KB 400 Race Report and Photos.

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Pom17

Race Dog
Joined
Mar 27, 2012
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Location
George
Bike
NER-A-CAR
Please post your photos and any other news here.

What an awesome event. 10/10 WCOC.

The mornings were a bit cold but the days turned out perfect. Not to hot and not to cold. The nature of the tracks combined with some dew kept the dust to a minimum.

Met a bunch of new WD’s which was awesome. By chance we ended up pitting next to Weskus and a few other guys from George, which we only found out on day 2, great bunch of guys. They even helped out with the enviro matt which we forgot at home. Thanks Weskus




Day 1 went horribly wrong.
On lap 1 I started to feel the rhythm and settle into the bike after 3 weeks of no riding. For the first time in my life I felt what arm pump feels like.
The first 15kilos had a lot of rock and kept you busy with a nice little rocky climb thrown into the mix. Some sand, small river/erosion crossings with some rock and nice fast sections closer to the end. I felt like I worked the hardest on the first 15kilos and had some time to relax the last 25 back into the pits.

On Lap 2 my front brake just disappeared, no idea why or how. I kept on overcooking corners and had 4 falls on lap 2. Even had a guy on a RMZ ride over my hand. I was rolling and while on my back with my feet in the air I heard him yell something and felt my boots connect his bike, think it was on the handle bars.

Just as I got the hang of riding with no front brake I had a flat rear tyre on lap 3. Stopped and tried to fix it but nothing worked. The rim sliced the bead of the tyre, must have hit a rock quite hard at some stage. But the tubeless kept everything working so I nursed it home hoping that the tyre would be fine for use the next day.

Thanks to Eddy2Race who helped me bleed my front brake, changed my flat tyre with a new tube and Droomers Yamaha who could help me out with a new rim lock. Don’t know what I would have done without them.

I did not even wait for the results, they must have been awful, lap 1 and 2 may have been ok, but lap 3 threw my whole race. And I think Weskus felt the same, he cruised into the pits and just dropped his bike on the ground  :imaposer: :imaposer:




Day 2 was great
My hands were blistered and my whole body ached so badly I could not sleep. I felt sorry for myself until we lined up and the light flashed green. I forgot all about my sore and broken body and raced flat out. I had a great rhythm and soon settled into a comfortable pace.

The track once again had everything, rocks, sand, water, whoops and some very fast full throttle stuff. Lap one was good, lap 2 I slacked a bit and for some reason got some new life into me on lap 3. It felt like I was flying, or maybe it was just everyone else slowing down a little. But caught up to quite a few riders on the last lap which just fuelled my energy even more.

I was cornering nice and smooth and just when I thought things can’t go wrong I lost the back wheel in a fast corner. I tried to stop the slide with the inside leg and suddenly the bike hooked on a berm and high sided me. I rolled a few time and when I stood up I was a bit confused. Looked around for my bike but only saw a few “dagdronk” farmworkers laughing their asses off.

Had a nice chat with myself and promised that I will take it easy till the end. This did not happen. Someone passed me while I was picking up my bike and once again the chase was on.

I finished the day in 8th position and Weskus in 7th I think (Open class). I was quite upset since I thought I passed the bastard on lap 1 already. But all in all a great day out and even though I can’t move today I am already looking forward to the next one.


Will post pics soon
 
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