Originally posted by WoodsRider
LoriKTM had some problems earlier and ended up with a DNF :( .
Sometimes, I am my own worst problem. :ugg:
Well, I haven't been writing ride reports this year because I didn't want to come out every Monday and write that I didn't finish yet another enduro. It's too frustrating, and not something that I want to share. I had great hopes for Speedsville. Dave had made this out to be a great race, based on what he remembered from last year. Nice trails, good resets to get you back on time. Short this year, at only 63 ground miles. No sweat, I thought. Speedsville will be the first enduro I finish, and I can write a nice, happy ride report on Monday about how I finished my first enduro.
:think:
Friday night and Saturday Dave and I spent some time in the garage getting the bikes ready-- new air filters, new silencer packing. Then I thought--I know, I'll reduce the compression damping on the forks to make the bike more supple in the rocks! The bike had worked great up at Turkey Point in Canada, which is a lot of fast, sandy trails with whoops in it. It would probably work even better in the rocks if I softened it up a bit, right? So, I backed the clickers out a few positions, then loaded the bike up.
We arrived bright and early at the enduro Sunday morning. It was promising to be another warm day, but I was prepared with a new set of Moose Sahara gear. Back canteen all set up with plenty of water, bike ready to go, a bit of stretching before getting on the bike, and we were off. A mile or so of road, then we turned off onto a gravel road. Hmm. Bike sure feels squirrelly on the gravel. Funny, never did that before. Followed Woods and ORW into the woods, with dirtybiker right behind me. I figured I was probably holding him up, so I waved him past. Some tight trees and rocks, very dusty trail. Front end continues to wander, dive, and twitch with every dip in the trail. Weird. Then I remembered changing the fork clickers. I told myself I wasn't used to the new handling, and to give it some time. Ok, I try to adjust. Got a little further, and something kicked me off the trail. Ok, first biff, got that out of the way, now I can relax. Rode down into the creek bed. No real problems until I came to a section where the rocky creek bed turns right-- over a log at an angle. Rear wheel slid and I went down again. Got the bike up, and continued. Exited the creek section a little early on a valid line, but there was a log right there for my front wheel. Fought with that for a minute. Finished up the trail section, and went out onto a short stretch of road. I saw a couple spectators and trucks, pulled over, and asked for a flat blade screwdriver. (I had one in my fanny pack, but figured I could save time if I didn't have to mess around with it). Luckily, a guy pulled a screwdriver out of a toolbox, and while they held the bike I re-adjusted the fork clickers back to their previous setting. Many thanks, and I was off again. Bike was handling better, and my confidence improved. Next check, I was down by 14. Check after that, I was only down by 17. I continued to push on, and had only a couple mishaps. No stoppers, the hills were fun, and I drove like heck down the roads and through the resets. It was a race of two steps forward, three steps back. The only good part at this point was I was riding by myself, so the dust that plagued all the other riders was not really a problem for me. I left check 7 with a 77, I think. I was bound to try to make up time, but the trail conspired against me. It was one of the longest on the course, and set at 24mph. I came in to check 8, and saw 98 on the board. I had houred out by 2 lousy minutes. I put my head down on the bars, and said "Phooey". Well, I said worse than that, but can't print it.
After that, my motivation and will had gone out the window. I just wanted to go home and cry. I had tried, really tried, but just didn't have the speed or endurance for this event. I took my time, and kept riding out the trail to the next gas available, which was back at the parking area. I rode through check 9, seeing as how the crew had already left. Check #10 was packing up as I arrived, but they dutifully wrote my score down anyway. I rode the last bit of trail to the parking area/gas available. I looked at my clock, and realized that Dave would be finishing the event any minute now. :ugg: I parked my bike, grabbed the bottle of Gatorade, and sat down in the shade.
Frustrated, disappointed, hot and sweaty. One more enduro DNF on my scorecard for the year. :(
After a couple hours of sitting around with club members and bench racing, it was time to hand out trophies. Woods got his 2nd place, Dave got his 3rd place for Vet C. Surprisingly enough, they handed out trophies to 3 places for the Women's class. Due to an injury from one of the other riders, I ended up with 3rd place, even with the DNF. Small consolation, but next time I'll have to make sure I earn it, I guess! The other winners in the Women's class were none other than our very own Amanda Mastin, and Lissa Arsenault. (Of course, they both finished, and Amanda was competitive enough with a score of 43, which would have placed her in the B class!)
Lissa and I took the opportunity to talk with Amanda after the trophy presentation, and gave her our support for the ISDE this year. It was great to finally meet Amanda, and good to see Lissa again. I'm glad Woods and dirtybiker were able to make the long trek down for the race. A whole row of DRN's! How cool is that?!