The weather looked a little bleak when we set up camp on Thursday night, May the 4th. It was windy and cold. Flashfloods had closed down a few roads to the raceway and water was still on the roads. Fortunately, Glen Helen’s RV parking area is really well taken care of and because it was flat there was no standing water.
Friday morning was all about track time. My Class, the Adult B racers had 3 practice time slots and about 10 minutes each. Then at around 2:40 pm they open the full course for practice which lasts a little over 30 minutes. It was pretty muddy, especially through the creek beds and other areas in the trees. Practice went well but I was getting beat to death. I had forgot that I had set the suspension last race at Blythe for the really hard pack race track; quite a few clicks different. This track was 100 percent different so I had the suspension adjusted for the Glen Helen terrain. What a difference when you get dialed in; that’s for sure. Before practice started my grandpa had to try out the new tool we picked up at FASST Company; the spoke torque wrench. He absolutely fell in love with it; no more guessing. It is an amazing tool and highly recommend everybody getting one. Yeah; kind of expensive but is great to have! After practice I noticed that I was losing some braking so I got out the Tusk brake fluid pump, drained the bad and put in the good. Ah, yes, brakes! That’s a good thing to have at Glen Helen’s downhill mountain slopes; they are steep.
Both classes were filled with amazingly fast racers and being new to the B class I fell behind pretty quick but finished strong each time with a lot of improvement in my lap times. The big thing I’ve noticed and found out racing “B” class is that there are no cheap passes because something happened to the rider in front of you. Everybody is good. Everybody finishes the race (mostly) so you don’t easily pick up spots. You have to earn them. I love it.
My first race was the 15-24 Sport B (MC). I battled a few guys but ended up running 18th; not happy about the placement but extremely happy with the way I was riding the bike. I pushed pretty good but kept it under control and on the track. Either race did I feel like I was going down. Boy, did I get muddy. Riding through the water and mud was a lot of fun. Take a look at the photos below. It was a blast.
My second race was the 450 B (MC). I thought I had a chance in this race but again it was full of really good 450 cc riders. I ended up finishing 17th and felt like I should have been up at least 5 spots but the guys in front of me wouldn’t co-operate and just lie down and I sure didn’t see them waiving me by, ha, ha. Track time, seat time and more fun without any incidents; wow, a fun and great day. Next up is my High School Graduation ceremony and then 2 days later I’m racing Cedar City, Utah WORCS race.
Again and again I just want to thank the people at WORCS; always seem to have a smile on their faces and trying to help. I don’t know about the guys with the starter flags; I think they cheat! No, just kidding. I’ve got to work on the starts!
Great job Taylor; Grandma and I are proud of your continued effort to improve. It ended up being a beautiful day at Glen Helen for your two races. Hopefully sponsors can see that you’re a fantastic young man; one that they could be proud in sponsoring you to rep their name and products.