Hey guys,
I had a rad opportunity last weekend to
ride a Montesa 250 in the vintage class at the first annual Pete
Giammalvo Memorial Race in Massachusetts. Pete was a racer in the 70s
until an accident put him in a wheelchair, which didn't keep him out of
flattrack, he just started promoting the racing in New England. I
started racing in '98 in his series, so he was always a big part of the
experience for me and for a lot of other people. He passed away in 2011,
so a couple guys have revived the hometown track and hopefully we'll
have a full season there next summer.
Anyway, my friend Tony ended up with Pete's old
Montesa, and he went through it and got it running, and asked me if I'd
ride it. Hell yes was my answer, if I remember correctly. So I got to
get about 6 practice laps in on my first time on the bike. Mind you,
this thing has 30 year old tires on it, I haven't raced on a two-stroke
in about 8 years, and the brake is on the left. I can deal with the
shifter on the right, but once my foot was down all I had for brakes was
the compression release. It was fuckin' AWESOME.
The races went well, I was plagued with lousy starts
since I didn't have much seat time on the bike. After a bad start in
the heat, I got up to third place. Then after a bad start in the
feature, I was able to fight my way up to second. Had a great time. Also
borrowed one of Tony's XR100s and raced in the mini TT. I wasn't nearly
as enthusiastic as some of the guys out there, so I hung back and rode
the cushion, wound up somewhere mid-pack.
As for the rest of the season, I'm sorry I haven't
been keeping you up to date. I've been waiting to get photos that never
ended up coming to me, so I don't have much to show. I had one feature
win, which I believe coincided with our Wonderboy Nick Weimer's bike
breaking down. While you guys were drinking beers and staring at
choppers in Brooklyn (wish I coulda been there), we had an AMA Vintage
Nationals doubleheader race at our local track. I got a 3rd and 4th on
Saturday and a 3rd and 2nd on Sunday. Actually, it turns out that one of
those thirds is actually a second, because Nick got disqualified for
some reason.
And that's about it. I crashed at some point in one
of the last races, not bad, but my bike is gonna need some love this
winter. I'll be skipping the last event of the year. I rode out to the
MotoGP in Indy back in August, so there are some FTW stickers on some
stuff in Indianapolis now.
Hope you & your loved ones are well. Take it
easy and keep up the good work, I'll send some more photos from the
season your way if I get em.