2017/2018 AMRA Season Prep - what 'cha doing?

[oldfuddy]

First and foremost, congrats to all the podium finishes for 2016/2017 and enjoy the awards banquet in a few weeks, you all earned it. [emoji106]
 
Just as the title says... what 'cha doing to prep for the upcoming season? More exercise? Diet? New Bike? Mod's?
 
I'll start it off.... against my better judgment, and seeing I DNF'd the race in Globe and STILL haven't been able to ride from injury, and I didn't win any of the three 50+ C Class races I entered... I'm making the move to B 50+. This shoud be a riot! I'm gonna get my butt handed to me! Hahahahaha. At my age just finishing the race is a win and that's my goal.
 
I bought a toy hauler and will try to make each round (work providing).
 
Going to put my Scott's damper on my 500 as well. Figure it will work better on the bike than it does in my toolbox. Hahahahaha
 
Outside of that, going to try and get some early morning rides starting in a few weeks and practicing when I can locally around my house and be off the bike by late morning (heat). Gotta order up some yellow decals.
 
What say you fellow racers?
 
Lets hear what 'cha doing to get ready!
 
~fuddy
 
 
 
 
 
 

[Kosmic]

Diet, exercise, mountain biking and of course seat time. Haven't gotten serious yet but I play on hitting it hard in July-Aug. 

Finally got the handling fixed on my bike after trying lots of things. It's really close to perfect now. So easy to ride fast. I blew several podiums by getting off course and crashing last year so that's another thing I'm going to focus on. If I can stay on the bike and on the course, it's going to be a good year!

[tmac1366]

Going straight to "B" are you? Endurance will be the name of the game since you'll be going twice the distance. Your skills are good enough to run with them. 

Since I went down to smaller bike - 250 from 450 - I hope to be able to go faster longer. I'm just going to ride as much as I can, heat and all. I'm still getting used to the new bike learning the power and gearing as it likes to run in a higher RPM range. I go to the gym 4+ days a week to do cardio (rowing) and higher rep weight stuff. I think kettlebells are going to be used more in training for the AMRA series.

Oh and AMRA is now a state championship series, so if you finish the season on the podium you'll be one of the top three in the state. Some more motivation to train and ride hard. 

You should try to get over my way sometime. Lots of single track, washes with big sand whoops, big sand whoops, and even some rocky side hill stuff. It's good practice for the race season as there is a lot of variety. I need to get over to the east side and ride some of that rocky stuff as well.

[oldfuddy]

Yeah, just now able to get back in the gym. Truth be told, endurance is my limfac. The two C races I finished beat me up endurance wise. I know I have my work cut out to just finish. Podium won't be possible based on my times compared to B class and that's ok, my times are well below the top spots. Flagstaff will be my test race in B. I'm gonna work my butt off this summer, but if I get totally worked over or can't even finish I suspect I might be biting off too much too fast. We'll see.

[Kosmic]

14 hours ago, oldfuddy said:

Flagstaff will be my test race in B. I'm gonna work my butt off this summer, but if I get totally worked over or can't even finish I suspect I might be biting off too much too fast. We'll see.

Word is no Cinders this year. No Kirkland either. Hopefully something else will be added.

[oldfuddy]

I've only raced MCMP in Tucson, San Manuel, and Globe. Heard from folks Cinders was tough, and dusty. I only guessed Flag was round 1 out of hope, haven't heard any insight of when the season starts or where.

[tmac1366]

You didn't miss much at the Cinders. It was dusty, it was loose (not like sand), and the course marking was a little off. I heard some people were not real happy with the Cinders race as some of the hill climbs in the A/B classes were nasty. The making thing may have been due to it being my first race, ever. Round 1 this year is going to be Oct. 1st as of now, not sure where. I could live without racing at the Cinders. The rest of the schedule I'm not sure of yet, I'll know more after the awards banquet on June 10th. We have a competition committee meeting that day as well so I should be able to get a tentative schedule with some dates set in stone.

[oldfuddy]

Nice, please post up if you get some preliminary intel you are allowed to share. I need to take each Friday off before each race from work and balance the race dates with the family stuff. I hate nasty throw the bike up the hill climbs. This is my trail bike too... need to keep it in one peace. Can't swing two dirt bikes.

[tmac1366]

4 hours ago, oldfuddy said:

Nice, please post up if you get some preliminary intel you are allowed to share. I need to take each Friday off before each race from work and balance the race dates with the family stuff. I hate nasty throw the bike up the hill climbs. This is my trail bike too... need to keep it in one peace. Can't swing two dirt bikes.

