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Mud, Metal & Men
Spring Valley Race Report
By Ramjet - 05-01-05

There are 4038 different nooks and crannies on the Honda Pilot and only six on the male human body. You can pack Spring Valley mud into those 4038 spaces and also, adding insult to injury, the six open spots on your person. It's true, I spent a lot of time mulling this over and making a mental count of all the strange places on the Pilot that mud was packed over three inches deep. I pressure washed my machine at the twilight of the day and watched, with amusement, as a river of light brown water washed down the street to the storm sewer followed by huge clumps of mud hurled into orbit by 2800 pounds of compressed water. That small river was the final result of a very unusual, but tremendously fun day at the Spring Valley Races.


Spring Valley Race Track

Now the Spring Valley Raceway, in the Northeast part of Ohio sports a new track that is much more friendly than the old MX style track that many here have had some horrible experiences on. I had missed a whole year and half of racing and was looking forward to getting some seat time on the Pilot. I was looking forward to renewing old friendships and making a few new ones. Every race attracts different people and that is part of the appeal of this sport.

My plan for this race was to film everything I could. Both still and video. It’s a bit difficult to shoot everything that happens and ride at the same time. When you’re only one guy with four cameras, you simply can’t be everywhere on the track. I opted to run the first race “behind” the pack to get the action footage of the track I desired.

 
The RamCam

I mounted a new camera to the Pilot and fed the video to a central camcorder buried in a pack next to my emergency brake. I planned to sit out the second race and film the track and racers from different points along the track. The final goal is to assemble enough footage over time to build a decent race video of Odyssey and Pilot racing.

Arriving at Spring Valley is always an adventure. It’s so off the beaten path you can get easily lost just trying to get there. Regretfully, you no longer have a nice flat area to park your vehicle and trailer near the MX track, but you’re on the opposite hill in what looks like an old potato field. This is a very soft field from years of tilling and the majority of trucks sunk to their axels in the rich soil. Huge ruts were carved as trucks and trailers struggled to find firm footing. Even with my four wheel drive engaged and my light trailer it was challenging to make the field.


ATVnut and Company

I arrive mid-morning without much grief. ATVnut who is tooling around, rather haphazardly, in his electric wheelchair greets me. He’s stuck on a small island of dry land around his van and trailer. A moat of deep, muddy ruts from the trucks restricts his mobility but I was amazed how he got around. This is the first time I met him and he’s got an infectious personality and is just fun to be around.


Odykunck and Fl400nut

Leaving ATVnut on his island, I go looking for old friends and run into FL400nut, Odyknuck and Trailshark. It's always good to see these guys and I'm surprised how many years have past since the days of Honda 250’s and 350's. I was disappointed that Oddypilots couldn’t make it but look forward to seeing him in the future. Frank and the Barkley's were there but I didn’t have an opportunity to spend time with them. I count nine machines ready to race.

The NOORA hosts were very accommodating as always. Despite the weather, overcast, periods of rain and wind, they made sure all of us were registered and informed. Dave (FL400nut) and Odyknuck (Steve) hopped on Dave’s quad to check out the condition of the track, reporting 20 minutes later, that we’re in for some very “interesting” racing. It appears that the track is very muddy and the word” bog” is expressed with rolled eyes.


Odykunck and Fl400nut check out the track

A fifteen-minute drivers meeting and all of us head to our rides to gear up and get ready to race. I have about thirty different things to get the video camera set. Cable, batteries and audio checks to make sure I can record an image. Making sure the camera is pointed at the correct angle via that tiny LCD screen is a chore.  I suppose some industrial designer at Sony thought that backlight keys on the camcorder were a good idea. Unfortunately, in bright sunlight, all you see is a black strip. You can't see what button to press to record and it continues to be a problem for me. On top of that, add all the protective armor you personally need to wear just to race. By the time I'm rigged to go, everyone else is on the line.
 



Frank and his super hot ride with a new plastic skin.






 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the guys' fuel and geared up, head out to the track. The start official lines them up according to their stick number they pulled during registration. I didn't pull a number since I was going to hang back and film the start and try to capture as much track time from behind.

The green flag goes up and eight screaming, angry machines, head for the hole shot. I follow about five seconds behind.

