8/14 Roselawn Enduro Comments

[INCA]

My guess is that I’m first one home, for a change. So here is my side of today’s riding. Since I left before scores were posted, I have no idea how the MTR’s did. Here are those that I know were in attendance.
Smit-Dog
Don Marsh
Bbarel
Wolverine
525DSK
Team Frog
Trashrider
The possibility of rain may have scared some away, and it did rain some, but there were a lot of entries. They had 60 rows set for five each but not all were full. The first nine rows only had 6 riders. I was on row 48 and had trouble in the first 50 feet getting over a log. What else is new? After that it was the usual mix of delays for me. Many places in the first section had a good 4-inch groove in the trail that made it hard to ride. I simply played it safe and did the best I could, getting to the check before gas 60 minutes late. The reset was for 45 minutes and although it was drizzling at the time, I decided to keep going and try to make it through the next 6-mile section. Then the rain came harder, the vision decreased, the speed went slower. Made it to the check with two minutes to spare and got directions for the easy way back to the start. The enduro was not as easy as it used to be years back when they advertised it as 100 % rideable. One more event under the kidney belt.


Young Ted

 

[fatherandson]

I could not make it due to Jack Pine preparation, but I did talk to Tom Dunn and Leroy. Here is a top 10 list...

Blair Bersano - 36
Leroy Keen - 36 (he is watching on DRN)
Jeff Fredette - 41
Ryan Moss - 41 (DRN - Flyin'Ryan)
Andrew Stokley - 45
Cody Mastin - 46 (get-r-dun)
Steve Vollmer - 47
Corey Calkins - 51
Brent Floyd - 52

 

[bbarel]

If you like nasty wet slick muck and 6 inch ruts then this was your race! I suck in the mud and my results showed it. It also didn't help that I got stuck once in that last mud-fest section. My goggles were so fogged I didn't even see the hole. After that I tossed the goggles. Man that **** was slick.

 

[Don Marsh]

It definently was a MUDFEST & no bares to be seen, the rain must have kept them in their caves. I called the last section the slot car race, it sure was hard to keep paddling to keep moving. Congrats to all of the DRNers who got trophys. Smit Dog sure had a great run. It was great to see everyone.
Don

 

[wolverine]

I smelled alot of radiator fluid through that last section...

I wonder why they had cut out that big o'le log just after the start for the second time around?..

 

[TeamFrog]

Summer Bummer - You can say that again.

That was one tough race! Granted, this was only my third enduro but personally, this was the toughest so far. I started off getting tangled up on the log that INCA was struggling with and it just got worse from there. I was actually doing pretty good until the last section (at least my ICO was telling me that after each of the resets).

I started the last 10 (or so) mile section about 4 minutes late and next thing you know, my bike was blowing a little steam...a couple of times. I tangled with a few trees, followed some guys in the wrong direction a couple of times and stuck my bike in the final creek crossing. The ICO kept ticking and I knew I had to start bringin' it to avoid houring out at the finish. When I got to the finish line, the flip cards were reading 41 and flipped to 42 when I was sitting there getting my card removed, or at least what was left of it...seems I tangled with one too many trees and the top half of my card was AWOL. Although my ICO was reading 61 minutes late when I pulled in, I was thinking that because the flip chart wasn't reading 45 (my row number), I'm assuming that I did not hour out. I waited around for a while to see if my (recreated from the log) score card would tell me if I DNF'ed or not but they were still woking out the scores when I left. Maybe someone could shed some light on that one for me. Either way, it was an *** kicker but I still had a great time. :cool:

It was great to see everyone again. Special thanks to Mark (I didn't catch his last name) from Taylor, MI for helping me program my Checkmate.

See you all next time.

Jeff

 

[INCA]

Jeff - Those flip card numbers don't add up. If you came in on 41, you were 4 minutes HOT, time and body wise. The number they mark down is what counts. You wouldn't hour out until you see 106 on your card. That was Mark Becker - Trashrider on here. For your third enduro, I'd say you are doing very well, keep it up.

Young Ted

 

[TeamFrog]

Jeff - Those flip card numbers don't add up. If you came in on 41, you were 4 minutes HOT, time and body wise. The number they mark down is what counts. You wouldn't hour out until you see 106 on your card. That was Mark Becker - Trashrider on here. For your third enduro, I'd say you are doing very well, keep it up.

