During the 2009 racing season DBx will have the privilege of having race reports from one of the riders we sponsor. Demon’s Race Blog will not only have Dmity’s written reports but also some video footage from his helmet cam. We hope you enjoy reading and watching Demon’s 2009 racing season.
Last Updated on Friday, 27 March 2009 12:58
Hello, my name is Dmitry
Written by Demon
Tuesday, 17 March 2009 21:11
Hello, my name is Dmitry.
I have been obsessed with dirt biking for as far back as I can remember. Off road racing is a passion of mine, more than any other motorcycle racing. I have been racing since the purchase of my first bike. During the past few years, and several bikes, I have entered a number of OCMC events as well as CMA Hare scrambles and Enduros. This year I have a new bike in the shed, one I feel is the "right tool for the job"- a 2008 KTM300xcw. My plans for the upcoming 2009 racing season is to enter the CMA Hare scrambles, the Ontario Amateur Enduro Series as well as the Parry Sound WEC race in September. The OCMC races are always fun so I will definitely race those as well.
I will be racing in the Intermediate class - number 131.
See you out there!
Dmitry aka Demon
Here is a video I shot at the 2008 OCMC HS
Skytop HS - Sunday, May 3, 2009
The weather was absolutely perfect. Traction appeared to be ideal and there was barely any dust. As I was registering into the intermediate group, thoughts of what to expect and how fast my competitors were going to be ran through my head. After all, this was my first time racing in the intermediate class and I was psyched! My adrenaline was pumping as I waited at the start line burning a hole in my competitors backs. Once the "experts" took off, I had my leg over the kick-starter focusing on the flag man. A few seconds later we got the signal and I fired up my engine. As, I was headed into the narrow trail, I realized I had the hole shot. The trails were phenomenal. It was like a rollercoaster with elevation changes and switch back corners. I was leading my class and even passed a couple of experts. The very difficult cord section was a breeze and I was thinking that the race was going pretty well...and just then I ran into a tree branch. The branch stopped me cold. My sole mission was to not loose my position. I kicked and pulled at the branch and tried to get it out of my way. Just my luck, at that very same moment, I noticed white smoke and realized my antifreeze was leaking. I shut off the bike and leaned down to take a look. My radiator hose got pulled off and antifreeze had leaked out. While I used the only screw driver in my camelback to get the hose back on, a couple of guys passed me. I wasn’t sure how much coolant I lost, but I knew I had some left. So I rode it in low rpm until the end of the lap and called it quits. A perfect day of riding was cut short by a 6$ part.
Looking forward to the next race and less sticks.
Dmitry
P.S. Check out the video that puts pictures to my words.
CMA HS Round 1
May 24th 2009, Port Colborne Ontario.
First round of The Canadian Hare scramble Championship. After hearing that this location can become very icy after a rainfall, I was glad that it was dry. So dry in fact, that I could not see much from all the dust in my eyes!
I somehow still managed to be in 3rd rounding into the first corner and cruised behind the leaders for a little while. Unfortunately, the dust from their tires blurred the trail and made the visibility really poor. After being surprised by unseen debris I was forced to let my right wrist settle.
Several minutes into the race, I began to wonder if there was even any single-track. As far as I could tell, the majority of the course was grass and fast paced trails with no trees in sight. When I finally hit the woods my body was shaking from the choppiness of the trails- clearly indicating I needed to do something with my suspension. After completing a couple of laps my pace increased and I was passing a few riders. Since there was no way of telling which class they were in (not many follow the CMA numbering), I had no clue what position I was in. Throughout the grass sections, it was evident that a few riders were cutting the course, cheating their way to a faster lap time. In the end, I was able to complete five laps in just slightly over two hours, coming in one minute too late from going into my sixth lap. After reviewing the results, I was rewarded my very first trophy for coming in 3rd! Not bad for my first ever Intermediate CMA race.
Here is my helmet cam footage
CMA HS Round 2
June 7th 2009, Barrie Ontario.
Although the weather report called for 15mm of rain and I thought the trails would be like a river, it turned out the weather man was wrong! The little rain that did hit the ground was just enough to get rid of the dust without making the trails a muddy mess. Simply said, the weather couldn’t have been more perfect!
I made my first turn of the race in the midpack of the competitors. This was my worst start ever. I did manage to pass a few riders within the first moments of the race and found myself in fourth place. As I was trying to make my next pass I failed to keep my bike upright and kissed a tree with my number plate. While I was struggling to get up, a convoy of bikes blew by me, throwing me a dozen spots behind the leader.
