For reasons I can't remember now (probably because the track sucks, I didn't want to finish top 5 for the season - they make you go expert - borrowed motor, etc.) I skipped practice and racing at Nelson Ledges on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. I got there late Saturday evening and setup camp. I remember it was really hot and lots of bugs were about. Didnt' sleep to well that night. There was also a great darkness about the track that weekend. On Saturday during one of the vintage races, a racer had died in turn four. Nelson Ledges is depressing to begin with, but now it was really bad.

It was a slow morning on Sunday. Since I didn't sleep well, I wasn't quite awake. I went out for the first practice session, got two or three laps in and my chain went on the back straight. Breaking a chain on a motorcycle can be a scary thing. It can rip right through you before you ever really know what happened. Luckily for me it ripped through the engine casing and deflected off my suspension resevoir. The bellypan was full of oil and the chain was no where to be found. Back at the pits some friends tried to convince me we could fix it and I could race that afternoon. I was third in points for D Superbike. Finishing the race this afternoon would insure I finished the season that way. But I was tired and really didn't want to finish the season that high up in the rankings. If I did, I'd have to go expert the following year and I wasn't ready for that. So I packed up my stuff and headed to the Straw's cabin in Pine Creek, Pa. It was about a 4 hour drive and would be nice to finish out my Labor Day weekend with the Straw's.

And it was nice. Bill, Cherl and I went to dinner at a local resturaunt for their famous Mt. Burgers. At the resturaunt Bill and I had some beers and Cheryl had a few ciders. The dinner bill took all our spare cash. To keep Cheryl's buzz going, we had to scrounge a handfull of change from the car to buy her more cider - there's always more beer at the cabin, but no cider. Back at the cabin we sat on the deck overlooking the creek and enjoyed our beverages into the night.

And that was the end of the regular 2000 race season.