WML Grand Prix Race
At “A Day In
The Dirt” 2000
Over Thanksgiving Day weekend at the LACR (Los Angeles County Raceway) near Palmdale, CA, in Southern Calif., a motocross event called “A Day In the Dirt” was held. This event was presented by James Cameron and Troy Lee Designs and was hosted by the Film Industry. Many of the participants were of the motocross arena, including past and present SX and MX champs, as well as mechanics, team managers, WML (Women’s Motocross League) officers and members, members of the Stunt and Film Industry, and many other participants from various sports and industries.
I learned about this event via the Internet on the WWW.MOTOCROSS.COM and WWW.WML-MX.COM websites two days before I was to leave my home in Hiawatha, IA and fly out to Torrance, CA, in Southern Calif., to visit my father for Thanksgiving. After reading about the event, I noticed that the WML was going to have a Grand Prix race for Pros and Amateurs. The gears started to grind in my head, how would I be able to race in this event? I would be able to take my gear with me, but not my 2000 Honda CR 250. I would have to borrow a bike from someone, and since I didn’t personally know any racers in the area, it would have to be a complete stranger. So my first thought was to contact the WML and see what they could do for me. I emailed the President of the WML, Miki Keller, and asked for help. She sent a reply back and said that she would do some checking around and see if she could line up a bike and to check back with her on Monday November 20th it was now November 17th. So I packed all of my gear, and flew out to California the following day.
I checked back with Miki Keller on Monday, she had not yet found a bike, but was not giving up, and gave me Deb Matthews name and phone number as another source to check with. I called Deb and talked with her for some time, she knows her stuff about motocross and shares many of my views regarding issues that concern all women racers and the future of women racers. She had a MX school to teach in another state and would not be able to attend the event, she would have been glad to loan me one of her bikes. But she did give me the name and number of many other people to check with that included someone from each of the major motorcycle manufacturers, and a couple of WML members who would be racing at the event. After many phone calls, it was apparent that the people that were of the manufacturers, were all attending the Mini O’s in Florida. But I was able to get in contact with Bonnie Warch, who is ranked number 9 as a Pro in the WML for the year 2000. She said she would check around for me also, and gave me another source to check, Tami Haase, who owns WWW.TRPRO.COM (a motorsports marketing and promotions website). Tami said she would look also, and told me to just come to the event early with my gear, and she would do her best to get me a bike.
Race day came, and I still didn’t have a “for sure” ride yet. I loaded up my gear in my fathers GMC Jimmy and headed out to the track. It took me just over an hour to get there, it was easy to find. I headed to the sign up booth and asked if they knew where Tami was pitted. Just as I said that, Tami walked up to the booth herself to sign up. I introduced myself, and she then took me over to the WML booth and introduced me to Miki Keller, and presented me with a bike to use. It was a 1999 Kawasaki KX 125, it belonged to her nephew who was about 16 – 17 years old. I was ecstatic, all of the pieces of the puzzle were coming together, I couldn’t believe that I had pulled it off. I would have preferred a 250, but I was lucky to get a bike at all. So I quickly ran to my father’s truck to change into my gear, practice was to start at 9:15am. I then signed up for the WML 125 Intermediate class, there was also a Pro and Novice class available.
I talked with Tami and Miki until it was time to practice. Practice consisted of one lap around the track, and little did I know how long a lap was. I felt like I was riding a toy motorcycle on that 125, but quickly got the hang of it during practice. Part of the course was a paved road, so entering and exiting it was tricky and slick. I thought the course was gonna go forever, I would say that one lap was 1 – 2 miles in length. I loved the track, it was my style, an outdoor motocross style with many jumps, and mostly consisted of sand. After practice, I felt pretty comfortable on the bike and was ready to take the challenge. We would be racing in a couple of hours, and in the meantime I watched the Moto-a-Go-Go race, which was a rely race that involved teams of two people that would last 90 minutes. It was fun to watch the Moto-a-Go-Go, on the last lap, both riders had to be on the same bike.
It was now time for the WML Grand Prix, I didn’t know that it was a 45 minute race!!! The longest race that I have ridden is 20 minutes at Loretta Lynn’s earlier this year. They lined us up in three rows, row 1 was Pro class, row two was Intermediate, and row three was Novice. This was a running engine start, everyone would have to have their left hand on top of their helmet as if they were saluting before the wave of the flag. This was something I haven’t experienced before. The Pro class took off, and about the time they all got to the second corner, it was my turn to start. I watched the flag closely, and it dropped within seconds, I was third coming into turn one. I started out blazing through the course, it was fun, but I knew I would need to conserve energy, it was a long race. Not too long after the race started, I got arm pump, the bike I was riding was in need of a suspension overhaul. After awhile, I was able to relax and ride strong. Towards the end of the race I got tired and coasted around a corner, that was a mistake, I should have gassed it, but instead the front tired washed out and down I went. I quickly jumped back up after a few riders had passed me, started the bike, and took off after those gals who passed me. I was able to pass a couple of them.
I had a blast flying over the big jumps and looking at the crowd cheering us all on. You could see that many of the spectators where very impressed with the women riders. And there were many photographers taking pictures, especially on the larger jumps. Finally, the white flag appeared, I was so thankful to see it, I was exhausted. I gave it everything I had that last lap, and when I approached the finish line jump, I ended the race with a no footer. There was a crowd of spectators near the track exit cheering us on, it was neat, and it felt good to see that many people supporting us. There actually was a pretty good turn out for the women racers, I would guess around 30 all together. After I got back to the pits, and washed off my face and got a drink of water, I headed to see the results. I had finished third, I was impressed with myself, there were a total of eight in the Intermediate class. I got a really neat medal for placing third, it’s nice to have something different than the usual plaque or trophy.
This was a wonderful experience for me and I was able to make some very good connections at the event. If you are in the area when this event is taking place, try it, it’s a blast! I would like to thank Miki Keller of the WML, Deb Matthews, Bonnie Warch, and Tami Hasse for all their efforts, without these people, I wouldn’t have been able to race at this event. I would also like to specially thank Jeff and Bryan Haase, it was Bryan’s motorcycle that I rode, and Jeff got the bike ready for the race. Not everyone would loan a stranger their bike to race with, I really appreciate it!