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| 16.07.2010 |
| Whitmore Recaps Last Two WMA Rounds |
| Thunder Valley and Red Bud Race Reports |
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Thunder Valley -
For the third round of the WMX nationals (fifth round for the men) we headed to high-elevation in Lakewood, Colorado. The past two years this race had been run at night under the lights, which I must admit, I was never a fan. Cursed with poor night vision I hate even driving to new places at night, and trying to race at top speeds when you can’t see is even scarier than driving. Of course the track workers knew it was dangerous to run a night race on a rough track so it went from being one of the roughest, and deepest rutted tracks out there to a highway that anyone can go fast on. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out this year’s race was back to the daytime and lit by the sun, no artificial lighting.
After struggling at the first couple of rounds I was happy to get a good start the first moto. It actually felt weird to have a good start because I haven’t been able to get one since Steel City last year! As much as I know I belong up front it is still nerve-racking once you are up there. I battled for a podium position for the majority of the race but was bummed that I let my nerves get the best of me near the end of the moto eventually falling from the top three.
I just needed a little extra confidence to get me up to where I know I belonged. And Mother Nature decided to give it to me. While lining up for our second moto of the day the sky turned black and there was lightening off in the distance. Because of the lightening they actually postponed our race and sent us back to the pits until after the rain hit. A half an hour later the rain still hadn’t come so they lined us back up. Just as we were about to take off for our hot lap it started coming down! It was the fastest hot lap I have ever been on. Nobody was really looking closely at lines because we were getting soaking wet and really couldn’t see well out of our goggles anyways.
After our hot lap they made us shut our bikes off and wait for what seemed like ages. We all thought for sure they weren’t going to let us race and we all started yelling and cheering saying “let us ride!” I know that they were just concerned about our safety with the lightening but we were already wet and ready to race, especially me. Coming from Michigan I have raced a lot in the rain, snow and mud. It’s where I feel the most comfortable. And when the gate dropped I was ready to have some fun!
I got another top 5 start and was smiling as I was sliding around the track. It hadn’t rained enough yet to actually be muddy it was just really slick. I was in 4th trying hard to get around Sara Price for 3rd. The most important rule about mud racing is not to follow or else you will get a full face of mud and very blurry vision. In one turn I went wide to get around Sara and ended up letting Vicky Golden sneak underneath me. By the time I finally did get around Sara I had to really push to reel Vicky back in. Unfortunately our 15 minute motos just aren’t long enough, and I came just a few feet short of 3rd place.
Barely missing the podium was disappointing, but it was such an improvement over the first two rounds I had to look on the bright side. It felt so much better to be back and battling for position. And it’s just a matter of time before I am back standing where I belong.
Red Bud -
The day after the Thunder Valley Motocross National, I finally got on a plane bound for my home state of Michigan. I hadn’t been home since January since I had been spending the winter months in California, avoiding the snow. After landing in Flint I spent the three-hour drive home catching up with my father and taking in the beautiful scenery (California has nothing on the beautiful green trees of Michigan), breathing in the fresh country air, and getting anxious for the following weekends race.
Even though Red Bud is a five hour drive from my house, it is still my home race. I’ll never forget my first time going to the Red Bud Motocross National. I was only 12 years old, and the night before my brother and I did the night race on the amateur track. I have terrible night vision (like I already explained in my Colorado update) and ended up hitting a huge hole I couldn’t see, going straight over the bars and received my very first concussion. After I woke up I jumped straight back on my bike and finished the race. Back then the pits at Red Bud were a little crazier than they are now. I remember naked people riding through the pits, and guys with suggestive words written on their chests. So even though I got to see my favorite rider of all time, Jeff Emig, win the next day, my dad would not let me go back to the national until I was 18.
Although I haven’t spent much time going to the National, I have ridden the track at least once a year since. And like most every rider on the circuit, it is my favorite track. Everything about it makes me drool when I see it. Even when I was 12, I couldn’t decide which looked better – the track or Jeff Emig?
As the race day drew near I couldn’t contain my excitement to race in front of my hometown crowd at my favorite track. In the first moto I started off in 6th battling with the 4th and 5th place runners. I was struggling all day with a blind double that I wasn’t comfortable jumping resulting in lost time. I was faster on other sections of the track but lost time every lap over that double.
The second moto I came around the first turn in about 10th, and passed up to 7th by the time I went into the corner before the whoops. Unfortunately, I was already committed to the turn when I realized the girl in front of me was going into it much slower than I was. To avoid running into her I grabbed a little too much front brake and washed my front end out, dropping 6 positions. I put my head down and charged, and really just enjoyed riding the track, and it seemed to work, because in a short amount of time I had worked my way back to 6th place again, barely missing 5th by the finish. This seems to be a problem of mine this year, I am just starting to warm up when the moto is over, our 15 minutes just isn’t long enough.
So while again it wasn’t the out come I was looking for, it was great to finally get to race at REEEEEEED BUUUUUUUUDDDDD!!!!!!! And now I will be staying back home in Michigan, with my family and puppy, and riding my sand track, so things can only get better from here.
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 | | Sarah Whitmore and her Dad |  | |
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