HHHusky
Pack Dog
The second round of the Enduro World X-Country series took place on Saturday 9 May 2009 at De Pan Cluster Sand in Carletonville. The course was very different to the first race at Heidelberg, and the main theme of this course was butt-puckering descents and accents through the quarry sections, and bike-swallowing mudholes of note. The first little challenge just after the start was a fun little climb up a rocky bank, which most everyone breezed over
But not me, and it rapidly became apparent that today I was destined to be the poor idiot who was going to satisfy the crowd’s lust for mayhem. As I hit the bottom of the climb things went all pear-shaped, and the end result is that I got halfway before moering down.
Much pushing and pulling later I got back to the bottom, and nearly fluffed it again going up. At this stage I was very very very much last. Not a good start, and it took me a while to figure out what went wrong (that is, apart from the obvious lack of rider talent and basic fitness.) On Friday evening just before loading the bike I decided to bend out the rear brake pedal a bit, as it got slightly tucked in from all my practise MLOT’s. Problem is I never checked the pedal height after doing this, and I now found that whenever I stood on the pegs my boot will touch the brake pedal, resulting in a slightly inconvenient deceleration when least appropriate. Aah crap! No way to fix this now, so on I soldiered, through some easy faster sections on the way to the quarry. The quarry section was mainly steep descents and accents, and having never really done much of this terrain I found it really intimidating – not really that difficult, but scary. And then I rocked up at mini-Erzberg, a little drop down the bank, slight turn to the right and then a long steep slippery climb to the top, with plenty appreciative spectator s waiting for the inevitable. Down the bank I went, made the turn, got up on the pegs and gunned it – only for my boot to tap the rear brake and slow the bike as I hit the bottom of the climb – sit down, stab at the clutch to get the revs up, drift of line, get about halfway, moer over, roll down the hill and the crowd goes crazy! Crawl back up to fetch the bike, drag it down, and big thanks for Shark who came to assist. Get into position for a retry, pull of, deftly shift to neutral just as I reach the bottom of the climb . . . the crowd roars in appreciation. Repeat again and fortunately I finally get it right and launch up the climb – the crowd goes crazy! By now, hardly 1/10th into the first lap and I was already exhausted, and my confidence shot to hell. I tiptoed through the rest of the quarry section, and fortunately could then catch a breath through some simple section on the way to the pan. The pan was basically a large watery muddy rocky grassy test of ball-size, and you can see some of the pro jet-ski’s pinning it in the background.
Then into the house of pain, which was an old wreck of a house with some tires inside to make things a bit more exciting. This is where earlier I had observed our Christian brothers (CMA guys marshalled this section) do some very un-Christian like things when the pros made the tires look too easy, notably involving pilling several tires on top of each other to make things a bit more “challenging.” >
Recognise any of the culprits?
Right after the house of pain, there was a steep drop-off into a mudhole of note, and this thing just got meaner as the day wore on. Here is some mudhole action
Both time I got stuck in this hole, and on the first lap four CMA marshals had to help me pull the bike out it was stuck so deep, and the second lap Will actually helped me get the bike up the last bank. With help I sort of mean he pushed me off the bike and rode it up the bank for me. Now during the race Will was all over the place ensuring idiots like me were not becoming permanent obstructions on the course, and at this stage our paths had unfortunately already crossed several times. As he passed me my bike he gave me a smile and made some comment about it being a tough day in the office :biggrin: No shit!
Then there was time to catch your breath again, before another steep climb
and seriously steep drop, made more interesting by a sharp turn at the bottom
That marshal didn't last long, neither did the candy-tape! I sort of think I did drop it here at some stage as well, but in retrospect the seven or eight times I dropped the bike during the day has sort of merged into one messy nightmare. Then time for a breather, with some easy open section, a bit of mud and rock to keep you awake, and then a final push through the trees back to the start. I am embarrassed to say that I only completed two laps before I gave up, while we were supposed to do five laps – stone last in Novice B! I really struggled on the day, and towards the end I honestly felt like a forty year old who only started riding an endure bike six months ago. But I still absolutely loved it, and slowly but surely I am hopefully improving, although I do think the KDX needs some suspension work like Shark has recently done to his scoot (clutching at straws here I know, but ego is badly bruised so give a man a break.) I must give honourable mention to Extreme, who rocked up with his TM after a long recovery from a bad compound fracture, and on his first race in a very long time he finished 5 laps, and I am sure he was very well placed in Novice B! Also Jayman had a storming ride, finishing 4th in Novice A. Splash finished the day riding in Novice C, and generally had a breeze – time to move up a class! To Will, the marshals (angels, all of them) and the Enduro World team, thanks for a great day, and see you next time.
