Standing in the tower watching the race
See the river [below]
Can you say... Eeeeeewwwww
The pond starting in the back 40 by our trailer
This is called a Skunk egg... it has Ham, Turkey, Cheese etc...
Check out the tractors on the starting line... the water was a foot deep a few hours before
The whoop section
Day 3 - RACE DAY
Finally its Tuesday... RACE DAY... Whoo Hoo and although Kieffer was racing in 5 classes, he only had 1 race on Tuesday... You have to remember there are over 3,000 racers at this National from all over the US...
So Sam and Kieffer head over to the staging area... [A staging area is where the next 3 races line up waiting to go to the line] Only a racer and his mechanic can go in there... and the mechanic has to have a pass... this eliminates a bunch of people in staging...
Ok... so a father of one of the racers starts talking to me... while I sit in the golf cart with a book...
"This is our first National and I don't think we should be here" He is scared for his son
"Awwww everyone has to get their first National under their belt, then you know what to go home and work on!" I told him
"I know but my son is 10 seconds behind every racer in his class"
Finally its Tuesday... RACE DAY... Whoo Hoo and although Kieffer was racing in 5 classes, he only had 1 race on Tuesday... You have to remember there are over 3,000 racers at this National from all over the US...
So Sam and Kieffer head over to the staging area... [A staging area is where the next 3 races line up waiting to go to the line] Only a racer and his mechanic can go in there... and the mechanic has to have a pass... this eliminates a bunch of people in staging...
Ok... so a father of one of the racers starts talking to me... while I sit in the golf cart with a book...
"This is our first National and I don't think we should be here" He is scared for his son
"Awwww everyone has to get their first National under their belt, then you know what to go home and work on!" I told him
"I know but my son is 10 seconds behind every racer in his class"
[He knows this by practice transponder times]
"You know what tho... nobody comes to their first National and wins... we didn't... it was a shock to us too, I think my son took a 38th out of 40 at our first National" this seems to make him feel better...
"Which one is your son?" he asks me
"He is number 921"
"You know what tho... nobody comes to their first National and wins... we didn't... it was a shock to us too, I think my son took a 38th out of 40 at our first National" this seems to make him feel better...
"Which one is your son?" he asks me
"He is number 921"
The next race starts and we can't hear very well...
He leans in "9 WHAT?" I lean in closer "Number 9-21, its his BIRTH DATE"
"Oh Wow, OK"
So eventually... Kieffer gets up on the line, the gate drops, with 40 racers going into the first turn...
Kieffer comes out of the pack in 2nd place... Oh boy... my heart is pumping... I get more nervous when he is in front, than working his way up the pack! About the 3rd lap, he starts falling back... I can tell something is wrong...
He hung on for a 6th place... which is GREAT at a National... afterwards we found out he got 'arm pump'
Arm Pump is when your arms cramp up and you can barely hang on to the bike... like riding with a charlie horse going down both arms... it happens... its not fun...
So after we get back to the trailer... Sam says to me...
"Kendra, did you tell some guy it was Kieffer's birthday?"
"What?"
"Ya some Dad, lined up next to us and said Happy Birthday to Kieffer... then said "Hey your Mom said it was your birthday today, what a great way to spend your birthday"
Then it dawns on me...
"No I told him Kieffer's race number is 9-21, his birth DATE, I didn't say "Its his birthday" then I laughed "Sam, what did you say?"
"I didn't say anything... Kieffer and I just looked at each other... I thought maybe you got a free hot dog or something if it was your racers birthday so you said it was... Hell I don't what your up to half the time..."
I laughed... OMG... I got a kick out of that...
That night the rain started... and I mean it poured ALL NIGHT 2 inches of rain... It cleared up for about 5 hours in the morning but it was supposed to start again around 2pm... The track spent the morning TRYING to get the track groomed for racing... Kieffer was race 4... Oh boy... It is NOT good to race in the mud...
First of all, the chance of getting injured goes up exponentially...
Second, you can blow up a bike engine fairly quickly because the radiator gets clogged with mud, plus your graphics on the bike get tore up!!
and last but not least... The racer becomes a mess, you get caked with wet mud in 38 degree weather, and then the trailer becomes a mess as the racer heads to the shower...
Kieffer is NOT a 'mud runner', he HATES the mud...
