The Hidden Gem: Ruby Trail Project

The arrival of Diesel and A-Train marked the Motor Club's first visit to Ruby Campground.  Both riders had raced there before but under a different coat of arms.  The weather was looking good and so was the trail.  Oceans of rain had fallen across lower Michigan the night before but some how it had all missed Ruby.  It was a sign of a good day to come.  Our boys were some of the first racers to show up for the day.  They pitched the team tent next to the Sandbaggers so they were surrounded by ample company.

At 9:00am Diesel and A-Train were ready for some pre riding as A-Train was to go off at 10am.  But at 9:05, the rain came.  WTF?  they waited a few minutes but the rain only got worse.  Aryn wanted to take Brian out to show him the new sections as it would be hard to pre ride between races.  So they suited up and went out in the rain.  By 9:45 it was still raining and by 9:50 a riders meeting was called.  The turn out was very low.  Only 2 people in A-Train's class showed up for the day.  So for overall finish he would go off with all the Experts and Elites under 40 yrs old.  Okay......I guess.

So as the race started, it was still raining, A-Train was using a reserved pace.  He remembered 4 year ago what it was like to race Ruby in the rain.  It was like 2008 all over again.  Not even 10 minutes into the race there were a series of 2 bridges that had to be crossed.  Wet bridges.  Here's A-Train's take on the events that followed:  "I was following the RBS rider close and as we went over the table top bridge he went down hard because it was so slick.  I some how managed to get around him without crashing myself.  But the effort was lost because I had a bad line going onto the next bridge and like rubber tires on ice I went down really hard, shoulder first, to the earth.  I laid on the ground for a minute wondering why I was putting myself through this again.  I told myself after 2008 I wouldn't race this course in wet conditions again and here I was doing it again.  So I got up, soft pedaled for a few minutes to get myself back to the road and called it a day.  My first DNF in 7 years of racing."

On lap 4 of what was Aryn's race the rain stopped and the sun came out.  By the time Diesel was to start the course was drying out and getting tacky instead of slippery.  Perfect!  That's exactly what Diesel needed to exploit his strengths on the tight, twisty and hilly course.  No long open flats on this course.  It's like it was designed for him.  After tanking on his last lap the day before Diesel was more reserved at the start and went into the woods in 4th place instead of 1st.  He wanted to pace himself and keep his splits even.  Aryn chased Brian around the course to give him updates where ever he could on field position and gaps.  He also was there at every lap to hand him bottles and said he looked solid at every split with zero kinks in his armor.

When Diesel came in through the finish he looked fresh enough to go out for another 3 laps.  A-Train had him at what he thought was a solid second place but it turns out the person who finished in front of him was from a younger age group that started before him.  His number plate didn't make sense but this meant that Diesel had won his class and not only that, he set the fastest time in the Sport Category for the day!!!  Add another podium to The Year of the Diesel.

(Sorry, this team of two is a little behind on downloading our pictures)