Results from Rhino Rally Race - St. George

FINALLY we have the official results in from the last desert race which took place in St. George late last month. The race was extremely fun because the conditions were so nice. Rain kept ost of the dust down and the sunshine was so warm! This race is one of the largest races of the year, attracting people from all over the area including Arizona and Nevada. Every year the club turns down entrees after accepting 350 rider applicants (the picture above illustrates just how many people that is on the starting line - this frame only captures 1/2 the line-up!).

My biological father, Lawrence, and his mom, Grandma Bernice, both came to watch my start - and how nice it was to see both of them supporting me in the crowd!

I was nervous because this race had a "dead start" which means riders have to kick-start the bike once the flag is dropped, versus just hitting the throttle on a running engine. It's hard for me to kick-start my bike, so I feared this was going to b a challenge for me.

I started my bike right off, and only had 1 other girl (Tattoo Neck Girl, again) right in-front of me. The start was laced with some fairly deep washes, cacti, and big chunks of lava rock, which took some people out. Here's a clip from my start:

The rest of the race was mostly winding, sandy, trails in the bottom of small ravines and such, a couple of hill climbs and a couple wide-open high speed shots. I was doing really well until I over-shot a corner and slammed into a wall, tipped over, and slammed my head hard right before I came into Pit Row (where all the other people watch). This is a picture of Chris yelling "Go Faster!!!" when I came through Pit Row on the first loop. Gotta love the encouragement!

On the second loop, I had fallen behind and had a couple of stalls that put me even farther behind. HIGHLIGHT: I came up a steep hill with no visibility at the top, and piled up into someone who'd crashed at the on the other side (who knows how that happens?). As I was bending over up to pick up my bike, another person ascents the hill and literally RUNS OVER ME, plowing right over my hip and ass! #*$! That little delay pretty much cost me the whole race. Over all, I came in 5th of 11 riders in my class. The Year-End points were just calculated, and I'm still in 2nd place, but only by a mere 100 points... need to UP MY GAME if I'm going to trophy over-all in my class at the end of the yea. The girl that took 1st last race placed again (TNG)- come in nearly 12 minutes ahead of everyone else, she's that good. Grrrr.

Chris did well and trophied 2nd place in his class. Over all, he is still ranked 3rd in his class year-to-date. He had to run a much more grueling course than I did, completing 2 30 mile loops. The second loop was full of massive boulders which riders had to pick their way around technically and aggressively. Chris reports, "The race was hurt-ie" (which means he and his bike got beat-up) and complains that "all his fast stuff fell off his bike" during the race (ie parts).

Here's a clip from his start, which is much meaner and more tough than mine!:

Since Chris trophied, we attended the awards banquet that night where he was awarded, not only a trophy, but a kiss too from the cute trophy girl! Double-grrrr.

Can't wait for the next race:

Sage Rider's National

APRIL 5th in Jericho.