Leapin Lisa's First Enduro

[Girlrider]

This past weekend was the school/ladies enduro that I did in Nebraska. There were 6 women and a 15 year old boy as well as myself and my ever so patient husband (He was our sweep guy). Leapin Lisa was our only DRN participant and the best of the 6 riders. On Saturday I had planned to get together with the women to go over bike set up, rules, etc. . . but since it was raining the WHOLE day I handed out the jerseys, told them basic rules and said I will see you tomorrow morning. (It was too wet and cold to sit outside and go over the other things.) Sunday morning I could see that most of the girls were nervous and rightfully so. Nebraska is one of the harder enduro's with a lot of tight, off-chamber sections, gullies and hills and when it rains then it is twice as hard. Sunday was sunny but the rain had already done it's damage on Saturday. We all started on rows 60,61 and 62. I played cat and mouse going between the riders helping them when needed and my husband stayed back with one slow but VERY determined lady on an XR 200 that was a bear to start. Lisa was on row 60 so I sent her and another girl (Wendy) off into the trail first and I stayed back to wait for the others. I helped the others on a little hill that Lisa and Wendy made on their own then I raced ahead to check on Lisa and Wendy. They were several miles ahead but in a gully that you had to come out of, go over a very slimmy tree root and back into the gully. Lisa had trouble getting over the root so she was back tracking a little to find another way out when I got to her. I did help her out of this situation and away she went. Then a little further down the gully I came to a bottle neck. There were about 6 men, Lisa and Wendy trying to figure out how to get through a mud hole and out the gully that was slick. I cut around them all, rode out the gully and then came back to ride their bikes out. Lisa was going to do it but Wendy told her to just wait for me. I grabbed Lisa's bike, rode it out and then came back for Wendy's bike. (I rode 3 bikes out and the men just sat there and watched. I have no idea why they didn't try it.) Wendy was on a TTR125 and that was a little harder because the clearance is not as good on it and the engine cased the groove as I was trying to come out. I picked the front tire up to lift it out just as Wendy came up behind and shoved me hard enough that away I went. Lisa and Wendy took off and I stayed back to wait for the others to get them through. The 15 year old was on a XR 650. Talk about a PIG bike that won't start. Once I got everyone through I was off to catch up and found Wendy but no Lisa. At this point I think Lisa was getting more confident and was trying the hard stuff and making it. We went several miles not seeing her when we got to another bottleneck at a steep rocky hill. I thought for sure I would see Lisa there but she had gotten up it with a little help from her husband. Yea, funny thing is her husband was helping one of his friends do his first enduro. They started 12 minutes ahead of Lisa and she had now caught them. She knew she was close to houring out so she hauled butt to the next check, unfortunately she was 18 minutes late and they were stopping us. I got the bikes up the hill and when we got to the check we were 30 something minutes late. About 30 or more riders houred out because it was difficult.

Any rate I was proud of all the ladies for finding the courage to start. Lisa now knows what to expect and will find her second enduro to be more fun.

A BIG thanks to Moose for donating a jersey to everyone and tons of stickers....

Oregon Ladies, get ready it will be fun!!!

 

[bbbom]

Originally posted by Girlrider
(I rode 3 bikes out and the men just sat there and watched. I have no idea why they didn't try it.)

Maybe they were hoping you'd get their bikes out for them too! ;)

Sounds like a great time Nicole! Way to go Lisa, when is your next Enduro?

 

[CJ Rider]

Hmmm. I can't decide whether I'm glad I missed this one or not; LOL! You folks that braved this enduro probably learned a whole lot about yourselves and your bikes. I AM sorry I missed meeting ya'll! One thing that's always been true when I've been confronted with some difficult obstacle/terrain/weather is that it always looks smaller/easier/more doable the next time around. Dunno why that it, but it is. I'm sure that riding THIS enduro will make the NEXT one that much easier!!!

 

[Leapin Lisa]

LEAPIN LISA'S VERSION:

My nerves started making me sick to my stomach on Saturday morning when I woke up to snow on the ground and 30 degrees outside. Our road trip was not exactly smooth because there was ice and snow on the highway and as we traveled with three bikes on our trailer, I almost lost my breakfast when we started sliding on a bridge. Now I had something REAL to be nervous about, would we get there in one piece? We drove through rain, snow showers and fog the whole way down to Nebraska, which is a seven-hour trip.

