Preparations Begin for 2010 ISDE in Mexico

[Kav]

http://dealernewsblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/preparations-begin-for-2010-isde-in-mexico/

By Guido

Preparations have begun for the 2010 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) to be held in Mexico. Franco Acerbis, founder and president of Acerbis S.p.A., recently met with the Mexican government and other interested parties to start preparations of the event. Acerbis met Luis Otero, from the Mexican Motorbike Federation, Alfredo del Mazo Maza, Mexican Secretary of Tourism and Alejandrina Becerril Monroy, General Director of Tourism, to discuss the possible venue for the event.

The selection has been narrowed to Guadalajara, capital city of the Mexican state of Jalisco; Toluca, a city located in the center of the country and a very important commercial site; or Tequila, a town, also in the state of Jalisco and famous for giving its name to the well-known drink. The venue decision will be made in February 2009.

2010 will be a very important year in Mexico, as the country celebrates the bicentennial of its independence. The 2010 ISDE, to be held Sept. 27-Oct. 2, will be the first time Mexico organizes the event, and the first time that Cuba will be able to participate as a team.

The ISDE is the oldest off-road motorcycle event on the FIM calendar. Over the six days and upwards of 1250 miles a rider must contend with strict rules about time allowances and restrictions on mechanical replacements, carrying out his or her own track-side repairs.

Titled the International Six Day Trial until 1980, the ISDE was first held in 1913 at Carlisle, England. The contest was always held in Europe until traveling to the United States in 1973.

Only two men’s teams from the U.S. have achieved trophy status during the past 20 years. In 1991, the four-man team of Steve Hatch, Jimmy Lewis, David Rhodes and Chris Smith took home the Junior Trophy following the event in Czechoslovakia. In 2006, the four-man team of Kurt Caselli, Ricky Dietrick, Russell Bobbitt and David Pearson took home the Junior Trophy following the event in New Zealand.

In 2007, the first-ever ISDE Women’s World Cup was won by Team USA. The team included riders Amanda Mastin, Nicole Bradford and Lacy Jones.

 

[SpeedyManiac]

I would strongly urge anyone interested to strongly consider going to the ISDE in 2010. It's an incredible experience (I've raced in Chile in 2007 and Greece in 2008) and with it being held in Mexico, it will actually be affordable. It's usually around $10000 to race the ISDE by the time you pay entry fees, accommodation, flights, get a bike (rent or ship), etc, etc. I figure for Mexico it will be roughly $5000-7000, maybe even cheaper. And if you can't race it, it's definitely worth going just to spectate. The top enduro racers are very impressive as they are probably the most versatile motorcycle racers in the world.

I'm already making plans to go.

 

[Kav]

I'm thinking I need to go to this. I missed out on going to New Zealand to watch the ISDE a few years ago. If nothing else it would be an awesome trip to Mexico. I'll have to keep an eye out in the AMA site to see if I can volunteer.

 

[dirt bike dave]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but by many accounts, things are not going so well in Mexico these days.

It is subject to travel warnings
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_3028.html

And Mexico is cited as one of the two most likely countries in the world to suffer sudden collapse. Pakistan is #1.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_11444354

Basically, the economy is tenuous, and alot could go very wrong in Mexico before the 2010 ISDE. So you might want to be careful about investing a large amount of upfront $ in a trip that you later have to cancel for safety reasons.

 

[SpeedyManiac]

I learned long ago that government travel warnings are overly cautious and easily ignored. As long as there's no wars/major disruptions going on, anything else is manageable. According to the Australian government, travel to Canada isn't recommended due to the chance of being attacked by a bear, among other things. I've been living in bear country my entire life without being attacked...

 

[Patman]

Living close enough to see the changes over the years I would not have any issue going to the 2010 ISDE. It's taking place close to Mexico City and a few other major metro areas that unless there is a massive meltdown the Mexican government will have well under control. Most of the issues being propagandized by the US media are boarder town issues and while I can remember better times along the boarder it has never been a place I'd call safe like small town USA. :laugh: