Ironman bust |

The Ironman race has come and gone and the experience delivered its usual plethora of emotional ups and downs. I’m riding shotgun to Joe as we make our way back to Madison, around Chicago in the pouring rain.
Joe and I did our usual course inspection, race registration and GNCC friends check in before eating some lunch and dressing up for the race.

I opted to enter in the 4 stroke lites class this time to help me achieve my goal of finishing in the top 50 overall. It was a little awkward being so close to the front of the race (I think mud spit from Josh Strang’s bike landed on me when he blasted from the line at the start). I tried to distance myself from the my abnormal start location and focused on taking advantage of being with fast guys and not behind so many riders at the start.

Anyhow, the flag dropped and I got going. I was pretty far back in the field but made it through the first grassy turns, initial single track section, first mud hole, steep climb and corn fields without any issues. I can only guess at how much time had elapsed in that opening lap when I noticed I was riding with Nate Ferderer. He’s a D23 woods guy that has some good speed, a cool personality and a nice dad. I was keeping with him and felt I was in a good spot; Nate would only be going faster as the race progressed so if I could tail him for a while it would help me get into the top 50, or so I thought.

Late in that opening lap we got to a big creek crossing. I approached with caution and was looking for ripples in the running water because that’s usually the shallowest water. As I pulled up to the bank a guy in a blue Factory Yamaha shirt was yelling to stay left. I must not have seen anything better than that advice when I scanned the water myself so I stayed left and rode off the bank into a huge hole.

The water came up over my bars and into my lap. The bike folded under me and tossed me off to the side. I don’t think I went under but the splash soaked my goggles, jersey and gloves. I stood up in a panic because I was hoping to keep my top 50 hopes alive. In my haste I lost my balance on the creek’s bottom and fell on the bike. My weight pushed the bike completely under the water. I don’t know if it was floating there or if my handlebar grip mushed into the sandy creek bottom but seeing my bike lay on its side under water was horrible.

I grabbed it and stood it up. Only then I realized how cold the water was and that I was up to my pant zipper in water. My boots were full of cold water and weighed a ton. I yelled back at that guy in the Yamaha shirt and told him he was an asshole.

Thanks to the guys that helped me stand my bike on its rear wheel to dump the water out and thanks to whomever it was that kicked my bike when I got tired from kicking. After what seemed like a long, long time, my bike sputtered to life and I tiptoed across the rest of the creek and up the trail. The rest of that lap was dangerous because whatever water was sloshing around in the carb or being sucked through the filter would cause intermittent massive bogs and sputters. I couldn’t count on the engine to get up and over anything.

As I struggled through the rest of that first lap I thought about what it would take to finish the race. It was a long way to drive to not try and finish. I had to let go of my top 50 ambitions and that hurt.
I did make it back to our pit. I pulled the air filter and wrung it out like a sponge then I pulled the carb bowl plug and let the silty creek water drain out. The bike fired back up and ran pretty good after that. I was more than a lap down by then and set out to just enjoy the ride.

My mental state was so ragged for the rest of the race that it was difficult for me to focus. I did get through some sections with ease and recall recognizing how fast and fluid I felt but for the most part I sucked. I think that because I haven’t raced much this year I end up investing too much time and energy into doing well at the races that I do make it to. My disappointment revolves around my high expectations.

I have no idea where I finished overall but I did finish. My 5 year streak of finishing every race I’ve entered continues.
When I was sitting squarely in the saddle my RM-Z250 was really good. The engine mods that Mark did and the race gas made the bike sing. GNCC races are fast (even when you’re having a bad day) so having confidence in your suspension is so very important. The Factory Connection set up was perfect.

It’s going to take some effort to get the bike looking and running well again. I’ve got time though since the next planned ride is in Tennessee a month from now. More on that another time.

This is taken from about dead center of the parking lot. It looks like this in every direction. Mud, RVs, quads, tents and portapotties.

Judging by the way they spoke to each other they were married. They were just sitting there with nothing to do except pull or push out something that was stuck.