WoodsRider

Sponsoring Member<BR>Club Moderator
Damn Yankees
Oct 13, 1999
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I’m sure Daniel Joseph has been eagerly awaiting this post, so he can rub it in my face. Let me start out by saying that I sucked! I couldn’t get into a groove all day. In the rock sections it felt like I was riding a jackhammer. In the fast, open sections I had to be careful of the rocks hidden by the leaves. Twice I took a high-speed soil sample. Both times the same guy was behind me and would tell me how spectacular my crash looked. There were a couple of bright spots on the day though. I finished my first NETRA enduro. I didn’t end up last place in VetB since two riders DNF’d. Last, but not least, I finally met Daniel Joseph. Still don’t know if that’s a good thing or not though.

Okay, back to the enduro. We ran a short transfer section with some rocky single track. I’m still surprised they did not have a check at the end. The there was a short reset and some road before turning onto a state forest road. I don’t have a Brand X compatible comparator so I did the old mileage and watch routine. I hit the first check right on time. The course continued down the road then turned into some more single track. Not far into this test section I hit the first rocky uphill. Bikes were littered all over the place. About ¾ of the way up I got stuck and had to dismount and bulldog around a fallen rider. This first test section was a combination of fast, open trail and slow rocky stuff. Just about all the faster riders behind me were able to pass me in this section and I passed a few slower riders too. This is one plus for Brand X rules. Once you pass a slower rider, you don’t have to keep passing them after resets. I dropped 10 points at the check out of the first test. We then had a short reset before heading down the road.

We made our way through the transfer section into the second test section. I was riding with a guy on a WR250F and we hit the second test section right on time. Dang, no check-in. I was doing pretty good in this section I kept the guy on the WR in my sight. We hit an open whooped out section and I started gaining ground on him. Then I heard this buzzing sound to my right. Next thing I know this old Bultaco goes flying right by me and catches the WR just as we turn back into the woods. Nothing deflates an ego more than getting passed by some guy riding a museum artifact. My revenge came later in the day when I saw him on the side of the road with parts and tools laid out like a garage sale. For a short time I was stuck behind an XR mounted rider. The trail finally broke out into a field and I started to make my pass when this guy moves into my line. I yelled, he stopped and I made my way around him clipping his rear tire. The course turned back into the woods and a rider on a black KTM stalled in front of me. I bumped his tire and stalled my bike. I heard a four-stroke coming so I hurried to restart and take off thinking it was the XR I just passed. I battled for the only line into the woods with this guy, who turned out to be on a KTM RFS, not an XR. Oops, sorry. He got his revenge though about ¾ of the way through this section my front tire hit a rock and sent me flying into the brush. Three or four bikes passed me while I was pounding levers, hand guards and what not back into position. I also tweaked the forks in the triple clamps and had to stop at the next tree and reposition them. At least I didn’t bend my new bars. I got out of this section dropping nine points.

The course continued through a transfer section and finally into more trail. This is where I started getting beat up. The forks were bouncing everywhere and I couldn’t get into a groove. I was fighting the bike more than riding it. I turned both compression and fork clickers to full soft. It helped a little, but not much. I made it through and dropped another 8 points at check 4. Then rode up to the known control. We had actually ridden this short section earlier in the morning and I knew it would lead to the gas stop. They had an emergency check-out and I dropped 2:43 in this section. I made my way back to the gas stop. The guy I had come with, Bob, was already there. He was only three minutes ahead of me and had dropped 2:36 in the last test section, so we weren’t that far off. This made me feel a little better since he was having suspension troubles too. Coming into gas I noticed that my clutch was not fully disengaging and that my kickstand was flopping around. I bled the clutch, which didn't help, filled up on gas and water then zip-tied the kickstand to my subframe before heading out.

After gas there was a known control and I decided to leave on minute 59. Another good thing about Brand X, you can check in at a known control up to your original minute without any penalty. I asked the check workers if there were fewer rocks in this section. They just laughed… bad sign. I got hammered in this section, literally, dropping 14 points at the check-out. Then I dropped six points a piece in the next two test sections. Also had another spectacular high-speed get-off in a transfer section. This one tweaked my forks back into shape. The front suspension was not soaking up trail junk and made me very nervous when standing on the pegs. Spent the rest of the ride with my butt in the seat.

