Our first Nat’l Enduro was a real educational experience. So different from hare scrambles and really fun too. Dodging the snowstorm here at home in SW Virginia for a couple days was a nice bonus, although the WX in Sumter wasn’t exactly balmy.
We got into town late Saturday evening and stayed at a hotel inside Fort Jackson instead of camping at the venue - it probably rained a few inches that night. Being on base helped me sleep like a baby knowing the bikes were secure. Up early, we grabbed biscuits and coffee at McDonalds and got ‘screwed at the drivethru’.
Check in at the race was relatively easy, hard to justify an extra $40 for transponders that we don’t have plans to use again though.
After unloading we had plenty of time with our high row assignments to get ready. We watched the pros take off for their starts and then turned our attention to race prep.
It felt good to throw my leg over the bike with the intention to get a full days’ riding in for the first time in weeks. She fired first kick and I took plenty of time warming her up.
My ‘03 KDX 200 sure sounds different with the FMF Turbine Core 2 spark arrestor I borrowed from my buddy Fred bolted on there! I’m planning to buy one for our Colorado trip later this summer - it was nice trying this one out for the race. There were no spark arrestor or decibel tests (as threatened on the race flyers) performed at the race - because of the rain? I don’t know.
The temperature was in the lower forties, and was only expected to climb into the mid-fifties so I think the near sea-level altitude affected my jetting very little - I made no adjustments.
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After chatting with some racers down from deep-frozen Minnesota, we kitted up and rode around the venue getting into race mode. Our row was 137 so we had plenty of time.
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My son and I finally lined up and when we got to the pre-start line realized we only had one other guy instead of 6 or 7. When our number popped up on the screen we took off at a fairly mellow rate, taking the opportunity to feel out this foreign, sandy-loamy and rutted terrain. The other guy passed us when we hit the dirt road and disappeared.
We finally rounded a bend and saw a crossing guard (LEO) holding traffic, he was waving us to turn left - or that’s what we both thought he meant! After running down the road following ‘race‘ arrows we realized we weren’t close to where we were supposed to be and finally got straightened out and directed to the start gate.
Instead of starting on time with our assigned row we jumped in front of row 146 as the marshals waved us through (thanks again to Doug for those instructions!). We immediately began learning how to corner in sandy ruts and allowed our bark busters to earn their keep!
We managed to pass a few and got passed a lot, thankful for the many freshly cut line options that appeared at the last second allowing us to bypass ruts already filled with stuck bikes. It was mayhem out there in places.
I started to get in a groove and began learning the lessons that would help me have a really fun day. Once I learned and trained my brain and reflexes on the rules of front braking in sand, I rode more and picked my bike up less!
The whoops were really fun and my bike was actually pretty fast through those long sections and I caught a lot of folks by ripping it while hanging low and off the back in 3rd and 4th gear (stock 13-47). Then I would enter the turns, mess up my timing and bounce off trees, off course and sometimes crash. Riding in control while trying to go fast is a complex equation. Sometimes though I got it right and that was definitely more fun.
Through it all though my KDX was a willing and eager steed, I never felt like it was outmatched. We passed a lot of orange, red, white and yellow on the course. I thanked her for starting on the first kick when I stalled her (not clutching when drilling rear brake) or hammering into a large tree.
She pulled happily in third and speedshifted easily when asked. The straightaways were a scream and I caught folks there just hanging it out. If I pushed back and low there was little head shake and steady throttle in 5th/6th kept her mostly straight. In the very tight single-track my bark busters with the new FRP flags earned fresh battle scars and protected my hands from being shredded by the local flora/fauna. I’d SMASH trees and notice in the corner of my eye that it was still hanging in there.
Since we had arrived late to the first start gate I just attacked each section aggressively and didn’t take any breaks. Mountain bike strength and fitness transfers here even though I currently don’t have enough of either.
I kept managing to stay in front of row 147 starts till the end so I felt like I was doing okay. I did consistently get passed by a really fast young dude on a KDX that was clearly having fun, he’d always give me a friendly hoot as he passed. When he passed my son the first time, Henry thought I had miraculously learned how to ride fast though the whoops and his head was spinning till he realized it wasn’t me!
He said that he’d follow the guy as long as he could but the guy was just so good he couldn’t keep up.
At the end of the four required stages I was pretty pumped and decided to go ride the fifth just for fun. But immediately I realized that I was getting tennis elbow from my boxing matches with too many trees and this exceptionally muddy stage not much fun. With discretion being the better part of valor I found a road and pointed her back to the truck.
I survived!!! Once back I realized how really smoked I was. My son pointed out that my bike wasn’t completely unscathed either as he noticed my rear fender had broken off at the weld where I had repaired it when he ‘wheelie tested’ it a few months back.
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Happily, we all finished and after slowly and deliberately changing clothes and loading the truck we headed out for some ribs and cokes, and caught kickoff for the Brady Bowl before finally heading back into the great white north.