My First Enduro, Not my Last!
Yesterday was a learning experience for sure . . . the concept of an enduro has always intrigued me and yesterday was my first real exposure to the whole deal. I got the idea to go earlier this year and everyone told me that the one in Indiana was always fun and featured some great trails. Sign up for these events is done via snail mail so I corralled the troops, got the forms filled out and sent in three checks for Kyle Miller, Jesse Smith and myself. We landed on row 69, which according to Kyle meant that we left the line 1 hour and 9 minutes after the standard 9am key time.
Several things proved to make this whole trip quite interesting. First of all, we had Wild Man Kyle Miller along . . . that always shakes things up a bit and reminds me that we should all be happy to be alive, just like Kyle! His ever present smile and positive attitude are to be admired. Also in tow was Trey Algrhim . . . his lack of fear, inquisitive nature, and love of riding make him fun to around.
The interesting part was that somehow I talked Jesse Smith (Quad Racer) to sign up and compete with us. Now get this, Jesse has never raced motorcycles more than about 4 or 5 times and in most instances he just cruises around has some fun. But, since going to Idaho this summer, Jesse now has a desire to get a bike for trail riding. Kyle said many people treat an Enduro like a big trail ride thus Jesse thought it would be fun. Once again, he removed the bars from my 2005 YZ and mounted his Flexx Bars with the freaking thumb throttle (yes, you read that correctly). I call it the “trigger of death” . . . but it makes him more comfortable.
When we arrived at the course early on Friday we found that one section of their Hare Scramble course was very dry, hard, and powdery. I went back to the truck, pulled the rear wheel with the knobby and replaced it with the one that has a trials tire on it. Seemed like the thing to do. Jesse said if I didn’t use it, he would. But, once we arrived at the hotel, I got online and checked the weather . . . not good . . . 60% chance of rain was the new forecast. Maybe the trials tire wasn’t the best choice.
So, the next morning some puddles on the parking lot clearly showed that a small shower came through during the evening. As we drove to the course, it sprinkled a bit a here and there. Once we arrived and unloaded, the skies began to emit a steady rain . . . someone walked by and said, “We hear it is going to start pouring down between 10am and 10:30am!” Race prep continued and the rain kept coming down. We all knew that the old hard pack trails would be like ice . . . it was going to be interesting. The photo below shows us just minutes before heading to the starting line . . . just a bit damp, but no dust!
Pre Race Prep in the Rain
So, the race was on and we dropped underneath the bridge and into a narrow wooded area along the creek bed. It is my understanding that we were not being timed at this point, we had 2 miles to go before that would begin. But during this section I came upon Kyle picking up his bike. I didn’t see anything that would have caused it but all of sudden “wham” I hit a huge root and nearly go over the bars. I hit the inside of my leg on the bars I guess and have massive bruise to show for it.
Not long afterwards, we came upon some small rain soaked hills that were giving some folks fits. I threaded my way around and through the mess to the first check/start point where I rejoined Kyle. Goggles were already toast and we had 34 more miles to go.
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Upland National Enduro (1st 3 Tests)
When I think “34 miles” of trail, half of Red Bird comes to mind so that seems just fine. The course was very cool. I just kept thinking about how hard it would be to lay it out. Each time we’d cross the road, run across a harvested field, or through the corner of someone’s yard I’d think of how difficult it must be to manage all those contacts and property agreements. It was astounding! Look at the screen capture from Google Earth above. I recorded it using my GPS during the event and laid it on there this morning to see the ground we covered. Very cool!
I plugged along enjoying the ride and the constantly varying conditions. It would go from slick-hard packed previously ridden trails to completely virgin single track in the corner of some wood lot then over a rocky area and along a fence with 10′ high corn stalks right beside your bars. I was waived through at the first two checks indicating I was late. The first time I heard the scoring lady saying that row 75 was next which meant I was 6 minutes late. At the next check they waved me through again but I have no idea what row was up. Near the end of the 2nd test, Trey, who started on row 75 caught up to me. We rode another mile and then hit the rode at around mile 22 where people were stagged for a gas stop. Once we hit the road, he took off and I didn’t see him again until the start of the next test. After riding about 3 miles of road I came upon the next test start where I say both Kyle and Trey talking. I was back on time! We had about 6 minutes or so before our row was to depart, thus some time to rest.
When we hit the trail again I picked up the pace, but Kyle was out of site within a 1/2 mile . . . I rode steadily taking advantage of the YZs awesome turning to thread the trees. My results on this test were better than the others but afterwards there were about 4 miles of road before we got back to the truck for lunch. At that point, I was soaked to the skin and getting very cold . . . very uncomfortable.
Kyle was at the truck and said he’d been there for a little over three minutes and that I was doing good. Trey was about 4 or 5 minutes after me, but he started 6 rows back. We’d all done fairly well, especially Kyle. No one had seen Jesse for quite some time, so we were a bit concerned.
After sitting down and eating I got comfortable and was starting to not chill as much but then learned it was time to leave. We were actually late. I sat there for a minute but just couldn’t put that cold helmet back on and go out for another 35 miles with at least 6 miles of road . . . it wasn’t in me today. Jesse finally showed up and told of his adventure that morning. In the end, I’m glad I didn’t go back out, but I hate to be thought of as a quitter. I normally like the muddy conditions, but the pouring rain and road sections just zapped my desire to move on that given day.
The aftermath of all this is that I’m really hooked on this enduro concept. There is still much to learn before next season but that is part of the fun. I hope to follow up with some friends and may report back on their feelings about the event.
See you on the trail!