RACE UPDATE - Dragons Back National Enduro, Arrington, Virginia
Slept good last night. Yesterday was really fun and the course was in surprisingly good shape even starting from row 144. My buddy Fred parked next to us with his KDX and lined up on 150 so we got to chat between tests a little which was cool. He crashed five minutes in and broke his fairing and headlight badly (hey Jeff, will be placing another order soon!). Then we started looking more closely and saw he ripped his kIPS cover off the left side. We told him no worries, if she runs, RIDE! He did and had a great day. KDX is BEAST.
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Before the race I saw two other KDXs, don’t know how many there actually were. At the start I took it easy and worked up into a steady rhythm chasing a C rider in my row that seemed a little quicker than me early knowing it was going to be a long day of over 50 miles including transfers. Some of the tests were on trails we raced earlier this season in VCHSS and they were super fun so I really enjoyed hitting them again, especially one particular step up jump that I sailed off of.
At one point I saw him stop to assess a logjam in a muddy steep bank creek crossing where a guy’s bike was stuck in a deep rut in the main line. I jammed on the rear brake sliding past him as I a looked at my options, then quickly steered hard left and gassed it across and up a high line free of traffic. Tubliss is like cheating in those situations. From there on I increased pace and my confidence built.
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The temps were low 70’s all day so I wasn’t worried about not bringing water. I don’t like the extra weight and distraction. On hotter days it would be nice to have someone parked at the fuel stop with water and gas. We were lucky we had a friend there this time with gas since we missed the drop off time for our can. Not sure I needed to but I topped off before test 4 and switched to Reserve just to be safe. Will be interesting to see how much I used.
The transfer to 5 was KNARLY!!! Super rocky and steep, technical climb almost a mile long, saw several wrecks, but I stayed clean and motored up unscathed. First time all day that I questioned my tire setup (ran Pirelli Scorpion Mid-soft XC 120-100/18 & 80-100). This was a tire Jeff Fredette recommended that both Henry and I ran for this race and it did great on identical setups, but he ran higher pressures. The rocks on this transfer definitely put my ultra heavy front tube to the test, wished I was running a few less psi (was at 6.5 rear & 9.5 front) on my Tubliss rear, but punched through fine and actually kept up with some fast guys. Made me wonder what that test 5 held in store. It turned out to be tight, twisty soft dirt and super fun for me.
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Actually felt like I could have ridden the 6th test and was heading that way when I caught up with my son who had wrecked pretty hard on that stage and was ready to head to the truck. Last year at Sumter I had started the 5th test after finishing my required 4, but quit because of heavy mud and aggravated tendonitis in my elbow. So yesterday was a big win for me. Only dropped the bike a couple times, both due to mental errors. What a difference a year has made to both my bike prep and my and experience.
Ended up finishing ahead of a guy from my hare scramble series class on a KTM that I got close to last year but never beat. My son Henry ended up 3 seconds out of 3rd (crash!) in 200B and was fast enough for 7th in 200A if he’d stayed on for the 6th test (thanks Doug!). He really digs this format because it’s like the mountainbike enduros that we did for years before coming over to motor power.