Plan for some Mondays off, not all of the races are on a Saturday. The hill climbs at the Cinders are long, steep, and power robbing. Some in the race did not have good runs before them. Going down is different as you need to have the gas on to keep the front light, you can get some speed quickly. I know the one bike deal, so I can't beat on it too hard. I should be able to post tentative race dates, I know the San Man race will be March 10th.

[Kosmic]

On 5/28/2017 at 7:28 PM, tmac1366 said:

Round 1 this year is going to be Oct. 1st as of now, not sure where. I could live without racing at the Cinders.

Oct 1st is Camp Wood.

No Cinders, CTR is teaming up with another club to do Big Sandy this year.

Looking forward to racing anywhere except MC Motorsports Park, the dust there is just AWFUL!!!

[tmac1366]

Well good no Cinders. Camp wood is a tough one, I thought it was the hardest race last season. MC Motorsports was a dusty mess, it would be nice if they would water the start at least, heck they get free water to keep the dust down on the tracks.

[oldfuddy]

Not sure what's up with MCMP... saw plans of an Archery Range eating up many acres that would encroach on the desert loop. They water for start of A/B and thats it. In the 6 years I've ridden there (dozens and dozens of times), the race there in round 3 (I think) was the worst ever! Complete mess. Course simply fell apart.

[4Sevens]

I've lost almost 30 pounds since the final race of the season that just ended.  I'm working hard to get in better shape so i can get back to the top 3 in results.  I'm also seriously considering buying a different bike.  I bought this KTM 300 thinking it was the perfect bike for AMRA but I have just never been a 2 stroke rider and I don't think I'm faster on it.  It certainly doesn't wear me out like the 450 did but I also think that contributed to me getting out of shape.  I am now thinking a KTM 350 XC is my next weapon of choice.  Next step to prep for the season is doing a 6 week DA8 off season training program.  If I still suck next season it won't be for a lack of effort it will just be a complete lack of skill.

To address the B class moves you guys are making... It is a wake up call.  I'm in 40B now and I hear and I believe that it's the most stacked class.  It's no joke.  50B probably won't be much easier.  If you finished the races in C class and thought, "That was easy" or "That's it, it's already over" you might be ready for B class.  If you were challenged in C and especially if you felt you could barely finish, don't even think of moving to B.  Either way if you move to B, you will be one of the slower riders in the entire B class so please be courteous and move over when a faster rider comes up on you.  There are way to many guys that just flat won't move.  I probably need to work on my hard passing skills to get by some people.  When you run B class, you will be getting lapped by the AA riders sometimes twice and those guys come up on you fast!  You will also get lapped by A riders.  Basically you will be getting lapped a lot.  I suggest you really think about it before you decide to move up.  Don't let your ego ruin your fun.

[4Sevens]

Also, MCMP will be on the schedule again in November.  That is our clubs race.  We are discussing ways to make it better such as doing a sprint enduro, including the MX track, and cutting out the high speed super dusty middle section from last year.  Then the next season we will probably do our race somewhere else.  Maybe back to Laughlin but there are a couple other options on the table as well.

[oldfuddy]

@4Sevens - First and foremost CONGRATS on losing 30lbs!!!  Thats something to be proud of right there.  You're gonna need new springs before Oct!

I hear ya on the bike choice.  My 500 is clearly too much bike for the 3 races I did this past year.  Great on the hole-shot because I only have to twist the throttle and its modded pretty good engine wise.  If I can get it to hookup, I do well getting to the corner.  On the flip-side, at the end of a couple hours of throwing the 500 around and dealing with it hooking up and trying to launch to the moon all day, I'm beat.  I gave up smokers with my green plated steel fendered 250 Elsinore.  Yes, Steve McQueen and I shared a moment in time.  lol!  I'd really like a 350, but its just not in the cards.

Good luck on your DA8 training.  That would be cool for sure.

As for MCMP, I'll give you guys props because thats my home track with much seat time and you looped stuff together I would have never thought of.  That was the longest single loop I've ever ridden out there.  As for it falling apart, i'd never seen that before.  if you included the MX track, I'd ask you allow folks to walk it if they'd like before the race... there's some "gotcha" jumps on it.  Too slow or two fast on a jump could spell disaster like up at globe on the water crossings.

