motorcyclelog2002

BEGIN the 2002 LOG!   This is in chronological order. The latest entry is at the bottom.

03.10 Sunday March 10, 2002
The first racing day of the season. There were many, many large Motor Homes there. Some very expensive ones. Not many common-folk pick-up trucks were there. Big Money!   There were approximately 80 Motor Homes, and about 35 of them came in Saturday evening and camped overnight. The weather was not very friendly for camping. Winds were 35 to 45, gusts to 50 and 60. Rain was very heavy, but it only lasted for a few minutes at a time. Lightening flashes from all directions for approximately two hours. The winds during the races were strong; I don't know how the racers did it. They tested their loudspeakers on Saturday before very many motor homes arrived. Electrical Power (GPU) was out from a 10:40 Saturday evening to 03:25 Sunday morning.    Flood lights were on over there most of the night.
03.23   Saturday March 23, 2002
Although there were two separate racing sessions Saturday and Sunday, this was the start of one of the biggest meets yet at this motorcycle race track. Overnight campers began arriving Friday afternoon, but a few arrived Thursday afternoon. Some came after the races were ended on Saturday, and stayed over for the races on Sunday. I thought the weather was marginal for racing. The wind was exceptionally gusty although the sun was out most of the day. The loudspeaker noise and motorcycle noise was less today because of the high winds. The campers kept their lights on until late, and I haven't the slightest idea why.
03.24   Sunday March 24, 2002
The loudspeaker was going continuously (Testing, Testing, and other sounds) from 11:00 to 11:30 this morning. Racing started at 11:40. The weather was clear in the morning, overcast in the afternoon. The motorcycle noise and loudspeaker noise was very loud. The motorcycle noise level varies from race to race depending on what size bikes are running, and how many bikes are in the race. This was a special day because I've never seen so many bikes and riders in each race. After the racers got spread out a little it looked like the whole course was occupied. Many pick up trucks arrived in the morning, most of the motor homes were there from the night before. Racing ended at 5:50, the last vehicle was out by 7:30. Due to a multiple vehicle accident (with injuries) where the access lane reaches Route 696, the departing vehicles which were going down the lane to Route 696 were backing up and blocking everything. Management was stopping vehicles coming down the hill into the lane in order for two Emergency Vehicles; (a First Aid truck and an EMS vehicle), to come up the lane to the race track area. (I understand that these two vehicles had made a few runs earlier in the afternoon.) These two EMS vehicles were there a long time before they left with their lights flashing. Although many vehicles had already departed, the Vehicle Count below began at 3:45. The vehicles were counted as they came down the hill and went down the lane toward Route 696. There may have a few vehicles I didn't count because I went into my house for a minute a couple of times, but that was before the races ended. Most of the vehicles were out of there by 7:00, but a few large motor homes stayed until later and left as a group.   I noticed that after all the vehicles had departed, an employee and his little four wheeler was going around in the dark gathering up trash cans.
                Pick Up Trucks          135
              P/U with Trailers        95
              P/U with Motor Homes     15
              SUV                      55
              SUV with Trailers        50
              SUV with Motor Homes      5
              Vans                     18
              Vans with Trailers       12
              Cars                     63
              Cars with Trailers        4
              Motor Homes              19
              M/H with Trailers        61
              Trucks (Box)             19
              Trucks (18 Wheel)         1
              Trucks (Wrecker)          1
              Emergency Vehicles        2
              Motorcycles               1
          TOTAL (All Kinds)       556

04.04 Thursday April 4, 2002
Two motorcycles running around the track from about 2:00 pm until dark. Good riders, taking a lot of fast jumps. No vehicles in sight.
