Sidewinder Enduro

By

Justin Lockwood
Arkansas City, Kansas

Well I survived my first long course race. My upper legs and lower back feel it this morning but no worse than usual after a short course.

I headed out 6:45 Sat. morning., it's a long drive, 9 1/2 hrs driving fast and not stopping much. I arrived to find the biggest camp I have ever seen. I picked a quite place on the far side of the field away from the noise of the generators to pitch my tent. It was a nice thought but the camper trailers just kept coming and before long I was surrounded with noise. I entered and called it a night at 7:30. The tent was better than the truck. It's nice to have somewhere to change and get dressed in.

I woke early and was an the line and waiting for row 13, my row, to start. There were five on the row, A Open, B Open, C Senior, C 250 and me, B250. I let them all go and was happy to follow.

DEEP SAND. DEEP SAND. DEEP SAND. Did I say that there was some deep sand? The first check came in at exactly 3 miles, easy to zero at 15mph. The next 9 1/2 miles were spent riding the possibles. Another check, once again a zero even though the speed was now 18mph. The sand got better once we were off the mini trail from Sat.

I now was running forth in our train with the C- Senior following. The trails were not super tight, although the Texas riders all commented about how tight it was. As the speed average went up first to 24 mph and then 30 mph the points started adding up. I came into the gas at mile 31 having dropped six points.

I had started figuring out the sand. Instead of brake sliding around the corner or slowing down and coasting through it, I learned to hit the rut,(the one and only rut) with the front tire and gun it hard, the momentum of the rear wheel spinning keeps you from falling over.

I also figured out at the gas stop my rear tire was flat. The rim lock held and it caused me no problem in the sand. I did have to take it easy on logs. I also noticed my rear axle nut had stripped again allowing the wheel to kick side ways. Once again no major problem other than the fact that I ruined the bearings in my rear wheel. I fixed the axle straight and left the gas on time.

C-senior was no longer with us. We ran hard with B open and me swapping places back and forth. We rode the possibles for quite awhile. They finally put us into a test section that cost me four points. My computer froze up at 49.99 so I had no idea of any more mileage or time from then on, once again no problem since A and B open were leading the charge. At the split of the short course I almost messed up. A and B stopped. Me, being so excited to get to ride long course blasted on.

CHECK!!HERE??? I was able to do a balancing act for what seemed like forever and was able to zero the check. A and B open passed me and the rest of the day was spent on the gas.

I dropped 34 points and was sitting forth in B250 and 11 Overall B when I left. I probably slipped further down as more scores came in. I packed up and was on the way home by 1:30.

It was a long trip, 1200 miles total but it was a blast. One of the most fun races I have raced. The only thing missing was a buddy to travel and ride with.

Time to repair the bike and get ready for the next trip.