FL400Nut: The first race starts with all of us lined up in a line everyone aiming for the track. There is only room for two cars wide on the track all the others have to fall back. Frank gets the hole shot I’m in second right beside him. We approach the 1st double that is the finish line. I blast over it and Frank lets up and rolls it (wise decision).
All through practice I rolled it but in the first race I let the adrenalin take over or maybe stupidity and I blasted over it. I went pretty much unchallenged to the checkered flag however there was one glitch. The checkered was at the first double.
I approached as normal then at the last moment I let up just slightly the buggy kicked sideways Oh sh*t you know what that means. (sky dirt sky dirt) and I take the checkered on my Roof!! The fans liked it anyways. They asked me how I was going to top that for the second race? Little did I know it was going to happen.


 ATVnut with son and Gary from NOORA

While FL400nut and Frank battle it out for first, I follow behind the rest of the pack getting pelted by mud bombs the size of baseballs. Large, brown projectiles bounce off my front hood making dull thump sounds on the plastic. My tires pitch mud in front of my machine in graceful, long arches. Thinking to myself that this isn't the smartest place to be, I scoot around someone to avoid my camera being taken out but still trying to capture some deceit video. I pass a few only to be passed as I slow down when there’s nothing to film in front of me. The race ends dramatically with FL400nut doing an endo to the finish and I go back to see what video I captured.

 

Regretfully, I pull the camcorder out of its protective bag and see a blinking error displayed on the screen. It appears that the tape jammed around the recording head and I recorded nothing of the race. Disappointed, I fix the tape; reinstall everything run a test and every thing is good to go.
It's lunch and time to review the last race with the gang. Every Pilot and Odyssey is coated with three inches of thick Ohio mud. Silhouettes of the drivers are outlined on the seats. A few drivers are using tools to remove the incrusted mud off their machines in the vain hope that will make them lighter.

We prepare for the second race and again, since my first attempt was futile, I'll hang back  behind the pack and try for more video footage.

 FL400Nut: The second race was a total different story. The race starts out with I think all nine of us taking the holeshot.  We were all even. Again it was Frank and myself over the first double. I figure this is the second race the double should be easy I attempt to blast over and don’t make it. You know what that means again (sky dirt sky dirt) oh that’s going to leave a mark

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 Photo courtesy of NOORA

Ramjet: I’m coming up fast on the pack when I see a puff of blue smoke and a Pilot leaps into the air and tumbles. That's Dave and everyone jockey's to get around him. He rolls off to the right side of the track on all four wheels and whips around in an instant. I see him in my mirror and let him pass. He's racing, I'm recording.

FL400Nut: Fortunately my roll leaves me back on my rubber and engine still running however in last place. What the heck I gun it and it seems ok. I work through 2 or 3 guys to get around the track to the my favorite double jump do the same approach and what happens, same thing sky, dirt, sky, dirt sh*****t last place again! Same as before, I land on my wheels, hit the go button and my machine rockets. It's running great. I work through the pack again for a few laps. 2 laps to go I come upon 4 cars in a row. All are stuck in the mud. We come to the sloppy hairpin all four use the bypass around it. I say what the heck I plow through the mud. To my surprise I fly through it and pass all four. One more to go and only one lap to do it in white flag is out. We come to that same hairpin he goes on the bypass and I go through the mud. Same result I pass and finish the race in 1st. This is the toughest race I have ever been in.

It's the end of the race day and everyone pitches in to clean up and depart. Departing took a little longer then planned since just about everyone is sunk down into the mud to their axels. Four-wheel drive trucks were immobile. FL400nut lost momentum and his wheels were sucked into the ground. Another driver blocked the exit and we had to wait sometime to depart. Luckily, the NOORA staff had a big diesel tractor on site that helped tow many of us out.


Odykunck blew a front ball joint but finished the race on it!

All in all, it was a fun race. It was different. Not the typical dusty, knock down, drag out racing that usually happens at Spring Valley. Mother nature slowed it down for us and made it a challenge. I got the video I wanted but lost the audio on a jump.


Trailshark

The track is in preliminary form. If someone would ask, I would recommend making the woops a single table top. The Odyssey's and Pilot's just don’t like the whoop section and it punishes the front of the machine. I ride a bone stock Pilot and that plays into the equation. Perhaps it's easier for the long travel and modified guys but my Pilot and I just hate the whoops.

I'm also pretty anal and frugal about trashing my machine. I did over three hundred dollars in damage from a simple roll at Henderson. Yeah, to some, $300 is a drop in the bucket, but to me, it adds up over time and it’s getting tougher to replace parts for an obsolete machine.

The Spring Valley track has promise and delivers a new and refreshing race season for us.

I give the track an eight out of ten.