Once we pulled into Chadron, it was raining there, and I got to experience walking in Nebraska mud in the parking lot of the fairgrounds. :scream: It was the slimiest stuff I think I have ever walked on and it seemed to build up on your shoes as you walked.

Nicole gave us a quick rundown of what the rules were on Saturday afternoon and handed out Bright Orange Moose jerseys for each of us ladies, and some really HUGE stickers from Moose and said she'd see us in the morning. I'm glad she gave me a couple of Tylenol PM tablets so I was able to sleep that night.

Sunday morning I was so nervous I could hardly eat anything. I choked down a few eggs and two granola bars and that was it. My husband was concerned and bought two Snickers and two small bags of M&Ms for me to carry in my tool pack because he said I needed to eat more. At the start of the race, Nicole looks over at me and says, you look white! If she had any idea I was about to puke all over her, she never would have said that. I was shaking so bad I didn't know if I was going to be able to hang onto my bike.

We were off at the start. Our number was 60, so we left at 9:00 a.m. There were quite a few miles of gravel road which was great to just calm the nerves and get the feel of my bike. When I saw the pines, I knew it was time to ride the single track, and I really do like riding single track trails.

I had some trouble at a hill that had a tree stump hanging out of it just about at the top. I got hung up on the stump and rather than waiting for someone to come along and help, I drug my bike to the bottom to see if there was another way around it. Along came Wendy and suggested that I just wait because Nicole was behind, and she would help us. Nicole came and rode my bike up and over with no problem. I ran after her and jumped back on my bike and off I went again.

A while later I crashed on the trail and Wendy passed me. She asked if I was okay and I yelled at her to keep going, I'd be fine. She crashed a little bit later and I passed her. I sure felt like a heel passing her and leaving her laying there next to her bike. She assured me she was okay, and off I went again.

My next hangup was the bottleneck with the slimy mud and rocky, tree-root infested hill to climb out of a gully. I saw a lady from our group who had crashed and another person was helping her through, and just as I was about to look for another way around, Wendy caught up to me and I heard her say again that Nicole was behind us and she would help, just to wait. Sure enough, here comes Nicole, right on cue. She grabbed my bike and rode it through that area with ease. (You can't believe how easy she makes all this stuff look!) I had difficulty traversing the terrain getting to my bike and was winded by the time I did get to it. Nicole told me to hit anything like that in second gear from now on, and off she went to help Wendy through.

I jumped back onto my bike and rode as hard and fast as I dare. Who do I see next, but my husband with Bryce (They were number 48, and I was number 60.) It was Bryce's first enduro, too. I was so shocked that I came upon them that I almost crashed when they yelled GO, LISA!!!

The next really dumb thing I did was listen to a man who I met coming on the trail the WRONG way. He said there was a terrible hill that about 50 people were stuck on and couldn't get up. I decided to turn around. How stupid was this? Very. I ran into my husband and Bryce, and they said, "What in the HECK are you doing? You have to go this way. I have no idea what I was thinking! I turned around and caught them. My husband Dave got his bike up the mean hill with roots, rocks and mud, and Bryce told me to go ahead. I chose my line and gassed it. I made it a little over half way and my wonderful husband took my bike and rode it up the rest of the way to the top of the hill for me. I jumped back on and rode my heart out to try to keep from houring out.

When I reached the next check, (Number 4) the lady put her hand on my shoulder and said, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but you've houred out, as she wrote 10:13 on my scorecard. :(

I was a little upset at first that I wasn't able to complete my first enduro event, but I have to say I feel very good about how I rode. I tried obstacles that I wouldn't have in a normal trail ride with my husband, so it was a good experience.

When I got back to our truck, I pulled out the Snickers my husband, Dave, bought me earlier that morning, and you know what? That was the BEST Snickers I have ever tasted in my life.

Thanks to Girlrider (Nicole) and her husband (Ben) for taking a weekend out of their busy lives to help us ladies experience this enduro. :cool:

 

[Michelle]

Congratulations Lisa :) Sounds like you did good (both versions lol).

Over here in one enduro series, they've got a scheme where no women hour out, I guess just to encourage more to get into them. I doubt if it's the case in any other class, probably just the women's. They get penalties, so won't really come anywhere but in the last part of the field, but at least they can say they've finished.

Congratulations for even starting and be proud of that fact.
Michelle