March 5 - McLane Pacific Foothills Road Race, Merced
Race website and Results

Moto report by Shawn Mehaffey

Race photos: RonaldMariano.com

Moto report by Shawn Mehaffey, Valley Spokesmen Racing Team

Shawn Mehaffey with John Bolton scoring on the back at the 2005 Nevada City Classic Photo by Glenn James

It's the best of jobs, it's the worst of jobs

THE WORST: It's cold, windy and raining the day of the race. Unlike racers, even preregistered ones, a motor official doesn't have the option to bag the race and go home. If he or she doesn't do their job most likely that official will never be offered an assignment again.

It's not just the aspect of being cold and wet that's not appealing, it's the cleanup of one's machine. Riding in a rain storm and through muddy puddles coats every inch of the bike with grit and grime. Plus every rider winces at the thought of his gauges and controls being soaked with rain; would you want to take a garden hose to your car's dash board? Welcome to the occasional grim reality of motor officiating.

THE BEST: A challenging, technical course that features the best seat in the house. The chance to ride one's motorcycle while enjoying the action is an absolute blast. Throw in an exciting race with breakaways, chase groups, and attacks and it's an E-ticket ride that brings back memories of my racing days. They pay me to do this?

Which brings me to the McLane Pacific RR. I was the motor official for the Men's Elite 3 race and had a great time. The race featured a breakaway starting on the first lap, a ten-man chase group that eventually caught them, guys blowing up and being spit out of said break, solo attacks on the last lap and a gap of two minutes that eventually came down to 30 seconds.

To all the racers in that field: thanks guys, I enjoyed working for you. The bonus? It didn't rain on me the entire day until I was two miles from my house.

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