John Penton GNCC

May 12, 2007 - Millfield, Ohio

As we travel from race to race, I'm starting to see just how unique each of these courses are.  We've seen sand, clay, rocks, hills, roots and now after Ohio....hardpack.  I switched to an 18" rear wheel for this race to try and put an end to the chronic flat problem I've been having lately.  I have to thank Doug Blackwell at the Elka Suspension truck for helping me out with a leaking fork seal Sunday morning before the race.  He helped bail me out big time!

The bike started first kick but I didn't get a very good jump off the line.  I was near the inside, however, and was able to come out with about a 7th place start.  The first section kind of weaved around the motocross track before it headed into some open fields.  It was pretty dusty for everyone except the leader so it was important just to ride smart and make it to the woods.  The pack up front was pretty big and everyone was trying their best to charge forward.  I made a few passes but also made a few mistakes and saw myself come through the scoring area in 5th place after 2 laps just 15 seconds back from 3rd place.  I was okay with that position because it was still early and I had plenty of time to make a push towards the later stages of the race.

Unfortunately, less than a mile later I felt my rear tire once again moving around underneath me.  I absolutely could not believe that I had another flat!  That makes 4 straight weekends that it's happened.  Since I was still relatively close to the pits at that time I rode back to get the wheel swapped out.  It took a little longer than normal since no one was expecting me back there but they got it swapped out and I went back to the spot I left the course.  I knew I was well outside the top ten at this point but I had to at least ride to get as many points as possible for the weekend.

It wasn't very long after this all happened when I heard my exhaust noise go from normal to obnoxiously loud.  Somehow my silencer came off and I was riding with just a header.  Since I didn't crash or hit anything I have no idea how it happened.  It appears that the tabs cracked and the thing just fell off.  Definitely not a good thing for the pocketbook!

As if things couldn't get any worse for the day, I also got a rear flat on the 2nd wheel and had to decide whether or not it was worth it to continue on and risk damaging my rim.  When I pulled into the scoring tent I was 15th and there was one more lap to go.  I decided to take my chances and hope that no other riders were coming through to do another lap.  I guess I got kind of lucky because a few riders had problems and also called it a day instead of going out for the last lap which meant I stayed put in 15th place.

It was definitely a disappointing weekend but we're doing out best to fix the problems and I really hope things will turn around in Kentucky.