As Kieffer was in staging... it starts raining... the race before him was the 50 yr old plus race... they took FOREVER to race... When your 50 and racing... you tend to go pretty slow... nobody wants to break a hip!
LOL
Soon the race was over, and they asked if anyone wanted to do the hot lap practice lap before the race... [You have to be crazy to do a hot lap in those conditions, you would come back caked with mud, your tires would be caked with mud, your goggles would be wiped out... its just stupid to do]
So 39 racers decline the hot lap, but 1 guy decided to do it... Oh brother... So the rest of the class has to wait for Mr. Stupid to do his Hot Lap... in the pouring down rain... for 4 minutes... which is a life time while your waiting to go... Finally he comes around probably feeling pretty stupid...
The gate drops and its a mud fest into the first turn.... Kieffer gets a really crappy start, he is in about 30th place... but after about a half of a lap he worked his way up to 10th... I am trying to stay dry under a building, watching... oh it just looks miserable... then I notice the red flag waving at the finish line...
A red flag means the race is over, go back to the starting line... I was like... WTH? They only red flag when half the field goes down or someone is really hurt... I didn't see a big pile up... hhhhmmm this was weird... I realize Kieffer probably needs fresh goggles then, so I race back to the trailer to get them...
Next thing I know, Kieffer is back at the trailer... He said "Go back and get Dad, we decided not to race anymore" as I went back to get Sam we find out that they canceled the racing for the day... It was that bad!!!
So long story longer... The rain kept coming... and they were expecting 2 more inches over the next 2 days... The track already told the 50, 60 and 80cc racers they wouldn't be racing...
The next morning we decided to leave... it just wasn't worth it... Not when you have another National to go to... You need fresh bikes... plus we were afraid we would get stuck in the mud and wouldn't be able to get the trailer out of there...
It was a good thing we decided to pack up and leave... They were crazy... They scheduled Kieffer to race that day in race Number 2, 4, 5, and 9... Right, I don't think so... a racer can barely race back to back in good conditions... never mind trying to do it in muddy 38 degree weather... no way... we love racing... but we are not going to take a chance like that...
Kieffer and I went to watch his moto that morning from the tower...
"Do you wish were out there?" I asked him
he laughed "Uhhh NO"
We left 2 hours later... and drove to the next National at Oak Hill where we got a hotel room for the last 2 days... [While it continued to pour down rain!] We have been watching the website for the National we just left... they canceled all racing yesterday... no kidding... you can't race in that stuff!...
So we are currently in a holding pattern... LOL
Sam's sister Tina, her hubby Ciro, and my nephew C.J. arrived this morning... they drove straight through also... so right now Tina and Ciro are sleeping in their hotel and C.J and Kieffer drove to go see a movie...
C.J races in the 80cc classes, Kieffer races 250cc and 450cc...
We can take the trailer in the gates after 6pm tonight... Sign in starts on Monday, Practice starts on Tuesday, Racing Wednesday through Saturday...
So stay tuned... LOL
He leans in "9 WHAT?" I lean in closer "Number 9-21, its his BIRTH DATE"
"Oh Wow, OK"
So eventually... Kieffer gets up on the line, the gate drops, with 40 racers going into the first turn...
Kieffer comes out of the pack in 2nd place... Oh boy... my heart is pumping... I get more nervous when he is in front, than working his way up the pack! About the 3rd lap, he starts falling back... I can tell something is wrong...
He hung on for a 6th place... which is GREAT at a National... afterwards we found out he got 'arm pump'
Arm Pump is when your arms cramp up and you can barely hang on to the bike... like riding with a charlie horse going down both arms... it happens... its not fun...
So after we get back to the trailer... Sam says to me...
"Kendra, did you tell some guy it was Kieffer's birthday?"
"What?"
"Ya some Dad, lined up next to us and said Happy Birthday to Kieffer... then said "Hey your Mom said it was your birthday today, what a great way to spend your birthday"
Then it dawns on me...
"No I told him Kieffer's race number is 9-21, his birth DATE, I didn't say "Its his birthday" then I laughed "Sam, what did you say?"
"I didn't say anything... Kieffer and I just looked at each other... I thought maybe you got a free hot dog or something if it was your racers birthday so you said it was... Hell I don't what your up to half the time..."
I laughed... OMG... I got a kick out of that...
