WORCS Week just went off up here in the Northwest, and as usual it was a total blast! This was the second year that they have had WORCS Week and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite races. The race is held at Straddleline Race Park in Capitol Forest near Olympia, Wa. People travel from all over the country to give their best shot at the super tough off road course. WORCS week is part of the regular 8 race off-road championships, but they stay in Washington for a full week of riding and other activities.
WORCS Week has four different types of races to determine the WORCS Week champion. There is a harescrambles, motocross, endurocross, and an off-road race that combines all of the tracks together. To keep it fun, me and my buddies decided ahead of time that we were going to race a few different bikes during the week.
The first day of racing was a harescrambles race that runs for 45 minutes through the woods and around the motocross course. For the harescrambles race, we jumped on our modified KLX110s. Since it was basically a 45 minute motocross race, we were a bit underpowered against the 65's, but man those 4-strokes are fun in the tight woods part of the track.
On Wednesday they had a full on motocross race. It's cool because everyone is off work and on vacation, so it is fun to race a motocross race during the week. For the motocross race, I jumped on a KX65. As many times as I have raced, I had never actually raced a two stroke before. It took some getting used to, mostly the shifting part. On the four stroke you can put it in third gear and just leave it there. On the two stroke you had to be shifting the whole time. It was a lot of fun though.
Friday night was the Endurocross. This is where you go over logs, pipes, rocks, watercrossings, whatever they can think up to slow you down and test your skills. If you're brave enough to take on the endurocross, you can set up an obsitcal course at home to practice, it's super fun.
Saturday was the off-road event. This is where you go around the harescrambles part of the track, the mx track, and the endurocross course, all non-stop for 45 minutes. It was pouring rain right before the start, so I decided to race a bone stock KLX110. I love riding in the mud, because I live in Washington, so the nastier the better. I made it to the last lap but then heard a huge bang in the motor, like someone dropped a bunch of marbles inside my engine. You don't hear that everyday, so the sound was better than winning the race. I found out later the end of the crank broke off. I guess those playbikes aren't made to do 12,000 rpm for 45 minutes straight!
The Pros also raced all week long, so it was a great chance to watch them race and meet them up close. You can even ride with them a little. Straddleline is an ORV park, so you can camp and ride all week long there in between the WORCS Week races. If you have never raced it before, be sure to put WORCS Week on your calendar and get in a whole week of riding.
See you at the races - Carson