My first Enduro race, and how I started riding.
Posted: 10:22 am Mar 31 2021
BACKSTORY:
TLDR: I got invited to a race and my stepdad bought me a new bike out of nowhere after I moved onto a farm.
I had only been riding motorbikes for a few months. I moved to a farm the year before, I've always wanted to have a dirtbike but never had the money or opportunities to get one, so when I started living on a farm, I was always excited to take my step dad's CTX-200 out for a ride when I wanted to do something outside.
My mate at my new school invited me to go with him to an Enduro race, he said he's seen a few farm bikes at races so why not bring it and give it a try, so I asked my step dad and he didn't let me because he used it for work, I was quite disappointed and for whatever reason a dirtbike race sounded so enticing to me.
So then I was set on trying to buy a motorbike. I knew a friend who rides so I asked him what to buy, my budget was very low and I didn't have a lot of money. He recommended me a couple bikes and he told me about the KDX and how its very reliable, easy to work on and a good starter bike that's still capable at higher skill levels and so it sounded like the perfect bike for me. Plus, green is my favorite color.
I started watching some YouTube and saw this video, now I was convinced.
At this point I was very keen, I had to buy a dirtbike and race it.
from the same channel I started watching this video about a race that changed this guy's life, I was quite inspired.
On the way to boarding school I told my stepdad I'm going to sell my old computer and buy a dirtbike and asked him if he knew about the KDX. The next weekend he comes into my room and asks me to come help him offload something, and there it was, a clean green Kawasaki KDX200.
I rode for a few weeks, got comfortable, had my friend teach me how to ride, taught me some skills like doing donuts and popping the wheel over things. Then he took me on a proper trail where I had the first taste of real Enduro. After a few months I was ready to try my first race, and we had planned to go to one in the next few months.
Fast forward to the race
At Badplaas, hosted by Lowveld Enduro (South Africa), we drove for 5 hours and finally arrived at a lodge, slept there and woke up at 5 the next morning to go and ride the day away. I signed up for 4 green laps, 20km each (If I remember correctly), green being the beginner/intermediate routes.
first lap was shaky, I was nervous, in the wrong gears, stalling and falling over constantly and amazed by how far the laps are but I was determined to keep going.
Second lap was much better, I went fast, rode over rocks and little hills better and faster than the first time, I even started passing a lot of people. I was confident and energetic, with the only concern being, a weird vibrating noise whenever I revved the bike. I stopped by a marshal to ask if the sound was bad or not, he said something like "No don't worry, its just a loose bolt somewhere, besides, it's a KDX nothing important will break". Shortly afterwards I knew what the problem was, because my exhaust cage had fell right off, but to no surprise because I kept smashing it against rocks. So I stopped and chucked it right by a tree to get it the next lap. Then at the pit stop I ate some snacks, had some coke, and packed some duct tape to strap my exhaust cage to my bike to bring it back the next lap.
3rd Lap went well, I was less tired than I expected, this time I was less energetic but more confident and rode very smoothly and consistently, until at about halfway I got too confident. Long story short I tried going up the most technical part of the route when I was physically tired, at one point halfway up this rocky hill, I physically did not have the energy anymore and with a bunch of people waiting behind me I just decided to drop the clutch and send my bike up without me and it flew, landed skew and came crashing down right back at me and the riders behind me, it took a real beating and smashed against everything it came across.
There I learnt an important lesson, to know my limits, rest, and to not rush things especially when it's about to get technical.
I took a rest, had a pee and a snack and got back on my bike, realizing my handlebar was about 20 degrees skew, my front brake lever snapped right off and my exhaust mounts had all broken off, leaving it to swing around where its connected to the engine.
After that I rode quite slowly and carefully, finally got to where my exhaust cage fell off, took me about 15 minutes to find it and then I was off again with an exhaust cage duct taped to my handlebar. It fell off a few times so I had to re-strap it constantly but eventually I came into the pits looking like this.
Everyone had a good laugh and I chilled there for the rest of the day, unfortunately missing my 4th lap.
placing 49/51, I thought eh, at least I'm not last place but I had fun.
Overall, the race was awesome and at some point during the 3rd lap, with an exhaust cage strapped to my handlebar and a break lever busted, I slipped into a false neutral before going up an uphill, using my right leg to balance once I came to a standstill and not being able to use my rear break lever to stop, I fell back down the hill and then stopped to take a rest and thought; you know what, I'm enjoying this, I think I have found my sport.
