Arrived at sign-up shortly after 7:00. My brother did not pre-enter so at sign-up we asked to be on the same minute. I was
originally scheduled for minute 2, yikes!!! Nothing like being traction for people all day. But they put us on minute 8. Not
much better, but oh well. I was riding the long course so I would get back at a reasonable hour, assuming of course I was
close to being on-time.
About 15 minutes before our start time I headed to Porta Potty. I noticed on the way there the front tire looked really low.
Uh Oh!! And I didn't have a tire pump and neither did my brother. So I started asking around. A nice guy had a small pump in
his fanny pack he pumped some air into it. It seemed to be a little better. I sure didn't want too much air with the
conditions sure to be a little slippery.
So made it to the start and off we went. Nothing too bad at first as usual. Just some slight tightness in the arms and legs.
It takes us old farts awhile to get warmed up. We came upon a nasty hillclimb with some severe looking rocks, roots, stumps
and logs heading up the hill. The speed changed to 6 mph so I figured we were going to need it. So I bounced, paddled and
fought my way up the hill and naturally right on top was an emergency check. I punched in at 07:29. Damn, a minute EARLY from
an almost perfect score. Dropped 2 points right off the bat.
Then they started running us up the trails and there was decent traction for the most part but there were some clay spots
which caused some concern since you couldn't slow down gracefully nor could you accelerate gracefully. Cool!!
I think there were like 20 speed changes throughout the day. I kept losing a few points at some of the checks. But I was
happy to drop a few here and there. Then we hit a long section at a steady 18mph. I knew the trail where we were heading so I
knew 18 would be tough to maintain for me. I dropped 4 then a 7 then another 7 then I think I zeroed one in there somewhere.
Not sure how I did that.
At the gas available my front tire was still looking really low. I remembered I had a CO2 cartridge in my fanny pack but I
couldn't remember if it was empty or not. I gave it a try and voila my front tire had just the right amount of air. The bike
handled a whole lot better after that!!
The first loop was not too bad. Then we pretty much rode the same loop again for the long course. Well the nasty uphill had
really deteriorated from the morning. It was tough to get up. I fell over once and stalled it a couple times, but I made it
up. I think I dropped around 7 here since for the second loop they had graciously increased the speed averages on a really
chewed up and slick course. The greasy, snotty clay had gotten polished by many tires spinning and sliding. Then there was a
nice 2-3 inch layer of greasy, gorpy stuff on top to really make things fun.
I had to stop on top of Capitol Peak on the second loop to change goggles, gloves and a bio break. Boy fresh, dry, clear
goggles and dry gloves really help. I felt alot better. But it cost me about 3 minutes.
Later in the loop there was one guy on a KTM200 that passed me. Then he got stuck and I passed him back. Pretty soon he comes
up, I let him by and a short time later he crashed so I passed him again. Then he caught back up and passed me again. Then he
discovered how slippery one of the bridges was and I passed him again. He caught back up, passed then was off so I never saw
him again.
Legs started cramping, hands started cramping, vision got blurred but I rode on, knowing the gas stop was coming. I finally
got there. My computer simply said "Late". I think I dropped 18 points there, but I was glad to be close to the finish. Then
we rode a few more nasty sections before a long road section almost back to the finish. At one point I pulled over to let
someone by, but I was still rolling as he pulled alongside. I hit a hidden stump that slammed me over into him and almost
knocked both of us down. But we managed to stay upright.
There was a long road section pretty much back to the finish. My computer said I was still late so I motored on down the
road. There were guys just putting along on the road and stopping and talking. I kept going assuming they were on the minutes
behind me. The computer said I was down 13 minutes at the finish but they marked me 4 minutes early!!! I think the gorp had
gotten in my computer sensor and messed things up. So I dropped like 17 points at the finish. Oops.
All in all it was a good enduro. It was tough, but enduros are supposed to be tough. The weather held for the most part so I
was fairly dry at the end. I was glad to finish.