Thanks for the insight on moving to B.  Funny you posted up actually when you did.  I haven't been able to swing a leg over the bike since my DNF at Globe. Tore a muscle that has healed deformed in my right shoulder/upper chest.  My first ride will be a slow one this weekend.  I just started working out again (slowly) and I'm up from 0-pushups to 3.  Keep in mind I had a 26 year career that required me to push out 50+ pushups a minute of which I usually knocked out 60-65 a minute for 26 years and could knock out an equal amount after a 30-sec rest.  Today I couldn't muster a 1/4 mile without stopping and the 3 pushups was pretty demoralizing, although better than 0.

You provided some insight I've been pondering.  I haven't been able to ride and that has given me plenty of time to log hours upon hours of AMRA youtube vid of C and B riders.  From what I've seen, I'm C when everything is considered.  At MCMP I took the holeshot and held it until about 5 miles from the finish where I was so exhausted I hit a rock and went over the bars.  totally my mistake and too tired.  At San Manuel I dry-heeved after stage 2 from being exhausted and if it wasn't for the 20-min break between stages I wouldn't have been able to do stage 3.  At Globe I just made a simple mistake at 2mph on the second stage and DNF'd.  I'm hoping over the summer if I'm lucky I can just get back to where I was before Globe and if so, I'm still struggling to just finish a C race. i'm seriously thinking of doing an entire season (as many races as I can) in C and then see how it goes and if it goes well, I'd sell the 500 at the end of the season and get a 350 and move to B in '18/'19.

 

Edit: Of note, I've purchased a damper and Clake 2 clutch/LHRB. Hope those help with my fatigue.

 

 

 

 

[tmac1366]

I'm staying in the "C" class for this next season. My times are not good enough to be in the "B" class quite yet. I won't be on the 450x this season so that should help a little. I will be riding a WR250f so hopefully I won't be wore out like I was with the heavy Honda. I'm in the gym on a regular basis doing lots of cardio and high rep weights. If I podium next season I'll move up to "B" in the following season. The competition will be stiffer this next season in the C 50+ class.

My goals are simple for the season - have fun, finish the race, and drive myself home after the race. I finished all but one race due to a mechanical(my fault).

[4Sevens]

Old Fuddy, thanks for the props on the weight loss.  It's been life changing.  If we include portions of the MX track for our race this season we surely won't include any life or death sections of the track.  The track operator was also impressed with how long our loop was.  We spent some time figuring it out for sure.  Good luck with the comeback.  It's crazy how long it takes to recover as we get older.  Oh and I couldn't do 50 push ups no matter how long you give me.  Back in Military School though?  I could go all day and regularly was told to "drop" due to my inability to keep my wise cracks to myself.  I was ripped back then.  The good ole days.

[Hans Schmid]

6 minutes ago, 4Sevens said:

Old Fuddy, thanks for the props on the weight loss.  It's been life changing.  If we include portions of the MX track for our race this season we surely won't include any life or death sections of the track.  The track operator was also impressed with how long our loop was.  We spent some time figuring it out for sure.  Good luck with the comeback.  It's crazy how long it takes to recover as we get older.  Oh and I couldn't do 50 push ups no matter how long you give me.  Back in Military School though?  I could go all day and regularly was told to "drop" due to my inability to keep my wise cracks to myself.  I was ripped back then.  The good ole days.

What program are you using for weight loss? 

[4Sevens]

10 minutes ago, Monk said:

What program are you using for weight loss? 

 

I'm following a friends direction.  He is ex swat and came up with a program that works great.  I've been doing it for about 11 weeks now.  Drink one gallon of water a day.  Started off for 2 weeks eating nothing but chicken and broccoli four times a day to detox and lost 17 pounds.  Then on to oatmeal for breakfast, egg whites, chicken, fish, almost any vegetables, sweet potato, brown rice and protein bars/drinks (eating 5 times a day).  No alcohol.  I haven't been hungry at all so that's cool.  I'm losing 1 to 3 pounds a week after the first two weeks dramatic weight loss. I plan to stay on this basic plan the rest of my life.  When I occasionally drink I have red wine.  I used to drink beer and eat a lot of carbs and fried foods as well as deserts.  I have had red meat a couple times and it didn't do much for me except give me gas.  Not worth it.  I feel so good physically now.  I have more energy and I can focus better.  I was amazed how much better I could focus when hauling a$$ on the bike.  It's crazy.  I also sleep less at night and couldn't take a nap if I tried.

Another benefit is saving money on eating out and alcohol.  I'm saving over $300 a month.

Edited June 14, 2017 by 4Sevens

[oldfuddy]

How much chicken a day (or each meal) do you suppose you ate for those two weeks? Just a guesstimate.