My Summer Vacation

I needed a vacation, so I grabbed the boy, threw a spare wheel into the truck, and headed up to New York City. Two long days later, we were in Brooklyn! Got there with just enough time to recover before stuffing into the back of an astro van, on a crate between 2 race bikes, headed off upstate to Lebanon Valley with Hugh Mackie and Van Asher to do some dirt track racing.

Hugh had always talked about racing, and often watched heroes like David Aldana sliding sideways around the tracks in upstate New York. He finally got involved, and of course, it had to be the year AFTER I left NYC. So when he told me they had a race while I was in town, I had no choice.

Hugh brought his Trackmaster Triumph T140, and Van his Trackmaster Yamaha 500. Hugh would run Vintage Heavyweight and 1 more, and Van Vintage Lightweight. The bikes were ready to go, but you need to make sure.

It's a big track. 1/2 mile, and a bit rough.

Time to ride! Practice 1st

The MX race bikes are awesome!

Practice went well, bikes ran great. Hugh and Van got comfortable out on the track. It's cool being able to see both the good old bikes and the brand new bikes out there.

After lunch, time to race! Hugh's 2 races were back to back, so he decided to only race the Vintage Heavy. His main competition was, surprise surprise, a BSA Trackmaster! This guy is an old pro-rider, so he won't be a slouch out there.

Van had an excellent race! He did alot better than he expected, and beat quite a few guys.

Time for the Vintage Heavyweight.

That's Hugh vs. the BSA. They were wheel to wheel the whole race.

Hugh is #703

BSA is #63

They swapped back and forth a couple times, but the BSA made it stick at the checkers.

A 3rd place trophy that was hard fought!

That was our day at the races!

Even though I should have been treated as the guest of honor (ha ha!), I was still put to work!

It was my job to be the video guy. Not really my expertise, but come check it out. Here are the You-Tube links. The best footage was when I was on the back of Van's bike, filming over his shoulder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBJZq_t-Ycl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aKnHfivO_E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL8jdSRh4ms

Also, check out Van at www.wingnutcycles.com

And to follow the NY dirt track racing, goto www.electriccityriders.com

Here are some of the other vintage racers that showed up

And of course, the parting shot of the day!

These bikes are shown how they sat during the awesome races that weekend, collecting dust in the basement of 6th Street Specials! Shame shame. I should have borrowed one!