Look… This Daytime Program can’t sit here and talk about technique, bike set up or who is on the upward or downward trend because mud races are simply survival. San Francisco provided us with some interesting results but lets just all calm down, ok? Shane Mcelrath did awesome and he should be commended for his results but if we have a dry San Diego, I don’t think a Shane Mcelrath gets a fourth overall. So instead of breaking riders down, bike set up, etc., we shall talk about five things I learned or questions I need answered from the city by the bay.
Track: Here’s what I don’t understand. Why does Dirt Wurx not build a “wet” SX track when they know there is inclement weather on the horizon? Instead of knocking stuff down or “dialing the track in” on race day for the wet weather, why not just make it a SMX style track? They end up knocking down whoops and changing the track as they go, but I never understood why they build the track to spec when we almost know for certain that there will be rain/mud. Is it easier to knock down obstacles than build them up? Do they have to build it to spec first? If anyone knows, please hit me up and tell me.
Jett: We found a weakness people!! Mud. The great equalizer. Jett didn’t look great in the mud, well no one really did, but if you would have bet me that Jett would have got ninth place in the main event, I would have taken that bet and lost! A couple falls in the main event put him quite a ways back and he even got lapped. For all you Jett haters out there, enjoy this now because I don’t think we will see this happen again. the kid learns quick and adapts well. I am sure he learned more from last night than he has in quite a long time. I feel sorry for his competition come San Diego. He’s going to be lit up!
Off Road Riders: A couple years ago on the Pulp Show, JT, Steve and I had this conversation about off-road riders that could either win or podium a true mud race like we witnessed in San Francisco. I stand by my statement that I think Cody Webb could podium a true mud race. Long legs, bike handling skills and balance are key in a mud race. Cody has all of this and more! Actually A LOT of off-road guys have these skills and to me, professional off-road riders are more ALL AROUND riders than professional motocross racers. Moto guys are caged animals and when they are let out of their cages (AKA, their training facilities) they don’t posses true bike handing skills like off-road riders do. Now, I know there are exceptions to the rule but for the most part professional off-road riders would dominate these types of mud races.
Come On San Francisco: The city of San Francisco made the teams/riders power wash their machines before they exited the stadium because they didn’t want mud on their streets! WHAT!? So the city is worried about mud, but they are ok with all of the homeless and abandoned motorhomes all over their streets? I don’t quite understand this. So was there power washer police standing there looking to check if the teams/riders washed their bikes enough? Was there a walkthrough of each bike? I am so confused. Also, is there something else we can do to the schedule where we come back to SF at a later time? January in the bay area is almost always rainy. The west coast ends up getting more weather than the east coast and there are more domes back east that we could incorporate into the series earlier? Maybe?
Hydraulic Versus Cable: RC brought up a good point last night. In this type of condition, I would rather have a cable clutch because I could actually feel when the clutch was going away. Adjusting the lever play while racing is actually a good thing as with a hydraulic clutch, you will not be able to adjust it nor do you actually get to feel the clutch going out/getting smoked until it’s too late. I have fried a YZ450F hydraulic clutch when we were at the Pulp MX Millville Ride Day because I didn’t know when it was getting hot until the lever decided to pull all the way into the bar. By then my moto was over with because I couldn’t modulate the power in the deep conditions. I know Chase had a hydraulic clutch but from what I was told, he was reminded several times to not abuse his clutch during the main event.