As the race progressed, I realized that my tires had too much air in them, for every time they hit the mud I would have no control over the direction I was going. This improper set up contributed to a few other incidents where a group of riders would ride by me while I was digging myself out of the bush.
With each lap the course got noticeably choppier and rough. I was playing catch up the whole time and the progress was slow. As I crossed the finish line, I knew I didn't do very well...a series of crashes had a very expensive toll on my positioning. I ended up placing in sixth place, a position that I worked up to from the back of the pack. Although somewhat disappointing the race taught me to check my tire pressure and not rush into passing… since it can cost several positions at once. Live and learn.
Enjoy the footage :)
CMA HS Round 3
June 14th 2009, Burnt River Ontario.
While driving on the long driveway to the parking area I noticed that the terrain consisted of mostly rocks and stones. Arriving a couple of hours before the race allowed me to stretch my legs from the long drive and watch the novice classes battle it out. The morning riders were completely covered with mud which made me remember the last race and what happened due to my tire pressure. I headed to my bike and dropped my tire pressure to 10 psi at both ends; hoping that the rocks would not take a toll on my rims this time.
Time passed pretty quickly and before I realized it, I was already at the start line, pumped and ready to go! When the engines roared all I could think of was not to rush into sketchy passing; something that cost me positions at the last event. The course was quite dusty through the open areas and stones were zipping by my head like bullets. In some areas the surface was as smooth as concrete and any traction was simply a bonus. When I hit the single track I was in third, and was tagging along behind the leaders. Everything seemed to go pretty well as I had no trouble keeping up with them in the tight stuff.
Problems occurred as the race progressed. The arm pump and fatigue I was getting was one of the worst ones yet. I was struggling with the controls and ended up stalling the bike on one of the hill climbs, just a short couple of feet from reaching the top. As I was pushed downhill back by the weight of my bike I tried to restart it. While doing so I was passed by a couple of riders. I finally got the bike all the way up the hill, but was exhausted by this huge feat. As you can imagine, I lost tons of energy in a very short period of time. I was riding in survival mode for the next few moments as my muscles cramped up and I was dog- tired.
As I caught my breath, I was getting my rhythm back. My confidence grew since I knew what kind of course I was dealing with. I even enjoyed the deep water-crossings, although the fear of sucking water into the engine kept me in check. Being careful can only get you so far as I was completely soaked and my gloves were full of mud. As I was riding through the little mx track section I found out that my throttle would stick open for a second and if that wasn't bad enough, my grips were spinning as if they were greased before their install. As a result, I could never reach full throttle. This definitely hurt my confidence as my controls were not working properly. As I passed the barrels for the third time, I saw my friends cheering me on, indicating to me that I was third. Knowing that it was probably my final lap, all I could think of was not to screw up on those hill climbs again. When I cleared the climbs with no problems I focused on gaining ground on the leaders, accelerating even when I probably shouldn’t have. With the finish line within my reach, I noticed clouds of dust at the next turn, a sign that I was catching up to the rider in front of me. With less than a couple of minutes to go, I was gaining ground. All I could think of was the chance that I had of winning a trophy for second place. I stayed close behind my competitor, and attempted to zip pass him a few times but he held his line. Finally, on the last turn I flew by him, crossing the chequered flag seconds later. Unfortunately, I found out soon after that the rider I passed was from the experts’ class and had no effect on my positioning. I ended up taking 3rd place, a position I was quite happy to be in.
Once again here is my helmet cam footage. It is a longer video as I am finding it hard to cut out the fun stuff. Enjoy!!
CMA HS Round 4
July 12th 2009, Moorefield Ontario.
I started in the top 5 and ran close to the leaders for a little while. Through the very first corners of the race it was clear that there would be some fast sections on this course. There were big bushes in the fields that would punish with their sharp needles if you failed to clear them on turns. After blowing a few turns I learned that if there was a fast straight away it would probably end up in a sharp turn. The woods were very tight in some areas and I probably hit a hundred trees by the end of the day with my bars; shorter bars are on my to-do list. Within the first half an hour into the race I missed an arrow and ended up in a field with no idea of where to go. I wondered around looking for an arrow and lost a lot of time that way. A few riders caught up to me and seemed to be lost as well, finally someone lead the way and I ended up stuck behind a few riders; that turn was rearranged and clearly marked on the second lap thanks to the organizers. I had to pass several riders one by one after that incident and that took a long time. I was playing catch up to the leaders all day long. One thing I really liked is that there were signs indicating kilometers throughout the course, something that was very helpful on such a long race (27km long). On my second lap my time improved and after doing some calculations in my head I decided to skip the gas stop, taking a huge bet to save a few seconds. I passed a lot of riders on the third lap, a few of them were picking their bike after a crash others were simply exhausted. Although I was tired my last lap showed to be the fastest out of the three. As I was coming to the finish line and thinking that the race was done I lost my focus and fell over into some water, completely saturating myself and the bike. Knowing that there was probably water in the exhaust pipe and the air box; I did not attempt to start the bike but pushed it to the finish line to claim a 3rd place in the race. After taking my gas tank off to check for water in the engine I realized I had about 200ml of fuel left in it- don’t think I will be pushing my luck like this anymore.