Young Ted

Thanks for the response Young Ted.

Well, I know I wasn't hot that's for sure (although my engine was). I guess its possible that the flip cards were supposed to be reading 141 and the club didn't have a third digit. I was not provided a copy of my score sheet because there wasn't much left of it. Like I said...either way I had a blast.

Jeff

 

[Smit-Dog]

How I Spent My Summer Bummer
… subtitled “Or How I Got A Really Sore Arse!”

“Winning isn’t everything…. Riding the last 10-mile section is!”

Alrighty Then! Well, I hadn’t really planned on riding this event, but after screwing up at the LM, I needed some redemption. That, and the good wife gave the OK to skip town. :nod:

This was a 3-district event, and the turnout was pretty good. They combine C-Jr and C-Sr as one C-class, and I overheard that there were 50 riders in this class alone. Although temps were in the low-mid 70’s, it was very damp and muggy. It was on the humid side, not like that nice dry heat of Marquette. It had rained the night before, so I’m thinking the sand is going to be nice and tacky… good traction and zero dust! Be careful for what you wish for… :coocoo:

Ace rider and all-around Kalkaska good guy Don Marsh was kind enough to reserve row 37 for me. After riding that 4-mile rut at the end, I would have gladly traded for row #1! Ended up on the same minute as Paul North, Mark Becker (Trashrider), and DW (Dusendang / Wolverang). It takes me about an hour to remember how to ride a bike, so I let all the fast guys blast from the line. Within 20’ of the start there was about an 18”-20” log to get over… nice way to set the tone. Becker and DW launch over it, and Paul hits it with his front wheel and the bike is immediately vertical, front tire 6’ in the air. As Paul works on collecting his thoughts, I get by him, only to see DW and Becker fade down the tight, twisty trail.

The first section was about 5 miles that dumped back out to staging for gas available. The initial tight stuff was a lot of sit down type riding, which I’m not used to, and my bike controls aren't set up for it. So at the first break, I adjusted my rear brake pedal so that it’d be lower and with less free-play. Big mistake! Within 15 minutes of leaving the pits I had a seized rear caliper. Completely locked up, and the brake pedal was rock hard – zero movement. In a panic, losing time, and dreading another DNF, I emptied part of my CamelBak onto the caliper and rotor. It steamed and boiled like a rock lobster, and after it cooled down, I could move the brake pedal and the rear wheel could rotate. Only problem was that I didn’t have an open-end wrench in my toolkit to adjust the free-play. So I used a pair of needle nose pliers to back down the adjusting nut, but had no way of locking it back down. As I continued to ride, the amount of free-play kept growing and growing to the point where the brake pedal was pressed against the frame rail, but not really stopping the rear wheel. I figured that’s why KTM gives you 2 options for braking. :cool:

For the rest of the ride I did OK, but was riding tentatively and cautiously, very unsure of myself and the bike’s handling. There’s something different about the dirt down in Indiana. It looks dark, brown, and tacky, but with just a little bit of moisture, it turns a little slick like cat $hit. I fell about a dozen or more times with the front end just appearing to wash out. I felt like an uncoordinated, noob C-rider. There were also about 100 slick log crossings that kept you on your toes. About the midway point a light misty rain started. The trail got a little slicker, but you had a harder time seeing it, so it all worked out.

Finally came back to staging for the final 10 mile section. It was back at the start, but with a few hundred riders already through it, and the misty rain, it was now a slick-ass mudfest. The first 3-4 miles was pretty much an axle-deep slot-car rut, feet flailing trying to keep the bike upright. Try to pull your front wheel out of the rut, and the back would slide back in, then you’d be going sideways down the trail pointing off into the woods. After a few miles of my bike seeing more ass than a toilet seat, the green steam began rolling off the engine. With 30 pounds of mud hanging on me and the bike, and enveloped in a cloud of anti-freeze, I pulled over and shut the bike down. Figured a plastic trophy wasn’t worth frying an engine over. Pulled off the helmet, broke out a Snickers bar, and watched a dozen or so other riders waddle on by.

