July 3, 2021

Dino Dash Penticton - Open Men.  Finished 3rd in the 'B' Main.  16 riders.

 

Great track, sandy, slight downhill 1st straight away, slight climb from the end of second straight to finish.

Open men was humbling and I had a few great lesssons from it.  I've also created a few goals for the next event.

Lessons:

1. Take a chair, umbrella, water(small cooler) and food to hang out just outside the staging area. It was hot in Penticton! Penticton's start is at the opposite end of the facility relative to the stands and car park. With a busy weekend it was hard to tell when moto's were happening and on at least one occasion the entire gate was waiting for me because I assumed we were going to have a break after the second moto.

2. I had to relearn how to pump(rather than speed jump) the faces of each jump. The guys I was racing against were great at it.

3. I can race well with minimal practice but a little practice on Saturday(without getting tired) would have been beneficial.

4.  There was very little jumping even thou I feel a number of the riders faster than me could have been jumping a couple of doubles had they chosen to do so.

5. I need to practice my gates as this was an immediate negative determinant of my race result.  I was never in the top half when I hit the first jump. It's important to note almost everyone was clipped in - again because the race was 'open' a number of riders were clipped in.

6. There is a lot of experience in the gate at the Dino Dash(35+ open Men). Having a friend record each moto was very helpful and allowed me to analyze the moto and make improvements so that each moto I was generally faster than the previous.

And on and on.  My second ever BMX race in this era of my life and there was plenty to learn.  It was a ton of fun and I met some great people along the way.

 

 

Goals for upcoming races: 

1:Be the first in the gate for practice (when I am at the track without my boys). Be ready in staging and one of the first of my moto to line up on the gate.(Process)

2:In practice break down the track so that I try to do at least one run on each straight at or above race speed.(Process)

3.Nail the gate AND be either first OR within a bike length( ie my front wheel is ahead of lead riders rear wheel) before hitting the first jump.(Outcome)

 

Next race is a local at NSBMX and then the second Dino Dash this weekend in Squamish.  See you at the track.