Enduro Riders are TOUGH

[TCTrailrider]

Finally made the plunge and did my first ever competition. Wolverine-Harrison 2 day enduro. Bike and rider completed the ride both with a fiew extra dings. Realized that selling insurance for a living is not proper conditioning and ORV single track is like a highway. That was some great stuff. Looking forward to another but not before some serious conditioning. Two of the Harrison sections wiped me out and finishing was a win. You enduro guys are tough. :cool:

 

[YZMAN400]

Cool deal. Glad you made it thru in 1 piece. At least you have the guts to try one. More than I can say for myself.

 

[fatherandson]

TC - good to meet you! Hope to see you on the trail again (ORV or enduro).

You have ridden the BEST trail in the lower pennisula. Unfortunately, we are forced to put it on private land in order to have access to it.

Mike Jr.

 

[PoeBrian]

I agree that enduro riders are one of the toughest of all 2 wheeled racers! That was my 2nd ever enduro race(my 1st was Wolverine 2000) and it was without a doubt one of the most fun challenging competitive events I have ever participated in!!! The trail was no question the best in Lower Penn. It was good practice for Marquette. For those who love challenging trail it was to bad the C riders did not get to ride that 8 mile section on Sat. It was hard core!

It was great to put a faces to a few names over the weekend. I hope to meet more of you in the future. One thing I thought was humbling and cool was at the trophy presentation the only girl who appeared to be in her early teens and a guy who was in masters class(over 60) both did better than I by a few points over the weekend. I could not believe it! Very impressive! I just hope I can throw a leg over a bike when I am 60.
Another thing I noticed was the general concern and care for other riders even during the race. I crashed once and lost fluid in my clutch line. While I was working on it half was thru that 8 mile section on Sat. several other riders asked if I was okay. I was surprised and thought that was pretty cool!
The one thing I sucked at more than anything was getting out of the freakin' way for the super fast guys in a efficient and safe manner for everyone. I crashed more trying to get out of the way in that dang tight hardwood stuff than I did when I was on my own. That wore me out more than anything. The later in the race it got the dumber I got. My brain would not send the correct messages to the rest of my body parts. I cannot believe I was the only that this happened to. After the race I felt I should go up to all those guys and apologize to them. I know I owe the Zambon boys a big "sorry bout that". I wondered if anyone else was having the same experience. Me and my buddies raced on the same min. and we laughed all the way back to Ohio, in between naps of course!

Thanks to all that helped with advice!

I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did!

 

[Fred T]

Poebrian it was nice to meet you and i hope you may return. I think you will like Marquette and it will be a tough one too. I seem to be meeting more people with my neck brace on as they figure out it must be me. Glae every one had a great ride, I sure wish I could have rode it. :ahhh:

 

[wolverine]

2 enduro's back to back makes up for one tuff weekend!..I didn't think much about seeing broken plastic laying here & there on the ground....BUT when I seen a broken bark buster..Well that caught my attention!...My son & I were counting our bruises on the way back to the house....It was like counting sheep at bed time!...lol..

Both clubs did a VERY good job on set up & operation!

Wonder how many rider had a tuff time negotiating the HUGE..DEEP..mud bog on the road connector???....

Anyhow Cody & I had a blast!! The club in Wolverine let Cody {C junior} run the 8mi. section for the A&B with me...And in its duration he was able to come up on me to see me picking up my bike with rubber legs after an un-poetic dismount due to a poor judgment call...go figure....He repeated the words back to me that I have always say to him..You got to be smooth Dad or you'll ruin your summer! Gota love it...You just gota love it.

See ya all at Marquette. DW

 

[Magoo]

It was great to see PoeBrian and the boys stepping up! You guys are good riders and great guys; I hope to see you at more enduros!
TCTrailrider, welcome to the great sport of enduro! Since you thought that the 2 day event was fun, you'll have no problem with any enduro you'll enter. You always (well almost always) get the best trail at enduros!
I had fun, did much better Sat than Sun. I guess I gotta work on my conditioning, too! A great trail anyways, and congrats to all you fast guys (Nate Zambon, FarmerT, Napper, Loctite, SmitDog, etc).
I look forward to seeing everyone at a very special Loose Moose event this year! ;)

 

[TeamFrog]

Finally made the plunge and did my first ever competition. Wolverine-Harrison 2 day enduro. Bike and rider completed the ride both with a fiew extra dings. Realized that selling insurance for a living is not proper conditioning and ORV single track is like a highway. That was some great stuff. Looking forward to another but not before some serious conditioning. Two of the Harrison sections wiped me out and finishing was a win. You enduro guys are tough. :cool:

I'll second that! This was also my first ever competion and I had a blast. It cost me my stock pipe but it was well worth it. At first I thought it was just a few dents but upon closer inspection while conducting a Battle Damage Assessment, I realized that the neck of the pipe is kinked. Oh well, guess it's time to step up to something with a little more snap.

