Hey, Team Green! Sorry to be so late writing this up. Between all the travel, some 2000 miles round trip, and dealing with hurricane Dorian, I've been a little delayed.
After the absolutely horrible meal we gagged down at the Pilot truck stop Friday night, we decided to treat ourselves to something a little different for breakfast. We found a little shop that specializes in country hams. As the lady said, "We do everything but the slaughtering!" Two country ham biscuits later I had to declare it the best country ham I've ever had. Then she showed me this:
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That's right! This bank and a local doctor paid $2.8 million as a charity auction for an 18 lb ham at the KY state fair! WoW!! Am I in the wrong business or what??
OK, on the the Lead Belt enduro...
The Missouri Mudders MC Club put this event on at the St. Joe State Park, over 8000 acres of land given to Missouri by the St Joe Lead Company along with all the old mining buildings etc. It shut down about 1975 or so, but at one time provided over 60% of the world's lead. That's a lot of bullets, paint, car batteries, etc. Interesting, the Missouri State Parks does suggest washing your vehicle off if you've been in an area of high "lead tailings".
Hmmm......
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I will say the ground where we were camping was unlike any other I had ever seen. It had been very dry lately and this looked somewhat like a surface of dried mud, you know, the kind that cracks up leaving a surface that resembles dried sun burned skin. It crunched under your feet like walking on a layer of potato chips. Later I was to learn what happens to this stuff when it gets wet.
A late lunch consisted of some of the best BBQ pork ribs I've every had, simply outstanding! Turns out this guy spends all his time competing in rib cooking competitions around the country and has done quite well. I only ate a half rack for lunch but when I came back for more at dinner, he was sold out. I had to settle for BBQ pulled pork nachos, also excellent.
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While I was there for lunch I met this guy, James King, a semi-local AA class rider who was selling tee shirts to help fund his trip to Portugal in November to compete in the ISDE (International Six Days of Enduro). James was one of three members of a "club" team representing the USA and partially sponsored by the Missouri Mudders MC Club. Of course I bought a shirt to support the effort! James won a gold medal last year so the pressure is on!
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Sunday morning we lined up on row 3 at 9:03 for our start and that's exactly when the rain started! Over the day it would rain off and on, a total of about 3/4 inch or so. Not a problem I'm thinking, it will keep the dust down.
The rule for the day was ROCKS, ROCKS and more ROCKS! Big rocks, little rocks, loose rocks and then.......roots where there weren't rocks! Rock ledges, and then entire sections of softball sized rocks put down like a gravel road with a few volley ball sized rocks thrown in for good measure. You couldn't pick a line through these; you just had to stand up, lean your weight back and get on the gas! Not unlike riding through sand in the southeast, without the whoops. Don't know why I was surprised at all the rocks. It WAS a lead mine after all.
Overall, I would say one of the most interesting courses I've ridden so far. Lots of elevation changes but not too many really big hill climbs. Most of the hills seemed to have a small creek bed at the bottom (mostly dry today) which prevented getting a good run at the hill. Well, it prevented me anyway. I did see a pro rider simply jump the little rocky creek bed and blast up the hill like he was cruising down the interstate on his Harley. They live in a different world from us mortals for sure!
Overall the course was pretty fast and good flow. Some tight woods stuff, but apparently trees can only grow so close together in that much rock! Most of the tighter stuff was in the valleys between the rocky hills.
Oh, yeah. Remember that strange crunchy dirt in the camping area. Seems that stuff turns into the slickest baby poop you've ever ridden on when combined with a little red clay and water. Section four had a large amount (seemed large anyway) of trails with this slick goo that filled up your tires, weighted down your bike and made your tires slide all over the place. When we finally climbed out of the lower areas and got back to dry, I was never as glad to see...yes...you got it...MORE ROCKS! "Thank you, Jesus, for these dry rocks!" I remember saying!
The one thing we missed was riding the "Waterfall" section. This a portion that actually goes down a creek as the water cascades over successive rocky outcroppings as small waterfalls, anywhere from 1 ft to maybe 4 ft drops into the creek. This was in section 6 and only the pros and "A" riders did section 6. (C class and 60+ riders only do 4 sections normally). I asked about skipping section 5 but riding 6 just so I could experience the "Waterfall" that we saw on so many videos. "Yes, you can do that, but there are two of the worst rock gardens you've ever seen before you get to the waterfall section". Enough of the rocks already!! We declined...
How did we do?
(Drum roll please.......) I managed to pull out a 4th in class which I considered very lucky! It keeps me in 4th for the season but unfortunately my competitor in 5th finished 3rd so he did close the points gap. Travis got a very respectable 11th out of 22 in his class, 40+C, which also kept him in 4th for the season.
The next race is actually a regional SETRA (Southeastern Enduro and Trail Riders Association) event, the Bootlegger Enduro, in North Wilkesboro, NC.
Although not a national, we are riding it just to have enough SETRA events done to qualify for season points in the local organization. The next National Enduro, is October 6th in Matthews, IN. We'll see you there and,
Y'all keep brapping!!
Old guy racin'