WNYOA Rd. 10 - Thunder Ridge

OK ...

So some of you know that I come from the cycling world - as in road cycling.  ( bicycles )  Every couple of years we as mere mortals get to see Olympic athletes who are at the peak of their respective sports perform on the boob tube.  One of those summer sports is obviously cycling.  I'm sure many of you have seen cycling on the velodrome - most likely on TV - but some of you may have actually seen actual velodrome cycling in person too as there is a world class facility in Trexlertown, Pa.  I've ridden that velodrome myself - never competed or raced there - but I have ridden it.  Where, you might ask am I going with this?  Bear with me if you will...

Steiner and Scutt grabbed the 1st, and hopefully last, unknown start style holeshot  |  Click the photo to view it larger

One of the velodrome events that they have is called "The Unknown Distance Race".  Ummm - yep - it means exactly what it says.  The race might be 10 laps, or it could be 100.  The race officials, via sponsorship, throw in prize laps (primes as they are called) to spice up the race - ie: a bell rings and an announcement is made - "The winner of the next lap pockets $50.00 cash... !!!".  This keeps things interesting and makes for some strategy as obviously the winner of the overall event takes home the biggest prize.  But not knowing when the race ends ...  do you kill yourself for the $50.00 and hope they don't ring the bell (white flag) now that you're toast?  See - makes it interesting.  :)

Thunder Ridge decided to invent the "Unknown Start" today for the big bikes.  Yeah - that definitely added some spice to many a spectator up at the top of the hill, and from what I heard even several of the racers and sweepers.  We're all hanging out, just talking and shootin' the breeze when all of a sudden ( BRAAAAAP!!!! ) here comes the frickin' AA line ripping up the hill at, like, a kabillion mph!!  Holy crap!!  Everyone is bailin' and backing off and trying to get outta the way ...    yikes!!

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Umm -- promoters for events 11-15 - please don't do that again.  We, as spectators and shooters - we're boring - we'd just assume know exactly when the race is going to start, thank you very much.

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Maryott fought hard for this one and it was evident that he was stoked about it at the end as he was pumping his fists celebrating his win as he came through scoring taking the checkered flag  |  Click the photo to view it larger

So -- seen above,  Marcus Scutt and Jim Steiner Jr., these two grabbed a couple of good hands full of throttle and fed the rest of the AA line their roosts!  Scutt ran out of gas (literally) and didn't have quite the finish he was hoping for.  I'm not sure how Steiner made out.  There was a heck of a race happening between the two big dogs that were present today though with Bouwens and Maryott going at it.  Bouwens had the early lead, only to lose it to Maryott who established a pretty good gap for a while.  "The Bat" fought hard and closed the gap and was knocking right on his targets tailpipe through the closing lap.  Maryott demonstrated why he is running the #1 plate for the series at present as he successfully held of the hard charging Bouwens for the win.

Ben "Batman" Bouwens could only look on as he came home in 2nd  |  Click the photo to view it larger

The Big Quads - oh boy!!  They are - well - they're the Big Quads.  The start for them was (fortunately) very well telegraphed by the starters and race staff - no surprises in that department.  The racers themselves ... c'mon.  Those of you who attend these races already know - they create their own brand of excitement and this start was not to disappoint!  There was some wild and crazy goings on and a couple of "interesting" line choices made.  A couple of crashes but fortunately no serious injuries (that I'm aware of).

The Big Quads start - yep - it was a wild one at times!!  :)  Whoo hoo!!  |  Click the photo to view it larger

There will be many pics from the event getting posted up to the galleries and facebook over the next couple of days - standby!!

-=- jd -=-

WNYOA / Round #9

AA / Pro class speedster Nick Davis won the premier event of the day on the bikes.  Ben Bouwens grabbed the holeshot but could not hold off the #87.

...  been a while since I've updated my blog.  My bad - I need to be better and more pro-active about it but, frankly, I spend more time in social media - namely facebook - posting there.  I get damn near real-time feedback from there.  This is easier though when cross posting to multiple groups - I only have to upload the article and pictures once and then reference the link back to here.  I gotta get back into that practice.

