Our Hare Scramble at Gatorback

[queenofslow]

Good turnout this weekend for the final prep work of the Hare Scramble at Gatorback. Fabulous weather and plenty of opportunity for riding this challenging course. The dozers are grooming the tracks and riding conditions promise to be optimal for the race next weekend.

While the guys were zooming up and down the mountains and the ravines, your Queen of Slow was majestically burning in the practice area. Sedate riding in fields of purple flowers in the full glory of spring. All best savored at 10mph or less. Smell the flowers!

Next I ventured out of my comfort zone by trying the pee wee mx track. It was fun but I got the impression that it was not designed to be run at 10 mph. Once I even lost contact with the ground for a brief moment. It was a scary experience. One of my principles in off road riding is to keep both wheels in contact with the ground at all times, and as close to 90 degrees as possible. Shane Watts taught me so, or at least that is what I remember.

But I digress.The hard work has already been done by the magnificent club members who have labored these past weekends. By all accounts the most traumatic part of the experience was (as usual) trying to decipher the wishes (commands?) imparted critically by his majesty Mundy- the king of enigma. Only few disciples, schooled by years of Mundy's mumblings and occasional yells, can understand Mundy's directives and translate them for the normal mortals. Bottom line, if the arrows will direct the racers into the bottom of the limestone quarry (where Harry the 10 ft gator happily resides) IT IS ALL MUNDY'S FAULT.


OK folks, now we need help with the race next weekend. All kinds of jobs, from setup to registrations, course stewards, start crew etc. Come to the meeting on Tuesday April 9 and find out how you can help and have tons of fun in the process. See you then!

Majestically yours,
Queen of Slow

[queenofslow]

Our president Don will give you a more detailed report on the Hare Scramble at Gatorback. I will just share a few notes:

- First of all, we heard nothing but positive comments from the participants as well as from the ownership of the property which has already invited us back for next year. Kudos to all of us who helped to pull this event off on very short notice.

- Attendance was excellent, despite this race being the next to the last of the season, and on a very challenging track to boot. We had very few cancellations after practice total for both days, which is amazing given how tough the course was.

- We got lucky and the weather cooperated. Saturday was dusty but fine until after the last race. Then the skies opened but by Sunday morning the course was good again- minus the big hills which were as slick as snot (technical term). Rumor has it that Aki, who was test riding the course first thing in the morning, slid backwards on the major hills. But it got better as the day progressed.

- There were no serious injuries, AMAZING! considering the challenges of the course and the pileups at the chicanes. Whoever designed this part of the course has a really sick sense of humor. At times the theme was more "Three Stooges" than "GNCC".

More details later. For now, a huge THANK YOU to all the club members who helped this event come together.

P.S. Don is recovering nicely from his nervous breakdown, thanks for asking !

[johnnyb300]

The time and effort contributed by all the club volunteers was outstanding (including queenofslow). Of course, we needed more club members on hand to help lighten the load on those that did participate and continued to keep our club successful. For the members that did not volunteer for whatever reason, you need to sincerely thank Don Learn and Mundy Murzic at the earliest opportunity. Without their hard work and leadership, this event would not have happened, meaning we would have difficulty finding enough funds to continue operating our Lease.

[queenofslow]

Some photos from the Gatorback Hare Scramble. Sorry, I was busy with registrations and had little time to take pics. Don and others will have more soon.