Those step-ons step-offs were gnarly. What can you do with only 3/4 laps? Hardly any practice, short races, everyone riding down two classes, long day, guys crashing, bad gate pick, probably very frustrating. What surprised you the most and/or was the most enjoyable part of the experience?
Couple surprises:
- The whoop section before the finish. I had a suspicion they were going to add whoops to this year's amateur SX layouts but I didn't expect them to be nearly full sized. Glendale's amateur sx track didn't have a whoop section, rather it was converted into a set of doubles.
- How incredibly important it is to get a good gate pick and to get a good start, especially with such short races.
- How vastly different the technique is in supercross compared to motocross. I was keeping up with guys that race A class. They were struggling just as much as i was.
- I probably could have went even stiffer with the forks. Even though the track was slightly tamed compared to the pro version, i was bottoming a few times in the transitions in the rhythm section. In hindsight, i probably should have gone with the .54 springs.
- I ran a 12/52 gearing config. That 1 tooth drop in the rear made a noticeable difference. For supercross, i would have preferred the stock gearing or maybe even going larger to a 54 or 55 tooth rear. I could have benefited from a little more grunt, especially in the long rhythm section.
- A few guys paid all that money, showed up, did track walk, then went out for practice and decided the track was too gnarly for them and just left.
Most enjoyable? Hard to say. The whole experience was really cool. Taking gate drops in Angel Stadium was awesome!