+++ ANYWAY +++ 

There was a race today!!  Round #9 was held today out at the Tall Pines ATV Park way (way) out in God's Country in the hills above Andover, N.Y..  I had decided the night before that I probably wasn't going to make it out there for the early morning youth races - I would have had to get up at the crack of dawn in order to make it on time.  Based on the weather conditions - kinda glad I didn't.  The place was socked in with fog and an on and off again drizzle ..  that only got worse as the day wore on.

Race promoter Scottie Rich was all over the place today.  He gets around pretty good for being (as he told me when asked "How you doing?") ".. all broken up."  Also when asked ".. you gonna be back for the winter series?" he looked at me with a "Damned straight... " kinda look and answer.  Winter series racers - you've been warned.  ;)

Now this was different, and pretty darned cool too.  Brian Robarge laid down a little "Hendrix'ish" action playing the National Anthem prior to the start of the Big Bikes!  How cool was that?!  :)

Big Bikes - you guys win today!!  Last week, due to having to work I was only able to shoot the Big Quads.  This week, due to being a wuss, I only stuck around for the Big Bikes.  I went back to my car shortly after the bikes race was over for some chow, change batteries, dry gear off, etc ...  while eating the steady rain that had been falling all day long got "steadier" - and harder.  It didn't take a lot of convincing myself that I'd had enough.  I'd had fun mind you, and (I think) I got some decent grabs on the day - but I was NOT going to go back out  there to shoot the lunatics, 'er I mean, Quads.  Nahh .. sorry guys and gals.  Not today.  To wet, to sloppy, to much electronics on me.

While "The Bat" Ben Bouwens, grabbed the holeshot, it was the 87 lurking just to the left in the orange and blue of Nick Davis who took the win.  Bouwens would hang on for 2nd on the day.

Here are a couple to get us started - there will in all likelihood be pics getting to the WNYOA pages on facebook in the coming days too.

WNYOA Round 5 / Greek Peak

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Round 5 is in the books.  Mother nature was NOT kind to us for the majority of the week leading up to the event itself.  Only on actual race day did she finally relinquish the wet and miserable grip that she had been stubbornly clinging to and let mr. sun come out.  This was, unfortunately too little, too late.  Conditions were wet.  Not terribly wet - trust me - WNYOA has seen, and raced in, far worse - BUT had we had just one or two straight days of dry weather ....  {sigh}  "Woulda, coulda, shoulda ... "  But as many in the race family say, "... it's a hare scramble, deal with it".

And so we did.  :)

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This is just a quickie post to get out some random "faces in the crowd" candid type stuff that I like to do from time to time.  The shot of Bobby J. with trash in his hand is one that he actually asked me to take.

<EHEM>  People - NOT COOL.  You want to keep having good venues to race at?  Quit leaving your shit trash all over the place!! </EHEM>

I deployed mr. remote for both the big bikes AND even the quads.  Yeah -- thats a major trust thing right there ...  lol!  I wound up shooting a LOT of images -- gonna take a while to go through all of them and weed out the bad ones, make first round picks, and then whittle that down to keepers that will wind up getting posted up to the galleries.

Anyway ...  enjoy!

-=- jd -=-

WNYOA Round 4 / Arcadia Bark Busters

The little ones were going so fast today that their teeth were falling out.  Well ok -- not really...   :) | Click to view the photo larger

Round #4 is in the books and the WNYOA family / series now settles into period of rest and recovery, fix and repair (of both machine and body) as there is a break coming up between now and Round 5 at Greek Peak on the 15th.  Arcadia, as I learned in speaking with even promoter Jerry Bulman earlier today, has a historically "low turnout" of ridership due to a couple of things.  Namely distance - it is, by comparison, a good drive away from the typical WNYOA event.  Today's event did set an Arcadia racer attendance record though topping out around approximately 600'ish riders - not to shabby.  A little light by WNYOA standards but again ..  not bad.

