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| Chad on his BSA 441 in WV. |
Vintage motorcycle racing is a disease. It comes on innocent enough, disguised as an opportunity to spend the weekend with old and new friends in a sea of rusty motorcycles, pop-up tents and pickup trucks. ...nights spent sitting around the campfire, cold beer in hand, sharing stories of broken bikes, past races and secret formulas for mechanical success. Then it happens, race morning dawns, your number is up, the flag drops and you're a goner, sucked in by the adrenaline rush, hypnotized by the engine roar and consumed by the smell of race fuel. The disease begins to take hold. You push yourself each weekend to to catch that elusive point leader, best your last lap time or just get a little closer to the finish line before you or your bike break. Then there's no turning back, there's nothing but the next race. What follows are some musings from TUNC members as the AHRMA vintage race season lingers off in the not too distant future. Race #1 for most of us is White Lightening Cross Country March 12-13 in Chester, SC. For more info. on our racing schedule click here.
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| Eric on his 2012 XC racer, the Hondapatomus |
You know I was trying to be calm about racing this year. Spend more time with the family, try and make it to more bike rally's, race a few races and not get so consumed with the whole thing.
All was good until I started registering for races and realized it was only two weeks away... Now I got the f'n DT's, can't think straight, worried about getting the bike right, worried about points, how many races can I possibly make it to, and how the hell am I going to afford it...
If they let me loose right now I'd smoke a tree with the throttle pinned before the first 100 feet.
IT'S A F'N DISEASE!!!!!!!!! LET'S GO RACING BOY'S!!!!!!!!! HHHAAAWWWWW!!!!!!!!!
-Eric
1974 Honda Elsinore 250
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| Jim and the Field Pig in Chester, SC 2012. |
...while doing the pre-registration this AM for White Lightening....I started gettin all twitchy wound up - nerves on edge - thinking about season 2.
Last year...I was a wreck at Gatorback...the tension nearly drained me, the partial lap I could muster took what was left. But things got a lot less taxing as the season went on. White Lightening was a milestone - completed many (for me) laps...had a blast doing it...felt confident and the bike did what I needed it to. But...at all races...lining up at the start, watching each wave go....disappearing into the wooded unknown....then off with my wave....hoping not to kill myself, or someone else....make it out as unscathed as possible - lap after lap...managing the muddy climbs..over the slick roots trying to guide the bike over the edge, or into the trees...the narrow rock littered descents that want to launch you off trail...the long stretches of tight tree slaloms that want to bust your knuckles, the grassy open runs wet with dew that want to spill your ass in front of everyone....and the finish - the relief, the sense of accomplishment...the exhaustion, the exuberance.....then later...when we're all in....the stories, the hanging out with my boys, grillin', smokin' & beveraging up...and looking forward to the next race...
Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1971 Triumph T25T Field Pig
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| Marcus feeds his Bultaco MX racer. |
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| Me (Brian) on my XR200 PV XR bike in WV 2012. |
Hope to see you all out on the track this season.
Ton Up NC = Riding, Restoration and Racing of Vintage Motorcycles
