Wintermute
Member
- Jul 7, 2005
- 51
- 0
LoriKTM and I rode the Rattlesnake enduro in Cross Fork, PA. Lori has been working hard to try and finish these enduros. She usually hours out about halfway through. Her first enduro finish came at last years Beehive enduro in southern New Jersey. Which was very cool for her but didn't quite count as a "real" east coast enduro finish since its south Jersey and EVERYBODY finishes the Beehive, it really truly is C rider friendly.
Lori and I rode the 'Snake like 4 years ago and she only made it 1/2 way before the combination of heat and trail wore her out so bad she could barely stay on her bike. The Rattlesnake is usually one of the easier east coast events but has enough rock and tight trees to qualify as a "real" east coast enduro. (At least by our standards:)). This year Lori was riding to finish and make as many resets as possible with time to spare.
You pretty much have to camp when you go to the 'Snake because it is seriously out in the middle of nowhere PA. Plus the town is super tiny, so there aren't a lot of hotel rooms to be had. That's OK though 'cause its usually plenty warm enough to camp and BER knows how to entertain the campers.
We pulled in about mid-afternoon and cruised the pits looking for other STER club members after bumping into the 2nd carload of club members to arrive we settled on a spot and set up camp. After awhile we've got 5 or 6 carloads of riders and families. I have a moment of panic when I realize that the headlight on my KTM isn't working. :yikes: Lori verifies that the taillight is OK, so I pull the headlight and discover that at some point an impact had pushed the headlight against the steering stem and bent off one of the terminals on the head lamp. I twist the connector around to cover the other two terminals and use the other element and we're back in business.
At 7:00 BER starts the entertainment.:laugh: Its time for the grass track fiddy race! Parts flew. Stakes were taken out, Riders were taken out, and a blow-up doll won a new tire. A good time was had by all. The BER guys had another treat up their sleeve though, fireworks. Not your HUGE July 4th show but very impressive none the less.
We did keep our eyes open for Farmer John all afternoon and all evening but we never did see him. At this point we're starting to wonder if he's going to make it.
6:30am rolls around, Lori and I have gotten a halfway decent amount of sleep which is about all I can ask for since I rarely sleep well before and enduro. We gear up and go get some pancakes. Lori's cant finish her pancakes on account of a raging case of butterflies.
Still no sign of Farmer John.
We got signed up on minute 36 so about 20 after 8 we're fired up and headed to the line for tech and the start. The other two riders on our minute are bereft of clue. I give them a few quick pointers, or at least as much help as I can give two guys with virtually no timekeeping equipment four minutes before we start.
We pull up to the line and 5..4..3..2..1..and we're off at a 24mph speed average, eep. A quick shuffle through 30 yards worth of trees and I break out into the huge grasstrack, time to moto. I check my computer a couple of times on the grasstrack and I'm not only still on my minute but I'm making up time, suhweeeeet. Man is this grass track ever long, (cough) and dusty. We have been having a really dry summer and there is a standing cloud of dust over most of the grass track. The track seems to end in a straightaway along a line of pines which ends in a sharp left into the trees. Its like a tunnel in here, pines to the right pines to the left and planted in arrow straight rows. after a couple of sharp tight turns the course makes a run down one of the rows and pops out onto . . . MORE GRASSTRACK?!?!?!
OK. more grasstrack. I'm motoring hard trying to avoid getting passed and having to suck a bunch of dust right off the start. We go up and down, 180 left, 180 right, jumping over runoff ridges. A few more turns a long straight and we're into the trees.
Ow man this trail is rough and my forearms are pumping up. Arrrgh. I settle down and try to find my woods groove but the rough trail is beating me up. Now we're dropping minutes. After a bunch of rough beat up trail we are sent down a chute and into a veritable forest of tight planted pine trees. It's dark in here, like riding into a tunnel, and there's very little manuvering room. After a few turns I come up on one of the club guys from minute 33, I recognize him because he's got to be the only one on a Suzuki DRZ dual sport. He crams his bike into the outside of a corner to let me by as I go I give him the club cheer; "No one drinks more beer than Southern Tier."
I pop out of the trees at around mile 6 and lo and behold there's the check. 6 minutes down. Not bad given the physical impossibility of maintaining 24 mph in a half grown pine forest. I roll out of the check and pull up to the reset at mile 6.5. It's a 20 minute reset, the first of six we would get, so I've got plenty of time to adjust my computer and wait for lori to pop out of the trees.
