National Enduro Series - 2007

[fatherandson]

The AMA Congress is meeting today to discuss rule changes and schedules for 2007. If I get an advanced copy of the schedule, I will post it as soon as possible. I will be out of town this weekend and will not have email access until I get to work on Monday.

Some rule changes that are being considered for next year:

reducing the mileage between gas stops from 50 to 33 miles
and
reducing the required mileage for a National enduro from 85 to 65 miles.

The National Enduro Promotions Group will kick it into high gear after the schedule and rules are determined. I will do my best to keep everyone informed.

Please remember that the NEPG efforts will only affect the National series. D14 may choose to adopt SOME of the changes, but it will not be mandatory.

Mike

 

[Smit-Dog]

Are you going down for the meeting?

 

[fatherandson]

Are you going down for the meeting?

No, but I have sent Alan Randt an email about an update on the schedule and rule changes.

 

[Timr]

65 miles? Where's the endurance in that? I don't like the sound of that at all. :(

 

[Fred T]

65 miles? Where's the endurance in that? I don't like the sound of that at all. :(

Tim thats "minimum" mileage so land challenged promoters can get an enduro. Some events can kick your butt into submission with 65 miles.

 

[fatherandson]

65 miles? Where's the endurance in that? I don't like the sound of that at all. :(

Nick - is that you?? Could it be that the trail boss has a twin in the south?

 

[Timr]

Tim thats "minimum" mileage so land challenged promoters can get an enduro. Some events can kick your butt into submission with 65 miles.

Yes, I know that some short enduros can be very challenging...especially to us mortal "B" guys. But the true nature of a National should still be a LONG event, taking many hours to complete. We're only talking about 8 - 10 events here. So, the question becomes...do we really want/need a land challenged club to host a national. Nobody is stopping them from putting on a "short" enduro for their regional or district series. It's just that if they can't get 85 (used to be 89) ground miles then they don't qualify to host a national enduro. I don't see what the big deal is. Call me old school or traditional or whatever. I still don't like it.

You guys know that when you lower the minimum standard that over time the minimum standard becomes the standard. Look at the GNCC series. Plenty would argue that over time, the trails got wider and the races got shorter. The predecessor of the GNCC series was called the 100 miler series, because each race was 100 miles long, just like blackwater. Now, many of the races aren't even 3 hours for the pros. It's 6 laps of an approx 10 - 12 mile course; so 60 - 72 miles in length. That's over 25% shorter than they used to be. The same will happen here too. And the long 100 mile enduro will be the anomoly of the series, not the norm AND, it'll be the one that everyone but the pros will complain about.

OK, I feel better. I'm off my soapbox now. Please carry on with the regularly scheduled programming. :)

 

[INCA]

Timr - Your reluctance to change is understandable. Here is another change I heard about. All nationals would be closed course and restart format. How closed course is defined I don't know.

Life is always a changing and learning experience.

Young Ted

 

[bbarel]

How closed course is defined I don't know.

I think it just means you don't need license and lights, etc. Special permits can be had to run the "illegal" bikes down roads. Although I was not there I understand Harrisson this year was this "closed course" format, but still used roads. Works for me if they can swing it. I'd like to keep time-keeping, but can give that up if it saves the sport and makes it worth while for the clubs to go to the trouble to put them on because more ridders can attend.

 

[salgeek]

I think it just means you don't need license and lights, etc. Special permits can be had to run the "illegal" bikes down roads. Although I was not there I understand Harrisson this year was this "closed course" format, but still used roads. Works for me if they can swing it. I'd like to keep time-keeping, but can give that up if it saves the sport and makes it worth while for the clubs to go to the trouble to put them on because more ridders can attend.

bbarel - my observation is that lights are pretty much optional equipment at enduros National or otherwise.

I'd like to keep time-keeping, but can give that up if it saves the sport :cool:

 

[Timr]

Well...I had a long talk with Terry Cunningham (my childhood hero...4x National Enduro Champ...430 Husky Auto and white hi-point boots) about this very topic a few years ago. He agreed that our American format of enduro racing was worth preserving, but we both knew that the details of the "game"...computers and understanding how to ride possibles was a barrier to entry to people who just wanted to show up and go fast.

People can't handle the fact that the fastest rider doesn't always win...the smartest rider sometimes wins...sometimes the gambling rider wins...

Personally, I've always liked all of these aspects of this sport. A no-time keeping, restart only format means the end of real enduro racing. So, if that's going to be the format then the 65 mile thing is kinda irrelevant. (Yes, you can fit 6 - 8 special tests, that are started with restarts and very short transfer sections in 65 ground miles.)

It's a sad day for our sport. :(

My dad raced D-14 enduros when we moved to Michigan from Engand in the mid-70s. We moved to Texas and I raced my first enduro down there when I was 15. That race was put on by TRH and held on the same trail system where they still hold the Caney Creek National enduro. Fortunately, for me, I've been able to race enduros all across the southeast in something like 9 different states.

I've been on a self imposed break due to have very small kids and having to travel a lot for work. Sounds like enduro racing as we all knew it will not be there when I can get back into it. You know, rolling up to a restart and the starting a stop watch to see how long it takes to traverse a section and then adding up the elapsed times is called rally racing. It's huge in europe and the do it over then on motorcycles, not just in cars. I'm not saying that it won't be fun...it just won't be enduro racing with secret checks on various possibles, and debating on weather to go in hot, and knowing the various tendencies of the different clubs...and memorizing their terrain on their club grounds and learning where they like to place checks year after year.

I could go on and on.

 

[PoeBrian]

"It's a sad day for our sport." from Timr

I would say this statement is a little over-sensational!

Timr, this is really a matter of perspective. My friends and I are very new to enduro's in the last few years so we do not have the history I see you have. As a result we do not view these changes as "A sad day for our sport"! While we do very much enjoy the "traditional" enduro format of timekeeping we also very much enjoy the restart format. No less no more just different!

I can see your point from your perspective that these changes would be very dissappointing to you and others like you but for new racers like us it will not have that same impact. I think that is why they are making these changes. My guess is that they feel this is a way to possibly increase attendance. From what I understand attendance has been declining over time. Myself and 4 other guys 1st tried an enduro because it was restart format. We did not have any other friends to explain timekeeping yet so this was a great way to get us hooked!

I went to 7 Nationals this year. Of those 7 the Harrison race had the highest entries if I am not mistaken. They used this new format and it was awesome!

I would also guess if there more guys like you still racing and attendance was higher they may not feel a need to make any changes!!!

All a matter of perspective!

 

[fatherandson]

Brian, I could not have said it better myself. It is all a matter of perspective.

Tim, I too recall Terry Cunningham and Team Husky racing through the woods at a National event with 400-500 racers. I am also a traditionalist who wants timekeeping to be a part of enduros. I know you participate in the SETRA enduros that has many racers, but....

1) I was at an enduro this weekend that had less than 100 participants.

2) I was at a national enduro this year that had less than 150 participants.

Our sport is not thriving - as is.

EVERYONE needs to understand the changes to the National Enduros will not require changes to local events. D14 will still have timekeeping events.

The goal of NEPG is get attendance to the National enduros back to the 300-400 range and that will attract more sponsors to this series.

 

[Timr]

I know. Everything Brian said is true...I even agree with it...I just don't like it.

There's aspects of our sport that people who really understand it enjoy. For example, I remember my first real enduro...when I was in college and knew enough to kinda understand what was going on. I was a newbie in my DB club and I was riding on a row with our club prez and the 250A champion. We were riding in a little hot and peaking around trees and stopping and listening and working our way through the section before hitting the "going in" check. It was then that I realized that this was also a thinking man's game.

