2006 25hour race relived report

[REVERUP]

This race report is long, but it covers 25hours. Enjoy!



25 HOUR RACE RELIVED, GREAT MEMORIES!



Months have passed since the 2006 25Hours of Starvation Ridge Race in October. Yet it still seems to me as if it was just yesterday. I’ve been meaning to do a write up on this event and never got to it until now, so here it finally is! This is my look back at this special race and all the special individuals that made up, Team CFMC ENDURO NUTZ!

The team consisted of me (Roscoe Rainey), Troy Swettenam, Bret Kreier, Tony Ihlen, and Will Worthley. Also Jarna Rainey, Mike Rudolph, and Scott Neff were our pit help and support. Mike also was doubling as an alternate racer if needed.

Jarna and I arrived on Friday to find Mike and Will already in the team pit spot. Team trailer parked and ready for set up. Of course it had everything in it we could ever have needed over 25 hours of racing. Bret and Tony also were there. Motorhome all set up across the field where we all would circle the wagons for sleeping and eating duties, oh ya and sometimes just to go duty. Troy arrived shortly there after with his brand new KTM 250F, never been ridden. Everyone seemed giddy, very excited as we had been planning for this race since I sent out our entries in August.

The air smelled of dust as this soil hadn’t seen rain for months. The light breeze carrying it off as it’s kicked up by the hundreds of racers setting up there spots. Pit row and all spur roads were mud as the Over the Bars Gang tried to keep the dust to a minimum. They also watered the majority of the course but that would only last awhile in these bone dry conditions. Yep, we were in for a dusty race as the forecast called for fair skies with No rain in site.

With the anticipation of tomorrow’s event racing through our minds we started planning our final race strategies. The majority of us had all experienced this race before and had a good Idea of what we needed to do to be competitive. We decided to go with individual fanny packs or roost packs for the transponder hand off. Always have next rider ready to race while current rider is out in case something happens. Troy our fastest rider would start the race, which consisted of a La Mans start. I would go 2nd, then Tony, Will, and Bret. We would do two 17 mile laps each until the race finished or we needed to change cause of an unforeseen problem.

We all went to sign up, got our cool 25Hour shirts, and had a new transponder burnt with no belt on it so stuffing it into the fanny packs would be easier. Then we all split to eat dinner, walk the amusing pit row, talk to friends also racing, and put on our cool custom numbers Bret had made for the team. Or just go to bed cause tomorrow is gonna be exhausting and it’s already dark and cold.

Saturday morning, RACE DAY!
I wake to the sound of a ratchet wrench twisting, singing in my mind, “today is the day”
In all reality it’s Troy, already up, putting on a new Skid plate, out in the frozen Tundra, sun not even up over the horizon yet. It’s a calm clear morning probably around 25 degrees. As the sun comes up the frost sparkles and glimmers in the light on the long hay as far as the eye can see. It was truly a beautiful site with Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood standing to the north and south, and the sunrise painting the morning sky with colors of light.

I got suited up, and after a quick gourmet breakfast made by Jarna we were off to the pits to help set up and get ready for the start of the race at 10:00AM. After the riders meeting which informed us there would be no fire jumps this year due to the extreme fire danger, and a raspy singing of the national anthem ( I’m not saying I could sing it any better or at all for that matter ) it was time for Troy to line up for the big show.

The horn blew and the event was underway the pros were first and ran to their bikes and jumped on and started them and were off. A few waves of classes and it was our turn. Troy ready to go, horn sounds, a foot race to his bike with all the other competitors to their bikes. Start the engine and go. A solid middle of the pack start. It’s on! Within Troy’s 2 laps he pulled to within the top teams of our class and put us in the thick of it. A great start to our 25 hour adventure!

