And so it begins. Those of you who were there, and participated in the first ever Texas Off-Road Racing Organization's season opener at Brian's farm, will forever go down in history as ...well, the first.

   If you saw my pre-race recon on this venue, and read the TORO rules, then you know that this was gonna be, slightly, different from what we're used too. For instance, this first event, had two creek crossings ( in the A/B course ), a fairly claustrophobic  tight area, a euro style grass track, as well as some good ole cross country stuff. It was also a little shorter than what we're used too at just over 6 miles.  The surface of the track could be described as cement covered with cornstarch...but we'll just call it "hard pack with some sand here & there". 

 There were some other differences from our norm as well. They used a dead engine start. And a real Pit Lane. And of course they had bright green lights to start us with, let's not forget that. . And then there was the single chute, semi -electronic scoring, and a new  'sportsman' class. The shortened practice on Saturday, the timed events ( rather than distanced ), and the 300 bike parade lap!  And  the very convenient sign-up times,  the separate A/B cut-off trails, the Saturday pit bike race / melee, a map that wasn't upside down, backwards, or sideways, and lets not forget the quad race in the dark on Sunday evening (they need to move that to Saturday)! Yes quite a different event. Quite a bit different indeed!  

    I took advantage of the light schedule on Saturday, to wash my scooter from the last event, and cut a path  from the front door through the jungle I call my front lawn, out to the street so I could check the mail, & put out the trash.  Spending the extra time around the house & family was great, but in so doing,  I was unable to witness the spectacle and excitement that was the Pit-Bike race, held on Saturday. But for you guys,  I stole a picture or two from Pete Storrie, so you could see the 'speed of light' start that Mark got ( er...took, I mean ). Look at the picture, Mark is blazin' away, & the other guys didn't get the hint!

 It seems that the best part of the Pit-Bike race are the rules...I'm not sure there are any!

   So anyway at 06:00 hrs on Sunday morning, I loaded up the Great White Patman Racing Van, & started the cruise up to Denton where the event was held.  I actually had the van pretty much loaded up on Saturday night, due to this new relaxed schedule, and had only my perishables (at the  last race, "perishables" would've included my bike! ) and my own tired ass to install in the vehicle.  

   I had also, the evening before, prepared my bike in the usual ways, like new oil 'n filter, new air cleaner, checked the spokes, chain, cables etc.  And just for this race, I went two teeth bigger on the rear sprocket,  installed Hard Terrain tires, and went two clicks firmer on the clickers for the G-outs & the MX section. 

 I was supposed to race Mr. Monkeybutt in the sportsman class in the morning but didn't get signed up due to a small air density miscalculation on my part. I guess the summer jetting I had been using in the Yamaha had run it's course.

  After paying the required fees, tariffs, bribes, & tolls to get in the gate, I found a quick parking spot. I was unable to immediately locate the other Patman Racing members, but figured I'd find them on the fourwheeler. So I grabbed the first spot that looked acceptable, & commenced the offloading of scooters, and gettin' them started & warmed up. 

 Of course, it was a touch of a button to start the Patman Track Officiating Vehicle ( the red four wheeler with the yellow toolbox on the front ). But when it came to the race vehicle well, that's when the morning schedule suddenly started to get compressed.  With  the appointed  time for the riders meeting quickly approaching, I started "the drill". Gas in,  on, & choked. 

  Oh wait, wait a second.  Now, before I go any further, I gotta ask, do you guys have a "thing" about your bike startin' on the first kick? C'mon admit it. You do don't ya?  Ya position yourself at the proper attitude for the first bike start of the day, you've done all the stuff. Gas, choke, pull the silencer plug, rock it, or tip it, or whatever your drill is. And then...out of the corner of one eye ...you glance around. Just a quick little peek, to see if anyone's watching. Then as if you don't notice they're there, you kick. Just once.  

 Now if it starts, and of course it will, you don't smile...not outwardly anyway. No. Of course not. That was supposed to happen. My bike is a well oiled , well prepared, machine. It always starts 'first kick'.  Always. 

 Your buddy, camped fifteen feet away, is turnin on his gas. And turnin' on his choke. And yes, he was watchin'...out of the corner of his eye. Maybe he'll nod to you, smugly. Or maybe he'll act  as if he didn't notice that you started your scoot on this frosty morn, with a single thrust of the boot.

    "I can do that too", he thinks. "I must".                     He knows you're watching... 

 This is what I go through every time I ride with my friends... like Monkeybutt for instance. If my bike ( or his ) doesn't light on the first kick, or maybe the second, the wind stops blowin'. Heads turn. People stare like I got Rabies or something.  A man's bike is supposed  to start on the first kick.