Check 11 was placed at the beginning of a section. I had been riding by my watch all day and kept doing the math in my head. I zeroed this check, but heard a lot of riders burned it. Of course I dropped another six points in this last test section, for a grand total of 61. Pretty pathetic when you consider the class winner dropped 15 or 20. I did feel sorry for riders on the early rows. Leaves on the trail made finding rocks difficult, although the way my forks acted, everything had a square edge. In retrospect I may have been too harsh on Brand X rules earlier. They are actually quite simple. Hopefully by next season I’ll have my suspension sorted out, be in better shape and remember to backflush my clutch master cylinder. Other than that I had a blast and only limped around for a couple of days afterwards.

Anything to add DJ?
 

DANIEL JOSEPH

Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Sep 14, 2000
502
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Originally posted by WoodsRider
Last, but not least, I finally met Daniel Joseph. Still don’t know if that’s a good thing or not though.


It's probably not a good thing:p
I like the Black & Blue for several reasons. One is it's about 20 minutes from my house and travel time to and from isn't much. I'm glad to see you enjoyed yourself and you can keep turning those adjuster all you want it ain't gonna help. I've been adjusting my suspension for years and have never been completely satisfied. Rocks have no conscience. One thing I didn't like was the limited amount of check in's. Too many riders can guess and go in way too hot and make up too much time on people like me who don't take the risk. There is at least one guy I ride with that burnt a out check in a section (we call the "Farm")by a minute. I dropped a 5. The Ramblers put on 3 enduro a year and it's getting tough for them to get enough check workers. A lot of thier club members ride thier own events.
Well it was good to finally meet you and glad to see you finish one of them nasty Brand X enduros. And to let everyone know you got your butt kick by a little old guy.:debil:
 
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FLBob

Member
Jun 4, 2001
210
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Woodsrider - getting a 61 with the class leader at 15 or 20, on the first enduro you finish doesn't sound that "pathetic" to me! Unless you've entered a bunch and this is the first one you've finished, now that's pathetic!;)
 

DANIEL JOSEPH

Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Sep 14, 2000
502
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In Woodsriders defense. We've been riding these events for years. From experience, most of the riders know what line to take . We know what sections are coming up next and what to expect. I tell you though he didn't look too good when he came strolling back into the start:eek:
 

WoodsRider

Sponsoring Member<BR>Club Moderator
Damn Yankees
Oct 13, 1999
2,807
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FLBob - That's not the first enduro I've entered or finished. It is the first NETRA (Brand X) enduro I've finished and only the second NETRA enduro I've entered. The trails are wide open, it's the rocks that keep the speeds down. Although there were less rocks than at the Tri-State Enduro.

All in all I'm satisfied with my "less than stellar" performance. Mainly because I didn't puke or need a ride to the hospital. Definitely need to focus on fitness and nutrition for next season. I've probably ridden a total of 10 times since June and Dunkin' Donuts isn't the best place to "carbo load" in the morning. :scream:

DJ - I was drooling over your Budweiser. :confused:
 

Timr

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jul 26, 1999
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Woodsrider claims to have finished a bunch of enduros before. ;) He supposedly won some kind of jacket or something. :D Oh, those were Midwest enduros, that are mostly flat, start at 10:00am in the morning, end at 12:30 and only run on Forestry roads. :p

LOL.
 

DANIEL JOSEPH

Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Sep 14, 2000
502
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Originally posted by WoodsRider

DJ - I was drooling over your Budweiser. :confused:
You should have joined us in the trailer for post race cocktails (It’s a Berkshire tradition). Although I’m not real sure how many more people we could have fit in there.
 

WoodsRider

Sponsoring Member<BR>Club Moderator
Damn Yankees
Oct 13, 1999
2,807
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Thanks DJ, I'll remember that next time.

Timr - Your always welcome to come up and ride one with me next year. :)

RM_gay - Are you ever going to take off your skirt and ride an enduro. :p
 

WoodsRider

Sponsoring Member<BR>Club Moderator
Damn Yankees
Oct 13, 1999
2,807
0
:eek:
 

Timr

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jul 26, 1999
1,972
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Originally posted by WoodsRider

Timr - Your always welcome to come up and ride one with me next year. :)


You name the time and the place...and I'll be sure that I'm not there! :) Just kidding. Seriously, if I can swing it, I'd like to come up there and ride and/or race with you guys. The opposite is true too. If you guys get tired of the snow, we run races all through the winter, and they are some of the best events in our series. Yall are welcome to come down for a little southern hospitality at a race or just to go riding. Unfortunately, we only run normal AMA rules enduros. Sorry. :D

Good job Bill! :cool:
 

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