Our racing adventure has taken us to St. George, Utah, recently, for the Wizards Rhino Rally Hare Scrambles desert race. Tuf and our son, Josh, are racing the "team" event category this year in hopes of bringing home the USRA's top team honor....FIRST!! However, my husband, Tuffy, had been struggling with the thought of this race the week before. He even lost sleep all one night because he kept getting the feeling like something was wrong...He has never been like this before a race in all the 35 years I have known him.
Josh and his family had to drive from Elko, Nevada. Normally, that wouldn't be that big of a deal if they hadn't had to drive through Salt Lake City, Utah to pick up a new enclosed bike trailer first. Then hit the interstate south for St. George. What should have been a 7 hour drive or so, turned into 11. So Josh was pretty tired from all that driving before the race even began. The trailer is awesome, however!! Kept us nice and warm in the cold, rainy weather.
The race consisted of two loops this year. The first one approximately 56 miles long, the second about 38 miles. Josh decided he would be first man out and took on the long loop so his Dad would get a break on the second loop.
It was a silent mass start and Josh got the bike going on the second kick. He was back just a bit from the Amateur class he started on the line with, but that was ok...he would pick 'em off one at a time. And I must say, the start was the ONLY thing dusty that whole weekend.
Josh pushed himself as hard as he could to get the team as far up in the expert class before his Dad would be taking over the reigns. Unfortunately, a cow decided to pop out of nowhere after Josh passed a rider and he t-boned it and went airborn right over the handlebars only to land in a solid patch of sharp lava rock on his back and head. It knocked the wind out of his sails for sure. Also took a good chunk or two out of his nice helmet. One thing can certainly be said about the body armor that Josh had on underneath his jersey and the Camelback water pack...IT SAVED HIS LIFE!! He usually does not wear a Camelback. But this was a long loop and he might need it.
Had he not had either of those things on, the result would have been much worse. We know this because his uncle experienced something similar (minus the cow) decades earlier and it did not end up well. So anyone who thinks riding without this type of protection is smart, is just crazy.
Once Josh managed to get his poop in a group, he evaluated the damages to the machine after hitting the cow. Bear in mind that is was freezing cold, raining hard and it was red, slick mud everywhere. He noticed the left foot peg was gone but found it. He put it in the Camelback to make sure it got back to his Dad. Well, it didn't make it...wore a hole in the Camelback and fell out somewhere. The bike was also about to lose a kickstand. Josh tried to tie it back on somehow but it finally fell off later. So no kickstand, no left footpeg (on the shifter side), the handlebars were bent down but Josh managed to get back on after a lengthy stop, and proceeded to do what he and his Dad set out to.......finish the race healthy!!!
Please note that our son is an avid snowmobiler and has some crazy skills for driving one on it's side. Well, those skills came in handy on this day as he was riding like a one peg leg pirate. When he was able, he would tuck his left foot up on the seat or brace it behind him somehow. Or he would have to make sure the bike was in fifth gear and just use the ball of his big toe to stand on it when he could. Do you have any idea how difficult that is? Try standing on one leg for about 2 hours and then get back to me...oh, and have someone dump ice cold water on you for special effects.
As those of us in the pits wait idly by for the team bike #72T to show up, Tuf was all geared up and ready to roll for his turn at bat.
Finally, we spot the bike in the distance and we all get ready for the switch up. Only Josh comes in and kept apologizing and was so upset that they were so far back after he had worked so hard to get them in the top 20 experts before he hit the cow. Then we heard about hitting the cow. We were so concerned because at that point, we really had things moving so fast to get Tuf on the bike that the cow part never sunk in until Tuf left and was told he only had one foot peg to ride with.
So Tuf is on his way to do what he can with what Josh has given him. Mainly, the determination to make up for lost time and win this thing!! But Josh just couldn't calm down...he felt like he had let his Dad down. He was upset that he had done so much damage to his Dad's bike. We had to continually reassure him that none of that bike damage mattered as long as he was ok, aside from some sore muscles he was going to feel every one one of, in about two days.
But this is our son...he has a huge heart and a very soft spot for animals. He was upset about the cow as well. Until we heard it had gotten up and moved and was ok as far as anyone knew. But the part that kept eating at him was believing he was letting his Dad down. I kept reassuring Josh that what he did out there just gave his Dad more motivation to speed up and get the guys near the first place team rider who left the pits nearly 5 minutes ahead of them. It took a while to get Tuf out of the pits because he was so worried about how upset Josh was and after hearing about the cow incident.
While our grandsons, Blaze and Crux, played all around the trailer and running in and out of the climate controlled curtain (everyone needs one of these, by the way), Joshua's wife, Kristie and I got Josh all cleaned up and in some warm clothing and spent the better part of the next hour calming him down and reassuring him he did a wonderful job. Dad would do the rest.
After about an hour and a half, we see bikes coming in with numbers that were just ahead of Josh when he came in the first time. So we knew Tuf would not be too far away. Josh headed to the finish line while Kristie and I stayed back with the boys out of the rain. Then we see the first place team bike go past our pit area. I have to admit, it was a sad but moment...but then I had to remember how far back they were when Tuf left the pits and it was understandable that this bike would be coming in first.
More bikes went by and then the sight of all sights....Tuf and Josh together on the bike waving their two fingers in the air with joy! They had placed second team in this event. And ironically enough, Tuf had made up almost all of their time and he never wrecked once. They finished less than a minute behind first place. They were not injured...they finished healthy...the wish his Dad had from the start.
