AtvNut came across an off road/ MX track north of Mio, MI called
http://www.33motosportspark.com/.
A really well done set-up, nice buildings, great soil, it looks good. Needing to get some seat time, I signed on.
With a class for UTVs, I figure I can run on that track. Wrong. This track is straight MX. No back side to most jumps, with your normal doubles and triples. And long, with the bikes running 2.5-3 minute laps, so learning the track was tough. A few of the jumps were friendly, but I've crashed in practice before, and it's no fun.
First time out, I knew I was jetted rich, in fact, rich enough to foul out the right cylinder's plug. Yep, my first lap was on one cylinder. Which was plenty enough to get into trouble. Trying to roll a jump, i catch a little air to find out it wasn't the jump to make that mistake on. Bamm, I nose in hard. All right, settle down. Even then, I got into the whoops too fast and test the front bumper again. Ouch!
Let's get this in, rejet, and drop a fresh plug in the right lung of the 600 Rotax, and get ready for the next session. "Nut doesn't care for the bumpiness of the crushed gravel of the pits in his chair, but it absorbed the rain we got that day like a champ.
I cut out any time spent idleing heading out for session 2, and we're running pretty clean, with just enough missing to let me know it wasn't too lean. The soil is a BEAUTIFUL sandy dirt that was showcased by just enough rain to create perfect (for me) conditions. No dust, the roost wasn't sticky, just great. I start working up to temp on the straights, and tip toe over the jumps. The tip toeing of the jumps continues even after I'm running hard. Starting to not want to look like a total sissy, I decide to fling it off one of the friendly jumps to find out I hadn't learned the track as
well as I thought! I committed the cardinal sin of trying to back out of the jump on the way up the face when I realize it was a decidedly UNfriendly jump, and lawn dart again. A little frustrated, I attack one of the sections of whoops, and skip across the tops pretty nicely. The spacing of them was pretty tight, and I got a spray of dirt off the front end at each peak. On the second lap, I'm sure of a couple jumps, so I start working up to speed to go, and found the face of the jump I planned to jump was quite rutted from the bikes. I'm able to back out of that one, and manage a couple half assed jumps on lap 2. The checkers waved, and I didn't wait For the final session.
This is the kind of place that could create a bunch of mayhem as is. With some re routing around some of the extreme jumps, I can see UTVs enjoying this track. I would.
