- Oct 13, 1999
- 2,812
- 0
This one’s for you Daniel Joseph!
The snow on the ground at my house was a bad omen. It didn’t get any warmer on the drive over to Stafford, CT either. I pre-registered and was on minute 28. My pit crew, Mrs. Woods and Woods Jr., need to work on their timing. Mrs. Woods heads to the bathroom and Junior decides to make me a present. Nothing like changing a dirty diaper 15 minutes before your key time.
The start was 2 miles down the road from the pits. Event though I was wearing my winter riding jacket I was frozen when I got there. I was first off the line and through the mud holes and doing pretty good until I realized I couldn’t feel my fingers. This made slipping the clutch on the first rocky uphill almost impossible. The bike stalled and I nearly fell over but managed to save myself. Finally made it to the top, but my fingers were still numb. Made a poor line choice at a mud hole. The front tire dropped in a rut and stopped. The back end started coming up, but I held on to keep from going over the bars. Slid forward and rapped the “twins” on the gas cap. Spent five minutes catching my voice… errr, uh breath and unburying my bike. I least I didn’t do a face plant in the mud. Dropped 14 points in the first section. A short reset gave me a minute or two of rest.
Down some tar roads and through a short transfer section and another reset had us out on some gravel and tar roads. Went through a water crossing where a Dodge Dakota was buried in the mud. Made sure to follow the line of the guy in front of me. I zeroed the check-in to second test section and was riding pretty good swapping back and forth with a rider on a CR250. Dropped five points in the second test section. A short transfer section down some tar roads had us at an OB check for the third test section where I dropped another four points before heading to the gas stop.
I was hoping for a quick turnaround at gas, but noticed a bolt missing from my sharkfin. I scrounged through my toolbox, but couldn’t find a short enough spare. A quick search of non-essential fasteners on the bike turned up nothing I could use. I ended up using a zip-tie to hold it together. This cost me about ten minutes and I headed back out on minute 41. A short transfer section of tar roads and trails had us to the fourth test section. Again I zeroed the check-in. This section contains a really difficult and rocky uphill. I think this may be what is known as the Black n’ Blue rock garden, but I’m not positive. Last year it ate my lunch this year I stalled once but made it up with very little effort. Once I got past the rock gardens I was actually moving along at a good pace.
All of a sudden something went horribly wrong. My rear end was sliding all over the place as if I was riding on ice. I stopped and grabbed my tire. It was as flat as the Gulf Coast. I laid the bike down loosened the rim lock, spooned one bead off the rim and pulled most of the tube out. I put a shot of CO2 in the tube and could see the “snake bite” a telltale sign of a pinch flat. I removed the valve core and started pulling my patch kit out. I roughed up the tube and took the cap off the tube of patch glue. I squeezed the tube and nothing came out. The glue was hard as a rock. Putting everything back together I looked at my odometer and the roll chart. There was a reset about a half mile ahead so I figured the out-check would be there. I rode to the check at a snails pace and dropped 9 points. After the check I zip-tied the tire to the rim and rode 8 miles of tar roads back to the pits where we loaded up. Before heading home we had the fried chicken lunch and I checked out my score. There were 9 people in my class that day, but I wasn’t in last place. Some other guy only made it to check 6.
Thanks goes out to the Connecticut Ramblers M/C for putting on this enduro. I heard about a lot of riders complaining, but frankly the only thing that bothered me was my frozen fingers. Of course I didn't ride the entire course and I heard some parts were worse than others, especially for the later riders. The proceeds of the enduro went to help a rider who was severely injured earlier this year. What a great cause. I’ll be back next year.
The snow on the ground at my house was a bad omen. It didn’t get any warmer on the drive over to Stafford, CT either. I pre-registered and was on minute 28. My pit crew, Mrs. Woods and Woods Jr., need to work on their timing. Mrs. Woods heads to the bathroom and Junior decides to make me a present. Nothing like changing a dirty diaper 15 minutes before your key time.
The start was 2 miles down the road from the pits. Event though I was wearing my winter riding jacket I was frozen when I got there. I was first off the line and through the mud holes and doing pretty good until I realized I couldn’t feel my fingers. This made slipping the clutch on the first rocky uphill almost impossible. The bike stalled and I nearly fell over but managed to save myself. Finally made it to the top, but my fingers were still numb. Made a poor line choice at a mud hole. The front tire dropped in a rut and stopped. The back end started coming up, but I held on to keep from going over the bars. Slid forward and rapped the “twins” on the gas cap. Spent five minutes catching my voice… errr, uh breath and unburying my bike. I least I didn’t do a face plant in the mud. Dropped 14 points in the first section. A short reset gave me a minute or two of rest.
Down some tar roads and through a short transfer section and another reset had us out on some gravel and tar roads. Went through a water crossing where a Dodge Dakota was buried in the mud. Made sure to follow the line of the guy in front of me. I zeroed the check-in to second test section and was riding pretty good swapping back and forth with a rider on a CR250. Dropped five points in the second test section. A short transfer section down some tar roads had us at an OB check for the third test section where I dropped another four points before heading to the gas stop.
I was hoping for a quick turnaround at gas, but noticed a bolt missing from my sharkfin. I scrounged through my toolbox, but couldn’t find a short enough spare. A quick search of non-essential fasteners on the bike turned up nothing I could use. I ended up using a zip-tie to hold it together. This cost me about ten minutes and I headed back out on minute 41. A short transfer section of tar roads and trails had us to the fourth test section. Again I zeroed the check-in. This section contains a really difficult and rocky uphill. I think this may be what is known as the Black n’ Blue rock garden, but I’m not positive. Last year it ate my lunch this year I stalled once but made it up with very little effort. Once I got past the rock gardens I was actually moving along at a good pace.
All of a sudden something went horribly wrong. My rear end was sliding all over the place as if I was riding on ice. I stopped and grabbed my tire. It was as flat as the Gulf Coast. I laid the bike down loosened the rim lock, spooned one bead off the rim and pulled most of the tube out. I put a shot of CO2 in the tube and could see the “snake bite” a telltale sign of a pinch flat. I removed the valve core and started pulling my patch kit out. I roughed up the tube and took the cap off the tube of patch glue. I squeezed the tube and nothing came out. The glue was hard as a rock. Putting everything back together I looked at my odometer and the roll chart. There was a reset about a half mile ahead so I figured the out-check would be there. I rode to the check at a snails pace and dropped 9 points. After the check I zip-tied the tire to the rim and rode 8 miles of tar roads back to the pits where we loaded up. Before heading home we had the fried chicken lunch and I checked out my score. There were 9 people in my class that day, but I wasn’t in last place. Some other guy only made it to check 6.
Thanks goes out to the Connecticut Ramblers M/C for putting on this enduro. I heard about a lot of riders complaining, but frankly the only thing that bothered me was my frozen fingers. Of course I didn't ride the entire course and I heard some parts were worse than others, especially for the later riders. The proceeds of the enduro went to help a rider who was severely injured earlier this year. What a great cause. I’ll be back next year.
