Well the second and last Snowcross of the year is in the books and I will be cleaning my bike for several months. I would like to be posting about my second win, but a couple of timely mishaps have me reporting about 2nd place. Unlike last time when it was a true SNOWcross this was going to be a mudfest. The course was horribly muddy and the Farmer was nice enough to find every bit of water and mud on his farm. Geoff, Lupe and I lined up at the start along with about 10 other idiots. Right of the bat Shawn D. from the Farm Team went to the front and Geoff and I were right behind. As we approached the first corner Geoff got a little squirelly and down he went. I quickly found myself in first with Niel Scharphorn on my wheel, I looked around for Geoff and Lupe, but they were a little too far behind to catch back up. Niel went to the front and I was feeling pretty comfortable behind him. As we were going down the backstretch I slid out on a little bump and was immediately dropped by Niel. I managed to get close and with most of the race left I was not worried. On the 2nd or 3rd lap I was flying down one of the muddy downhills. I had just went through the water and had called out “on your left” to a slower rider when down I go. Chad would have been proud at how I slid, then quickly popped up and then angerly got back on my bike. I was happy to see that the bike was ok and I felt decent, but Niel was now long gone. I spent the rest of the race putting in a weak effort to catch back up. Niel stayed about 20 to 30 seconds in front of me and third place was nowhere in site. I did enjoy passing Laura and Keegan as we did our best to try and motivate each other. I ended up in second place and was happy that I lapped everyone except 1st through 4th place. Lupe continues to get himself back in shape and had a very strong showing with a 6th place.  Keegan accomplished his goal of finishing and was done before I was.

Dan K.

At the start of the Cat. 3 race I was feeling rather miserable.  I was soaking wet still from the masters race and was freezing.  It was a very similar start to the masters race as there was a division between the cautious riders and those willing to push it.  After a few laps 2 guys, Brian Hill and Adam York, began to break away.  I was toward the back of the pack and had no chance to go with them.  I quickly moved to the front and began to pull in an effort to bring them back.  I had no intension of trying to bridge by myself, but that is what it turned into.  I had made up about half the distance when another rider went flying by, I put in a huge effort to get on his wheel and we worked our way to the 2 leaders together.  The guy that helped me bridge up was pretty cooked and he soon fell back to the pack and the 3 of us rode the rest of the way.  Brian was pulling extremely hard and Adam wasn’t much of a help, as he was sliding all over the place and worked to catch up on almost every straightaway.  On the last lap Brian motioned for me to pull through and I decided it was time to start setting up for the finish.  I sat in behind him and he realized I wasn’t going to pull.  He quickly resumed his pace and pulled Adam and I the whole last lap.  I guess he thought he was strong enough to take it the whole way.  As we rounded the last corner I started my sprint and didn’t have any trouble going around.  I was sort of suprised that I didn’t see Adam and as we crossed, it was me in first and Brian was able to hold off Adam for second. 

All in all, a good day of racing.  It is too bad the weather was so miserable because the coarse was pretty fun and fast.

Dan K.

I had registered for both races and wanted to focus on the masters race and just help out in the Cat 3. The masters race went as planned as Dan S. and Jimmy made constant attacks for the first part of the race. I take a little longer to warm up and didn’t make any moves until about 15 minutes into the race. Dave Baar made a big attack and I thought now would be a good time to go. It was! We formed a break of 8 riders. Dave and I did most of the work and I even felt good enough to get on a few guys who weren’t doing any work. Our lead continued to climb throughout the race, due mostly to my great teammates killing the pace in the field. As the race neared the end I continued to feel awesome and was pretty sure I could out sprint the group. As we rolled around turn 2 on the last lap Dave Barr put in a huge effort. Houston Peterson was on his wheel and I was comfortably in third. Dave carried his lead into the last corner, I jumped just before Houston and took it all the way for the win.

The Cat 3 race was quite a bit different as no break got away and I sat back for most of the race. Once again Dan S made some attacks in the beginning, but nothing was working. About halfway through the race I was feeling pretty good and made my way to the front to patrol for my teammates. Mark put in a few attacks but this group would not let anything go. Dan S and Mark had some great efforts toward the end to try and breakaway, but this race was going to come down to a field sprint. With 2 laps to go I placed myself toward the front and with one left I moved right to the front. As we rounded the 2nd turn I backed off to see what was forming. Right away 2 MCG guys went by and I decided they were my leadout. The guy in front carried us to the last corner. The other MCG guy and I started our sprints, I got the lead, actually sat down and shifted, then stood back up to finish off the sprint to the line. I had guys on both sides of me , but I was able to hold them off.
Dan K

GBK