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7/21/2009
Location
Harrisburg, OR
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JW381
4/30/2014 11:19am
4/30/2014 11:19am
Edited Date/Time
5/1/2014 7:20am
You guys still get a little anxious on ride days? I guess some of you guys get to ride often enough so maybe not. I've been at it for a while as often as possible and Istill get some butterflies when it comes time to pack up and head to the track. Apparently I enjoy it because I always go back haha.
I've even tried telling myself to take it easy on the starts but I just can't keep myself from pushing that first corner.
The Shop
It's the main reason most of us still ride if you think about it. If it wasn't exciting , with a little bit ( sometimes a lot ) of danger thrown into it......we would get bored.
Hell yeah I still get it. Appreciate that you can still do something that gets your blood flowing. a LOT of people can't do this sport , so I honestly feel privileged to be able to.
But when I shattered my ankle a few years ago and couldn't race for a long time - those nervous feelings are exactly what I missed the most.
The feeling of being ALIVE!
Pit Row
I haven't been racing all my life so being competitive is really new to me.
Funny I was thinking the same thing a few weeks ago, sat in the van putting my knee pads on with the sound of screaming dirt bikes in the background lingering like some impending war zone I was about to join. Going through these motions, being scared, anxious and pushing through to have a shit load of fun and hopefully leave the track feeling satisfied in your efforts and physically exhausted. Where the hell are going to get that buzz? The noise, the fumes, the adrenaline, the aching muscles, the blisters, dusty bogies, that smug feeling you get driving home from the track having conquered a few of your fears, imagining your next session and the areas you want to progress at... Like you, I feel privileged to be able to play on the scoots. Nothing blasts the cobwebs like a day of moto!
Like some others, it makes me not want to race this weekend...
I never get them on practice/ride days...just for race day...and they ALWAYS affect how I ride during the race. Practice days I ride loose and relaxed, which means I can ride faster...for longer), during the race I'm always riding tight...so I get tired sooner.
The hardest part of racing (besides the obvious lack of talent) is the mental game. Mentally remaining calm...mentally staying in that happy place where I'm having "fun" (riding loose and relaxed)...and, since I do hare and hounds, mentally forcing myself to charge-despite the throbbing legs and back, and blisters-when I'm in the middle of nowhere all by myself (its easy to charge when people are around and watching).
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