From parkas to PUG, Peter Lenz wins two in tough weekend

May 01, 2007, From a Press Release

Metrakit Canada backed junior road racer Peter Lenz had a tough weekend but came out on top in two of his main events. Peter started his Saturday morning at home in Vancouver, Washington participating in a track & field meet with his classmates in chilly conditions. He then hopped a plane and drove a few hours to arrive in Stockton, California, greeted with temperatures in the mid-90s where instead of running with his feet, he ran his Metrakits.

“I woke up on Saturday and had to put on my snow jacket to stay warm. Then later the same day, it was really hot,” commented Peter. In addition to not being used to the heat of the San Juaquin Valley, Peter was still fighting off a head cold. “I didn’t tell anyone, I had to wipe boogers off the inside of my new Arai. It was pretty gross. I felt I was going to hurl because of the heat and being sick.”

Fortunately, Peter was able to try out his new PUG (Performance Under Gear) Coolmax® undersuit in the heat. The PUG suit was a big help and without a doubt kept him from succumbing to heat since his leathers are not perforated. While Peter struggled with his physical state, two of his bikes also caused some grief. Peter’s bikes haven’t been back to Washington in several weeks and were instead left in California to save time driving.

His Metrakits worked flawlessly, but limping through the last two races his KTM65’s transmission finally gave up the ghost, forcing Peter at times to attempt three downshifts to get it to go down one gear. The KTM also suffered from a bent rim that went unnoticed until Peter ran wide and lost his front end on the grass at the top of sixth gear. Even after reseating the tire, it wouldn’t hold its beed completely, giving Peter an unbalanced rear end which held air because the tube was run inside the tire. The SMRRC only allows the Metrakits to run in two of their classes, while an NSR can run in four additional classes, so it was decided to let Peter run the NSR he ran last year during the event in addition to his Metrakits. Not being a primary bike, the NSR’s tires were from the previous season and gave up the last of their traction in the hot conditions resulting in blackies on the surface as Peter spun up the rear. Some paint graced the pavement as well as he uncharacteristically went down twice on Sunday.

On the podium Peter looked to the positive. “I was glad I lost today. I learned a lot and most important of all I got past my fear of tight passing. I stuffed Vision (Hayes) and he didn’t like it so he stuffed me right back. It was good to race with a younger racer. I normally have to race older kids or grown ups. Vision ran some good races today.”

Peter managed two wins. One aboard on his Metrakit 50, the dominate bike in Super 50, two seconds, two thirds and a fourth. It was one of his two third place finishes that stuck out. Even with the handicaps of the transmission and bouncing rear-end he was able to bring his 65 home in third while finishing only 4 seconds back from the race winner. “I was very proud of Peter, he didn’t give an inch and while the other two got around him after a couple laps, he kept his head down and was on the gas,” said Peter’s pit crew and father, Michael Lenz.

Peter and his Metrakits will be in action again this weekend in Southern California with the CMRRA at the Willow Kart track. You can keep up with Peter through his website at http://www.peterlenz.com. You can learn more about the Metrakit Canada bikes he rides at http://www.metrakit.ca.