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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128329
time he wou ld see the speedy Kawasaki
rider.
"I knew Woodford was having trouble," Jarrett said. "So when I had the lead,
1tried to set a good pace and save a little
for when he [Woodford] would make his
move [again]."
As the race wore on , Woodford's plan
of pacing himself began to payoff as
Jarrett, who thought the race was shorter
than it was , began to wear down.
"I was a little mixed up on the length of
the race," Jarrett admitted. "I had been
Co le Calkins set a con sistent pace and kept
it to finish in third.
said. "I tried to fix it on the trail but cou ldn't. So I sto pped in the pit area and actually laid the bike down and stood on it until
it bent back . When I got going, it didn't
take any time to catch Jarrett; when I did, I
made an easy pass, and I was off."
While Woodford and Jarrett took turns
leading the first five laps, Watts and
Calkins were battling it out for third
place . During lap one Calkins and Watts
were held up by bottlenecks that had
them nearly four minutes behind
Woodford and Jarrett's pace.
Third-place finisher Kawasaki
Team Green-sponsored rider
Ca lkins had a few problems but
was able to pace himself until
the end of the race .
'i\t the start I was right in
there
with
Jarrett
and
Woodford," Calkins said. "Then
I got a branch wedged in my
front rotor, and they were
gone. Just as I got go ing again,
Watts caught me . The way he
was riding, it was obvious he
.' was going after [jarrett and
(Above)The tough course
provided great viewing for
spectators.
(Right) Logs like this are
what many racers dreaded during the event.
pacing myse lf for a five-lap
race . Once I discovered we
were go ing to be racing seven
laps, I knew I was going to have
trouble. As I entered the first
wooded section [on lap five], I
hit a tree, and that was it. If I
was going to finish, I was going
to have to just back down and
let Chuck go, so I picked a
good pace and rode to finish."
Jarrett was not the only one
who was having problems. Woodford had
to make an unscheduled pit stop due to
one of his many crashes.
"I bent the brake lever out to the point
that it was sticking straight out," Woodford
Woodford], so I just let him go and saved
my energy."
Even though he is a seasoned off-road
rider, Watts had never participated in the
dreaded Moose Run. In the later stages of
the race his inexperience with the event
began to show.
"I really wasn't sure what to expect,"
Watts said. "I got a so-so start and got held
up by a couple of log crossings. By the third
lap I started cramping so badly, I actually
rode a lot of the time in first gear just to
keep myself moving. At times I wasn't sure
if I was going to finish. By the
last two laps I just tried to
keep some type of momentum . Jimmy [jarrett] and
[Chuck] Woodford really got
the jump on the pack, and that
seems to be the key here. 1
never really had a chance to
catch them. When Calkins
caught me, I just let him by
and tried to just finish."
After this year's event
next year many of the top
riders will no doubt return
with a new approach: setting
a pace and kee ping it.
Woodford summed it up
year's
perfectly:
"T his
course was great," he said.
"It had a lot of new sections,
and that made it fun. The
key to doing well here is to
stay focused and pace yourself. Even when I struggled a
little bit, I knew all I had to
do was stay focused and let
my bike do the res t."
CN
wwwcydenews.com
PARTS UNUMITED MOOSE RUN
MORRISON, IWNOIS
RESULTS: JUNE 6, 2004 (ROUND
3
OF
18)
O/A: I. Chuck Woodford (Kaw); 2. Jimmy Jarrett
(Yam) J. Cole CaJkins (Kaw); • . Shane Warn (KTM); 5.
;
N.than Kanney (Yam); 6. Charlie Deutsche, (Yam); 7. Tony
joCner(Yam 8. Jom Strangfeld (GG); 9. Justin WiWwnson
);
(Yam) 10. D;ck Burleson (KTM); I I. Jesse Illoombe