Alan Westerfield's Daniel Boone Trails Race Report (2006)

Race Report: Kentucky Off Road Hare Scrambles Series (KORHS) - Round 6
Rider: Alan Westerfield - Bike 2nd Place
Bike: 05 Yamaha YZ250F #7

This was an exhausting weekend for me because the race was just the grand finale. I left home on Friday morning en route to the Nantehala national park to participate in my buddy Eric's bachelor whitewater kayaking party. We arrived at the park late Friday night with no camp reservations or plan of any kind for that matter. I had no problems camping in my van which also served as my weekend home. The following morning we put in and paddled the eight mile journey back to the bottom of the mountain. The Class 2 and 3 rapids pale in comparison to riding my dirt bike though and I was ready make the journey to Eastern KY by 3 p.m.

It was quite an interesting ride to the top of the mountain. My van refused to admit she had somewhere around 400,000 miles (give or take 50,000 due to a broken odo) on her and chugged all the way to the top despite a lot of wheel-spin. I wasn't sure what to expect with results until Paul Whibley showed up. Unless a mechanical failure rears its ugly head, Paul's presence has a way of sealing our fate. Its always an honor to have an international professional racer on the line beside you- even if he does take your money! Besides having a really cool accent that I am working to imitate, Paul is a super nice humble guy and has definitely sprouted up a fan club here in the Bluegrass State.

Off the start I was about mid pack behind Grizzly bear sized Dave McWilliams. Dave is a super cool dude but I quickly found that following him is not a desirable scenario. Shortly after the start the fast fire road made a sharp left turn that Dave didn't see. When Dave doesn't see something, that means you don't see it either because you can't see around this mammoth. The next thing I knew we were off the side of a mountain going through briars and 6 ft tall weeds. Luckily, our unplanned cheater line led right back into the trail. It was a scary moment for Dave and myself. The rest of the first lap was spent trying to work my way toward the front.

Apparently, while I was running in third, Marty Michaels threw a chain and gave me the gift of second. If you have ever seen the original Dukes Of Hazard series you know the part where the General is in mid air and they pause the tape and ask questions to initiate your suspense into a frenzy. I wanted to stop the tape and evaluate my own show right there. "Will Westerfield catch Whibley?" " Will the little Yamaha go up in smoke trying to grab the glory?" -commercial break-
Now we all know that weekend racers are the true underdogs compared to the real pro's, but I gave it a shot anyway. Thanks to a course-worker who obviously didn't like Whibley's Honda, I was able to catch the fellow and didn't really know how. I assumed he stopped to put in a new piston or ate a sandwich. The worker didn't understand the unspoken rules of hare scramble racing- you NEVER reroute the course without proper authorization from the President and Secretary of State! Paul was only rerouted 1 time. I was rerouted twice, while several of the other racers in the class were rerouted 3 times! Maybe he was just trying to even up the competition on his own terms. The end result was that I didn't have a chance in Hazard of beating Paul but I had a really good time and thank God I didn't get hurt or anything!

Thanks to all the guys who put this race on. They could have just as easily sat at home in the AC and not bothered putting in all the great single track and technical sections and settled for just running wide open dangerous quad trails. Your efforts do not go unnoticed. Yes, there were bottlenecks, which are a part of hare scramble racing. The race may have been a little tough for a beginner, but guess what - you're a better rider today than you were yesterday so get your chin off the ground. Does it get any better than that? For all those who stepped up to the challenge you have my respect. Keep the tough trails guys- that's what we come for. Thanks to Jon Buckner for the bike and parts, Atek racing for helping me out with suspension and other cool items, and Tire Balls for keeping air in my tires.

Alan Westerfield