VINTAGE
MOTOCROSS HAS ME HOOKED! Dutchmen MX Park, Pine Grove, PA - FINAL RACE OF THE 2007 ACR SEASON
The ride from Haverhill, MA to Dutchmen MX Park in Pine Grove, PA took about 9 hours. I arrived in Pine Grove around 8 PM and made the final turn down the road MapQuest led me to. The track was suppose to be about 1 mile after the turn. It was dark, so I kept a close eye on either side of the road, not know if the track entrance would be well marked. I drove up and down that one mile stretch about 5 times, not seeing anything like an entrance to a motocross track. I drove past the one mile point and then stopped at the first house I came to. Some guys were in the yard throwing around a football (in the dark) and looked me over pretty good as I came up their driveway. I did not even say a thing as I rolled down my window and one of them shouted "It's up the road another 2 miles, boy." My exit was quick. The entrance to the Flying Dutchman racetrack was well marked because it was not only a motocross track but a full fledged road house! The bar and grill were only open on specific days, but it was really cool. From what I hear, ACR is thinking of having the year end party at this place sometime! Camping was a breeze as there were very few people there. I found a nice level spot and set up in short order. It was already 9:30 PM so I turned in.
You can see from the pictures that just like Englishtown this track is totally man made - they started with a flat piece of ground and started moving in dirt. The track was interesting, with plenty of jumps, whoops and switch backs. The dirt was different - it set up kind of hard, almost like a clay or cement, but when you kicked it around a little it would break down almost to a powder. The promoter spent a lot of time keeping things watered. Practice started on time and I went out in the second pratice session. I went 3/4 of a lap when it happened...... Up the face of a jump the carb stuck wide open on the RM465 and I launched. I knew in the air that I was in trouble, as the bike started to rotate because the it was pinned wide open. The only thing I could think of was to pull in the clutch and stab the rear brake. It worked, and the engine was silent. Too bad I was still flying through the air....... It seemed like I had several minutes to think about my landing. From the way the bike was decending (now sideways) it appeared that there was no way that I could land and not crash. My only hope was to stay on the bike, land as best I could, and see what would happen. I do remember the bike touching down, I remember the rebound throwing me into the air, I remember my left leg hitting the ground first, and I remember then sliding face first on the ground for a long distance. After I stopped sliding I did a quick check on how my body felt. Even before I started to wiggle my toes and fingers somebody was on top of me asking if I wanted the medics - my answer was YES! By the time I figured out that I took a kidney shot and maybe broke my left ankle the medics were helping me. It took a long time to get my helmet off and check my leg and ankle. The medics were first rate, checked everything out and put me on a golf cart and took me back to my truck. Many people came by and made sure I was okay - ACR racers are a great bunch. When it became clear that I was done for the day a couple of guys packed up my truck for me! My ankle and my head were really hurting now, so I took a bunch of asprin and started my 400 mile journey home. After I got home I figured that at most I sprained my ankle a good one. The swelling went down a lot over the next 48 hours and I could actually get around okay. After the first week I thought I was out of the woods with my injuries. A few days later I was leaving work and bumped my knee on my truck. My knee went numb - and numb is bad. I made an appointment with a good sports doctor that was recommended to me. He took one look at me and sent me to x-ray. He also had them x-ray my right hand. Seems that in all the excitement about my leg and ankle hurting I really did not notice that I had broken a finger. Turns out that I broke my left leg (small bone just below the knee) and I really messed up my right ring finger. The doctor scheduled me for surgery on the finger and told me that whatever allowed me to walk around on my broken leg for the last 10 days I should bottle and sell! I am now healing up well. The pins are out of my finger and my leg feels really good. I already have a new project in the works, a big bus that I am going to turn into a poor man's toy hauler! . Next race will be on April 5th and 6th, 2008 at the Budds Creek MX facility BRING ON THE 2008 RACING SEASON
Well, the final race of the year turned out to be a big one for me.