Open Letter to 2016 King of The Motos Participants

Racers,

First let me thank you for taking the first step in signing up for the 2016 King Of The Motos race. That will be the easiest thing you will have to do. We have 78 racers already signed up (that is way more than in the past at this time) and I’m proud to deliver you the toughest course we’ve seen yet. It will be an accomplishment to finish and an honor to compete in the toughest extreme course and the best riders in the US. Don’t blame me, blame the top racers who continually elevate the game and we hear are coming this year. You get to ride on the same course (for the most part) no matter your ability and see how good of a rider you really are. No excuses.

Our format this year will be very similar to last year with a few little changes.We will have a long morning loop  that you will do once and an afternoon loop you will keep looping for at least three hours or until you are lapped then you will be pulled at the finish line. You have to cross the finish line of the afternoon race to be considered a finisher. You will only be given the course track logs at the mandatory rider’s meeting on Saturday evening.

The morning race will not be timed but scored to determine your starting spot for the afternoon race which will be more important this year. Your sign up order, like last year, will determine your start pick for the morning race and at least for Pros it could be pretty important. Both starts are brand new and spectacular (so you can quit practicing your favorite line at Chocolate Thunder, we’re not even going there!) with the pros going a slightly different route with an additional three miles of course.

We will have the Sportsman/Amateur riders start first followed shortly by the Pros. As like last year if the first Sportsman/Amateur rider can make it to the first loop finish ahead of the first Pro I will give you a free Pro entry for 2017. There will be a remote pit available to send a pit crew to if you wish. It will be about 12 course miles out. Like always they can have stuff for the rider but only the rider can work on, gas or otherwise touch the bike. The total mileage for the morning loop is close at 28 miles for Pros and 26 for Sportsman (if you make all the hills on the first try.)

We will have a common hot pit area that will be used at the end of the morning loop and again for the hot pit at the end of each loop in the afternoon race. The afternoon race loop will be less than 25 miles around and will start at 1 PM. This should give plenty of time for everyone to finish the morning course and maybe too much time for the pros to rest? But they will need it. We will have the checkered flag ready to be pulled for the first pro across the line after three hours, just like last year. If you are lapped during the afternoon race you will be pulled off the course and considered a finisher.

I am stressing that the GPS will be more important than ever this year. Past participants have seen how it works and like every year we leave more and more up to navigation. I suggest practicing with it. We will set up a practice track log for racers that we will give to you on Saturday at Tech Inspection if you’d like. Trail Tech is again supporting the race and you racers by having a special discount on Voyager GPS units, Voyager Protectors and Radiator Fans. If you would like the codes and information, contact me at jimmy@jimmylewisoffroad.com. They will also be on site at the event to help with technical questions. We will be giving the track logs in .GPX and .GBD formats as well as on a printed map for riders scared of computers and living in the 80’s.

As far as regulations for the bikes go, it is pretty simple. Run what ya brung. You’ll need a safe motorcycle that has a spark arrestor and meets the 96 dB requirement to be ridden off-road. Proper OHV sticker (CA or other state OK). We will provide the front numberplate sticker as it will serve as your score card as well. There is no outside assistance from anyone other than other racers still in the race for the entirety of the race and no spare parts can be delivered other than the two pit locations.

The course is set up so that one man (or lady) on one bike can make it around by himself (herself). I know I did it on a 2006 KTM 200XC with a stock gas tank. At least before all you wheel-spinning roosters got there. There are places where there is only one tire track out there and there will be only one track until race day. We will have well placed checkpoints to eliminate any course cutting and will have a rule that if 75% of the riders hit a CP, it is valid. The CPs will be well marked and we will be checking track logs of the top riders at the finish. Johnston Valley OHV area is open to legal riding at any time and there is no restriction on where you can go within the legal riding area right up until the race.

In Hammertown we will have our usual limited area available on a first come basis but you will be packed in tight with little room st spread out. Everyone will be required to purchase a pass to get into Hammertown but since there is no actual pit crew in the pit areas (rider only), you will not need any special passes. If you have some sort of special need (and I mean special as you should have already made arrangements with Ultra 4) contact me and I will see if there is anything we can do within our limited area. It is mostly spoken for by all the volunteers who make this even possible. And speaking of that we can use motorcycle volunteers to help with crowd control during the rest of the week. Contact volunteers@ultra4racing.com and Jess will be glad to put you to work.

Here is a tentative schedule for the weekend. I will send out a newsletter the week leading up to the event with updated information and if there are any changes you need to know about I will send out that information to all who are signed up immediately if it is important.

Friday 1/29 –  Hammertown Opens
All day- Rider Video Interviews for the live broadcast.
Saturday 1/30
*TBD Rider registration
12:00 to 5:00 Motos Tech Inspection
6:00 PM Riders Meeting

Sunday – 1/31-  King of The Motos
Late Tech 6:00-7:00
Morning Start 8:00 Sportsman 8:15 Pros
Estimated First rider complete Morning Loop 9:30
Start Afternoon Loop 1:00 PM
Checkered flag 4:00-4:30 PM
Awards 5:00 PM

If you are as crazy as Wally Palmer and want to strut your skills at rock wall climbing and would like a shot at Backdoor in front of hundreds of thousands of online viewers and about 10,000 there screaming in the canyon. Contact Jimmy about this:
Monday 2/1 – Vision X ULTRA4 vs SRRS East/West Shootout Presented by King Shocks