While I'm waiting I try to clear my arm pump by holding my arms up over my head and opening and closing my hands. The section of trail I'm sitting on while I do this is along side one part of the grasstrack, I get to sit there in the dust as the last of the minutes work their way through. I'm glad when after just a couple of minutes I see a sweep rider come over the crest of the hill. He sees me and starts heading my way. I'm still flexing my hands trying to let my forearms bleed down. Doh, the sweep probably thinks I'm signaling for help. I shout "Arm Pump" as he pulls up and he nods and rides off. My arms are starting to feel better tho.
Lori pops out of the trees with plenty of time to spare on the reset so she pulls up for a rest. We confer on our strategy for the rest of the ride, and we agree that I'm going to ride like I do when we trail ride. Ride my pace and periodically stop and wait for her to catch up and then I take off again. This works better than me following her as she gets stressed out from hearing me back there.
Still no sign of Farmer John.
We get a good rest and then fire up and head out as our minute comes up. The next bit is all gravel road so we get a chance to rest. After a while we catch the other two guys on our minute, they had ridden past the reset and were waiting partway into the gravel road section before stopping to figure out whether or not they were on time.
After a while we turn into the woods, zero the check in and go riding into the next major section. It's all tight trees. Precious few passing opportunities (mainly a problem for trying to get out of the way of those coming up behind us). Its fun trail but so tight there's no way were any where close to the 24 mph speed average. We dice our way through. The KTM 450 is very effective, even in these tight quarters, though the weight does make itself appearant when you have to thread the machine through the trees. We're losing time. I watch as the computer counts up to -20:00 and beyond. Well there goes that reset I just hope this section doesn't go on too much longer. We pop out of the trees at 22 minutes down. We get 20 back for the reset immediatly after the check and we're on a road section. WooHoo no problem making up time.
We move out, it's a good long bit of gravel road. After a few minutes we pass the other two guys on our minute again. Only this time they're on the side of the road working on one of the bikes. Bad sign. Another mile or two and we turn on to a paved road with a 45 mph speed limit. We are on zero again in no time. We turn off the blacktop onto another gravel road that climbs up into the hills. After a few minutes we catch a guy who is struggling with a flat tire. The back of his bike is waving all over the road. We're on zero so I hang back to avoid getting pelted with gravel. After another couple of miles of gravel roads we've made it to the 1st gas available and another 20 minute reset. :aj:
(Y'all are just going to have to wait. . .as this is To Be Continued).
Lori and I rode the 'Snake like 4 years ago and she only made it 1/2 way before the combination of heat and trail wore her out so bad she could barely stay on her bike. The Rattlesnake is usually one of the easier east coast events but has enough rock and tight trees to qualify as a "real" east coast enduro. (At least by our standards:)). This year Lori was riding to finish and make as many resets as possible with time to spare.
You pretty much have to camp when you go to the 'Snake because it is seriously out in the middle of nowhere PA. Plus the town is super tiny, so there aren't a lot of hotel rooms to be had. That's OK though 'cause its usually plenty warm enough to camp and BER knows how to entertain the campers.
We pulled in about mid-afternoon and cruised the pits looking for other STER club members after bumping into the 2nd carload of club members to arrive we settled on a spot and set up camp. After awhile we've got 5 or 6 carloads of riders and families. I have a moment of panic when I realize that the headlight on my KTM isn't working. :yikes: Lori verifies that the taillight is OK, so I pull the headlight and discover that at some point an impact had pushed the headlight against the steering stem and bent off one of the terminals on the head lamp. I twist the connector around to cover the other two terminals and use the other element and we're back in business.
At 7:00 BER starts the entertainment.:laugh: Its time for the grass track fiddy race! Parts flew. Stakes were taken out, Riders were taken out, and a blow-up doll won a new tire. A good time was had by all. The BER guys had another treat up their sleeve though, fireworks. Not your HUGE July 4th show but very impressive none the less.
We did keep our eyes open for Farmer John all afternoon and all evening but we never did see him. At this point we're starting to wonder if he's going to make it.
6:30am rolls around, Lori and I have gotten a halfway decent amount of sleep which is about all I can ask for since I rarely sleep well before and enduro. We gear up and go get some pancakes. Lori's cant finish her pancakes on account of a raging case of butterflies.
Still no sign of Farmer John.
We got signed up on minute 36 so about 20 after 8 we're fired up and headed to the line for tech and the start. The other two riders on our minute are bereft of clue. I give them a few quick pointers, or at least as much help as I can give two guys with virtually no timekeeping equipment four minutes before we start.
