Alan Westerfield's MPOR2 Race Report (2007)
"When X’s Attack"

Race Report: Kentucky Off Road Hare Scrambles Series (KORHS) - Round 10
Rider: Alan Westerfield - Bike 2nd Place Overall
Bike: 04 Honda CRF270(X)

By: Alan Westerfield

The events leading up to this awesome race were typical for my lifestyle. White Lightnin’ had hurled her guts out at the last OMA race and I had just sold her replacement which left me in a pickle. Usually, when you see an ex….it’s a bad thing….real bad; but that’s not the kind of ex I’m talking about. I’m talking about a Honda 250X….a 2004 model to be specific that now belongs to my father. He offered to let me use it since it had been sitting in his basement for several months with no activity. The only stipulation being that I needed to “spray a little something in those steering head bearings- they’re sticky and maybe dab a little grease on that lower shock bearing.” I put a good used tire I had on the front and put some fresh brake fluid in and called it good. It wasn’t a full fledged racing bike, but under the circumstances I was glad to get it.

One thing I do really admire about this little scoot is the electric button, as I had perfected the starting procedure years ago with it. A good swift kick, a push of the button, and a dab of throttle and I was off the line in semi hole-shot status. Marty out-powered me up the first hill and took an early lead. About three miles in, he made his first mistake; relinquishing the position to me. I knew that since I was dealing with less power, now would be the time to build up a lead- while the leaves were still on. The trick would be to get out of sight of the others so they couldn’t use me. It was working ok, until we hit slick-bottom creek, and the boys seemed to carry a little more speed than I was comfortable with. I couldn’t shake them. The hills were not my friend and wreaked havoc on the X’s engine output. Keep it pinned and work the gear box would serve as my approach. It wasn’t long before I came out in a field, became disoriented while searching for the course arrows, and let the others pass. The orange and black arrows were sort of hard to follow with all of the fall foliage, but the course was marked very well.

Soon, Nate and Marty made a wrong turn so I took the lead back and continued through the first lap. My goal was to finish my best but to also be careful and not let the X take a dump- I don’t need TWO bikes to fix during the week. Nate took the lead somewhere in the beginning laps and we became separated in some traffic. Towards the end of the race, I noticed Marty and I were running 1-2 so I assumed Nate had dropped out of the race which would not be uncommon given Nate’s easy going, care free personality. Little did we know that his bar code sticker was still in his blue jeans and he was flying under the radar……that tricky Nate. I was content just to stay with Marty and duel it out and the end….. but I had to stop for gas. The X’s gas cap is apparently a size smaller than the universal quickfill….which left me with a little extra burn to stay motivated. The pit stop was pretty long….and I had my work cut out for me. I had to try to ride hard but still save the bike- as the back brakes sounded like someone was beating a dog to death. I occasionally caught a glimpse of Marty through the trees, but he still had a good lead.

Finally, on the last lap I caught him; while he was down. He had decided to use road gear coming out of slick bottom creek and got bitten hard. I shut my bike down and tried to establish verbal communication with my fallen comrade.
“Marty, are you OK?”
“No”
“Where are you hurt?”
“Everywhere.”
“Is anything broken.”
Judging by the way he was rolling around I figured it was painful- but not life threatening. We had no idea where the finish was in relation to our location so I ask another guy to try to find out and I would go to the finish, get a quad, and come back. Well, Tough-Guy had already shaken it off when I got back and finished the race! That was about it for me. Looks like I will be racing a KLX450R that is a demo bike from Gate Way cycles at the last event. I took it on a test ride after the race and was very impressed. Not that I didn’t appreciate the X loaner….but the Kawi rocks. Until then I will be on a training program that will rival boot camp…in preparation to……do something. See ya then.

Alan Westerfield, #4