Jay all by his lonesome

Okay, back to 2008. October-ish, I believe. Gonna have to skip over Barber for the moment, can't find a single pic. But that's all right, it means I get to give Jay some space of his very own. He didn't make Barber and instead a weekend or so later headed back to the site of his first race at Devils Ridge in Sanford, NC. As I wasn't there, I'm cutting and pasting his report from the day after the race to give you that jenyoowine-just-happened feel.

"Rode CC at Devil's Ridge yesterday.
The race was initially going to be called due to the weather.  However, me and 2 AHRMA guys walked the course and then they did a test lap. Afterwards they said it was "doable" but added "Hey Jay, I would NOT take your bike out there. Nothing without AT LEAST 10 inches of suspension travel is going to make it through there." I had the oldest bike, the only Brit machine and the only 4-stoke. The other guy in "vintage" was a fucking 360 Husky... there were other big-ass Huskys, a Yammer and a Maico, I think... I said "Fuck it. I'm going. If I have to disassemble the bike and carry it out so be it." It was very tight, very technical, very wet and very nasty. A new long section was added across the old clear-cut and it had never been ridden on. The freshly cropped scrub growth hid all sorts of washes, logs, stumps and deep holes. I paced myself. I chose my lines carefully... practically rode a very brisk trials ride. I was keeping a decent pace with the big stinky two smokes (I was actually beating the other guy in my class... at least I think he was in my class... the regional breakdown of classes is odd) until I ate shit (hairpin, big hidden stump, wheelie, throttle roll, front end washout, dump) and stalled the bike. The Pig has an odd tendency to get quite sulky about starting once it gets good and hot. A fresh plug often helps, but I got crap in the cylinder when I did this and lost compression... the Bebout Brisketneck Auxiliary Starting Unit saved the day on that one. Overall, I managed 3 laps and crossed the line under the bike's power this time.
The new shocks and front springs made this race so much better than the last one. The bike (besides the sulkiness) performed admirably and I had a good time. I need to put on the smaller front sprocket (spent 99.9% of the race in 1st), sort this hot-start issue out and maybe extend the swingarm a smidge.
I opted not to camp last night and came home, hung out with the pups, watched the livestream of The Girl's derby bout from Chicago while eating Chinese takeout and getting puzzled on beers. I woke up about 6AM this morning and considered, for all of 9 seconds, driving the hour plus back to Sanford to run again at 8 am... oddly, I'm still wearing my bathrobe and eating cereal.
Alex took some good pics... hopefully he will be so kind as to post them.
Woo hoo!
Build a dirt bike!
Race it!
It is awesome!"