It was a cold, windy night. I walked into the small classroom in my least conspicuous clothes, wearing sunglasses and a plain baseball cap. A circle of chairs had been arranged, all but one of them occupied. I slumped into the seat, looking at the floor, hoping no one would notice me.
"Why don't we start with you tonight, okay, Jim?" The kind older lady who was leading this meeting pointed at me, and I stood up, shoulders hunched, still unable to take my eyes off the floor. My mouth was dry as I forced each unwilling word out.
"My name is Jim, and I'm a local racer." I only heard a couple gasps, but then again, this was a meeting of Local Racers Anonymous, and not too much could shock this crowd. After all, we were all here because we couldn't quite get with the National program. "It's true. I've been racing for twelve years, and the only year I qualified for the Grands was 1992, and that probably doesn't even count because it was in Superclass and they weren't giving number plates that year. There are years where I don't race a single National. When I do go to a National, sometimes I sleep through the first round of motos." More gasps, followed by a shocked silence.
"Why don't you take your seat, Jim." The moderator smiled at me, and I fell back into my chair. I'd done it. I'd finally admitted that I was a local racer.
You may be laughing at the above scenario, but as Darth Vader said to Luke, "Search your feelings. You know it to be true." Our otherwise wonderful sport seems to be permeated by the idea that National racing is the Big Time and that you have to race Nationals to have a successful career. With the exception of Superclass or Pro riders, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, when you take a hard look at the dollar-per-undefined-unit-of-fun ratio, local racing is the champ. The average local race only takes half a day, costs about ten dollars to enter, gives you nearly unlimited practice time, and offers a chance to ride the track after the race so you can correct errors in your technique discovered during the motos. I probably race five to ten locals for every National I attend, and there have been years in my past when I raced thirty to forty locals a year without visiting a single National.
I know the "big time" bug will bite you eventually. It's bitten me, too. The least I can do is try to help you avoid the pitfalls that many riders encounter during their first National season. Here's the best advice I have to offer on the subject. Riders ready? Watch the gate:
Getting there is less than half the fun. Give yourself plenty of time to get to the National. Try to arrive the day before if possible. The open practice and the pre-race are worth the extra time and money. If you start your drive (or flight) late, the "pinched for time" feeling will haunt you for the entire weekend. Sometimes it's worth the extra cash to rent the biggest car or van available, for reasons to be gone into below.
Avoid the Lincoln bedroom. There I was, pulling into Evansville at one in the morning, ready for a refreshing night's sleep at the local Motel 6 my trusty pal had reserved for me. But wait! My trusty pal had "overbooked" the room, and there was no space to be had, not even on the floor. (It was that noted undesirable, Mr. Jeffrey Dein, now of Dingo Cycles--JB) Mrs. Boswell, "B-Dog" Bert Noblitt, and I ended up catching four hours, worth of sleep in our rented Town Car, now known as the "Lincoln Bedroom". I don't know what I enjoyed more---the steering wheel digging into my knee, or the amazing number of hyperactive 130db car alarms in the parking lot. Make your own hotel reservations, preferably far in advance.
Communication is the key. I recently shared a hotel room at a National with two thirtysomething riders. I hadn't really chatted with them about their expectations for the weekend, so you can imagine my surprise when they each demanded separate beds, leaving me to sleep under the TV table. I think I was bitten by something. Then the rider who had our motel key drove home with it. Guess whose name was on the motel's books as being responsible for the week the key was missing, at forty bucks a night?
Avoid anything that bills itself as an "exclusive club." Those of you who were at the Morristown National are aware what I'm talking about in particular, but in general it's a lousy idea to stay up until 4:00 am the night before a race. It's tempting to have fun with your buddies, but racing on a National-caliber track with little or no rest can be dangerous, to say the least.