 And so, without Mike around to ridicule me ( thank goodness ), I gave the 450 a hearty yell, and a swift kick.  But there was no rumble.   "A fluke", I thought.  I looked around, nobody had noticed anyway.  Again I brought my considerable weight to bear on the kick starter, and again, no boom. Or the next time. Or the next twenty times.  I couldn't get the mighty YZM to light off.  Now for those of you without a good exercise regimen, this is a great way to start the day, I'll tell ya.  No better way to get warmed up than kicking a damned 450 thumper for 5 minutes on a cool morning.  Humph! It was apparently time for the winter jetting package to be installed.   So out come the several hundred jets I've got in little Tupperware containers, the special wrenches, mirror, & oddly shaped screwdriver, & I set to the task of introducing more fuel to the cold morning air inside my engine.  I knew what it needed, 3/4 turn out on the pilot screw, and the next step richer pilot jet. I decided right then though, that I wouldn't have time to enter & compete in the morning Sportsman class. I had too much to do, & wasn't planinng on rejetting the scoot.  

By the time I had it idling smoothly, half an hour had passed & it was time for the riders meeting. While the YZ was warming up, I scrambled to get dressed & make the meetin'.

 So on my way to what I figured would be a kinda important meeting, I practiced one dead engine start ... It was miserable.  My son coulda gotten away on his Big Wheel quicker. Oh it was startin' OK, but a dead engine start   aint nuthin' like holdin' it at half throttle, & feedin' fifty horsepower to the ground at the drop of a flag! 

 The meeting was good though, lots valuable information. The president of the TORO, explained in easy to understand terms, what we had to do in order to get out there & mix it up some. He introduced the staff, and explained the scoring and series format...the usual stuff. Right after the meeting... the parade lap, the only practice you get if you don't come Saturday.

 The parade lap, for those of you who don't know, is 300 bikes playing follow the  leader. No racing. No spode maneuvers. No passin' the leader. One lap only. It would've been a pretty  uneventful Parade lap, had it not been for the clumps of stuck riders at places like the flat, dry, hard, straight, spot just before the 'almost a mud hole', that was about a quarter mile before the Moto section.  Well at least we didn't get too tired or sweaty.

 Back in the pits, we actually had some time before the morning race. I loaded film in the camera, wished Monkeybutt 'good luck' in the sportsman event, and went off to find a good spot for pictures. As it turns out, because I didn't have time to go enter the sportsman event, Monkeybutt was the only one in the class.  Kinda fitting really, I mean Mike making up a Sportsman class of one. 

 His  (our ) plan had been to race the morning event with the 'C' riders to get some practice that we didn't get on Saturday. Then race the afternoon event with our regular class. It's kind of a ...strategy thing, if ya know what I mean.

 The start looked kinda like what we're used to, only it was wide, flat, & grassy, and hard as a sidewalk!  Also, no flag. Instead they had cleverly rigged up a bank of green lights to a switch held behind the back of the start guy. He gave the 10 second signal, then in a moment or two he'd flip on the bright green lights, and in a sudden rush of noise the race would be started.  A dead engine start is something else I'm gonna have to get used too.  It's exciting enough, I guess, but ...well the big four strokes, without e-start, seemed at a disadvantage. In my unbiased opinion, never mind that I ride one of the most cantankerous startin' big bore four strokes around.  I'm whining here I guess. 

  It was so dusty on the second turn of the start area that my picture taking was somewhat hampered. I'd crouch down, & grab a picture,  then  turn & haul ass before the dust cloud covered me and the very expensive, high zoot,  camera I use for these pictures.  But I did snap a few, and the dust wasn't a factor over most of the remainder of the  course. 

 During the Amateur race, I had a pretty good time watching the race without the responsibility of being an official. Though once in a while I couldn't help but pull an errant branch out of the riders faces...& sometimes it...uh...broke off.

 As the 'C' riders, Ladies, and Minis, didn't have to brave the slightly more difficult areas of the creek crossings and the tighter sections, I think they probably had a pretty good race. I don't think I saw the ambulance leave once, and that's really great to see...or not see, whatever.

 I did mosey around & check out a few different areas, including the e-score trailer, and the babes it contained. 

 The e-score system consisted of an 'S' shaped chute that allowed the girls in the trailer to see a bike from all three sides. Two of the three girls in the trailer would then enter the rider number in a laptop, with a third scorer manually writing down the rider's numbers as they entered the chute as a backup. The two computer files were then merged, compared, errors fixed against the manual sheet, and Bam!  Presto! E-scoring. Kinda. They even had a video camera set up aiming at the chute for an additional backup system. It seemed to work OK for it's first time out. Though later, in my own race, I found myself stuck in the chute a couple of times while they tried to discern the number on one of the bikes in front of me. The most I ever had to wait was about 10 seconds.

 My race in the afternoon was pretty bleak. My scooter fired on the first kick. And revved cleanly. The clutch released smoothly enough, but not being able to give it any gas until it actually lights off, is a pain in a racing situation! By the time I was letting the clutch slide out of my fingers, there were already two or three bikes rolling down the start straight. During the race I'd catch up, then I had a stall, the bike takes a few hundred kicks to start, and I'd start over. On the last lap I was delayed in the creek / mud-pit for about two minutes.   First behind   bikes backed up to the top of the hill. Then with a stall ( again ) in the mud itself, while trying to do some trials type riding up the side of one bank that wasn't an established line. 

 I finished out of the top ten, & that was a little disappointing, but the race itself was good fun. The bike & all of my equipment operated within established parameters, & all in all it was a pretty fair way to spend the Sunday afternoon.