But not me, and it rapidly became apparent that today I was destined to be the poor idiot who was going to satisfy the crowd’s lust for mayhem. As I hit the bottom of the climb things went all pear-shaped, and the end result is that I got halfway before moering down.
Much pushing and pulling later I got back to the bottom, and nearly fluffed it again going up. At this stage I was very very very much last. Not a good start, and it took me a while to figure out what went wrong (that is, apart from the obvious lack of rider talent and basic fitness.) On Friday evening just before loading the bike I decided to bend out the rear brake pedal a bit, as it got slightly tucked in from all my practise MLOT’s. Problem is I never checked the pedal height after doing this, and I now found that whenever I stood on the pegs my boot will touch the brake pedal, resulting in a slightly inconvenient deceleration when least appropriate. Aah crap! No way to fix this now, so on I soldiered, through some easy faster sections on the way to the quarry. The quarry section was mainly steep descents and accents, and having never really done much of this terrain I found it really intimidating – not really that difficult, but scary. And then I rocked up at mini-Erzberg, a little drop down the bank, slight turn to the right and then a long steep slippery climb to the top, with plenty appreciative spectator s waiting for the inevitable. Down the bank I went, made the turn, got up on the pegs and gunned it – only for my boot to tap the rear brake and slow the bike as I hit the bottom of the climb – sit down, stab at the clutch to get the revs up, drift of line, get about halfway, moer over, roll down the hill and the crowd goes crazy! Crawl back up to fetch the bike, drag it down, and big thanks for Shark who came to assist. Get into position for a retry, pull of, deftly shift to neutral just as I reach the bottom of the climb . . . the crowd roars in appreciation. Repeat again and fortunately I finally get it right and launch up the climb – the crowd goes crazy! By now, hardly 1/10th into the first lap and I was already exhausted, and my confidence shot to hell. I tiptoed through the rest of the quarry section, and fortunately could then catch a breath through some simple section on the way to the pan. The pan was basically a large watery muddy rocky grassy test of ball-size, and you can see some of the pro jet-ski’s pinning it in the background.
Then into the house of pain, which was an old wreck of a house with some tires inside to make things a bit more exciting. This is where earlier I had observed our Christian brothers (CMA guys marshalled this section) do some very un-Christian like things when the pros made the tires look too easy, notably involving pilling several tires on top of each other to make things a bit more “challenging.” >
Recognise any of the culprits?
Right after the house of pain, there was a steep drop-off into a mudhole of note, and this thing just got meaner as the day wore on. Here is some mudhole action
Both time I got stuck in this hole, and on the first lap four CMA marshals had to help me pull the bike out it was stuck so deep, and the second lap Will actually helped me get the bike up the last bank. With help I sort of mean he pushed me off the bike and rode it up the bank for me. Now during the race Will was all over the place ensuring idiots like me were not becoming permanent obstructions on the course, and at this stage our paths had unfortunately already crossed several times. As he passed me my bike he gave me a smile and made some comment about it being a tough day in the office :biggrin: No shit!
Then there was time to catch your breath again, before another steep climb
and seriously steep drop, made more interesting by a sharp turn at the bottom
That marshal didn't last long, neither did the candy-tape! I sort of think I did drop it here at some stage as well, but in retrospect the seven or eight times I dropped the bike during the day has sort of merged into one messy nightmare. Then time for a breather, with some easy open section, a bit of mud and rock to keep you awake, and then a final push through the trees back to the start. I am embarrassed to say that I only completed two laps before I gave up, while we were supposed to do five laps – stone last in Novice B! I really struggled on the day, and towards the end I honestly felt like a forty year old who only started riding an endure bike six months ago. But I still absolutely loved it, and slowly but surely I am hopefully improving, although I do think the KDX needs some suspension work like Shark has recently done to his scoot (clutching at straws here I know, but ego is badly bruised so give a man a break.) I must give honourable mention to Extreme, who rocked up with his TM after a long recovery from a bad compound fracture, and on his first race in a very long time he finished 5 laps, and I am sure he was very well placed in Novice B! Also Jayman had a storming ride, finishing 4th in Novice A. Splash finished the day riding in Novice C, and generally had a breeze – time to move up a class! To Will, the marshals (angels, all of them) and the Enduro World team, thanks for a great day, and see you next time.
