Race Recap | SECCA Round 7 | Homestead Harescramble, Prattville, AL | YZ250FX 

When your not feeling it, it’s best to pull off!

I've never quit a race, but I have quit racing in the middle of a race. Just turned it into a casual paced trail ride and try to get some enjoyment out of it. lol

It's ok. It's my course, and I would have probably quit too, lol. Maybe next time we can actually get some rain. I know the riders would enjoy it. Thanks for coming and racing.

Ive been riding for over 30 years but this was my first race of any kind ever. I binge watched a bunch of your -and other riders - vids to prep for it. Im not gonna lie... I thought real hard about not finishing it more than once. Im so glad I pushed myself hard to finish this one as I am pleased with my performance ( though there is a lot of room for improvement) and I learned SO much from this race that it almost feels like I lived a whole epoch of my life in those 2 hours. 😅 I can understand how someone like yourself whos done this many times would have different priorities to consider. I look forward to meeting (and hopefully passing :poke: 😛) you and some of the other guys at future races. Thanks for sharing your experiences through your vids.

Yeah too dusty not fun

Wise decision Donnie, it looked impossible for y’all to get a line of site going and very risky. Stay healthy

In my opinion if youre not having fun and that is why youre out there? why continue. I bet with a little rain that place would be fun.

I've been in your situation many times. Its always like the evil angel on my shoulder trying to rationalize why I should quit, and several times I've listened and pulled out either because I figure there is nothing to gain or I'm miserable or feeling very unwell physically. Each time I pull off, although I've rationalized its the right thing to do...I have that feeling of failure that sticks with me for several days and in many situations, I find if I could have mustered the will to continue I could have picked up another position or three depending on conditions. I don't fault you for pulling out. I just know that when i force myself to continue, I feel emotionally much better afterward and sometimes that is rewarded with picking up positions because others either have mechanical issues or whatever. So now more than ever I always try to finish the race regardless of my position. If I am ever lucky enough to be battling for a series podium position, I might even have a stronger will to continue, because you never know what will happen to the guys in front of you, flat tire, engine failure or God forbid, an injury. Much respect, no matter what you choose to do...

It is a bummer you were not enjoying it more but sometimes that happens. I just returned from a vacation to Spain. Enjoyed it more than I expected.

I had to drop out this weekend also, was having issues with the heat and did not eat prior to the race so I completely ran out of energy and was shaking on the third lap. It was a bummer as I was running a good race, thanks to the track workers, my wife and son for recognizing what was going on and helping me out. We will be back at next weekend, ride safe y’all.

Never saw much of the course. Ended up with 3 laps and 4th so can't feel too bad about it. At one point I thought I was going to run off the side of one of the grids going across the creek. That would not have been fun.

I did quiet a mud race in less than half a lap that had me doing nothing but slipping and sliding with very little momentum. I changed to a better tire and remembered to set my ignition to mild mode for the next muddy race.

I've been there but for the complete opposite conditions. Mid winter pissing down in wales. About 2hrs into a 4hr race I had enough of falling into the endless deep mud and went home. I was in the same class as Manon Carpenter, at the time the womans world DH champion. At the start she was going real slow and id fly off ahead, only for her to overtake me whilst I picked myself out of the mud. Over and over again....

The first race I ever did was at Tuscahoma in August. I quit that one early mostly due to the heat. I could have pushed on, only to have someone have to pick me up off the ground later. My second race was the Chief Greasy Head. On that one I was having more fun, but I learned that I ride my rear brakes without knowing. I cooked them on the second loop at the end of the grassy field, which seized them and I couldn't move the bike. Someone was kind enough to help me by pushing the bike off the trail and pouring some water on the brake caliper. That got it moving enough to where I could putt back to my trailer. After that, I figured I could try and go back out and continue hurting myself while also learning to ride without rear brakes, or I could just wait 'til the next race. I decided to learn from my mistakes and wait for the next one. I'm new to dirt bikes and I'm learning so much. I'm not out there trying to win a piece of plastic, or money or to impress anyone. I'm just happy to be able to ride a dirt bike. Who knew they were so much fun? Just throwing a leg over is a challenge for me. So needless to say, from my perspective there's nothing wrong with knowing when it's time to call it. It's not like you're an 0/2 quitter like me or anything lol! Lookin' forward to the next one at Tiger Creek! Hope to see ya there! God bless!

Good choice, sometimes with the extreme dusty conditions paired with the fact these aren't paid professions it's just not worth getting hurt.

I also stopped after the second lap, I was tired of eating dust.

I hate dust, so if it's really bad, I have no problem with calling it the day. It's not worth a piece of wood.