After that, I jumped off of that row and found a club member to mentor me. He taught me how to prep my roll chart, how to study the details and figure out what the club was thinking. Over spagetthi in the motorhome the night before, we would break down the race and mark places on the roll chart where we though we might gamble. After that, two events stand out in my head.

First, at a race down in gulfport miss, I saw my mentor up ahead of me through the trees. I put my head down and closed the gap to his wheel. when I caught, him, I wondered why we weren't going faster. Then I looked down at my computers and noticed that we were on time. shortly there after, we hit a check. I had just zeroed my first 24mph check out! (Of course, the course wasn't real tight and that check wouldn't mean too much in the grand scheme of the results. But it was a milestone in my young enduro career.) turns out a bunch of people got lost in that section so the lack of points there helped me trophy that day.

Second. At an enduro in Wiggins, MS, I decided to take a big gamble by myself and it payed off. At the reset on the other side of the test, the club prez came over to look at my card and was flabbergasted that I had beat him through that section by over 3 mins! In fact, he was so flustered that he burned a going in check later in the day! :)

These are the things that I will miss when the format changes.

Mike, those numbers are sad. You've been down here, so you've seen that attendance at SETRA, or SERA or FTR is not as bad as those events that you described. :(

I see that they added NATRA (West point TN) and Maplesville to the National list this year. Both of those are SERA/SETRA races and I bet there will be 300+ at both events.

I noticed that Georgia and Trail Riders of Houston are not on the list this year. And, it's been a few years since Acadiana Louisiana has been on the list too.

 

[fatherandson]

The SERA and SETRA events have already done what we are starting to do in the Great Lakes area....having to travel to other states in order to have a complete season. I think the days of having a district/state champion may be coming to an end as D14, 15, 16, and 17 continue to share events.

Here is a complete copy of the 2007 schedule. I think the AMA has done a good job of getting races in the East, West, North and South. I think it is more fair to all riders and should be more attractive to sponsors. We were spoiled last year having 5 nationals in the Midwest.

2007 AMA / FMF National Enduro
Championship Series Schedule

Round 1
February 4, 2007
Barnwell Promotions
Gary Hazel
604 S. Washington
Marshall, TX 75670
903-938—0570
[email protected]
LOC: BMRA / Barnwell Recreation Area

Round 2
February 25, 2007
Salinas Ramblers M.C.
Charlotte Gomes
100 Chaparral St
Salinas, CA 93906
(831) 594-6136
[email protected]
www.salinasramblersmc.org
LOC: Clear Creek, CA

Round 3
April 1, 2006
Tri-County Sportsmen M.C.
Eldin Polhamus
PO Box 146
Port Elizabeth, NJ 08348
(856) 785-2754
[email protected]
www.teamhammer.org
LOC: Port Elizabeth, NJ

Round 4
April 29, 2006
Missouri Mudders
Michael Silger
1125 Guthrie Road
Wentzville, MO 63385
(636) 639-6373
[email protected]
www.blackjackenduro.com
LOC: Park Hills, MO

Round 5
May 12, 2007
North Bay M.C.
Brad Seder
P.O. Box G
Fulton, CA 95439
707-539-7030
[email protected]
LOC: Mendocino National Forest

Round 6
August 5, 2007
Buzzard M.C.
Jamie Lipovsky
800 S Clare Ave
Harrison, MI 48625
(989) 539-3047
[email protected]
www.buzzardmotorcycleclub.4t.com
LOC: Harrison, MI

Round 7
September 23, 2007
NATRA
Paul Traufler
111 Emerald Dr.
Harvest, AL 35749
256-837-0084
[email protected]
www.natra.dirtrider.net
LOC: West Point, TN

Round 8
November 4, 2007
Perry Mountain M.C.
Glen Hollingshead
100 Cog Hill Rd.
Valley Grande, AL 36703
334-872-0619
[email protected]
www.perrymountain.com
LOC: Maplesville, AL