Below is the helmet cam footage of the first lap.
CMA round 5 – Vienna
July 19, 2009, Vienna, Ontario
The Vienna round got moved to a different date because of heavy rains. On the “new” race date the weather didn’t look much better. While driving to the track the rain came down pretty good and made me wonder if the race is even going to happen. When I arrived at the property the clouds seem to disappear and give everyone a break this time. Lining up at the start line I was thinking how short the straight away to the first turn was and that we all start on a slope of a hill which might be a challenge. Those thoughts quickly dissolved when I realized I had the hole shot and was looking at turn number two with no roost coming my way. I gunned it.
The elevation changes were definitely a transformation from the previous race as well as the very short length of the course. I completed a lap in less than 18 minutes and quickly realized that a gas stop is inevitable in my near future. I lead the pack for a little while when coming to the biggest hill climb I got cut off and lost momentum, spinning the tire and fighting every last inch up the hill. As I got to the top I was in second place. A short time later I cached up to the Honda that took the lead, it was lying down on a blind corner of a downhill with its rider underneath it. The only way around it was through a mud hole, which swallowed my front wheel completely and since it was a steep downhill – over the bars I went. While trying to get out of this mess and joking around with the Honda rider about who was first, a Husky (#169) zoomed passed us as if we were still (well, we were … ) After recovering from the fall I was focused on getting my number one position back. Lap after lap I could see the 169 plate heading up the steep hill, with me hitting it a short moment later, I was close but gained ground very slowly. I finally flew by the leader on the 5th lap as he was fuelling up. I was first once again…
Coming into my final lap I knew I had almost no fuel left. I stopped at the pits and my friends attempted to do a quick fuel up. This resulted in fuel all over the bike and my pants with a few ounces in the gas tank. I figured that should be good enough and took off not to jeopardize my lead. The final lap felt the quickest to me, knowing I was first and that it’s the last lap gave me a fresh dose of energy. I never again saw the Husky or any other rider. I was hauling all the way to the finish line to take my very first win.
*unfortunately the camera footage was corrupted during the race- no video this time
CMA round 6 – Ohsweken
August 9, 2009, Ohsweken, Ontario
Hearing nothing but horror stories about Oshweken after a rainfall, I was checking the weather daily. When I realized that we all might have to fight our way through a mud fest I went into the garage and borrowed the wheels of my friend’s bike. It had newer tires on and I was hoping it might help me out on race day. Once at the property the conditions looked perfect and the ground seemed to be great for traction, this one time when I was glad the weather man has no idea what he is talking about. My happy thoughts were quickly cut off by the pitch black darkness that rolled into the area. Thunder, lightning and extremely heavy rain decided to show up for a visit. Over an hour later the storm turned the course into a swamp and left fallen trees on the trails. The SCR volunteers wasted no time in clearing and rerouting the trails after the storm and a decision to run the race was declared.
With the sun out it was hot and humid. Lining up on the start line, my boots were in water that stood still on the clay based ground - I knew it will be slippery. I had a good start and was in second place out of the first corner. In the very first moments of the race I realized how slippery it was going to be. After struggling to simply go in a straight line without the bike sliding everywhere, I was second guessing my tire choice. This was the first time in my life when I found myself going in 5th gear at about five km/h, without stalling the bike. Simply said I had zero traction. Very quickly I stopped having fun and began to feel bad for my bike. With each kilometer my bike was gaining weight from all the clay that was sticking to it. My neck was getting sore from the weight of the mud on my helmet and I was glad to see roots on up hills to get at least some sort of traction.
The whole course was a rut with two marks of sliding feet on each side. I had the impression that if I had a ski on my front wheel I would do better. I no longer was fighting to be in the lead but simply aimed at finishing the race and get some points. On my final lap my bike had enough and puked out some coolant. I was not about to risk blowing it up and the next fifteen minutes were spent picking off mud from the radiators and collecting worms off my bike. I was passed by several unhappy looking riders while I was waiting for my bike to cool off. And there was nothing I could do about it.
I finally made my way through to the checker flag, receiving six points for finishing 5th in this crazy race.
Hello, my name is Dmitry. 
