then rode through the finish banner exhausted and ecstatic at the same time. My race was over.
During the post race bench racing, I learned that the rest of our race "team" spent the whole day riding in dust, dodging the invisible rocks and generally wishing for the end to come. I, on the other hand, rode the race in the clear desert air, avoiding the rocks and generally having a wonderful time (don't tell anybody, but I actually stopped on the race course at the top of a hill to take in the view and wonder at the fortunate circumstances that allowed me this view, this day). Thanks for reading.
PS If anyone finds a finishers pin in the desert from the 2009 Rhino Rally, its mine. Take it and hang it on your wall.
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