Our Canadian trip started abput 10:30 PM Friday when we arrived to our rented cottage, a real nice place on a small inland fishing lake. Scott Rocher a Canadian enduro enthusiast got us the cottage and stayed there with us along with another club member named Doug.
The Corderoy Enduro runs FIM rules and is basically like a Qualifyer except you are going to lose trail marks too as well as special tests. When we got our routes sheets which were 2 full pages long we said screw it lets just follow the arrows and ride!
Saturday started out overcast and lightly raining on and off and it was cold. I was minute 8, Al was on 18 and Brian was on 36. Off I go not knowing what to expect and go off the arrows down the road almost immediately! I got back on course and bustyed butt to make the first check on my minute, so off I go again. The trail,s we were riding were snowmobile trails but not what you are used to around here in MI. The terrain there is very much like Marquette only this time of year far more moisture in the gorund, it was a mud fest for the most part. The snowmobile trails had rock climbs, rock ledges, boulders and was slick all over with mud to negotiate. I was getting passed quite a bit but at this point was not willing to hang it our on that stuff. I got to the next check like 5 minutes late. Brand X rules make my new number “13” off I go-no rest. Next section was much like th first one and on and on, very little single track the first day just gnarly rocky snowmobile trails and a special test. The special tests you just roill up to they write you down on a back up sheet and send you off-you gas it hard and they check you out 4 minutes later. I did pretty good on that special test, never fell and it was singletrack. They are not as good on the single track as the wide open stuff, I was catching guys that passed me on the wide open stuff. Well everything was going along fine, I thought I was learning and doing well and then I got stuck in a mud hole for 19 minutes. I was mud from top to bottom, took off the gloves and even had a bunch of mud in the bottom of my left boot. The hole I was in was 6 inches over my knees. I got going but went pretty slow to the finish, dropped one more point. Well that pretty much ended my chances of scoring well this weekend. I impounded my bike for the night. After every one got back off to the cabin we went for showers and food.
Sunday started out colder than Saturday and just as gloomy, it cleared up later in the day-misted on and off for a while but the ride was more fun. I got to get my bike 15 minutes before my minute left and look it over, it needed nothing but a bath and score card, it started right up (e start!) and off I went. We again started out on those same muddy, rock infested, slick, rutted snow mobile trails and being that I was out of it I went into full” trail rider mode” and just found a guy that was going a decent pace and followed him. Our scores showed it too as we were like 4 min down. I think I dropped another 5 at the next check and then the good stuff started-singletrack! There were cool special tests, singletrack stuff and I was starting to twist the throttle. I ended up riding near the guy leading my class, we talked at re starts and then I would match his scores in each section. I finished out the day with no problems and had a good time. We left as soon as every one got back and headed back home. It was cool, very different and technical riding that was fun.
The Corderoy Enduro runs FIM rules and is basically like a Qualifyer except you are going to lose trail marks too as well as special tests. When we got our routes sheets which were 2 full pages long we said screw it lets just follow the arrows and ride!
Saturday started out overcast and lightly raining on and off and it was cold. I was minute 8, Al was on 18 and Brian was on 36. Off I go not knowing what to expect and go off the arrows down the road almost immediately! I got back on course and bustyed butt to make the first check on my minute, so off I go again. The trail,s we were riding were snowmobile trails but not what you are used to around here in MI. The terrain there is very much like Marquette only this time of year far more moisture in the gorund, it was a mud fest for the most part. The snowmobile trails had rock climbs, rock ledges, boulders and was slick all over with mud to negotiate. I was getting passed quite a bit but at this point was not willing to hang it our on that stuff. I got to the next check like 5 minutes late. Brand X rules make my new number “13” off I go-no rest. Next section was much like th first one and on and on, very little single track the first day just gnarly rocky snowmobile trails and a special test. The special tests you just roill up to they write you down on a back up sheet and send you off-you gas it hard and they check you out 4 minutes later. I did pretty good on that special test, never fell and it was singletrack. They are not as good on the single track as the wide open stuff, I was catching guys that passed me on the wide open stuff. Well everything was going along fine, I thought I was learning and doing well and then I got stuck in a mud hole for 19 minutes. I was mud from top to bottom, took off the gloves and even had a bunch of mud in the bottom of my left boot. The hole I was in was 6 inches over my knees. I got going but went pretty slow to the finish, dropped one more point. Well that pretty much ended my chances of scoring well this weekend. I impounded my bike for the night. After every one got back off to the cabin we went for showers and food.
Sunday started out colder than Saturday and just as gloomy, it cleared up later in the day-misted on and off for a while but the ride was more fun. I got to get my bike 15 minutes before my minute left and look it over, it needed nothing but a bath and score card, it started right up (e start!) and off I went. We again started out on those same muddy, rock infested, slick, rutted snow mobile trails and being that I was out of it I went into full” trail rider mode” and just found a guy that was going a decent pace and followed him. Our scores showed it too as we were like 4 min down. I think I dropped another 5 at the next check and then the good stuff started-singletrack! There were cool special tests, singletrack stuff and I was starting to twist the throttle. I ended up riding near the guy leading my class, we talked at re starts and then I would match his scores in each section. I finished out the day with no problems and had a good time. We left as soon as every one got back and headed back home. It was cool, very different and technical riding that was fun.