Pics at Sandhill MX on Sunday

[KaTooMike]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be out at Sandhill MX in Brentwood on Sunday taking pictures of practice for about two hours (10am-noon). I just got a website up and running so I can post the pictures within a few days. If you see a guy with a camera out there, stop by and say hi!

[OakRider]

Thanks Mike,

I hear Sandhill made a bunch of new changes on the track. I would love to go, but for so many reasons, I can't. Get some good shots of the track and the new sections, Thanks! ?

[KNugget]

?

Got a class out there coming up in Sept. so I won't be riding there 'til then.

[KaTooMike]

No problem guys. I'll be making more trips out there in the near future, until the rain comes! I've only got one gallery up so far, but you can check out my site at www.mikeshots.com. Any time you visit, check out the most recent gallery and I'll list the next time I'll be out at a track. I'm going to try and hit SJMX in the near future as well.

Oakrider, I'm brining my big wide-angle lens so I'll try to get up high and get a decent shot of the entire track.

KNug - good luck with your class! I usually shoot pictures and then ride a little, so I'm looking forward to seeing you fly by me at some point!

[gmtech16450yz (motobark)]

So I take it Sandhill is open for practice tomorrow (8/19)? Did anyone go today? What are the crowds and conditions like? How much is it to ride?

[KaTooMike]

I think today (Saturday) was the first day they were re-opened. I'm guessing the conditions will be considerably better than they were in July. It was well over 100 degrees in July. If I remember correctly it's $15 or $20 to ride.

[gmtech16450yz (motobark)]

It looks like my son and I are going to check it out tomorrow. Geez, I just realized I haven't ridden in almost 3 months! ?

I'll be on a #16 YZ450 and my son is on a #02 YZ85.

What camera do you use Mike?

[RickyD]

MotoBark,

I'll be out there w/Mike, there will be Mike on his KTM450exc and 2 crf450r's.. Stop by and say hi, i think i will be in a Nissan frontier or a f250.. He uses a Canno digi Rebel XT w/a few different lenses ?

[gmtech16450yz (motobark)]

Ok, we went to Sandhill, here’s my report for anyone that’s interested…

Cool track with lots of potential, but I think they need to find someone else to work on the jumps.

There were hardly any and the ones that were there were badly placed. I was surprised that they could make jumps that small actually dangerous. The whoop section would have been better if they were made better also. I think they meant for guys to double-double-double through the whoops, but the first one was so flat you couldn’t get any air off it. (and I can get air off a rolled up newspaper, ok) That meant if you doubled through them you would hit the face of the last one on a landing. I finally managed to clear the first one enough to double through them, barely. I didn’t see anyone making them work right all day so it wasn’t just me.

Lots of flat landing jumps, jumps that land in a turn, and kind of a double-tabletop that I don’t know what they expected anyone to do with. If you could actually clear it, you’d end up off the track when you landed. (No one cleared it or even attempted it.)

Ok, sorry for the bashing, I really think the track has potential, that’s what made it kind of disappointing. I like the elevation changes, the uphills were pretty cool, you could carry a ton of speed and still make the turns at the top. There’s a tabletop after you come back down on the far left side, it was one of the jumps l liked. I also liked a section over on that side that took me a few laps to master. It was a right turn-short shoot to a tabletop-land-then roost a big berm to the right again.

Here’s a couple more things I did think were good, it is a good track for beginners or guys that are a little scared on an MX track. I only saw a couple fast guys, I would say the crowd today was not fast at all so you don’t have to worry that you’re going to get run over. On the other hand, my son was on the mini track and there were a bunch of guys on 250’s roosting giant dust clouds everywhere. He was basically run off the track, I don’t blame him for not wanting to ride in those conditions. The mini track should be for minis, not for a bunch of obnoxious big bike guys that are scared of getting beat on the main track so they try to race the little kids. I did like that there was food and drinks available there, an icecream truck even came through!

That’s all, sorry if it sounds a little negative. I was happy to be riding again and it was good conditioning for when it’s not hot, dry and dusty. I didn’t see any of you guys, it’s kinda hard to pick out vehicles, much easier to find you by bike numbers (if you have them). Maybe next time. Thanks for the heads-up that it was open.

[KaTooMike]

I just got the latest Sandhill gallery uploaded. Check it out when you get a chance. www.mikeshots.com

The track is essentially the same as it was before. They added a small uphill rhythm section, but I think that was it. At least the weather was nice!

[gmtech16450yz (motobark)]

Hey guys, I have to update my report on Sandhill. I got a call today from Renee Anderson, (Phil’s wife), and I felt I should pass along what she said. I also felt a little bad that my report of my track experience was a little too negative. Although what I said was nowhere near as bad as some of the things I read on norcalmotocross.com, a site I’ve never been to before and don’t plan on going back to. My post was meant to be informative and constructive, those posts just seemed to be destructive bashing.

I have to say I was very impressed with what Renee had to say, and more so, how much she listened to what I had to say. I told her what my (and my son’s) experience at the track was like, and she seemed very interested in fixing some of the problems. I made a point of thanking her and her husband for giving us the opportunity to even be able to ride on a MX track, whatever condition it’s in. I can imagine the costs, liabilities and hours that they must deal with to keep the track open. I doubt some of the posters on that other site have a clue what it must take to do what they do at Sandhill. For example, one of the reasons that the track was too dry last weekend was because they had mechanical problems with BOTH water trucks and couldn’t water like they wanted to. Fixing the trucks takes money, how much do you think they’re making off of us on a weekend? I’m betting it’s not a ton. They could be charging more so they could spend money on things like a gravel parking lot, but then people would be bitching about how high the entry is. I wasn’t too happy about the dusty lot (especially when guys drive and ride way too fast and stir up a bunch of dust) but I’d rather deal with a little dust than pay more to ride.

I talked to her about trying to make the jumps safer but still more fun, and about my son being run off the mini track. She said they don’t really have a rule or anything posted about not letting big bikes on that track. She said they figured it would be nice if they let the big bikes be able to go on that track when the main is being watered, but she didn’t realize the effect it might have on the kids on the smaller track. I feel that letting the little kids, or kids like my son that aren’t quite ready for the main track, have a safer place to ride was more important than catering to the few big bike riders that can’t wait 45 minutes for the main track to be watered. The other problem I saw with the big bikes on that track was the dust created was 10 times what the little bikes were stirring up. I wonder how much longer the neighbors that live downwind from that place will put up with that? She said they would think about maybe making the mini track 150cc or smaller only.

I did also tell her how much I liked the elevation changes at the track, not too many tracks around with that much to work with. I still think the track has a lot of potential, if they made some big flat tabletops like on the Hollister GP track that would be awesome. Tabletops where guys can land anywhere between 20 and 70 feet and not get hurt from a flat landing. If I jumped that first downhill jump on Sunday as big as I wanted to, I would have broken my wrists on the landing. It would have been way more fun, and safer turned into a smooth landing tabletop or even a double.

Anyway, enough rambling… bottom line is they’re trying up there at Sandhill. Renee mentioned that she didn’t appreciate the bashing on norcalmotocross.com. She’d really rather if people had gripes or comments that they email her directly. What I got from her today is that they do listen and want to make the track better. I will be going back up there again. Hopefully my son can enjoy the little track without feeling like he’s going to get run over, and I can get some bigger air, which is pretty much all I ever want to do when I ride.?