About the Iron Man
Thanks, I am pretty proud of this achievement but during the season I saw who the real Iron Men Are. Like the guys in their 70's and 80's that are still Racing Or the guy with knees so bad he can't even start his own bike but races anyway Or the guy that takes in a nephew like one of his own and makes sure he is good to go on race day Or the gal that breaks the front ends off her bike, takes a nasty spill, walks away and comes back to race again, Or the college kid that while taking a full load of classes rides every race on the national schedule and every regional he can get to and pulls straight A's Or the guy that only has enough extra cash for one entry so he let's his son race instead of himself Or the guys that wake up every day and choose to stay clean and sober. Or the race promoter that year in year out race after race makes sure all we have to do is show up pay our entry and race Or the guy flat on his back with Paramedics looking up and asking me aren't you in this moto? You better get going.
These are the real Iron Men and Women, These are people I count among my friends and I am proud of it. Ed Kavanagh 2 time Iron Man About AVDRA We have all heard the clich's such as you never miss the water until the well runs dry or the grass is greener on the other side. Well I was one of those guys when I first started racing with the AVDRA. I had all the normal "Observations" such as. They need to do more to increase membership We should race at other tracks The motos are too short There should be more classes The trophies should be better The track is too technical In the past 2 years I have had the pleasure to race 12 national races in AZ, CO, CA, OH, and TX. And from my perspective we have, beyond a reasonable doubt, the best club in the nation.
Many other clubs would love to have what we have. To put this to point let's go through my list of "Observations" again We have the largest active membership in the nation bar none. Our average entries at any given race rival most of the national entries. Other clubs would love to have a home track; with a few exceptions, the national tracks are no better than ours. And other regions have to fight for track time, schedule, reschedule, cancellations etc. It is a real testimony when we have racers from CA drive past Competitive Edge, Glen Helen, Perris etc. to come and race with us. The moto format exists for a reason. At many of the nationals we raced a 5 lap first moto, and to make up time we race a 3 lap second moto, and still don't finish until 4:00 on Sunday. Our races run on time efficiently and most importantly safely. I was surprised at my first National that the trophies look a lot like ours. Besides if the trophies were any larger, the way Dave hands them out I could re-roof 2 houses. There is no such thing as a trophy presentation at many races. The way we recognize and honor competitors after a race day, I feel is what turns our club into a family. Of all the tracks I have ridden there have been a few epic tracks but at the end of the race what I remember is the gathering and not the track. Everyone rides the same track, some days are better than others but at least when we show up we know we will have a track and a crew working on it. Having said this I have a new observation. We have something pretty cool here, We have a track owner and a race promoter that really understand what we need, will listen to suggestions and most of all make sure that all I ever need to do is show up, pay my entry and go racing.
See ya at the start gate Ed Kavanagh National Points Chaser 79 Maico 98G