After the bike cooled off, I jumped back into the rut... it was the only way home. Now had I come across a nice piece of trail or 2-track back to staging, I would’ve been on it like a fat kid on cake. The reality of it was that you were pretty much committed. Bush-whacking away from the slime ruts, trying to pick up a drier piece of trail, I ended up in the back yard of some mobile home. Circled around their wood shed a few times, then honed in on the screaming sound of a 2-smoker wailing in the distance, and found the trail again. I tried to ride on the pegs, but when the pegs are in a rut, it’s paddle time. Must have lifted my mud encrusted Sidi’s 200 times in that section. First time I’ve ever had muscle cramps in my thighs. Think of a bad cramp in your calf, only now it’s in the biggest muscle on your body! By this point I’m fantasying about Napper… not the man, though, just him installing EE soft seat foam for me. Between the rain, steam, mud, and sweat, the no-fog goggles were pretty much fogged over. I did the unthinkable and pulled them off, if only to see where I’d be falling. Problem was that all the overhang and brush was coated with wet, gritty mud from spinning knobbies. Face slappers became muddy grit slappers, and soon enough I had muddy grit in the eyes. Thinking back to KTM Mike’s cornea incident at the LM a few years ago, I quickly put the fogged-over goggles back on. Better to slow down and fall a few more times than lose an eye.

Nearing the end, the trail ran along side a dead-end road. A guy on a bike had stopped, and was pointing over to a golf cart carrying women about 15’ away. Didn’t stop to check out the long-term affects of sun exposure and gravity…. Figured heads down, racer focus, bring home the hardware… and I’ll have my own trophy girl waiting at home. :debil:

In the end there were 12 checks. I zeroed 4 of them, but ended up dropping 122 overall. I heard some checks were thrown out. I also dropped a staggering 43 points in that last 10 mile section. I've only done a handful of enduros, but riding in slick mud like this for the first time, it was one of the harder ones.

The arrowing was fantastic. Bright orange arrows about every 12 feet. I pity the sweep crew that had to go down that last section.

D-14 Michigan riders were well represented. From what I remember:

DW – 1st B-Senior (Awesome!)
CW (Cody) – 2nd C Class
Becker – Trophied A Class
Marsh – 4th or 5th Super Senior
Young Ted – 1st Masters
Tom Coughlin – 1st C Class / 1st C-JR / Hi-Point C!
Chad Hall – Trophied C Class (10th?)
Paul North – Trophied C Class
Me – 4th or 5th (?) C Class (1st C-Sr)

TeamFrog… you are doing awesome. My first 3 enduros I houred out and did not finish. And keep dragging your buddy Mike along to these events… it will either ruin your friendship, ruin his new bike, or he’ll be hooked! I’ll bet he’ll like running the Jack Pine this weekend…. well, except for that first section anyway.

See everyone at the PineCone / JackPine!

 

[wolverine]

Paul Borden {Bulldog} placed 4th in B Vet. Congrats to all the MTR members for a great showing!

Cody boiled his rear brake also.He's going to learn how to change brake fluid tomarrow..LOL

DW

 

[TeamFrog]

How I Spent My Summer Bummer

TeamFrog…And keep dragging your buddy Mike along to these events… it will either ruin your friendship, ruin his new bike, or he’ll be hooked! I’ll bet he’ll like running the Jack Pine this weekend…. well, except for that first section anyway.

Smit-Dog,

Two things:

The first is that you have an awesome memory. All I really remember is that it was wet and muddy and that I could smell a lot of radiator fluid. ;)

Second is about your comment above. I think the damage is done. I could see it in his face when I got back to the trailer after the race. Remember that cereal commercial where that kid Mikie "likes it"...it's like that except in this case, Mikie doesn't like it so much. He told me about ten times on the drive home how he'll never do this again. He just is not having fun slogging his new bike through the mud and dragging his ole' XR600 up Vietnam Mountain. I guess a little of it is that he chose to start his enduro career at two of what had to be some of the harder enduros to come along in a while. :ahhh:

We are still friends (I think) but I was sure he was gonna try and beat me down by the look on his face. I just don't think he had enough energy left to give it a try. I guess we'll just have to see him on the trail, as he has decided to take Young Ted's advice to me when I asked "To Race or Not to Race", which was "Forget the race part, just ride to ride again, have a few laughs and enjoy being outdoors." :cool:

Not me though...the hook is set (if I can afford the replacement parts).

