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!