Writeup from Mike Fallon:
Six Hours of Hollister
It was a warm early Saturday morning around 5:00am when the alarm went off in some seedy little hotel in Hollister and I awoke to the though of six hour race in sweltering heat with dust so thick you could cut it with a knife. Three hours later my thoughts came to life as the gun went off and I pushed the start button and released the clutch on bike at the same time and the roar of about 27 bikes raced to the first turn. A cloud of dust rose from the ground like a curtain at the end of a show, that was the last time I saw more then ten feet in front my wheel for six hours.
A friend from work and I teamed up to ride the Six Hours of Hollister it was a good match as he is an expert trials rider and we both have the same bike (CRF 250X). The course was 5 miles long with a mix of the GP track, short enduro cross section, single track and 4x4 roads. Most of the GP track, enduro cross section were watered so the dust was not to bad, the remaining 4.5 miles was just about unnavigatable due to the dust.
My teammate did not want to ride three hours, but was willing to ride enough to give me a break and attempt to hold my position. It worked great as I rode four laps from the start before switching (15 minute laps). My teammate (Neil) rode three laps before switching, then I rode another 5 laps. Neil rode 5 laps on his second ride then I finished with a 6 lap third ride giving us a total of 23 laps. We finished 6th of 27 teams, most teams were 3,4 and 5 man teams.
I really enjoyed the race, it was fun to ride as a team I look forward to next year.
26X
|