Jeff

 

[CR250R@WINTERS]

Jack Pine

Hey Team Frog
If Mike is still talking to you and he really doesn't want to ride the jack pine, still bring him along. Me and my brother are planning on just hanging around and watching this weekend. He is more than welcome to hang out with us. Maybe next year I will have that new KTM and be able to ride all these enduros. For this weekend though I guess we will just be cheering all you MTR's on.

 

[woodsy]

Some excellent write ups there folks! Sounds like my kind of action for sure - muddy, snotty and wet. Smit Dog, you certainly have a good archive of one liners there buddy :)

 

[team bulldog]

thanx DW

Thanx for that post. I'll tell ya that was the hardest 80 miles I've ever rode, After that High speed endo, my leg looked like a bloody rapped watermelon. Everything checked out o.k. at the hospital, but my hole entire leg is black. I'll tell ya what I'm praying for no rain @ jackpine, by the way, did anybody have both legs down, mud skiing there bike in that last section, or was I the only fool.??

see ya @ jackpine
p.s. thanx Cody for keep'n an eye on me,when I should of been keep'n one on you

 

[Smit-Dog]

Hey Bulldog... I didn't see you at awards, so didn't remember if you trophied... Congrats man. I'm guessing by your post you were at the hospital instead. I remember you getting psyched at the start of that last section, with Trashrider pushing you on. Didn't realize your leg was hurt... that section was a bitch without a racked body... can't imagine doing it already hurt. I still have trouble lifting my legs to get in my truck.

Did you endo on the right side of the trail, soon after riding the ridge next to a creek? I saw you picking your bike up.... didn't know it was a bell ringer.

Mud or Dust? I'll take dust any day, thank you very much...

 

[team bulldog]

Hey Bulldog... I didn't see you at awards, so didn't remember if you trophied... Congrats man. I'm guessing by your post you were at the hospital instead. I remember you getting psyched at the start of that last section, with Trashrider pushing you on. Didn't realize your leg was hurt... that section was a bitch without a racked body... can't imagine doing it already hurt. I still have trouble lifting my legs to get in my truck.

Did you endo on the right side of the trail, soon after riding the ridge next to a creek? I saw you picking your bike up.... didn't know it was a bell ringer.

Mud or Dust? I'll take dust any day, thank you very much...

Thanks for the post bro! It actually happened right after the check that everybody supposedly burned but they threw out. I was cruisin across the corn field section at about 35-40, bike pinged off some rocks and I went over! I don't know if that is where you saw me but after that I was not myself and I went down a lot!

 

[Tom Dixon]

I was cruisin across the corn field section at about 35-40, bike pinged off some rocks and I went over!

It really sucks doesn't it!! Luckily you made out with just minor injuries!

 

[Smit-Dog]

Results posted here...

http://www.dirtrider.net/forums3/showthread.php?p=951560#post951560

Looks like some corrections may need to be made...

 

[wolverine]

Whats up with giving me 1st place in senior B class W/ 76 points then posting results with me in last place with NC?.....whats NC mean anyway?...

DW

 

[Don Marsh]

Duane,
Welcome to the world of Enduro points keeping! By the end of the season at the banquet you will know what the standings are. I not trying to bash the points keeper it primarly is the clubs.
Don

 

[Smit-Dog]

I believe NC means No Card, as in a score card was not collected at the end. Contact the club to get it corrected.

 

[wolverine]

Thats really odd...Hell Mark Becker seen my card hanging on the board in the C class then I told them they made a mistake and then they moved it to the B class. I dont think they would have handed me a 1st place trophy if they they didnt see my score card. Well this alt to be really interesting......

DW

 

[Smit-Dog]

It's just that with around 200 riders and 3 districts to deal with, there's bound to be some oversights. I'm sure they'll get it corrected once it's brought to their attention.

 

[wolverine]

True statement Smitdog. I sent an email to the club this morning and they sent one back stating they are gonna look into it.

DW

 

[wolverine]

Should I hang on to my score cards until the end of the season?...I've been making 2 point conversion shots with them.

DW