Its a funny thing how all this moving up stuff works, and hope some parents and kiddies are reading this:
I turned X when I was 15, and due to an injury, I had very few 15X races, and soon found myself having to chase a super-quick Nick Dottino every week in 16X. I got LOTS of seconds. Eventually I did catch him.
Last weekend I raced 35X in the Nat and had to chase Tom McMurray and London Wilmot in motos. I almost caught London in the second moto (Tom was in the lead). And then I almost made a move on someone in the main (made it, but slipped a pedal after).
Then came the Regional Championship. With all due respect to Loren Hamblin who made the 35 Nov main, I don’t think it was a fair race. After chasing the experts, I found myself easily out in front. I even beat the other guy who turned up to 35X that morning too. The best part is I felt faster in cruiser. Chasing the experts dialed me up a notch and changed my approach.
For those that worry about moving up, don’t (except maybe us old guys just coming back 😀 ). You do not have to be winning Novice every race before you move up. You’ll get better faster once you do. I was amazed at what one race did. You will always race up to the level of your comp if you have the right attitude.
I think moving up to X helped Pete W., too, cause you should have seen him in cruiser at Woodward. He was hanging with Randy Greco and Rakin Nasheed in the main. I know Randy was curious about who the “new guy” was hanging with him in the motos!!
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