River City did a great job. Thanks guys. Looking forward to the Night Enduro.
originally scheduled for minute 2, yikes!!! Nothing like being traction for people all day. But they put us on minute 8. Not
much better, but oh well. I was riding the long course so I would get back at a reasonable hour, assuming of course I was
close to being on-time.
About 15 minutes before our start time I headed to Porta Potty. I noticed on the way there the front tire looked really low.
Uh Oh!! And I didn't have a tire pump and neither did my brother. So I started asking around. A nice guy had a small pump in
his fanny pack he pumped some air into it. It seemed to be a little better. I sure didn't want too much air with the
conditions sure to be a little slippery.
So made it to the start and off we went. Nothing too bad at first as usual. Just some slight tightness in the arms and legs.
It takes us old farts awhile to get warmed up. We came upon a nasty hillclimb with some severe looking rocks, roots, stumps
and logs heading up the hill. The speed changed to 6 mph so I figured we were going to need it. So I bounced, paddled and
fought my way up the hill and naturally right on top was an emergency check. I punched in at 07:29. Damn, a minute EARLY from
an almost perfect score. Dropped 2 points right off the bat.
Then they started running us up the trails and there was decent traction for the most part but there were some clay spots
which caused some concern since you couldn't slow down gracefully nor could you accelerate gracefully. Cool!!
I think there were like 20 speed changes throughout the day. I kept losing a few points at some of the checks. But I was
happy to drop a few here and there. Then we hit a long section at a steady 18mph. I knew the trail where we were heading so I
knew 18 would be tough to maintain for me. I dropped 4 then a 7 then another 7 then I think I zeroed one in there somewhere.
Not sure how I did that.
At the gas available my front tire was still looking really low. I remembered I had a CO2 cartridge in my fanny pack but I
couldn't remember if it was empty or not. I gave it a try and voila my front tire had just the right amount of air. The bike
handled a whole lot better after that!!
The first loop was not too bad. Then we pretty much rode the same loop again for the long course. Well the nasty uphill had
really deteriorated from the morning. It was tough to get up. I fell over once and stalled it a couple times, but I made it
up. I think I dropped around 7 here since for the second loop they had graciously increased the speed averages on a really
chewed up and slick course. The greasy, snotty clay had gotten polished by many tires spinning and sliding. Then there was a
nice 2-3 inch layer of greasy, gorpy stuff on top to really make things fun.
I had to stop on top of Capitol Peak on the second loop to change goggles, gloves and a bio break. Boy fresh, dry, clear
goggles and dry gloves really help. I felt alot better. But it cost me about 3 minutes.
Later in the loop there was one guy on a KTM200 that passed me. Then he got stuck and I passed him back. Pretty soon he comes
up, I let him by and a short time later he crashed so I passed him again. Then he caught back up and passed me again. Then he
discovered how slippery one of the bridges was and I passed him again. He caught back up, passed then was off so I never saw
him again.
Legs started cramping, hands started cramping, vision got blurred but I rode on, knowing the gas stop was coming. I finally
got there. My computer simply said "Late". I think I dropped 18 points there, but I was glad to be close to the finish. Then
we rode a few more nasty sections before a long road section almost back to the finish. At one point I pulled over to let
someone by, but I was still rolling as he pulled alongside. I hit a hidden stump that slammed me over into him and almost
knocked both of us down. But we managed to stay upright.
There was a long road section pretty much back to the finish. My computer said I was still late so I motored on down the
road. There were guys just putting along on the road and stopping and talking. I kept going assuming they were on the minutes
behind me. The computer said I was down 13 minutes at the finish but they marked me 4 minutes early!!! I think the gorp had
gotten in my computer sensor and messed things up. So I dropped like 17 points at the finish. Oops.
All in all it was a good enduro. It was tough, but enduros are supposed to be tough. The weather held for the most part so I
was fairly dry at the end. I was glad to finish.
River City did a great job. Thanks guys. Looking forward to the Night Enduro.
