has anyone here ever raced the blackwater?

[jensenracing77]

i would like to hear stories about it. i sure wish i could have raced it one time. what is the story for it not going anymore? i hope it is not because of some idiot environmentalist.

[Twilight]

Guyt on Thumper Talk posted this;

"I raced the Blackwater for the first time in '91. I came all the way down from Vermont, and this would be my very first Cross Country event! I didn't know what to expect, except what I read in those magazines. It hadn't rained in about 6 months, so hot and dusty was the name of the game. The "Highway 93" river crossing wasn't even very difficult(on the first lap!), except for the crowd! Just like you said, they were all drinking and splashing what little water they could find on the embankment trying to make it more slippery. If you didn't make it up, they would do everything possible to help you. If you did make it up, look out! As you were going to get "pelted" with Beer cans!!! The course was almost 25 miles in length, and the beauty is almost to hard to describe! And I'm down from Vermont, which is unbelievable too!!! Anyhow, one of the greatest memories from that year was the fact that my machine was overheating from my flat tires, and I had just climbed up to the "Moon Rocks", were there is no water. I had to do something, looked around, no one sees me, and down go the pants! Nearly filled the radiator too! Of course just then, "Hey! What are you doin'?!"."Ummmm..., just filling my radiator. It's not full yet. Can you guys help me?". "Sure thing!". So here were three grown men that had just filled my radiator so I could continue, and the one guy says the most true words ever spoken. "Man, I wouldn't want to overheat that thing now!!!". And overheat,it did! Word to the wise, that stuff stinks! But I completed the race, something all of the locals said no newbie ever does. It took me seven hours, but I made it!!! Oh yeah, SEVEN HOURS! But this was due to my massive amount of flat tires, seven to be exact! And yes, I was on a quad. I couldn't even imagine trying that course on a bike! Nowadays, I'm wiser, and my quad faze is long gone, and I would love to have done the Blackwater on my 250F, but sadly, the enviromentalist's shut it down after '93. I talked to a gentlemen on ThumperTalk that knows a little about what happened. Originally, a timber company had bought a HUGE tract of land, and had wanted to dam up a river flooding this area for power generation and such. The Eco-freaks fought them tooth and nail, so they held a meeting and asked who was the natural enemy of the Eco-freaks. They said, "Lets let Bikers and Quads do whatever they want during this 20 year moratorium, then we'll see how they like that!" So for 20 years, we had free rein, until the moratorium ran out. Now it's gone forever. I've got wwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more memories from this, and '92, and the last one in '93, but I'm sure you don't want to hear about any quadtards!!!
Mitchell (Please don't hold it against me!) Marks
Maniac :usa:"

I heard it was cause of the environmentalists as well.

[Vealmonkey]

Blue27 on here has competed in the Blackwater. Man, does he have some funny stories to tell. You also see him in one of the Blackwater videos, but I can't remember which one. Crazy stuff.

[blue27]

yeah I ran that race 5 times on a TRX250X, highest I place was 3rd in 4 stroke B class and had 2 DNF's (clutch , and a coil). There are a lot of stories, Bandito 90 ran it once also on a Blaster.It was a tough event, no doubt. When I have time I will try and type some stories up for you.

[seadoo650]

I know Tim Sr. has ran it a few times. I've heard some stories and seen some video.

[walleyedude]

Man, when I was a kid reading in my magazines about this race I would have loved to see it. I still can't find too many videos online of blackwater.

[jensenracing77]

i just got this video today. i will watch it and if someone wants it i will pass it along to the next person for $15 shipped to your door.

i will hit Tim Sr up for some stories at the next race.

[jensenracing77]

thanks Twilight, i like the stories even on 4 wheelers. i watched some of the above video and had to laugh at the tire technology of the day. some of them had the hard as a rock strikers and other like tires. i think those pop of the rim easier than the soft ones but the soft ones get flats easier. then the hard ones are slick as glass on wet dirt. i love it.

[audioworks04]

These were my favorite movies when I was little my dad had them on vhs. I use to watch them weekly just to try and see how the riders made it up some of the stuff they did. This post has started me on a new mission to find these on dvd.

[jensenracing77]

These were my favorite movies when I was little my dad had them on vhs. I use to watch them weekly just to try and see how the riders made it up some of the stuff they did. This post has started me on a new mission to find these on dvd.

this one has all the VHS on a 2 DVD set. i will be done with it soon. let me know if you want this one.

[posty2100]

blackwater is nuts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gOZqj5ycXo&feature=related