I’m next up, waiting anxiously for Troy, here he comes, smooth hand off of the transponder, GO! Slow through pit row 5 mph speed limit, onto the course hammer it! First turn WOOOOW!! IT’S SLICK! The soil still wet from the water truck. All the time telling my self easy, smooth is fast! This was a very fun course which featured 2 loose rocky up hills, a rock garden on a slight side hill, many natural terrain jumps, the single track ditches, as fast as you dare straight aways, Briar patch twistys, Silt beds galore, the little haunted woods section, grass track to die for, and of course the famous barn and farm house you ride through! After my 2 smooth laps I rolled into the pits with Tony ready for the hand off and the fun he was about to experience! Smooth handoff and he’s off on his first ever 25 Hour team race.

I parked my bike and realized there was a problem. There lies Troy’s new bike on its side and everyone looking pretty grim as they all took turns hammering, pounding, chiseling, drilling, and cussing. It was a true Kodak moment, but I didn’t have one! A large orange KTM flag that Mike brought was flapping in the wind proudly above them and the bike, the flag at half mast, in a salute of this fallen solder. You see Troy needed to change the oil in that new bike and when he tried to take the oil filter plug out it cracked, and ultimately cracked the engine cases trying to extract it!. Yep, you guessed it, a factory defect. I felt bad for Troy, only 2 laps on his new bike! He spent Mucho De Nero on lighting equipment just for this race and wouldn’t even get to use it! I felt so bad I didn’t razz him to bad about changing from a handsome blue 2 stoke, to that gord colored valve slapper and what happens to those that go to the Dark Side well the orange side! Now what? Troy’s 50 LBS lighter than any of us other guys on the team. Everyone offered to share their bike but Troy decided to go with the best bike. Oh, I mean the best bike for Troy’s weight. My Gas Gas has stock suspension springs and is definitely the softest sprung bike of the team. Also the other key points in his selection were the infamous reliability, the cutting edge design, state of the art components, unbelievable power plant, unmatched good looks, and OK! OK! It was just the suspension.

With Will waiting in the wings, on deck, and ready to go. In comes Tony to the pits on his first lap with a flat rear tire. A quick smooth hand off of the transponder and off goes Will for his pair of laps. Scott and Tony will have ample time to fix the faulty inner tube, so Tony can do his second lap.
A while later, in comes Will with a dusty grin, and bench racing stories running through his head. He hands off to Tony who takes off on his Second lap. Bret in position. Ready for his shot out on the dusty course, waiting on deck patiently; well should I say a bit antsy. Well maybe really F-N antsy as he was the last racer in our rotation and had been waiting all day to get out there and bang some bars, like everyone else. Tony comes in to the pits after a fun lap wanting more, and hands off cleanly to Bret who takes off on his racing adventure.

THIS IS SO LONG IT WONT ALL FIT ON ONE THREAD

 

[REVERUP]

THIS IS THE SECOND PART OF THE 25 HOUR REPORT!


With Troy up next and looking like his 2nd lap of his next 2 laps would be in the dark. I helped him connect his Helmet light wiring and run him through a few of my bikes characteristics. The good news was that he would get a lap while it was still light, and adjust to the big bore Gasser. The bad news was the wind was starting to increase and the clouds of dust were making for some poor visibility. This would be the norm throughout the rest of the race.

Bret confidently rolls into the pits after his 2 laps. Watching for the pit Nazis that patrol the pit row with their radar guns. These guys are looking to give 5 min penalties to any pit speed offenders. Bret hands off the transponder to Troy and off he goes on his inaugural flight on a Gas Gas. I must say, Troy adjusted to the Gasser fast, and seemed to like it. Over the next 2 laps Troy morphed into a Gas Gas rider. His lap times were faster than mine on my own damn bike! It had to be the machine! Way to adapt Troy!

The Winds continued to increase! I would estimate to 25 MPH sustained with 60MPH gusts. We decided to move Tony in our rider’s rotation moving him in the second spot to go out between Troy and I so I could service my air filter, gas up the gasser and what ever else came up. Troy came in made the hand off with Tony and he was gone, off into the abyss. Wind screaming picking up the soil and hurruling it to some other location on this earth. Lights hooked up I waited for my turn in the dark the ever changing and unknown conditions looming out on the prairie.

