John Penton GNCC

May 11, 2008 - Millfield, Ohio

The 2008 running of the Penton GNCC will not be soon forgotten by any of the riders that tried to tackle the course.  To say it was a little muddy would be the understatement of the year!

On Saturday it actually didn't look that bad.  Everyone said it was really slick, but from what I could see of the fields and the motocross track, it looked like it could be pretty good for our race on Sunday.  That all changed when it rained overnight, however.  When the morning class riders got out there and were having a tough time with some of the muddy sections near the pits, I knew it was going to be bad.  Then to make matters worse, it started to rain between the morning race and our race.  Things definitely weren't looking up!  The weather cleared up a little bit when it came time head to the starting line, however, and it looked like the rain might have moved on.

When the race began I was just hoping for a good start so that I wouldn't be covered with mud before I even made it to the second turn.  Luckily I got a pretty decent start and was in good position as we headed into the woods.  I should probably mention again that it was muddy and that everyone was making mistakes and having trouble.  Because of everyone's troubles, I was able to inherit the lead pretty early on in the first lap.  I really tried to focus on picking good lines and minimizing my mistakes.  By the end of the first lap I was still in the lead and thinking that things might be okay if I can just be smart and pick good lines.  Not soon after that, I got stuck.

I actually got stuck about as close to the pits as you can get and large group of XC2 riders got around.  I'd love to say that I was able to get going again, pick great lines and rode off into the sunset with an easy victory.  The reality, however, was much different than that.  I spent most of the next two laps either getting stuck, sliding out, tumbling down hills, trying to restart my bike or wishing I could see.  It was definitely not optimum racing conditions!  My last two laps went a little better, however, and all things considered, I actually felt pretty good.  Before the race I'd heard a few people saying how the conditions would actually get better if it started raining again while we were racing, but I thought they were crazy!  Turns out, at one point during the race it did start to rain and the conditions actually did improve!  When I finally made it to the checkered flag, I had moved up into 5th place.  Not a stellar result, but in all of that mud I know things could have gone much much worse. 

For now I'm just looking forward to the next race in Kentucky in a few weeks.  Jason Weigandt said it best after the race, conditions are guaranteed to be better there because they sure enough can't get any worse!

Everyone huddling underneath the tent before the race when the rain starting coming down

XC2 Start

It's not often that you see XC1 pro riders struggling like this!

Jason Hooper Photos - www.gnccracing.com