TEAM SUPER HUNKY – THE MASTERS OF THE CASUAL PACE Well, what have we gotten into here? It appears that a whole bunch of vintage MX racers, some of them very fast folks, are about to don a Jersey and race under the Super Hunky logo. At best, this is a dangerous maneuver. Why, you ask? It's because I have never been accused of being a fast racer. If anything, I make the claim of being The Master Of The Casual Pace. What, you might fairly ask, is that? Not too many decades ago, I realized my limitations. Let me relate this saga to you. I was a Novice racer for a long time until I actually won a bunch of races on my really tricked out 450 Maico. They bumped me up to Intermediate in spite of my howling protests. That Saturday, I went to legendary Saddleback Park and signed up. At the riders meeting, the race promoter said: "There are only two 500 Intermediates here today, so you guys will run with the pros. You'll be scored separately." I looked at the other 500 Intermediate and together we both looked around us at the pros. Jeez! Billy Payne, Tim Hart, John DeSoto, Marty Tripes, Gary Jones, Mike Runyard and a whole bunch of steely-eyed pros. I gulped. The other 500 Intermediate gulped twice. An hour later, I rolled up to the starting line and shuddered. Right next to me was Billy Payne and next to him was Kenny Zahrt. I figured that, if nothing else, I'd get a good start. After all, my Maico 450 was as good as any bike on the line. It had every trick known to man and was jetted to the max. As luck would have it, I literally raped the starting gate. While the gate was falling, my front wheel kissed the bar and I shifted into third quickly. The 450 was plenty strong for a second gear start. All the way up the start hill, the Maico pulled like a crazed bull and when I made the first turn, I glanced over and saw that I had the lead by a good half dozen bikes! Hah! This was easy. Why didn't I just move up to Pro? Right in front of me was the Saddleback downhill, about 150 yards long and filled with ruts and jumps. By the bottom of the hill, I was in 23rd place. Riders came by me catching gears and throwing rooster tails. My jersey almost got ripped off as the pack blitzed by. Demoralized, I settled down into my casual pace; shift early, no mistakes and taking the safe lines. During the 45 minute moto, I got lapped … twice. The other 500 Intermediate just pulled off the track. I headed back to the pits and leaned the bike against the El Camino, breathing heavily. Billy Payne rode up to me, shut his bike off and said; "Hunk, the next time you pull a hole shot, try not to park it on the downhill, OK?" Lordy, I was going down that hill faster than I ever had, and Billy was telling me not to park it! At that point, I decided that I would never turn pro. So let that be a warning to all you TSH riders. When you think about, the Casual Pace a viable alternative. Rick Sieman |
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