Here he comes, that’s Tony! Let’s get out there and rail I thought to myself! as we made the exchange. My next 2 laps were unreal. At times it was like a scene from the mummy as the wind sandblasted you, blinded and gagged you. Your punney lights choked out by the thick dust. I struggled to follow the course arrows and markers as the dust and wind concealed them. Holding my breath as much as possible I pressed on riding by brail trying to stay upright for fear of being buried alive. No really it was bad, so bad on the exposed ridge of the course they rerouted around the rock garden that ran along a slight side hill. It was just far too dangerous, wind gusting at your back. This is the only time I’ve ever been riding and my own dust was passing me up and blinding me even moving at a good clip. It was unreal! Through the night the Gas Gas only needed new rear brake pads and air filter changes. Wills bike also had some brake issues that he had to address and work out. He tried Mike’s bike for a lap but he wasn’t comfortable on it and eventually went back to his own mount. Through the dark hours our team jumped up and down places in our class always in striking distance of the leaders. We all rotated for sleep time and food and if you got 3-4 hours sleep you did well. The wind rocking our motor homes and trailers around, earplugs in to deaden the sound of the roaring motorcycles and whistling wind.

Sunday morning. The HOME STRETCH!
After hours of racing we are all starting to feel it. The pounding ones body goes through pushing it to the limit. As the new days light fills the sky there would be no frozen tundra this morn as the wind didn’t let the frost form. The wind gusts intensify for awhile and violently blow the neighbors pit wall into ours! Pit easyups and stuff blew like leaves in the wind down pit lane. I was fresh off my 3 hour nap and breakfast just in time to witness it all. I believe Will was out on the course with Bret waiting in the wings. I remember Bret looking over at me and saying “This is it, right?” Should I leave all I got left out there? After this I’m done right, your not gonna call on me? I said “leave it all out there” and he did. He kept us in that second place position. We all had decided Troy would do the final 2 laps and if his laps finished before race time ended, the final lap would be up to me.

 

[REVERUP]

Yep this is finally the end!

The transition of the transponder between Bret and Troy went off without a hitch and Troy took off with a sizable deficit of roughly 3 ½ minutes to make up. His first lap he was on a rail and pushed hard. We all knew it as everyone took turns running over to the leader board. That’s when I realized I would be called on for the final lap of the race after Troy’s 2nd one was completed. I nervously waited hoping he would close the gap. Knowing valuable time would be wasted when we did the bike and transponder change every second would be precious. Needing to fuel up the bike and get one racer off and the other on, and comfortable, would eat some time. Troy made up 2 minutes on that first lap putting us down by only about 1 ½ minutes from first place. I thought to my self come on close the gap more Troy, come on! The team we had been battling with for hours DISCOUNT CONTRACTORS was their name, were great sports, guys with real sportsmanship. Their pit was only a couple spots down from ours so we conversed back and forth through out the event as things unfolded. Their captain came over and visited for a few minutes while Troy was out on the course. This is the guy I would be racing against. How Fitting, captains hashing it out for the two teams. Their team’s captain waited anxiously perched on his bike ready to go. While I stood waiting to see who I would see coming down pit row first Troy or their guy, the pressure built as I thought about coming up short and letting the team down. Then here he came, the rival racer. They make the hand off and their captain was off. Seconds seemed like hours and minutes seemed like days as I waited for that first sight of Troy coming down pit lane on my bike. Troy’s second lap would end up being only a few seconds slower than his first lap. And the rival team racers lap was quicker than Troy’s by a few seconds.

I hear someone yell “HERE HE COMES!” And our pit comes to life everyone doing their part to get me out as fast as possible. Troy jumps off the bike and I jump on, as the transponder is exchanged and the bike is refueled. And I’m off heading down pit row down by around 2 minutes and stuck doing 5 MPH! You can’t imagine the sheer torture of this, restraining yourself when you need to make up time. Onto the course Go! Instant concentration, I bet I didn’t blink more than once a minute for that whole Lap. You know that tunnel vision you get when you’re focused on an objective, that 30 yard stare? I must say I don’t remember much of that first few miles of that lap. I do remember telling my self over and over “YOU CAN DO IT! KEEP IT UP!” As I pushed myself as hard as I dare through the violent terrain hoping to get a glimpse of the leader. At the seven mile mark is the first of 2 transponder reader board checks. I anticipated the team would be there, and they were. As I came in they cheered and clapped loud. Wait a minute? There is the first place team members watching also, and there cheering for me too. It gave me new life, a new drive, a second wind, or whatever you want to call it. In that first 7 miles I ended up closing the gap by a minute!

