Syria, Virginia- May 22, 2022
We lucked out with the weather on this one. It was plenty hot, but the severe thunder storms held off till after we were packed up and rolling out. The dust also wasn’t as bad this year. The water truck guys had worked hard managing that without overdoing it.
Ready to race…
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The boys being boys…
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This is probably the most hard enduro of all the series races with river rock strewn single track, tricky mountain stream crossings, slippery roots in all the worst places, steep climbs and sketchy descents with limited options. It also has really fast 6th gear pinned field sprints into hairpins, a dozen jumps, creek jump options for the A riders and the A rider wannabes.
Expecting a hot day, I began dosing KDX juice the day before and throughout the morning. The race crushed me pretty good and the 95+ temps were rough. Wrestling that green monster around those mountain trails really kicked my butt, and cramps NEVER happened thanks to this stuff.
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We left at 8am and arrived with plenty of time to get ready. This race is held on a beautiful farm north of Charlottesville, Virginia rich with Civil War history as it lies west of Richmond and is on the pass into the Shenandoah Valley.
Saturday I got a shakedown ride in with my 50A buddy and neighbor mainly focusing on starts. Did about fifteen of these with a flag and a timer and I figured out a couple things…
1 - my wheel comes up on a good get off so by pressing my chest down to the bar pad I can minimize this without letting off the throttle.
2 - holding the throttle cracked open at kick gives me power to get off hard and quick.
3 - the clutch actuator mod is really paying off and it makes a big difference getting off the line.
4 - leaving my feet off the pegs like the GP road racers do while laying forward helps with control and I’m still able to pull my feet on in time to grab third, rather than trying to rush the transition which allows me to focus on the clutch.
My son was lined up ahead of me a few rows in 200B. We both were far right, lined up for the shorter inside right hander around a a clops of trees into a zig zag round bale corner stretch leading out of the flat and short mowed hay field. The first corner was wet, but the inside line looked fairly perfect and that’s where I wanted to initiate lean angle to accelerate across to the left hand hay bale on the opposite side. Henry had the same idea and he got the hole shot here last year.
When his flag dropped, his foot did too and that KTM 200 XC-W fired off the line surging out with a rush of dust and noise. He dove into the corner first and disappeared behind the trees momentarily before popping out around the other side in first and hard on the gas. That’s when things went wrong and the back In came around and down he went with our buddy Mason washing out directly behind him. He quickly was up and spinning around and chasing back into the very large pack.
Henry’s start, 200B…
https://youtu.be/dKZKbAZoGEE
After watching that $&£T$&%W, I knew I’d have to be a little careful getting back on the clutch/throttle after entering the turn. If ol’ girl fired though I was going for it. Had to show my son how it’s done!
My start, 50B…
https://youtu.be/edUqkH-ioow
I was actually slow to respond to the girl’s flag drop in spite of her obvious tell, but as bikes all around me began to fire I got that short kicker down with one smooth stroke and hammered off the line with the bar pad rising against my chest and toes dragging. Onto the pipe in a rush I found the shifter snicking third still WOT and my peripheral vision told me I had a shot if I could hang on. I was well clear of the only rider on my right and I leaned toward my inside right just at the end of the tape and stayed in the dryer dirt long enough to set my angle and slip more clutch and aim at the hay bale across to my left.
I sensed a guy on my left from the far outside who was on a run, but I knew he couldn’t turn with me and I stayed focused on getting to the Moose Racing flag first which I did and then just ripped it from there on out of the field.
I managed to hold off a challenger through the hay bales until we were nearly out of the first field before letting him by so I could follow and learn the course. Once into the second field I had the power to stay out front but was too aggressive in the corners in a few spots and gave away some positions. The woods single track was knarly stuff, and I was sure I’d get passed in there but managed to keep going pretty well by not being stupid.
Guys would catch me in an especially challenging section and I’d just relax and scramble on through as I heard them get jammed up and falling behind me. This was a rather pleasant sensation aside from being maxed out physically just handling the bike. The IRC VE33 set up Tubliss at 5.5 psi was definitely getting the job done and my confidence climbing the steep and knarly grew quickly.
Coming through the scoring tent I found myself in 8th which was okay. It was really tough out there so I hoped I could grab another spot. After the second lap I saw I was in 6th, which surprised me because I’d dropped her in there at least once and got a little stuck (this happened on all my laps which is why I was so whipped!). After the third lap I found myself in 4th with a white flag waving!
I’d actually ridden that lap hoping it was the last one, bike control was becoming a serious issue and I was very lucky I didn’t crash in a few spots. Knowing I was over my limit without having killed myself I raised my own white flag and pulled off. My arms and hands were so dead I couldn’t raise my goggles!
Tickled to have achieved 4th position and knowing I’d never catch 3rd without serious risk of life and limb I called it a day. Besides, I got the hole shot and showed myself I could ride with these boys. I cruised on back to the truck and collapsed under the tent with a water jug to pour over my head. It took me probably ten minutes or more to peel off my gear as I laid on the grass and swigged water from the jug and poured it over my head. I’d made the right call. Final results gave me 5th which was all I deserved and my best ever finish in 50B. No doubt about it, a skilled rider can still win on the venerable KDX, maybe it’s easier on those new bikes, but there is pride in ripping that old green machine.
Best thing was I didn’t get hurt and my KDX is unscathed too. We all got off the course healthy and had a great time.
Hardware! Tracy out toughed all of us and got third in 50A.
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