Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/935202
Sharing the line with my buddies in 2017! Amanda Knapp, Heidi Hawkins & Samantha Kilgore…good times! In searching, I found the race had been held by multiple clubs in the past. No one club would sponsor it every year and apparently none had plans to hold in 2016. I was so bummed. This is that one special event I really looked forward to and from what I heard; it had been running for many years. It was iconic. How could no club sponsor it! For some it would be their first race. For others, they would only race this one race. There'd actually be people who'd ride dual sports from the city of D.C., then enter and race, then ride those same bikes home. There were amazingly fast pros and seasoned amateurs who would make this their first race of the New Year, gearing up for their race season. The mix and energy was electric. No matter what the temps were, riders were eager to line up and run the Hangover Hare Scramble. I mentioned to Billy that there would be no Hangover Hare Scramble and without hesitation he said, "We'll put it on!" I was floored. "What do you mean? We aren't a club or promoters." I knew he was capable of building the course because that is what he does for his business Trail Pros, but we've never put on a race…yet. He didn't waiver; he set the wheels in motion and within five weeks we planned and executed our first Hangover Hare Scramble! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful weekend. The temps were nearing 50. Also, the usual HHS course was about five miles, but Billy managed a fun 10-mile loop. With the help of our friends and enthusiasts who wanted to see the race continue, it was an absolute epic success. 2016 would be the year I was on a real racing machine. I stepped up to a KTM 200 XCW. I was excited to be on a bike with real brakes and suspension and with the two-inch lowering kit that Ride On Moto installed for me, I felt super comfortable. The racing aspect of it for me was a bit nutty Since I was involved in some of the planning; my head was in a million places. By the time I got on the course I was exhausted and a bit preoccupied. I remember that I hadn't ridden in two weeks and had only a couple of hours of sleep. I ended up stopping to assist people who needed a hand even though we had sweep riders on the course. I was going through the motions but my mind struggled to focus on the fun of it, instead thinking of all the details of the event. I was pretty pumped to still earn a first place in the women's amateur class. After all the struggles, in the end I was pretty proud that we pulled it off. The 2016 HHS was such a killer experience and now I just wanted to build it and keep it going. Then came 2017. With the previous year's race under our belt, we had a bit more organization and a good hold on what we needed. We also made some fun new classes, like one requested by a racer for those over 30 and more than 230 pounds. We called it the Clydesdale Class. Race wise, I was super pumped to have a few of my closest dirt bike