Anaheim, Edison International Stadium
Clear Channel Entertainment
Pro-Quads 2003, Round 3
Tip for the day: "Check the departure times for your flights very carefully." Had I done this the people at our local airport wouldn't be teasing me still. They said the nearly called us when we didn't show up at the right time. Our area is pretty remote so our airport borders on 'Non-commercial' size. There is only one gate to leave from an only one gate to arrive at. Anyway, the people at the airport nearly gave us a wake up call. We arrived 3 hours late thinking that our flight was at 8:40; we were supposed to leave at 5:40 am. Hmmm.... good thing they knew we were coming. They had already booked us on a later flight all the way through to Orange County. And then our flight (the 8:40) was delayed, for an hour. No problemo. We still would have 45 minutes to make our connection in San Francisco. If you have ever flown on one of the shuttle flights into SFO, you will know that they dump you out at what is affectionately referred to as the 'Barn.' Having spent many, many hours waiting for flights that were cancelled, delayed, overbooked or whatever in the 'Barn', I actually know it as the 'Temple of Doom.' From the Temple of Doom, shuttle travelers must take a commuter bus over to the main terminal that has one drop off spot. The drivers of the commuter bus have a system designed to ensure many travelers miss their connections, because they refuse to leave until their bus is nearly full and they have finished their conversations with the other workers that appear to walk aimlessly around the terminal with rubber gloves on and those orange plastic flashlights in their back pockets. As our shuttle flight circled the East Bay for the 20th time ('Flow Control' at SFO is the story - there wasn't a window of time for us to land). Flow Control is the west coast equivalent to 'De-Icing' in the northern states. Time ticked away. Our rushed 45 minute connection turned into a tiny window of 14 minutes between the time we touched down and the time the other plane was scheduled to leave. Of course our outbound flight was not affected by the Flow Control, so it would be leaving as scheduled. Anyway, as we ran through the airport, in shoes that are not made for running, we made it to the gate of our outbound just as they were closing the doors that go down the ramp. The ticket lady went ahead and sent us down the ramp and when we rounded the corner, the doors were shut on the plane and they had already pulled the ramp away from the plane. Skip and I both managed to display our frustration, even though we were out of breath (sign language you know). After getting clearance from several different FAA sources, they put the ramp back to the plane and opened the doors to let us on. My heart finally slowed down just as we were landing in Orange County.
We had tickets to Saturday's Supercross and Pit Passes for the night as well. But the party and the big fun was in the outside pits. I can best describe the outside pits as one of those Far Side sketches where there are hundreds (but in this case thousands) of people all doing different things. Everywhere there were mini bikes, motorized skateboards, BMX bikes, golf carts, mini-monster trucks, super lifted pick-up trucks and people doing different things. There was music, motorcycles running, people BBQing, tailgate parties, girls in small tight shirts - looking a lot older than they were, daddies with Mohawks giving piggie back rides to their little boys with matching Mohawks and pierced ears, and well, you name it and it was happening. Cruising through the lot looking for our buddies, I saw a mini-pit bike (a lot of 50s) in a mini-pit bike freestyle competition (I'm sure it wasn't a sanctioned event - but it had attracted over 60 bikes and 100 people watching). There was so much to watch, it was insane.
There was security everywhere, but it was a no win situation for the the Rent-A-Cops. One of my personal favorite things to do is to mess with the security people. For instance at the Monster Truck show, they alternate Monsters, with Pro-Quads. So we hang out in the tunnel since we are going right back on and to go all the way out to the pits would not make sense, The security people are supposed to keep everyone back at a safe distance in case a Monster looses control and comes toward them. I will do my level best to make the security guys earn their wages for the day. I also work on the slightly ditzy and totally confused little old lady look. It seems to throw them when I somehow have floor clearance but am obviously out of it. I know, I know, it's not nice to mess with people, but it is entertaining when they say, 'Ma'am, you can't stand there,' over and over and I move three feet front or back or right or left and then reply, 'Oh, OK, I thought you said I couldn't stand over there.' Anyway, the security people had to attempt to keep some very resourceful individuals out of the MX pits. Very resourceful.
