Well a Happy, Healthy, and Successful New Year to everyone on here! It's nice to see some activity on the old Email list!
I'm still here, still racing. I started up messing with dirt bike again in 2017, after a 36 year lay off from throwing myself into the
ground, or trees, off of a motorcycle. The classics are all down until I can raise funds (and the economic confidence to spend
on the cars instead of living expenses, I figure about another 2 years. if the economy holds together). I may start poking at
the '66 Dart 270 Vintage A/Sedan when it warms up later this year.
Meanwhile I've kept my hand in, and my SCCA License active, flogging a rented GT/Pinto at Summit Point once or twice
a year. Video from my most recent trip to Summit Point in October, Sunday's Group 1, Small Bore, Feature Race at the October
2025 Washington DC Region SCCA Road Racing MARRS on the Summit Point main circuit.
Driving a GT-Pinto is always "engaging", but it's doubly so on a cool rainy Sunday morning on elderly rain tires when it's been
11 months since your last race. For some reason the camera decided to split the video right as I'm waved past the pace car
during a full course yellow for a clean-up at the bottom of the Chute (turn 4 exit/turn 5 entry). While I seem slow, that's a function
of the tires, conditions, and my main goal of JUST FINISHING to get my laps in for my license, I Did set fast lap for the session in
GT-Pinto, but that wasn't enough to overtake the guy I was renting from, Bruce Shelton, as he'd qualified way ahead of me in the
dry on Saturday.
On
July 3rd of 2017 I got out for my first dirt ride in 36 years, two pieces of video, Same Bike, Same Rider, 40 years apart:
Converted Super 8mm from 1977 May/June of RM125B, the McLean VA "Pits":
https://youtu.be/0VwljgGc2_8?t=08The guy with the beard is my buddy Dave Rebhein (who's paper route I took over to finance the RM and all '77-'79 racing).
The Oriental lady is Min Nok , who was my Dad's interpreter when he was working in SE Asia in '70 & '71 with USAID, She
spoke English, French, Vietnamese, Thai, and some Khmer. In late '74 she came and stayed with us for a year while she
got processed and found a job (great cook!). She was providing support as Dad did outreach for the creation of the USIP;
for which he was the Director of the grassroots campaign. He was coming from a speaking engagement and had his camera
with him.
170 was Mike Sullivan's MAMA 100cc/125cc Expert number, I loaned the bike to him for testing in May of '77; got some great
feed-back on set-up and tuning.
Justin Huffman's Chase Video from my first dirt ride in 36 years
July 3rd 2017 (brutally hot that day), RM125B at Whittens MX:
https://youtu.be/V5Q1MmL22Rk I'm SO lucky to have these!
I took my first MX gate drop in 39 years in August of '18, did another in 19, and ran the first 10 mile loop of the 1.5 hour SXCS
Hangover Hare Scrambles Jan 5th of '20; I'd had what was probably Covid-19 from Oct 28th to Dec 6th of '19, so I was a little
out of shape for the 1.5 hour cross country race - especially as it had rained 2" on Thursday and Friday nights then the temp
dropped to 18F before the 11:00 Am Saturday start time, nether my almost 60 year old carcass nor my 43 year old bike was
really prepared for that. I had a good start, but fell off about 25 times in that first 10 mile lap and was just DONE after riding
thought the timing sensor on the MX track at Wicomico MD and back around to where the course dropped back into the woods.
I looked into that slightly shaded entry back into that brown hell, and decided discretion was the better part of living another
day. =8^D It surprised the F-Heck out of me when I looked up the results and found out I was leading the vintage class by over
30 seconds when I went through the timing sensor, I ended up being scored 8th! There was some attrition on that first lap...
Only a few practice rides since then as coverage for my disabled daughter, Marianne, has been spotty, and it's a 1.5 to 2.5
hour drive to places to ride.
All the Best! Dave