It was an interesting weekend, but it was a good time and a learning experience for sure. My flight was early out of North Carolina which meant that I had to get up and head out around 3AM. We landed in Vegas on Friday morning before lunch and went straight to the Orleans to check-in with KTM's Bret Harden and get to work on the bike I would be riding. Turns out it was a 250 XCF-W that was fresh off a demo ride. I haven't ridden a four-stroke before but was looking forward to it, because I have heard great things about the 250's. After bolting on my FLEXX bars, EE handguards and mounting up a trials tire for the rear, I took it out for a spin in the parking lot - the only area we could test in. The jetting was way too lean and we decided we'd come early and work on it some more. The qualifiers were still going on so we went in and watched some of the heats for a bit, then back to the pits to clean up and put the bike away. After that, we headed out to the hotel which was an adventure in itself because we were a bit farther away than we thought. But after checking in and a quick shower, Marc and I headed to the strip. We were in Vegas after all and I had never been there. So now, after being up since 3 AM and all the running around, we grabbed a bite at the Venetian and walked the strip a bit. By 11PM Vegas time, we were done for. Back to the hotel and a good night's sleep. Trouble is, my body was still on Virginia time and I was up way too early. After laying there for awhile, we got up, grabbed breakfast and headed back to the Orleans. We pulled the bike out and started to work on it for quite a while with Bart Hayes from PG who has a ton of experience dialing them in. Trouble was, we couldn't find the right jets, so we switched bikes and parts and I ended up on a 450 SX . We went out for the track walk and I got to see it up close for the first time. The track was awesome looking. Next up was the sighting lap and qualifying. Went out and the bike ran well but on the sighting lap I stalled it in the big rock section and took a few seconds to get it going again. I made it through the rest of the sighting lap and waited to qualify. Since we were all in the night program it wasn't qualifying as much as seeding for gate picks and heats. On my timed lap, I stalled it twice, again on the rocks and over the log on the start straight. It took too long to get going again and I ended up with the last gate pick. Back to the pits and after talking a bit, Bret Harden offered up a 250XC-W to ride which I was more familiar with. So we quickly got it dialed in and waited for the night program. During that time it was great to get around and meet up with a bunch of folks - sponsors and other riders. After a really long wait, it was time to get dressed for introductions and the opening cermonies. After all the introductions, things got going quickly. I was in the second heat and the last pick turns out really wasn't all that bad. I lined up in the second row right behind the top 2 qualifiers in my heat. When the gate dropped, I took it easy, went wide, and cut back inside and ended up mid-pack. I took it easy and didn't really push it, taking it more like practice, but still ended up 4th. In the second heat, I got pretty much the same start I got in the first heat, but was as high as 3rd. A small bobble on the last lap, and I think I finshed 4th or 5th. They only took the top 2 out of each heat, so it was off to the LCQ. In the LCQ, I got an okay start but not as good as the earlier heats and it was a tough to move up to a qualifying spot. After the LCQ, they took us in back and threw lights on real quick. Baja Designs had these cool battery powered kits and we lined up for a quick 4 lap exhibition race in the dark!. Even though they turned out the lights, it wasn't as dark as I thought it would be, and was actually really cool. When that was done, we took the lights off, went to the truck to change and clean up some, then ran back in and watched the main. Once that ended, we ran back, finished putting everything away, and headed for the airport for a 12:45AM flight back to Virginia. I got a little bit of sleep on the plane, but not really enough, so I was happy when I finally made it home. It was a whirlwind weekend and a great learning experience for sure.
I really wasn't used to the short races, but it was definately exciting. If you haven't gone, whether you ride or watch, you should come out. It was awesome. You know, the weekend went by so fast, between working on bikes and having the races so tight together, I didn't really know what was going on. I had like 6 hours of sleep in 3 days. But, hopefully next year, I can take what I learned and qualify for the main.
Thanks to everybody that helped out on this trip. Everybody at KTM - especially Bret Harden for letting us pit out of his box van and making us feel at home, Roxanne at Moose, Marc Heim, Bart Hayes and PG, Enduro Engineering, Cole with FASST Co for the Flexx bars, David with Maxxis, and Bevo and Kristin with Scott goggles.
Next up, Last Man Standing in Texas. I'm looking forward to that one. It sounds fun.
Stephen
I really wasn't used to the short races, but it was definately exciting. If you haven't gone, whether you ride or watch, you should come out. It was awesome. You know, the weekend went by so fast, between working on bikes and having the races so tight together, I didn't really know what was going on. I had like 6 hours of sleep in 3 days. But, hopefully next year, I can take what I learned and qualify for the main.
Thanks to everybody that helped out on this trip. Everybody at KTM - especially Bret Harden for letting us pit out of his box van and making us feel at home, Roxanne at Moose, Marc Heim, Bart Hayes and PG, Enduro Engineering, Cole with FASST Co for the Flexx bars, David with Maxxis, and Bevo and Kristin with Scott goggles.
Next up, Last Man Standing in Texas. I'm looking forward to that one. It sounds fun.
Stephen
