The race info is at
www.bitd.com. Check for their 2009 series and the Epic Parker 250. There were probably 200+ riders. They will post the final numbers soon. I'll get some photos up as soon as I can. I did i because I wanted at my age I wanted a challenge without the massive danger and technical nature of a true motocross. You had one team of 3 big bike riders who won their class that were 16, 45ish and 71. I am not lying! We came in 6th out of 8 in our class (the first timer class). I think we would have done much better - at least 3rd - if we were educated on the intricacies of the race. The first two in our group would have placed in the pro division - there was no beating them. They finished the 250 miles in under 5 hours. The timing of the first two riders was critical. Also, if the DS ran 10-15 miles per hour faster we could have picked up at least 20-30 min because of the flats distances and I probably would have picked up 10 min had I not played superman off the bike either! The reality of the race is that if you have ridden any trailing riding in the desert (whoops, washes, hills, rocks, etc) you can ride a desert race.
I am definitely going to check the gearing, get new bearings in the front (they are starting to loosen up a bit too much), check the valves and look into a little wider A-arms. Other than that, desert racing will always remain a fun hobby for me. I'm going to experiment with the stock rev limiter and the Big Gun I purchased. I am not sure it was working at all.
Thanks for the tips - keep them coming!