After my eventful morning and the excitement in the pits, I gave my tickets to a friend and went back to the motel to chill. I know, I know, I gave away tickets to Supercross. With full pit access. That's right: I GAVE AWAY SUPERCROSS TICKETS WITH PIT-ACCESS! You see, I have been to Supercross before. It is interesting, but I love my quads.
My quads, and their riders, had been down in LA for another full week of sunshine, play time and work time combined. Frankly, I am little worried that Mike Walsh will not return home after spending a month in California with summer weather and full time riding in January and February. Dana, Mike & Wayne Mooridian have been spending some quality time fine tuning their programs. They even went down to El Cajon to test one evening. They met a lot of local riders and really liked the Supercross type track there. I expect that they will spend some extra training days at that track.
So Cal has been treating the riders well. Our date with destiny at Angel Stadium began early. ProQuads were the only quads allowed on the track for the Sunday races. Joel Grover (who had a birthday on the February 3rd), took over the task this year to clean up the mess from last year's fiasco with a zillion riders and literally no organization. This year, control was the key. Pre-planning was the answer and Joel was up for the job. ProQuads practiced at 9 with heats at 10:30. Mains were at 2:30. Everything literally went ahead of schedule.
Practice was good. The track was not that challenging. It was a Supercross track. Lots of air, serious rhythm sections. From the gate there was a right or left option. I have never seen this before. Right and left sides had been designed to be identical, matching up in turn three. After turn three there was a roller section that hairpinned back to another roller section with a table top to the hard left turn to yet a larger roller section with one really good jump at the end before it hairpinned to the 45 feet of whoops. After the whoop section we go to a faster jump section that has a hard right to the finish line double where you have the option of right or left again and it starts all over. Supposedly the right and left side were identical. Apparently this was not true. Consistently there were faster times on the right side than the left. Quads were allowed one 10 minute practice and a very short time between first heat. Dana took the holeshot from a right option and did well until after the second roller section.
Dana decided to run the new ITP rears. He changed after practice so he didn't have a chance to try them, but he felt that the holeshot would be the determination factor for this race. He had been sliding around the turn after the first roller section, but in his heat, he had a little too much grip. He literally tipped over allowing the pack to get by. Ah well, he likes to work his way to through the pack. Little did he know that this would be a prelude to the rest of the day. In the end he caught everyone with the exception of Greg Stuart who once again made a solid run.
Mike Walsh won his heat with time to spare. Kory Ellis got stuck somehow and ended up second in his heat, with Keith Little winning that one.
After Heat races it was time to relax. A lot of time. We had from 10:45 til 2:15 to chill. This gave Skip a lot of time to mess with the bike and the rest of us time to hang. Aunt Ethel Doty-Bratton, Grandma Charlotte & Grandpa Jim joined the fun for Dana's 21st birthday. Of course I made him hold up his cake (we will have to take pictures like that til, well, we will have to take pictures like that- it's the rule!). We had a lot of guys come over and hang out and take advantage of all that birthday cake. One bright spot for Nick Nelson: he didn't have to work on his bike the entire day! Congrats Nick.