Special thanks to Smit-Dog (and Zack) for letting me tag along and showing me the ropes on my first race. Also thanks to KTM Mike for letting me be his shadow (if I could keep up) during the race. It was great to finally meet you guys and so many others during the weekend.

That course was awesome. I thought my arms were going to fall off during the 7.5 mile section on day two. That section just kept going and going. Brutal!!! Bottom line...I'm hooked.

Jeff

 

[TeamFrog]

Smit-Dog...I knew it!!!

For those who love challenging trail it was to bad the C riders did not get to ride that 8 mile section on Sat. It was hard core!

Even though I'm still recovering from my first ever two day torture session, I left the race wondering what that section would have been like. I was telling Smit-Dog before the race that I would hate to be cheated out of some hard-core trail by racing in the C class. Smit-Dog laughed and said that I had the right idea. Probably best that I didn't run that section as I was fully humbled by the rest of the course but I would have liked to know if I could have handled it.

Jeff

 

[wolverine]

You could of handled it {you made it through 2 days!}, but it might have tuckered ya out for the last reset scoring section.

Dewayne

 

[DanAKAL]

Bike and rider completed the ride both with a fiew extra dings.

I've ridden enduros and hare scrambles since I was in high school. Anyone who can say this after an enduro, especially their first, is a winner!! There is nothing like riding to condition yourself for racing. I've tried it all and while exercise will help there is just nothing like riding. Glad you finished, this is what we all try to achieve.

Dan

 

[KTM Mike]

Most people I know (non enduro riders) would say we are simply all NUTS!

I must say this was with out a doubt the most FUN enduro I have done so far! As most of you know I am a slow poke - my goal for each event I have done is to simply finish - and have fun along the way. This one maxed out the fun factor for me!

Saturday I kept thinking I gotta save some energy for Sunday (like you TC - I am a desk jockey in my job and way out of shape). I was also concerned about how my elbow would hold up (been dealing with a bad case of tendonitis). I am glad I did try to save some energy for Sunday, but I now realize I could of picked it up a bit. Overall things went well, and my elbow was not an issue. Being lazy and out of shape was though!.

The last section Saturday really sucked for me - I had NO rear brake at all. I had installed a brake light switch a few days prior (was preparing to have the bike inspected to get it plated) and evidently had not tightened the switch up well enough and lost all my brake fluid. I kept thinking I had totally screwed up my suspension set up - front end pushing through the corners etc. Turned out I simply was not slowing it down as much as I thought I was! I got that fixed Saturday night so Sunday went way better for me.

That one mud hole on Sunday - cant recall which section of trail it was - sucked me in quite well. The other mud hole on the return trip Saturday was fine for me - I got to see some other guys get hung up in it and took a better line!

PoeBrian - in the first few races I did, I really worried about getting out of the way of the fast guys - wasted tons of energy doing it as well. Now I make sure to get a later minute so most of the fast guys are ahead of me and have found I can easily fade out of ones behind me without causing them any troubles. SmitDog, Team Frog and I were on row 35 - only two guys behind us so did not have to worry to much about it. One of the two (SmitDog mentioned his name - I dont recall it) was rather quick - I could hear him come up on me and get out of his way each time (or at least I hope I did).

SmitDog was riding rather well from what i could see - he had better watch out or he will be getting moved up to B class next year! TeamFrog also did outstanding - his first enduro seemed to go rather well for him! He got past me in the very last section Sunday - (I blew past a corner), and he hit the grass track a few hundred yards ahead of me. I had a blast trying to reel him in on the grass track but his 300 would pull me on the straights. We finally ended with me less than 1/2 bike lenght behind - talk about a fun way to finish off the day!

The biggest downer was when I realized I had lost the keys to my truck (long stupid story) - so my wife had to drive a set of keys down to me! We did stop to eat in Harrison though and learned just how well some of the locals support this event. As we ate, this older women walked up to us noticing the event T Shirt I had on. I was prepared to hear some negative comment about us nasty dirt bikers - instead she blurts out "Did you crash in that real sandy section with the hills and such?" "We sure enjoy watching you guys - that sandy spot is on our property - we have sooo much fun watching all the bikes". I told her how much fun I had and she left saying "I hope you come back next year"! That is the kind of non riding people we need more of!

I hope to see more events done like this one was! I look forward to doing it again next year.

 

[INCA]

Mike - That was Dave Vandecar behind you on 36 and Steve Vollmer was the fourth one on 35 with you. I'll contact the Tallon rep to enlighten you on zippers.

