The Dick Jagow Memorial GP is held every September in honor of Dick Jagow. The event is put on by the Mt. Scott MC club out of Portland, Oregon. Being one of only a few times quads are allowed in Washougal, and one of only 2 times the off-road course will get used there, I made some last minute plans to do this race. Washougal’s MX is legendary, but the off-road is often overlooked. It features tight and technical sections of trees, and some wide open parts in the lower fields. Overall, the XC here is a great time, albeit a little dusty. The GP combines a large off road section with the MX, offering the best of both worlds.

The quad race is the last of the day. It’s 90 minutes long and starts on the MX. For the first day of Fall, Washougal was not experiencing Fall weather. A beautiful 88 degrees was forecasted for the day and when we arrived at the track in the afternoon, it sure felt like the forecast was true! We found a nice shady spot and I got registered, put my Klim gear on, and helped my wife put our son in the carrier so she could watch and get a few photos. We put the GoPro on my bike too, but they don’t have enough suspension and I snapped off the mount during the race. Luckily we recovered it!

The turnout was not great. Next year I’m going to try to get more people to come out and give this race a try because as far as fun goes, it’s hard pressed to find another race THIS fun. Anyway, I lined up with about 10 other quads of all sizes and they gave us our last minute instructions. The GP style start involved dead engines with our hands on our helmets. This is absolutely where both my engine from LED and my Rekluse come in handy! The flag dropped promptly on time and we took off. My bike fired in the first kick (thank you, Arlan) and I pinned it to the first turn. There was a YFZ that looked like it would be more at home in the sand that pulled out front early, but I got the edge on him and took the holeshot (thank you Maxxis Tires). I proceeded to put some distance between myself and the rest of the field. We turned off at the last whoop into the scoring chutes and then headed into the trails section. Twisty, winding, dusty, and an absolute blast to ride through! This is where my Precision products shine. Both the Shock and Vibe clamps and the stabilizer help tremendously for keeping my quad on track in the roughest stuff. Also, my Powermadd handguards for protecting my hands from some of the gnarly brush and sticker bushes out there!

The off-road had some pretty rough sections, some very dusty sections, and some pretty technical obstacles to navigate. It goes from almost blue-groove in some corners, to near silt-soft in other section. Some sections are gnarled with tree roots and treacherously lined with sticker bushes. If you get off the trail, it’s not going to be pretty! Another challenge is the track, both the off-road and the MX, have differing light. Bright sunlight and super dark shade make it hard for your eyes to adjust back and forth. It’s challenging, but that’s why it’s so rewarding and fun! Not too mention, Washougal has a great amount of elevation change.

By the completion of the first lap, I had about a 2 minute lead. I was feeling really great on the bike. And then my luck turned. I apparently have a shop gremlin that took home in my XC bike. At the last round of Quadcross Northwest I had some electrical issues – the bike died a couple times without warning – and I thought it was related to my kill switch. I replaced it before this event, but that obviously was not the problem. I was kicking 2 and 3 times a lap and my lead slowly diminished to nil. As I was heading through a dusty downhill section, and approaching some lap traffic, I had Tim Shelman finally catch up to me. As I was getting ready to make a pass, my bike died. I coasted for a ways, trying my key, kicking, and hoping it would fire. I pulled over to let Tim by and avoid any collisions in the low visibility, and of course, as soon as he passes it fires up! I spent the last 3 laps chasing him down and working through my vexation with the phantom electrical. So frustrating!

I finished in second after a great 90 minutes and I plan on trying to do a couple more XC events before the year is over and it gets too cold/wet to race. I feel most at home racing XC and it offers me the chance to talk about my sponsors to a crowd I haven’t seen much of this year! The Mt. Scott MC puts on a great event and I look forward to attending next year. For now, I’m going to give my quads a little extra attention!

Thank you to all my sponsors for their support! I am fortunate to have so many people behind me! My wife Megan, son Loic, Maxxis Tires, Klim, Fox Shox, Teixeira Tech, Rekluse, LED Performance, Precision Racing Products, Wiseco Piston, Trail Tech, HMF, Fullbore Innovations, 100% Goggles, UPP, CBR, Ryno Power, IMS, Pro Armor, Spider Grips, Maxima, Asterisk, Quad Tech, K&N Filters, Shorai Power, Sunstar, Spider Graphix, Galfer, Powermadd, Quad75.Com, Waterwell Developing & Surveys, & PitTraffic.com