We pull up to the line and 5..4..3..2..1..and we're off at a 24mph speed average, eep. A quick shuffle through 30 yards worth of trees and I break out into the huge grasstrack, time to moto. I check my computer a couple of times on the grasstrack and I'm not only still on my minute but I'm making up time, suhweeeeet. Man is this grass track ever long, (cough) and dusty. We have been having a really dry summer and there is a standing cloud of dust over most of the grass track. The track seems to end in a straightaway along a line of pines which ends in a sharp left into the trees. Its like a tunnel in here, pines to the right pines to the left and planted in arrow straight rows. after a couple of sharp tight turns the course makes a run down one of the rows and pops out onto . . . MORE GRASSTRACK?!?!?!
OK. more grasstrack. I'm motoring hard trying to avoid getting passed and having to suck a bunch of dust right off the start. We go up and down, 180 left, 180 right, jumping over runoff ridges. A few more turns a long straight and we're into the trees.
Ow man this trail is rough and my forearms are pumping up. Arrrgh. I settle down and try to find my woods groove but the rough trail is beating me up. Now we're dropping minutes. After a bunch of rough beat up trail we are sent down a chute and into a veritable forest of tight planted pine trees. It's dark in here, like riding into a tunnel, and there's very little manuvering room. After a few turns I come up on one of the club guys from minute 33, I recognize him because he's got to be the only one on a Suzuki DRZ dual sport. He crams his bike into the outside of a corner to let me by as I go I give him the club cheer; "No one drinks more beer than Southern Tier."
I pop out of the trees at around mile 6 and lo and behold there's the check. 6 minutes down. Not bad given the physical impossibility of maintaining 24 mph in a half grown pine forest. I roll out of the check and pull up to the reset at mile 6.5. It's a 20 minute reset, the first of six we would get, so I've got plenty of time to adjust my computer and wait for lori to pop out of the trees.
While I'm waiting I try to clear my arm pump by holding my arms up over my head and opening and closing my hands. The section of trail I'm sitting on while I do this is along side one part of the grasstrack, I get to sit there in the dust as the last of the minutes work their way through. I'm glad when after just a couple of minutes I see a sweep rider come over the crest of the hill. He sees me and starts heading my way. I'm still flexing my hands trying to let my forearms bleed down. Doh, the sweep probably thinks I'm signaling for help. I shout "Arm Pump" as he pulls up and he nods and rides off. My arms are starting to feel better tho.
Lori pops out of the trees with plenty of time to spare on the reset so she pulls up for a rest. We confer on our strategy for the rest of the ride, and we agree that I'm going to ride like I do when we trail ride. Ride my pace and periodically stop and wait for her to catch up and then I take off again. This works better than me following her as she gets stressed out from hearing me back there.
Still no sign of Farmer John.
We get a good rest and then fire up and head out as our minute comes up. The next bit is all gravel road so we get a chance to rest. After a while we catch the other two guys on our minute, they had ridden past the reset and were waiting partway into the gravel road section before stopping to figure out whether or not they were on time.
After a while we turn into the woods, zero the check in and go riding into the next major section. It's all tight trees. Precious few passing opportunities (mainly a problem for trying to get out of the way of those coming up behind us). Its fun trail but so tight there's no way were any where close to the 24 mph speed average. We dice our way through. The KTM 450 is very effective, even in these tight quarters, though the weight does make itself appearant when you have to thread the machine through the trees. We're losing time. I watch as the computer counts up to -20:00 and beyond. Well there goes that reset I just hope this section doesn't go on too much longer. We pop out of the trees at 22 minutes down. We get 20 back for the reset immediatly after the check and we're on a road section. WooHoo no problem making up time.
We move out, it's a good long bit of gravel road. After a few minutes we pass the other two guys on our minute again. Only this time they're on the side of the road working on one of the bikes. Bad sign. Another mile or two and we turn on to a paved road with a 45 mph speed limit. We are on zero again in no time. We turn off the blacktop onto another gravel road that climbs up into the hills. After a few minutes we catch a guy who is struggling with a flat tire. The back of his bike is waving all over the road. We're on zero so I hang back to avoid getting pelted with gravel. After another couple of miles of gravel roads we've made it to the 1st gas available and another 20 minute reset. :aj:
(Y'all are just going to have to wait. . .as this is To Be Continued).
