Supercross and Motocross streams can be found here.
OOC: TL;DR available in the OOC at the end, please make sure to read the first IC paragraph though!
IC:
Gage had an crazy week, he had a date on Tuesday, his race today Thursday, and the elections this weekend. He had left posters throughout camp about the [Activity] for today. He had convinced a few people so he could pull off getting tickets for all campers. The main race would be at ~6pm. He'd arranged everything with the Event planer, and Rec director (as well as mods, thank you to all of you!) to make sure it would all work. Campers would leave around 3:30pm to be make sure they made it for the entire event which starts at about 5pm. The Supercross race would be in the Met Life Stadium in Rutherford, NJ, slightly west and north of New York. There was only one requirement for campers to get in, they had to wear their orange Camp Halfblood t-shirts, in part Gage had made the deal in case something happened, campers would know who was a demigod and who wasn't, but he hoped there would be no problems today. 10am Gage had left everything ready, and left camp early for a few reasons. One of the main ones was that you break down your motorcycle the day prior to the event to make sure it was safe and ready. His motorcycle is a 450cc four stroke, mainly black with green,
like this but green instead of yellow. As with everyone elses, his was covered in stickers throughout, the monster energy drink logo right above the number in the front, and the most visible ones were Fox and Rockstar, his main sponsors. For those curious, his bike is a Yamaha, but a price can't really be given to Supercross bikes since there's so many custom made parts throughout. Gage's number is visible on the plates, #22. His lucky number, 2, so why not twice?
2pm Gage and his uncle, Simon, had done a last precheck of everything. He had his hear, helmet, goggles, gloves, and the protective items as well. Before he'd left camp, he cleaned his boots. One of his many nervous habits, though most would occur during the grueling moments before the starting gate drops. All racers were there, and just from a look around, he knew his main competition tonight would be #15, his own friend Lothair Felton (aka Felix), and #7 James Stewart. James' number was a black #1 in a red background though, racers could use their permanent numbers, or if you had won the last race, you were allowed to use the red background #1 to show it.
4pm He hated the time prior to a race. He knew himself, his bike, and he'd studied the
track inside out. He knew that it would be dangerous at the very start, it was a short start before the first rhythm jumps. His main worry though would be the second turn. That's what would determine the leaders early on. He was a balanced rider, so unlike most the sand would not affect him much, but it also means he doesn't have a specialty unlike some who focus on a single thing. He knew he could pull it off, he just had to stay concentrated
5:30pm Riders had started to arrive at the line up. 19 racers plus himself, this was going to be hectic and they all knew it. He hated the moment before the gate drop, all racers did. They do anything to keep them busy. Make sure the fuel switch is on, shaking out their hands, tugging on the helmet straps, and adjusting their goggles. It's little things, just nervous habits, but once the gate drop they all know that they can only focus on the race.
link if you'd like to see racers at the starting line, its just anything to keep their minds focused.
5:59pm Juliana Daniel, aka
Miss Supercross, was holding up the timer. 30 seconds. plus anywhere between 5-10 for gate drop. To make it fair for all racers, the gate drop isn't exactly at 0 on the timer. For a few reasons it happens anywhere between 5 seconds to 10 after. In part it's to allow Miss Supercross to get off the track, on the other hand its to make it fair so no one knows the exact time. The first few seconds when the race starts, it's all about concentration, focus, and timing.
6pm All the little habits, the random fiddling, is gone. Your only focus is on that gate. Drop. Gage timed it almost perfectly, thank his demigod senses, but coming into the first turn, Felix #15 was right behind him, followed by Stewart #1. At the second turn, Felix gets ahead of Gage, but in the sand he catches up literally on Felix' tail. Gage didn't even have time to think about how right he was. He was fully focus on this. He saw a flag being waved out of the corner of his eyes and during a jump he took a quick look, a yellow flag.* (Shit.) he thought *This means a racer is down or stalled, someone must've gotten hurt at the start on the first turn probably. He knew he had to be careful. As he came up to the finish line he pumped his hand, he hated arm pump. Happens to all racers at some point, but it's too much blood and lactic acid built up in the forearms that makes you lose strength and grip, and ironically it happens for riding tense and holding the handlebars too tight. He had to adjust his grip, he couldn't keep pumping at every jump. 16 laps to go. All you can hear is the crowd and the sound of the motorcycle engines.
6:05pm 5 minutes down, 15 to go. The main events were always about 20 minutes, a little over 1 minute per lap so they were about the 4th lap. He was in third, behind James #1, and Felix #15 in first and second respectively. They'd left a gap between them and the other 16 or 17 riders. They weren't waving the yellow flag anymore, either the racer was down, which seemed unlikely no ambulance, or he'd gotten back on and hauled it. They finished another lap, his Uncle Simon had the pit-board out as he cruised onwards it read '3rd, 6L, GL'. Third place, 6th lap, Good luck. The signboards allowed their crews to communicated quickly with them, hence the short messages, important info usually times, lap, position, etc.
link to video if you'd like to see what the pitboard is like.