Nick Davis *blew* the AA's away.  Ben Bouwens (again!) appeared to have grabbed the early lead but apparently went down pretty hard and never really got back into podium contention.  I don't know where he finished.  | Click the photo to view it larger

Last year at the Dan Leonard event, Dallas Micha and his crew set a high bar standard for how an event should be run.  That bar was then met and in some cases exceeded for the next several events back to back over the next few weeks.  Congrats to Jerry and his crew for establishing this years high bar standard (in my opinion anyway for whatever that may or may not be worth....  ).  Parking, scheduling, numbers of workers, the course itself and course marking, and lastly getting the races off pretty much on schedule ...  check, check, check and check.

Here are a couple of grabs from todays event ...  little ones on the pee wee quads -- sorry folks - I didn't make it up there on time to catch you.  ( this event really was pretty far away ..  road trip! lol! )  I'll catch you at Round 5.  Hopefully one of the other shooters caught you ...

Timmy Murphy did not get the greatest of starts in the AA's but did battle his way to a 2nd place finish on the day.  | Click the photo to view it larger

This guy (sorry man...  I don't know as many of the quadders as I do the bikes) Thanks to an eagle eyed reader I can now update this and state that Greg Covert grabbed the early lead in the AA Quads.  He apparently never relinquished it either and went on to grab the win on the day!  |  Click the photo to view it larger

There will be many, many more photo's coming in the next few days folks - I'll likely be posting them to facebook as well as (obviously) be populating the galleries.  Standby and keep checking back!

-=- jd -=-

WNYOA 2014 Round #3

Round 3 is now in the books and it turned out to be a great day for racing and the racing itself was great too! I've got a couple of neat little panorama style shots that I wanted to share with everyone from the start / staging area of both the Big Bikes and Big Quads races, and since I'm now into the Big Bikes and Quads photo's I figured that I would just throw a couple more images into this post and then call it a day.  All of the mornings races (Pee Wee's) are already loaded up at the galleries.  You can check them out here.  ( along with the other races as they go up )

This was the start line area for the Big Bikes about 30-45 minutes prior to the actual start of the race. There were still a number of racers who hadn't even come out to staging yet.  There was some good racing to be had and, as you can see, spectacular weather to enjoy it in!

Click to view larger | Click here to view it *really* large  :)

I moved in to see if I could get one from a closer perspective but because I'm not very tall I just wind up aiming the camera in the right general direction with it held aloft over my head.  Look at this one large - it has some problems as the pano didn't stitch together all that well.  I "corrected" some of the really bad ones (people missing heads or having hollow bodies...  lol ! ) but there are still at least two pretty bad ones in there that I left - see if you can spot them (and others... :)  )

Click to view larger | Click here to view it *really* large  :)

So it was race time and the premier event of the day was on the line.  the AA/Pro class field is especially stacked this year with really good riders and it has proven so far to be a good one to watch.  I deployed "mister remote" for the first time ( a remotely triggered camera ) and it was able to grab a few interesting shots from its vantage point for the start of the bikes.  "The Bat" Ben Bouwens on his #23 Yamaha came out of the first turn like a shot and grabbed the holeshot.  "Old man" Scottie Rich was hot on his tail pipe with the rest of the field in furious pursuit.  Interestingly enough the defending WNYOA #1 plate of Grant Maryott came through my shooting position in what appeared to be near last place.  Two hours and several laps later it was role reversal.  Maryott demonstrated why he is riding the red #1 plate as he worked his way up through the field and not only caught the flying Bat but overtook him, and at the end of the day left him some 30 or 40 seconds in errors.  Anyone who knows the WNYOA series and has watched it over the years knows that Bouwens is tough - simply keeping up with him is one thing - but to chase him down AND pass him?  Dude ...  !  If everyone on the front line can stay healthy and minimize mechanicals we as spectators could be in for a really good year of AA Big Bike racing!