Finally it was our turn. Dana chose the right side along with pretty much all the seriously fast guys. If there was no pileup in the first bottleneck then it was the fast line. There were 24 quads in the main, and there was only 20 start gates. That meant a second row start for guys that didn't finish high in their heat. As the 30 second sign tilted sideways, the engines wound out and the gate dropped. Mike Walsh scored the holeshot and proceeded to cruise unchallenged for a complete and conclusive win. Dana stalled in the gate, (what a rookie move). I bet those guys right behind him were irritated. This probably saved Dana from a close encounter with Kory, Jeremy, Nick and Keith who locked horns and bikes in the first corner and carried the tight connection all the way around to the point that they all had to get off the bikes and do some pulling and shaking to get everyone unhooked. Dana cruised around the pileup but was still off balance from his stall and the fact that he was last off the line. He made it through the second corner and the first set of rollers that he turned into jumps. The rules are (according to Jimmy White) if you aren't going to jump, stay to the right. This way people don't land on each other. Well Eric Silveria was just in front of Dana, but Eric cased the jump, with Dana in the air behind him, screaming, 'Look out! Look out!' Evidently Eric heard him and leaned way up on the front of his bike and Dana 'cased' his bike. Luckily neither bike was wounded and both riders were fine. By the time Dana got unhooked, Kory had got by him. Now Dana was on a mission. He was right behind Kory and closing ground quickly. Both he and Kory picked off riders quickly to challenge only each other for fourth place. I was very concerned about Dana running this rough stuff so soon after his back injury. I know how hard it is on the riders when they were 100%. Dana and Kory ran side by side through everything, including the jumps. Finally Dana had enough and decided to drop the hammer in the 45 feet of whoops. He passed Kory like it was a flat and Kory was stalled. Dana proceeded to turn his sights on the rider in front of him. Jeremy Schell had a HARD day. It seemed like every time my viewfinder found him, he was stopped on the side of the track and messing with his bike. It looked like he had even off-loaded a couple of times before re-setting his ride. Meanwhile, Mike Walsh and Josh Frederick were making good time. Both riders had left all the drama and were making tracks. Greg Stuart was running a comfortable third. Dana had moved into a challenge situation with Nichlas Granlund who was running fourth. One more lap might have made a difference, but Nic had a good grasp on fourth and wasn't in the mood to give it up easily. Afterwards, Dana said that it felt the same as winning (earning fifth) since he felt good about what he pulled out of (with the cruddy start and all the excitement from the rear of the pack). Overall, this was an incredibly exciting race.
Mike Walsh showed his stuff in Motocross. Used to be that when we thought of Mike, we thought of smooth TTer. Now we have to re-evaluate our expectations in MX. Good job Mike on your first First in this series.
Darrell Patton once again made the main event. Looks like Darrell's main sponsor, KELP, has made a difference in his race program.
We met some cool riders from other areas this weekend. Joe Arrowsmith, Brandon and Greg Skiles (1 &2),Taylor Moles (2), and Sage Baker were all from our neck of the woods in Nor Cal or So Oregon. Mike Machado and Eric Silveira both made the main and looked good on the track.
Our day concluded at TGI Friday's for dinner with Wayne Mooridian, Cain Snead, Mike, Josh and Scott Shaw, Nick Nelson and Dad and I. Dana celebrated with his first adult beverage in a restaurant and several balloons tied to his person by the staff of TGI Friday's. He took calls from all his family on both his cell phone and mine at the same time. It was kind of funny watching my sister and brother arguing with each other over two phones with Dana in the middle trying to talk to both of them at the time. The plan was for the guys to go back take a quick shower and maybe rest a bit and then go out and celebrate Dana's 21st. What actually happened is far more dull, and I regret I will not report on this because it would seriously damage his reputation as a 'playa'.
A couple of good things this day: Jack Bedner finished in the top ten. Jack was worried he might be jinxed in Anaheim because of his incredible crash last year. Congrats Jack! Also some of our 'locals' made it in the top ten. Congrats to Taylor.
On a more serious note, Tavis Cain took a hard tumble. It was first suspected that he had a broken collar bone. This turned out to be untrue. Unfortunately he has found himself with an AC separation. We hope to have our good friends, the Cains, back in action very soon.
Gehry Foster, Tom and Dru helped us pack up the Cain's trailer and all while they went for medical treatment. I would strongly encourage racers to leave some kind of diagram on where things go in the trailer and just how to fold up tricky tool chests. Gehry dumped the tool chest in the trailer in an attempt to fold it up. Boy did that get all our attention!
That's it for now.
Play hard and call your Mom,
Mom
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