TLDR: I got invited to a race and my stepdad bought me a new bike out of nowhere after I moved onto a farm.
I had only been riding motorbikes for a few months. I moved to a farm the year before, I've always wanted to have a dirtbike but never had the money or opportunities to get one, so when I started living on a farm, I was always excited to take my step dad's CTX-200 out for a ride when I wanted to do something outside.
My mate at my new school invited me to go with him to an Enduro race, he said he's seen a few farm bikes at races so why not bring it and give it a try, so I asked my step dad and he didn't let me because he used it for work, I was quite disappointed and for whatever reason a dirtbike race sounded so enticing to me.
So then I was set on trying to buy a motorbike. I knew a friend who rides so I asked him what to buy, my budget was very low and I didn't have a lot of money. He recommended me a couple bikes and he told me about the KDX and how its very reliable, easy to work on and a good starter bike that's still capable at higher skill levels and so it sounded like the perfect bike for me. Plus, green is my favorite color.
I started watching some YouTube and saw this video, now I was convinced.
At this point I was very keen, I had to buy a dirtbike and race it.
from the same channel I started watching this video about a race that changed this guy's life, I was quite inspired.
On the way to boarding school I told my stepdad I'm going to sell my old computer and buy a dirtbike and asked him if he knew about the KDX. The next weekend he comes into my room and asks me to come help him offload something, and there it was, a clean green Kawasaki KDX200.
I rode for a few weeks, got comfortable, had my friend teach me how to ride, taught me some skills like doing donuts and popping the wheel over things. Then he took me on a proper trail where I had the first taste of real Enduro. After a few months I was ready to try my first race, and we had planned to go to one in the next few months.
Fast forward to the race
At Badplaas, hosted by Lowveld Enduro (South Africa), we drove for 5 hours and finally arrived at a lodge, slept there and woke up at 5 the next morning to go and ride the day away. I signed up for 4 green laps, 20km each (If I remember correctly), green being the beginner/intermediate routes.
first lap was shaky, I was nervous, in the wrong gears, stalling and falling over constantly and amazed by how far the laps are but I was determined to keep going.
Second lap was much better, I went fast, rode over rocks and little hills better and faster than the first time, I even started passing a lot of people. I was confident and energetic, with the only concern being, a weird vibrating noise whenever I revved the bike. I stopped by a marshal to ask if the sound was bad or not, he said something like "No don't worry, its just a loose bolt somewhere, besides, it's a KDX nothing important will break". Shortly afterwards I knew what the problem was, because my exhaust cage had fell right off, but to no surprise because I kept smashing it against rocks. So I stopped and chucked it right by a tree to get it the next lap. Then at the pit stop I ate some snacks, had some coke, and packed some duct tape to strap my exhaust cage to my bike to bring it back the next lap.
3rd Lap went well, I was less tired than I expected, this time I was less energetic but more confident and rode very smoothly and consistently, until at about halfway I got too confident. Long story short I tried going up the most technical part of the route when I was physically tired, at one point halfway up this rocky hill, I physically did not have the energy anymore and with a bunch of people waiting behind me I just decided to drop the clutch and send my bike up without me and it flew, landed skew and came crashing down right back at me and the riders behind me, it took a real beating and smashed against everything it came across.
There I learnt an important lesson, to know my limits, rest, and to not rush things especially when it's about to get technical.
I took a rest, had a pee and a snack and got back on my bike, realizing my handlebar was about 20 degrees skew, my front brake lever snapped right off and my exhaust mounts had all broken off, leaving it to swing around where its connected to the engine.
After that I rode quite slowly and carefully, finally got to where my exhaust cage fell off, took me about 15 minutes to find it and then I was off again with an exhaust cage duct taped to my handlebar. It fell off a few times so I had to re-strap it constantly but eventually I came into the pits looking like this.
Everyone had a good laugh and I chilled there for the rest of the day, unfortunately missing my 4th lap.
placing 49/51, I thought eh, at least I'm not last place but I had fun.
Overall, the race was awesome and at some point during the 3rd lap, with an exhaust cage strapped to my handlebar and a break lever busted, I slipped into a false neutral before going up an uphill, using my right leg to balance once I came to a standstill and not being able to use my rear break lever to stop, I fell back down the hill and then stopped to take a rest and thought; you know what, I'm enjoying this, I think I have found my sport.
