OTTAWA, IL (Sept. 22, 2003) -- One of the better run harescrambles in Northern Illinois was greeted by some excellent weather today, lending to a memorable installment to the Variety Riders offroad riding club's biggest annual event held at the Trumbo family farm.
James Holter, your lone representative from Team midwestmotocross.com in the Big B class, was joined by friends and associates Bob Brooks and Brent Pierce in the +30B class, Mike Kirsch in the +40B class and Tom Desideri in the Trailrider class.
Brooks and Kirsch were the stars of the group, both logging second places in their classes -- and both having solid chances at the win until late in the race. Pierce nailed a respectable fifth, riding hard to come back from a massive bottle-neck on the first loop that (rumor has it) Pierce himself might have had a little something to do with. Desideri's results weren't available as we went to press.
As for Holter, he managed 10th out of 13 riders in the Big B class, reminding himself once again that to compete above the C level, it might be a good idea to practice once in awhile -- and be in decent shape.
"I had a great time," Holter said. "I'm definitely not as fast as most of these B riders, and this tight stuff makes it even harder, but I'd rather be the slow guy in a fast group and make others get around me than be the so-called fast guy behind a bunch of slower guys."
That said, Holter insists he was as considerate as possible to the faster riders out there.
"I had a decent start -- fourth or third, maybe, going into the woods -- but those guys just kept pulling me. I'd do OK for awhile, but in a half-mile or so I'd lose sight of the guy ahead of me. It's all good, though. I'm there for the ride and to learn a thing or two," Holter said. "If someone's clearly faster than me, my class or not, I'll let them by -- at least this year. Next year, I'm legal for +30B and hope to get in more races, so all I can say is Bob and Brent better watch out."
Brooks reports he was passed by his class leader while tied up on an uphill on the fourth loop and that by the time he got going again, he didn't have the energy to make a charge. It was a great ride for Brooks, though. Most riders on the line at the annual Variety Riders' event will tell you it's one of the tougher harescrambles of the year, due to the virgin turf, tight course, broad range of terrain and tough late-season competition.
Kirsch also put in a great ride. Both he and Brooks were the first competitors in their classes to catch and pass Holter, who started on the line in front of them with a 30-second head start. Both Kirsch and Brooks also had impressive starts. Brooks, an old dirt tracking pro, passed nearly his entire class through the field before the woods after slipping up on his first stab at the dead-engine start, while Kirsch pulled a monster holeshot of his own right off the line.
Pierce would have done better if not for the first loop quagmire that cost him four or five minutes. Pulling into the barrels for the last time, Pierce was literally on Holter's back wheel, while Holter was scored at a total time of 2:01 in the two hour race, and Pierce was scored at 2:02.
"Boy, two minutes!" Pierce told Holter right after they pulled off. "Dang it, I really wanted to do another loop."
Holter kept his thoughts on the matter to himself, but our sources say that he was more than happy to see the checkered flag.
Desideri's results also were tempered by a rough first loop that cost him 55 minutes on the time sheet. The rest of his times were more in line with the rest of the group. Still, Desideri claimed he had a great time.
In fact, all the riders had fun this year. The 2001 race, in which Holter was the only rider of the current group entered, was a mudfest on an extremely abbreviated course. Last year's event, although on a shorter version of the same course used for 2003's, for some reason drew a few more moans than cheers when it was all over. Perhaps it was more familiarity with the terrain. Perhaps it was the perfect weather. In any case, there were few complaints this year.
"If you had asked me last year, I would have been iffy about saying I had fun, but this year I had a great time," Holter said.
Added Brooks: "That section down by the Fox river was really neat. It was open and fun. You could really get on it and haul the mail."
Riding buddy Joe Carnes, who is still out with a nasty knee injury, and Bob's better half Anne Brooks, who is out with a bun in the oven, played the part of pit crew/photographers at the event. Here are some of their contributions...