To ensure the breakage of a particular part, leave the replacement at home. Superfast 19X rider Aaron Brady was looking for a new 7/8" seat, post, and clamp at the Morristown National. No problem, right? Well, there was one tiny problem: Nobody seemed to have one. Aaron ended up paying top dollar for stuff he wouldn't have bought otherwise. Bring all your spare parts. If you are racing a National you can't afford to sit out, such as the Grands, bring a spare wheel set. It sounds crazy, but it will pay off sometime.
The joy of staging. Ever wondered why chrome and polished frames are so popular? When you are in your staging "lane" at a National, with five hundred guys trying to shove by you while scrubbing their pedals on your triple-layer Imron fade paint job, the answer will come to you as if by magic. To survive staging in the teenybopper and over age classes, keep your elbows out and hold your bike at an angle. This will partially prevent people from taking your spot in line. Unfortunately, staging seems to be a contact sport nowadays, leading to hurt feelings on some people's part. Try to take it with a smile; the funniest thing I ever saw at a National was a rider patting a staging snake on the back as said snake sneaked by, saying, "If you need more help pushing your way through, let me know. I just watched your last ride, and you need all the practice you can get."
Use your practice laps wisely. As the song says, "Precious and few are the practice laps we two can share." Have a goal for each lap and fulfill it. Make sure you take at least one start from lane 8, just to see how the track narrows on the first straight.
Scrubbing bubbles for the brain. As soon as you finish a moto, FORGET IT, especially if you didn't do well. Spending the next two hours worrying about your last bad ride is a guaranteed way to repeat it. Refocus on your task and think positively. Instead of saying, "I can't let myself case those doubles again," say "I will pull up harder on the doubles."
Let's go to the tape. If you have bullied someone into videotaping your motos, why not look at each race after it happens? Here's the key: don't watch yourself. Look at your competition and discover their weaknesses. As an example, a video review showed me that one of my toughest opponents was having trouble jumping a triple step. The next time I faced him, I gave him the clear lane for that particular jump, choosing instead to pressure another rider who was a better jumper. I beat them both, ha ha.
Let the butterflies in. don't fight the feelings of nervousness in staging before each moto. The increased heart rate and tension will help you come up to speed quicker on the first straight. You won't be nervous when the gate drops, anyway. I usually forget my tension when the lights start flashing.
Don't be a spectator at your own moto. This has two different meanings. First, show up for your moto. You'd be amazed at how hard this can be, with all the excitement and confusion. One common pitfall for older riders is to drive out to lunch after the first moto, sit around chatting, and come back just a bit too late. Once you show up, work as hard as you can in the race. It's easy to get caught up thinking about the jumps and the comp and thus forget to pedal as hard as you can. As Geoffrey Ssengoba says, "Pedaling is the answer to everything. Think you won't make a jump? Pedal. Still looks bad? Pedal harder!" Good advice from a great rider.
Bring water and Star Crunch. You should consume a gallon of water during a National day. Bring water with you. I am experimenting with the Camelbak hydration system (more on that in a future issue), but you should at the very least have a bottle of water with you between motos. Take small sips constantly. Try taking one drink every time the gate drops, and you'll be hydrated in no time. As far as food goes, Cyclecraft factory pro Jeff Dein alerted me to the mystical powers of the "Star Crunch" snack. If Jeff eats them, you should too. After all, he won Super at the Grands thanks to Star Crunch, and maybe some kind of training.
It really doesn't matter. Don't let the hype and the noise of a National drive you into some kind of fit about your results. Put it into perspective. Chances are that you don't know who won your National class in 1977 or 1987. In 2007, they won't remember you. Have fun and do your best. Meet friends, hang out, go to a buffet or two. You'll remember the experience when the point standings are long gone.
Reviewing my advice, I think the last point is the most important. When you are on the gate for your main, and everybody is yelling, and the announcer is reading your name, remember why you started riding. You started to have fun, right? So have fun. And look for me, rolling along at the back of the pack, having fun, just like it was a local or something. No matter where I go or what I break in our sport, I try to have fun. I'm just a local racer at heart. Like the song says, "I can't help it."