I took of with authority out of the check not knowing that I made up that much, if any time. This was my favorite portion of grass track Super fast 5th and 6th gear straights with 4th gear sweepers and Manageable dust with Velcro traction. I continued riding smart avoiding as much race course nasties as I could. A mile or so later I noticed the dust in the air was getting heavier. Could it be the leader? The dust increasing as I crest the ridge, around the corner, damn! It’s not him just a lapper.

With the question “Can I catch this guy” constantly entering my mind, and the pounding I was taking, I pushed on. Then I saw him! He was 2 straights and a 2 turns away. I knew it was him, no doubt. I had been sizing him up, his Honda CRF 450 too. Cause I needed to know who I was chasing. This is it, now or never! GO! The gap slowly tightened as the dust increased, being kicked up from his tires. As I pursue him up a large rolling hill, he vanishes over the top. I crest the hill there he is heading down the other side. I realize he don’t know I’m coming. He’s resting? Shaking his hands like he has arm pump or something, as he rides along. I think to my self, what is he doing? Maybe he is trying to save himself and thinks by the time I catch him, or if I even can, he will still have something in his tank and I will be spent. Closing the gap through the gully and now up the other side eating dust the entire stretch, I knew the 2 track farm road straight away was at the top of the hill that we were both ascending. Hoping I would catch him napping I got close. I went hard into the left hander, onto the farm road. He took the right side wheel track of the road and I took the left. As we both straightened out an unreal thing happened, it almost seemed like a dream. I couldn’t have choreographed it any better. He stuck his hand out to wave me by, thinking I was in an other class or something. I grabbed a handful of throttle and another gear in shock and obliged him! As I pulled up next to him he looked over at me as I looked at him. We made eye contact. I read it in his eyes. SHIT!!! that’s the guy, the team I’m racing against, #122E. He instantly hunkered down and tried to drag race my 300, but it was too late! I was already on the pipe and banging the gears, he’d been had! We both knew at the end of this long 6th gear straight that there was a hard left. He backed off, hoping that I would under estimate my braking power, but I didn’t. I took the corner inside out using all off the course. I started to gap him as my dust was like a smoke screen dulling his sight. We then started getting into some lappers, as I made it by them; the extra dust from their machines slowed him more. It felt so good to charge down the last straightaway with everyone cheering. Scott waving me to slow down as I entered the transponder reader board check point. There it was up in lights the reader board said it all. CLASS WINNERS!

I rolled back to the pits with an ear to ear grin to celebrate what we all accomplished. Everyone was excited smiling and laughing when I rolled in. Shortly there after the Rival team’s captain pulled up and congratulated us and we all talked for awhile. After 25 hours CFMC ENDURO NUTZ finished with 31 laps. 27th overall out of 82 teams. The margin of victory between 1st and 2nd in our class (30+amature) ended up being only 35 Seconds.

With the victory in hand we braved the harsh wind and waited for awards. We proudly accepted our team trophy and our individual plaques. Then we also were given sweet Enduro jackets. How fitting for a team named CFMC ENDURO NUTZ!

Oh, and Will ended up winning a $400 + dollar Night Rider Helmet light set on the sign up raffle! Score!

But in the end the best thing won was the friendship and camaraderie felt by all. I will remember this for a life time. This Race will always have a special place in my heart and memories. Thanks again CFMC ENDURO NUTZ # 1


I hope you enjoyed my write up, I enjoyed reliving it!
Roscoe REVERUP Rainey


Me and the captain of team DISCOUNT CONTRACTORS after the race

CFMC ENDURO NUTZ 2006 with our loot

 

[flybars]

Awsome write-up! I felt like I was right there. Great race. I'll bet the other captain won't be assuming so much anymore.