Blackwater 100

Didnt Super Hunky ride the 760 Maico in it one year ?

I was a young tyke when I went to Blackwater with my dad. I have a few Blackwater 100 VHS tapes and still watch them from time to time. My dad used to race with Tommy Norton back in the day and I had the pleasure of meeting him when I was a kid at Blackwater. He seemed like a really cool guy and my dad's only ever had good things to say about him. I still have a signed poster from Tommy from his Team Mirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles days.

Honestly, Blackwater was unbelievable. The atmosphere was a little bit out of control but I didn't feel unsafe, even being very young. All the people there were just there for a good time and get drunk. It was pretty cool seeing all the drunk spectators giving it their all to help riders who gave it 100%. I also seen spectators point out terrible lines to people who seemed to be out there just cruising around.

The only negative thing I remember was one year there was a guy stabbed. I don't know why or anything, I just remember loads of police officers and ambulances coming in.

All in all, it was an awesome event. I wish they could have cleaned it up a bit and continued the tradition.

I have to pipe in! I raced it in 1986, maybe 1987. I'm from California and was NOT an off-road guy. There is nothing I had ever ridden in my life that prepared me for the Blackwater 100 experience. I was talked into racing it and actually came down with the Flu the day before the race so I was not in best of conditions. The tempurature was in the 90s with 100% humidity! I raced as an expert and got to start up front with the name brands and for the first 10 miles was running in the top 10. That first 10 miles was hell... I was soaking wet and covered in mud, was riding a Motocross bike that was not setup correctly for this type of racing and came into this beautiful meadow covered in long green grass. As I entered into this meadow, the bike immediately began to bog and I quickly down shifted to keep the engine revving. This beautiful meadow was really a mud bog and if you weren't careful you would sink into it! From that meadow on it was just nuts. Slipping, sliding, falling, stalling... when I got the the famous highway 95 river crossing I saw at least a dozen bikes swamped out and stuck in the river. A spectator pointed to a line that took me off to the right side to a single track that went into the river. I made my way down but saw that the river was over the engine of the bike in front of me. I got off the bike and killed it, I picked the front of the bike by the forks and carried the bike across. I fired it up on the other side of the river and made my way up the bank. There were bikes upside down everywhere as riders were trying to clean out the water from there engines. I finished the first loop and said enough is enough... I was beaten! I didn't go out for the second loop but will always remember the adventure!

Mark Hyde works for KTM heading up demo rides. He was a part of the all powerful Husqvarna off road team back when they ruled off road in the US. Whenever his name gets called at a dealer function its as the guy that won Blackwater like 10 times. I rode it once in the mid 80's on a 125...I did not fare as well as Tommy. I remember when he won it and was amazed that someone on a 125 overalled that race.

I never went, but there needs to be another muddiest race in the world again.

Did it 4 times. Two trophies on the shelf. My most prized moto possessions.

One of my favorite memories is being stuck in a swamp, having just dug my bike out of the muck and getting mentally prepared to get going again and Terry Cunningham comes flying in, skates across the suckhole that had me trapped for a while, lands beside me and gives me a look, says "Heck of a day, huh?", then takes off again.

Coming up to the Rt 93 crossing near the end of the loop- mud fleas blocking all the good lines and leaving only the near impossible, past vertical line open. I'd come up to the edge of the creek, point at the line I intended to take, (covered with drunks), and pull the trigger. The human ocean would split and up over I'd go.

One of the best times was the my final trip, and I didn't race. Just went out to a river crossing and spent the day pulling guys out and helping them get going again.

It was always on Father's Day, so it became a traditional outing for me and my dad. He always got a kick out of the mayhem.

Those old 100 miler series were so cool in that you were on the course at the same time as the fastest guys. They'd come up behind you and if you didn't get out of the way, you'd wish you had....

I could go on and on. Good times.

Racer Productions used to make these cool picture books of previous years' races that you got when you signed up. I still have a couple of those in my scrapbook box, along with entry bibs and some other odd artifacts from those days.

Motoworld footage was always one of my favorite segments when i was a kid.

"....-when you come to big mud holes, head right towards the spectators, because they were always standing on solid ground. "

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!

Took a long way home from Budds Creek last year and stopped in Davis. Here's a few pics of what some of it looks like now...

I need to find my VHS tape of it and rewatch it. The fact that I forgot the term "mud fleas" is disappointing. I'm going to use it more often. Really good reads and stories here.

My uncle raced it a few times and if I'm correct won A class one year and had another win with a flat tire...the last one may have been a GNCC though and it was was before my time so I have just hear stories but if anyone knows where some videos are, let me know, I'd love to see them!

RCB33

I'll stop by and take a picture of the 93 crossing to show what it looks like now. There is a new 4 lane that cuts almost directly through it. I took a picture of it one week before they bladed on it last summer but I can't seem to find it. Maybe this weekend I'll pass through and take a few cell phone shots. It is on the way to my camp.

I have to many stories about Blackwater to tell. I've been pissed on, pissed off and ran over there. I have ran over pissed on and pissed off just as many. I've been in fist fights, wrestling matches and broke many up as well. I've been lost in the woods, stuck in the mud, lost bikes, broke bikes and seen more boobies than 10 men can squeeze. Many times I watched in disbelief as State Policemen were held at bay by water balloon cannons. It was a crazy crazy place. Half the time people forgot there was even a race happening.

Funny this got brought up. Was just reading about an event here in Ohio that is supposed to try and live up the the blackwater 100 this year.

http://racecra.org/CRANews/NewsViewer/TabId/5035/ArtMID/9990/ArticleID/…