To all that rode the event - Al Randt and Jamie Lipovski with their respective clubs, are the best in the enduro business. A better combination is not possible. As a side note - the last rider would have houred out at 4:18, trophy presentation started at 4:32 and was done by 4:48.

Young Ted

 

[bbarel]

To all that rode the event - Al Randt and Jamie Lipovski with their respective clubs, are the best in the enduro business. A better combination is not possible. As a side note - the last rider would have houred out at 4:18, trophy presentation started at 4:32 and was done by 4:48.

Young Ted

Amen Brother! Mark Trash Rider Becker scolded me for not being at the trophy presentation to see my bud Paul Bulldog Borden get his first 1st place B-vet trophy. I said what are you talking about there's no way they already gave out trophies! Man they had their **** together! I wish my bike hadn't broke down on Saturday cause I REALLY wanted one of those SWEET ee cnc milled trophies!

 

[Don Marsh]

It was a great enduro, thanks Alan & Jamie! and all who helped. Had a great time both days.
TC Trailrider, the hook is set glad you had a great time.
I had a much better ride on Sunday, dropping just as many points as Farmer Tom, so youth doesn't have anything on me other than recovery time!
It was great meeting & seeing everyone.
Sorry I had to bail so soon after the race, the wifes (the race Nazi) back was hurting her so I had to get her home quick. Congrats to all.
Can't wait until Marquette, NOT! :yikes:

 

[Loctite]

Just what an Enduro should be! Hats off to all who put the 2 day event. I really enjoyed the check in, check out format. I had an excellent time and luck was with me both days. Other than still pealing some maple bark off my forehead, I am healing up well. I have never seen a faster scoring and trophy presentation :cool:

Craig

 

[nzambon]

Well after making the short trip down from the queen city I must say the enduro was fun. Although it should have been harrison 1st wolverine 2nd but hey once a flat lander always a flatlander.For all you C riders who felt they were gipped on trail no worrys you will get your 2day enduro all in 1 day in marquette. Message from camp david bark buster we need to talk about that drop away contact trail boss nick asap

 

[Don Marsh]

Nick, just be careful with us "SS" riders this year!
Don

 

[Fred T]

Nick, just be careful with us "SS" riders this year!
Don

Nick
I say go ahead and bust their a$$ this year and then take it easier on them SS guys next year when I back riding., :rotfl:
I 'll see ya in marquette, ay?

 

[nzambon]

Its EH'

 

[Smit-Dog]

:cool:

What a great enduro! Two days of twistin’ trail, banging trees, and slogging through mud holes. The Stumper Jumpers, Buzzards, and Lansing Cycle/EE did an outstanding job on this event… Way to keep the bar high! The sign-up, scoring, checks, and awards presentation were all well executed. And the trophies… WOW…. Billet aluminum, anodized black, in the shape of an ICO computer… This piece of hardware is NOT going in garage workshop! Made a great Father’s Day a special event to remember. I really like when clubs come up with different and unique trophies like this.

The arrowing both days was top notch. The only time I missed a turn or couldn’t find the trail was towards the end of the woods section on the Heber farm. Attributed it to rider fatigue and delirium setting in, so decided against an official protest. ;)

This was TeamFrog’s first enduro, and by finishing, he did great. He was anxious to ride, and had all kinds of questions. After explaining how there might be designated cut-offs for A-B-C riders, he commented that he didn’t want to be cheated out of riding some good trail… I told him that he’s more than welcome to sign up for the A/B class! Should have seen the look on TeamFrog’s face at the awards presentation when he saw the girl that beat him… not only was she faster, but much prettier too! :bang:

Got to put some names to faces this weekend, which was cool…. BBarrel… you look faster in real life. Mark Becker is as witty as he writes. KTM Mike… good riding on the same minute with you. Both you and Trail Boss Nick had rear brake problems, but made it happen to ride on Sunday… way to git-r-done.

Thanks to Ted and Connie for working sign-up, running gas/food/water, and generally being a great asset to D-14. We’re lucky to have you guys around. Thanks also to Nazi Mom Deb M. for letting Zach hang out with her on Saturday… And finally thanks to Farmer Tom’s dad Dave for toting Zach around on Sunday.

Mini Slide Show…
http://community.webshots.com/slideshow?ID=375929012&key=NEreQF

See you at the MOOSE!!!

 

[michman]

All I can say who ever laid out the grass track on Sat. did an awesome job. That guy needs an award

 

[wolverine]

I hope Marquette is really really nasty...w/rain too!

Dewayne

 

[Magoo]

I hope Marquette is really really nasty...w/rain too!

Careful what you wish for...!

:debil:

 

[wolverine]

Are results posted anywhere yet?

Dewayne