6:10pm Yellow flag! Oh god what is going on this time. He knew it was all good so long as there was no red flag. A red flag means someone is badly hurt, and the race has to be restarted for safety reasons. (A yellow, someone must have fallen off) he thought. As he came up on a curve he saw it, they'd already passed people so many times. Before he had seen the yellow flag, he saw the blue again. It made sense now. Blue means lapper, that the leader(s) is/are coming up behind you and you have to move out of the way to let them pass. Someone must have
tried to move out, and slipped. At the end of the day the main priority is safety, they all know this. No one wants to fall of their bike, it happens, and get ran over. Situational awareness is key in such a sport. After all its a sport with engines, too many things can go wrong.
6:13pm Speaking of something going wrong, he'd been in first place for a brief time. He'd passed Stewart #1 in the sand part, and he held on to lead for a lap or two, but Felix came up and passed him at a turn. (How the hell did Felix pass me?!) he thought When he passed Steward, Felix must have passed him as well. Passing the finish line his Uncle had the pit board out, '5TO, 2nd, PS'. 5 tear offs, 2nd place, play it safe. He hated the bit board sometimes. Did he mean play it safe with the tear offs? or his leaderboard position? Anyway, tear offs are the transparent plastics they put on their visors. A racer can only use 15 tear-offs in a race. The goggles can get dirty quick, especially at the beginning with so many bikes clustered together. He'd already used 10 apparently, he had 5 left. As they came up to the sand, his goggles got messy again, damn sand. It wasn't the leads fault, they'd passed another lapper, it happens. They hit a jump, and he reached for another tear-off again
6:15pm Down to 3 laps. The pitboard read '3L, 3rd, 2TO' Great. third place, three laps, two tearoffs. He had work to do and he knew it. In first was Stewart #1, he pulled ahead of Gage in a turn, and passed Felix in a jump in the same lap. They hit the turn and then the sand, Felix wasn't the best with the sand and it was Gage's opportunity to pass him. They went on, another turn, then a jump. He pumped his fist again, he was getting anxious, and got arm-pump again. He loosened his grip slightly and kept on.
6:17pm Last lap. He saw the white flag, meaning one lap left, and he was still in third. Stewart seems to have first locked, but he was close enough to Felix.. He got a risky idea. He was going to take the next jump high, see if he could pass Felix #15. The two largest jumps are the finish line, and the one after the sand and turn. He had this. After the sand, he was right behind Felix. Usually you'd let go of the throttle slightly at a large jump, but he didn't. He needed this jump. He knew that the speed would mean his front wheel would be higher in the air than usual. Once he was in the air he hit the clutch and hit the brake pedal. (Quick lesson! The gyroscopic effect of the back-wheel spinning, and coming to a complete stop throws momentum forward, pulling the front wheel down.) He landed, he looked around* (FUCK YES) he thought *Felix was on his heels now, still worrying but he could hold him off.
6:18pm As he jumped past the finish line, he saluted in the air. It was done. He didn't hit first place, Stewart is the one that got the
Cool fire at the finish line, but you can't win them all. It was still second place, and he was proud. He'd worked for it afterall.
Stewart, Felix, and Gage headed to the stage with the podiums. Stewart had the top step, first place after all. Gage was on his left, second place, and Felix to his right, third place. The show wasn't done. This only covered one of the main events, but this was the last one for Gage. He shook hands with Stewart, and congratulated him. Once he came to Felix, he grabbed him in a bear hug and they laughed. Gage and Felix had grown up together, and are still friends. He'd last seen Felix a few weeks back on the New York trip from camp. After all the cameras flashed, handshakes, and awards went out, he headed back to the pit with his bike. He'd given his girlfriend, Isabel, a vip pass to meet him in the tunnels once the race had finished. Gage had promised himself that he'd wear the camp shirt, afterall he asked the others to wear it too. And they could be seen, a huge wave of orange in the stands. He took his racing gear off, and there it was, his orange Camp Halfblood shirt. He pointed at the orange shirt crowd and pumped his arm. He grabbed his bike by the handle bars, and walked with his uncle to the tunnels. His show was over. He was a privateer, he raced for the hell of it, and didn't have full-time sponsors like Stewart did. He'd probably go join the campers after he'd put his bike away safely, and took the rest of his racing gear off OOC: Thank you so much to everyone that went through and read this all. You're amazing! I hope you enjoyed!
Rules for comments: As per my agreement with the mods:
- NO monster attacks. Make sure to keep your mist with you!
- Comments can spawn from getting on the bus, to the races, to going back. But I'd appreciate it if most were about the race!
- Gage will join in the stands after his race, feel free to tag me if you'd like to say anything, cheer him on, congrats, and so on!
Extra:
If you'd like to know what Supercross is like
Here is 2016 event in Met Life Stadium it's a 2hr 20 minute video, feel free to skip around! Also
FAQs if you have extra questions, feel free to ask in comments but this is one of my favorite supercross faqs out there.
TL;DR: Sorry no TL;DR. b/c Too Lazy, Didn't Write. I'm a heathen. <3 you all
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