That night the rain started... and I mean it poured ALL NIGHT 2 inches of rain... It cleared up for about 5 hours in the morning but it was supposed to start again around 2pm... The track spent the morning TRYING to get the track groomed for racing... Kieffer was race 4... Oh boy... It is NOT good to race in the mud...
First of all, the chance of getting injured goes up exponentially...
Second, you can blow up a bike engine fairly quickly because the radiator gets clogged with mud, plus your graphics on the bike get tore up!!
and last but not least... The racer becomes a mess, you get caked with wet mud in 38 degree weather, and then the trailer becomes a mess as the racer heads to the shower...
Kieffer is NOT a 'mud runner', he HATES the mud...
As Kieffer was in staging... it starts raining... the race before him was the 50 yr old plus race... they took FOREVER to race... When your 50 and racing... you tend to go pretty slow... nobody wants to break a hip!
LOL
Soon the race was over, and they asked if anyone wanted to do the hot lap practice lap before the race... [You have to be crazy to do a hot lap in those conditions, you would come back caked with mud, your tires would be caked with mud, your goggles would be wiped out... its just stupid to do]
So 39 racers decline the hot lap, but 1 guy decided to do it... Oh brother... So the rest of the class has to wait for Mr. Stupid to do his Hot Lap... in the pouring down rain... for 4 minutes... which is a life time while your waiting to go... Finally he comes around probably feeling pretty stupid...
The gate drops and its a mud fest into the first turn.... Kieffer gets a really crappy start, he is in about 30th place... but after about a half of a lap he worked his way up to 10th... I am trying to stay dry under a building, watching... oh it just looks miserable... then I notice the red flag waving at the finish line...
A red flag means the race is over, go back to the starting line... I was like... WTH? They only red flag when half the field goes down or someone is really hurt... I didn't see a big pile up... hhhhmmm this was weird... I realize Kieffer probably needs fresh goggles then, so I race back to the trailer to get them...
Next thing I know, Kieffer is back at the trailer... He said "Go back and get Dad, we decided not to race anymore" as I went back to get Sam we find out that they canceled the racing for the day... It was that bad!!!
So long story longer... The rain kept coming... and they were expecting 2 more inches over the next 2 days... The track already told the 50, 60 and 80cc racers they wouldn't be racing...
The next morning we decided to leave... it just wasn't worth it... Not when you have another National to go to... You need fresh bikes... plus we were afraid we would get stuck in the mud and wouldn't be able to get the trailer out of there...
It was a good thing we decided to pack up and leave... They were crazy... They scheduled Kieffer to race that day in race Number 2, 4, 5, and 9... Right, I don't think so... a racer can barely race back to back in good conditions... never mind trying to do it in muddy 38 degree weather... no way... we love racing... but we are not going to take a chance like that...
Kieffer and I went to watch his moto that morning from the tower...
"Do you wish were out there?" I asked him
he laughed "Uhhh NO"
We left 2 hours later... and drove to the next National at Oak Hill where we got a hotel room for the last 2 days... [While it continued to pour down rain!] We have been watching the website for the National we just left... they canceled all racing yesterday... no kidding... you can't race in that stuff!...
So we are currently in a holding pattern... LOL
Sam's sister Tina, her hubby Ciro, and my nephew C.J. arrived this morning... they drove straight through also... so right now Tina and Ciro are sleeping in their hotel and C.J and Kieffer drove to go see a movie...
C.J races in the 80cc classes, Kieffer races 250cc and 450cc...
We can take the trailer in the gates after 6pm tonight... Sign in starts on Monday, Practice starts on Tuesday, Racing Wednesday through Saturday...
So stay tuned... LOL
OMG Kieffer just called from the movie theatre... He says its the nicest one he has ever been in... They hand you a menu and you order your snacks from the seats... How cool is that!!! He said the menu had
"Ocean's Eleven shrimp cocktail", you could order beer, besides popcorn... and if want something else... you push a button and the waitress comes...
"Ocean's Eleven shrimp cocktail", you could order beer, besides popcorn... and if want something else... you push a button and the waitress comes...
I said "How much was it to get in Kieff?" he said "$5" "NAh... your playing with me..." "Mom I swear... I am going to take a picture"
Everything is bigger and better in Texas...
Ya'all come back now...
2 comments:
Sorry the rain ruined it all. I hope you have fun the rest of the trip! Be safe!
Love ya!
To bad for the rain. Good pictures even with the rain.
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