04.05 Friday April 5, 2002
Some idiot is running a 4-wheeler along the fence behind my back property line. My wife saw him sitting back there looking at my house and back yard. He kept his visor down. Black helmet and jacket. When my wife looked out our kitchen window the rider made a quick get-away.    They're adding some additional motorcycle race track today down near where the entrance gate is located.   That part was excluded year before last when they put up the chain link fence to keep the spectators at bay, but now they moved the fence back to the edge of road and converted the space back to being track.   I get a good view of the jumps in that new section, although they way the track is laid out there the riders can't get up any speed.   About 4:00 pm lots of vehicles began to arrive and set up for camping. Strange, but most of the big ones arrived after 10:30 pm. Many of the late arrivals didn't get in place until mid-night.
04.06 Saturday April 6, 2002
They were observed pumping water out of Newburg Run about 10:45 Friday evening, and now they're pumping water out of Newburg Run again today.   Newburg Run must be the "pond" they were talking about when they met with the Hopewell Township Supervisors a week or so ago.    They were working on the track right up until race time.   Racing started at 11:30 today. The first race is a mixed bag of small and large bikes. The noise is loud. Races ended at 5:30, nothing spectacular.
04.06 Sunday April 7, 2002
They're pumping water out of Newburg Run again today.    Racing started at 11:30 today, but the loudspeaker started at 11:00.   They ran late, didn't end racing until well after 7:00 pm. A lot of the vehicles, including very large ones, began to leave by 3:00. Weather was good. They had two pre-positioned EMS crews. One crew in a small EMS vehicle was down by the Route 696 end of the lane, it looked like they were trying to hide, the other was up at the race track where they park the campers behind a row of trees. The one on the hill waited until most of the vehicles had departed, then it left without flashing its lights.
04.20 Saturday April 20, 2002
Approximately 17 pick ups and 4 campers arrived by 9:30am when the activities began. It looked like a training day, or demonstrations for potential motorcycle customers. All sizes of bikes. When the races(?) started most of the watchers gathered down by the jumps near the entrance gate. They appeared to be more concerned with the rider's performance on the jump than they were on the rider's overall time around the course. They were using only a small part of the race track. Everyone was out of there by 4:00pm.   There was a mix of sun and a light rain here today.
04.27 Saturday April 27, 2002
Their schedule must have been changed. There was no racing today. A large track-laying earth moving machine was at work on the track most of the day and evening.   The trees have begun to grow their leaves, so the view of part of the track has been reduced accordingly.   Some very large motor homes arrived during the late afternoon and evening. They're parking far back on the top of the ridge. They are clearly visible from Route 696. It's raining a light drizzle from time to time.
04.28 Sunday April 28, 2002
It rained all night. A good steady rain, something bigger than a drizzle. All the local brooks and creeks are full and muddy. It didn't look much like a racing day here, so many of the motor homes who had camped over night came down off the ridge at day break and departed.   A few motor homes and a number of other vehicles arrived later in the morning. There's not a very large crowd today. It was a rainy, foggy day when racing started at 11:30 am.    From my experience at Cairo and Ellenville (New York State) mud makes for a better spectator sport.   The weather was much improved by 2:00 pm when the sun came out from time to time. Forecast is for thunderstorms but I haven't seen or heard any.   At about 2:30 pm the races moved from the main race track that they have always used over to a newly constructed track up on top of the ridge where mobile homes used to stay overnight. So that was what they were working on with that Bulldozer yesterday.   They were running medium to small bikes on the new track. The spectators were cheering them on. Everyone departed the area by 5:00 pm. No vehicle count today.
05.12 Sunday May 12, 2002
Today is Mother's Day. Racing was very subdued today. A few motor homes arrived Saturday evening, but approximately 25 were on the hill by race time. Most of the vehicles were SUV's or vans towing box trailers.   Very few pickups with or without trailers. There were not many arrivals until about 10:00 am.   There were not many racers in each race, and the races ended by 3:30 pm. The weather was sun and thunder storms all at the same time. This was a low-key day for racing.
06.28 Friday June 28, 2002
Vehicles began arriving before noon. A three-day event was advertised, but there were only a
few practice races this afternoon.
