Tim looked off to a good start, Wade and Chris left before I did, and I pulled to the line next to a Polaris. We were being sent out two at a time, so I got the jump on the Polaris next to me and crossed the road first.
Things were going reasonable well, except my clutching is still off. Not sure what the top end was, but I would guess 70 mph at best. The Polaris I left the line with caught me and passed, while another was gaining. As the three of us neared mile six, I saw the first Polaris pull over, so I scanned the trail for obsticals. At approximately 65 mph, I could not make out the rock, but I hit it hard, just off center. This sent the Liquifire airborn, at a 45 degree angle off to right of the trail and me cartwheeling into the ditch head first.
Thank god for good body armor and my new helmet. While cartwheeling I was thinking, "wow, this feels like a snocross wreak" and "ouch, this hurts". Once I landed, I put my arm up and pointed to the rock so the next sleds did not repeat my performance. I staggered over to my sled, plugged in the teather and fired it up. Bad idea on several counts.
First, the throttle stuck WFO. Secondly, it would only stear straight or to the right. Finally, was not holding on tightly. As she flew out of the ditch into the road, I lost my grip, and then was bucked off the back. The sled did its best impression of a snow darn and burried herself in the other side of the road's ditch. With some help, I was able to get her back on the road, and then kicked the ski's to get some left movement, but not much.
Once I got going back down the trail, I figured the race was over since I was pretty beat up and way behind the pack. Figures some guy was hanging out of a truck filming, so I sucked it up and put on the best show I could in a mogal filled ditch. Right after that I saw a minivan pulled over, and someone crouched down by it. Kudla warned me about pulled over vehicles, but said a single one could just be someone taking pic's. That's what it looked like here, so I cleared the approach trying for a good shot. Landing was smooth luckily, as I was did not have the disire to go over the bars again.
I thought I saw a sled getting pulled into the back of a trailer or truck, but I was focused on staying on my sled. Turns out it was Chris' Yamaha. He had crashed hard, and was out I later found out. I also passed a burned down Ski-Doo RV Blizzard. I had hauled that sled to it's current owner last summer, and he did not seem thrilled...