Bouwens grabbed the early lead and held it for quite a while. This was as captured by "mister remote" | Click the photo to view it larger

Bouwens grabbed the early lead and held it for quite a while. The Bat would have to settle for a 2nd place finish on the day though as a hard charging Maryott caught and passed him.  This was as captured from my shooting position with the other camera | Click the photo to view it larger

Maryott didn't get the greatest of starts for the day but ...  (see next photo). This was as captured by "mister remote" | Click the photo to view it larger

Maryott rode hard and determined which paid dividends at the end of the day. The #1 plate was number #1 coming through the checkered flag.  This was as captured from my shooting position with the other camera | Click the photo to view it larger

This was the start line area for the Big Quads about 30-45 minutes prior to the actual start of the race. There were still a number of racers who hadn't even come out to staging yet.  Yep -- good turnout!

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WNYOA Round #2 / Victory Mountain

Just a quick upload of some of the sights from racing action today up in the hills overlooking Richford.  Mother nature tried to throw us a curve ball and while she was somewhat successful in getting things off the a slow and sloppy start, determination won the day as some really good racing went down.

Many more to come that will be going up to the galleries over the next few days ...  standby and enjoy!

-=- jd -=-

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WNYOA 2014 Race Season Opener

04 May 2014
Mazourek Farms, Newfield NY

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In what is easily the most anticipated hare scrambles event of the year for Central Upstate NY off road racers, round 1 of the 2014 season got underway at Mazourek Farms which is located almost dead center between Ithaca and Horseheads off of route 13.  A typically huge turnout of racers of all ages and sizes showed up starting on Saturday afternoon when the gates opened up for camping.  A persistently wet and cool spring has refused to yield to more moderate temperatures and has resulted in muddy conditions for the last couple of MX races held in the area as well as season ending winter series races.  This weekend would prove to be no different - and would prove disastrous to at least one of the premier events of the day.

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The early races for the kids got off without issue and more or less on schedule (running slightly behind - but again - first race of the year ....  ) and the little ones toughed it out and had some good racing.  The usual army of parents were out in force to help provide extra horsepower and traction where it was needed in the wet and muddy conditions.  The way that the pee wee's and mini's were running at this venue actually allowed for me to wander between both courses ( the pee wee's always run on a smaller, shorter course - some of the little ones are as young as 4 years old!  For real...  :)  ) so I tried to shoot a little of both.  Obviously I couldn't catch the start's of both ... 

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The race that everyone chomps at the bit for, this year in particular, is the AA/Pro class Big Bikes race.  The field is stacked with local talent for this upcoming race season and a high number of fan favorites and contenders were in fact present.

A huge (as in massive - 300+ bikes) bottleneck in one section of the course at about 4 or 5 miles in from what was reported, ultimately resulted in this event being red flagged and called.  There was a LOT of controversy over this and much hand wringing and finger pointing . . .  very unfortunate and not the way everyone wanted to see the season get started.  Mother nature dealt everyone a tough blow in the days leading up to the event and even the night before with a torrential down pour . . . 

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The event promoter and organization quickly huddled and apparently did some quick course changes as the other premier event of the day gathered in the start field - the Big Quads.  A HUGE crowd of fans and spectators were lining the start area and down through the first two or three turns - 3 and 4 deep in places.  Some people had even climbed up into trees looking for a good vantage point - but was this race going to happen or was it going to be called?  Ultimately it did happen and fortunately was able to run it's allotted time.  There was a very serious crash injury to a racer who had to be airlifted to an upstate hospital in Rochester - the latest news is that he is conscious and talking, and his doctors expect a full (albeit lengthy) recovery.

Round #1 is in the books and Round #2 (Victory Mountain) is happening on May 18 in Richford.  Hopefully mother nature will start to cut us some slack with the rain and let conditions dry up some....

Photography enthusiasts:  Some of these were taken with my trusty Nikon D700 and some with the new kid on the block, the wonderfully surprising little Fuji X-T1.  Can you tell which is which?  The Fuji is in no way, shape, or form a contender to the Nikon for full on sports shooting - the Nikon will run circles around it BUT - as I learn it, and as I figure out how to work around what it does and does not do well, I continue to be amazed at just what a wonderful little thing it is...   my older D300 is seriously being considered for retirement.