06.29 Saturday June 29, 2002
This was a good day for racing, there was a big crowd, but the races were few and far between. Long periods of silence between races.   It didn't appear to be a training session. What few races that were run were hot and noisy.   Most of the big rigs stayed over.   Nothing unusual except the crowd was much larger.
06.30 Sunday June 30, 2002
The races today were back-to-back as if they were trying to make up for the races they didn't run yesterday. Very large crowd, and many more races than usual.   Motorcycle noise was at its usual level, and the loudspeaker was turned way up.
07.14 Sunday July 14, 2002
Racing only one day this weekend, but they really ran a lot of them. A very large crowd. Many motor homes arrived yesterday afternoon and evening.
08.04 Sunday August 4, 2002
Racing today! There were very few people in attendance today, but what did come were in some of the largest and finest motor homes we've seen on that hill. The races ended at 4 PM. Some of the largest and loudest bikes ran all afternoon. It must have been some kind of a special event. I don't remember seeing all this on their web page schedule.
08.18 Sunday August 18, 2002
Big Money racing today. Mostly large expensive mobile homes and other trailers. Very few if any pick-up trucks and small vans.   Racing began at 11:40 am, and ended at 7:45 pm. Many races were run; not much time between races. There were one or two "kiddie bike" races at the end. Some vehicles began leaving at 3:00 pm. There were a lot of "vendors" working out of tents and trucks, and I overheard a seller in a local resturant saying he had approximately 60 bikes for sale. He indicated that he sold mainly to re-sellers and wholesalers, and he would provide prospective buyers with transportation to his showroom, where ever that was... The person this seller was talking to was interested in getting a truck load ready to take to some place in Arizona. I don't usually encounter bikers in my favorite dining facility, but the bridge between the track and Shippensburg was closed for a week, so that may explain what they're doing up this way.
08.25 Sunday August 25, 2002
There's some kind of a meeting or a picnic on the top of the hill. There are a couple of tents
and quite a few cars and a few pick-up's parked on the southeast side. Only a couple of cars
parked down by the entrance. There have been a few bikes on the track on and off, but it must be something for the picnic people to do.
09.01 Sunday September 1, 2002
It's been a dismal wet day with a steady light drizzle. Not much wind. Racing started at the usual time today, and ended about 6:00 pm.   Although the attendance was of medium size, and many motor homes up on the hill behind the trees, there were very few large bikes in the races. There were a lot of races, but not many bikes in each race.   The light rain kept people inside, so there wasn't a lot of walking around, visiting, or whatever.    I saw the EMS vehicle once, but I have no idea what that was all about.
10.20 Sunday October 20, 2002
About six very large bikes running around part of the track from 11:30 to 3:00 pm. Very noisy because they may have been running without mufflers. Long waits between sessions. Could have been just for fun, or one-on-one stakes.
10.27 Sunday October 27, 2002
Racing today! Whereas it's been rain and drizzle for the past week, and is forecast to continue through next week, today was cloudy but nice. That's why your writer went up to Wilkes-Barre to look at the leaves. Some vehicles came in Saturday and stayed over, and a few came in before 8:00 am. There were a few leaving after 5:00 pm. Your writer missed the best part, if there was any.
11.10 Sunday November 11, 2002
The population at the MotoCross Race Track was mostly the big spenders. There were a few pickup trucks and vans, but the number and size of the motor homes was very noticeable. Many arrived Saturday evening, but the bulk of them came on Sunday morning. Racing began at 11:45 am with the big bikes. There were not very many of them. After that the medium bikes ran the rest of the schedule, and the noise was at one of the highest levels. First, there were a great many bikes in each race, and it sounded like they were running without mufflers. There were a few minutes delay between races. That is, they didn't run them back-to-back as they usually do. The weather was damp and there was a very slight drizzle, but the sun snuck through the clouds a few times. No vehicle count today because your observer couldn't stay until they all departed, but many of the real big motor homes were leaving by 4:00 pm before the races ended.