We made the 10 hour trek out to Arroy Seco, New Mexico to race the track and visit some friends and riders and have some fun. We brought our hairy children along on the vacation too. The drive though Arizona at night was interesting due to the lightening storm we chased for nearly three hours. There had been thunderstorms and showers in AZ and NM recently, which made everything really green and beautiful...and also brought out the mosquitoes the likes of which I have only experienced in Australia one evening while trying to camp next to some kind of pond (I moved my camp).

The track is a short, tight, counter clockwise (on this particular weekend anyway) with a nice long back straight. It is bumpy in places but not uncontrollably so, and the really bumpy spots are low speed anyway. The run off is GREAT - soft dirt, no rocks, just some squishable plants. I saw several riders soil sampling with their tires on practice day, including JM :D

We found Ivan Garza, the Little,Big Racing sponsored rider who is just as fast to smile as he is on the track and took a pit spot next to him. Phil Allison of Evan Steel Performance showed up with the mobile dyno later on practice day and we had the pleasure of his company as well as his dyno. Did I mention we pitted next to the dyno?

I spent practice setting up my suspension for the bumpy track on a borrowed shock from Leonard Mellgren, since mine was still leaking. Jetting was also something of a mystery since the track elevation is 4200 feet! There was no air up here and I jetted my bike VERY lean. The track was easy to learn and started to flow by the end of the day. The bottom end of the bike felt slow to respond, only this time is wasn't a clogged fuel filter. I got close on the jetting practice day and that was enough.

We had dinner on Saturday night at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. It on a small road off another small road with the nearest landmark being a dairy farm. We were greeted by two fat rottweilers, one lounging in the grass and on up on some old wooden bleachers in the front yard. The building was a 1920s schoolhouse and the dining room was in the gymnasium. A huge screen played country videos above the old stage, and the walls were decorated with junk all the way up to the high ceilings. A very long bar on the opposite side of the stage was decorate with more junk and looked to be as old as the building. The restaurant featured bad service and great food, and we were entertained by Kevin and Sharon Murray and their friend Lucy, a local 72 year old firecracker of a woman who also worked the front gate to the track (and evidently didn't need much sleep as she seemed to be everywhere at all hours).

Race day
The race director Roger announced at 8am that no one was ready yet so that practice would start at 8:30 instead of 8:00. It was a pretty low pressure weekend, though I was a little nervous. The morning was pretty cool which leaned out my jetting and the bike felt great. I was still working on the shock set up since this borrowed shock was a different length than mine. My first race, Lightweight Superbike, was second of the day and there were around 10 on the grid. Mostly SV650s but a CR500, two other 125s and some other random 4 strokes thrown in there. I lined up on the grid and could not see the starter at all, so I just waited until the other bikes went and took off. Not the best starting method, since it put me about last into turn one, but I quickly made it through some slower traffic and worked my way to about 5th by lap one of the 8 lap race. I made past the two other 125s and up to third by about the third lap and had the leader on a Kawasaki 650 in sight. I passed into second on lap 4 or 5, and then of course my shock was warm and started to blow through the compression. By lap 6 and 7 I was not gaining on the leader anymore, which was really disappointing as I ran the fastest lap times in the race and could have won it if the shock was set up differently. It was fun anyway.

My second race, Lightweight GP, was much later in the day and the temperature risen a lot. We tried some suspension changes and I lined up on the grid, this time with the starter in sight. Since I had never actually SEEN the starter I was watching for a number board but it turns out they just hold up a finger then wave the flag! So again, a start that sucked. The suspension held up in this race but my jetting was way too rich, especially the pilot jet. I could not get out of my own way and found myself battling with racers I had passed easily in the first race. The slow corners really hurt on the too-rich pilot. I placed 5th and the two other 125s finished ahead of me.

I had very little time before my last race and had a lot to do. A red flag caused by a bike stuck in the mud (!) gave me the time I needed to change the pilot jet and fuel my bike up. I made it out to the Heavyweight Twins grid and got a decent start compared to the last two. I passed into second place fairly early in the race and really tried to catch the 999 at the front. I would gain ground on him in all the corners and especially the entrances, but 999 on the long back straight just left me so far behind each lap there was no catching him. I believe we ran the same lap times which were 1:15s and 16s. I finished ahead of the 650 who had beat me in the first race, so I'd like to go back now that I know my settings a try to win a few races.

There was a big awards ceremony at the end of the weekend and we got to thank everyone for making us feel welcome. We had dinner with Phil Allison on the way home at a Rancher style steak place and checked out the ranchers in their Sunday Wranglers and good cowboy hats. It was a really fun time and the organization was great. The track was definitely fun and we will be going back soon.

Dinky Dog doing what she does

The drag stip was directly in front of the office. Note the windows.

Drinking coffee constitutes a dirty job for me

I saw a LOT of Wranglers in New Mexico

Kirk leading Britt

Blind leading the blind