1998 Caney Creek National Enduro

by

Jim Sally

It was a rather hazy warm day in north Dallas as I prepared to head down south to New Waverly. The haze wasn’t nearly as bad as a few days earlier. With a strong wind from the south and countless clouds of smoke from the fires in Mexico, the area looked like downtown L.A. during rush hour. I knew it would be worse the closer I got to my destination. This thought made me actually wish, for the first time ever, that it would rain in the Sam Houston National forest.

The campground was not at the usual bank site but further south down 75. It was a very spacious spot that accommodated everyone from the big rigs to small tents. Since I weenied out and didn’t ride on Saturday I arrived in the forest on Saturday afternoon. I pulled up just in time to enjoy the dinner sponsored by Acerbis. They did a great job and we really appreciated all they did for the race. The dinner was much better than the spaghetti I planned on burning later in the evening.

Sign in went smoothly and I proceeded to ogle all the really cool rigs that were there. Since this was a national all of the top guys were here. If I could only get on the same row as Randy Hawkins, and keep up with him, I would have a great day. I’m sure Mr. Hawkins would get tired of waiting for me at the test sections though.

The weather was much cooler than I expected. The smoke wasn’t all that bad either. I had been drinking water for the last couple of days in preparation for the heat. After the race, I hoped people would stop asking me what the sloshing sound was when I walked by. The race instructions repeatedly said to drink plenty of water and it was good advice. I finally figured out all the rules and what minute I was on. Since my Pacemaker 3 does FIM rules and locations, I decided to try using my computer and it worked great.

The start of the race was a lot of fun. It wasn’t too hot yet but I knew it would be getting much warmer later on in the day. Everyone left on their minute and rode about 50 yards to the start of the grass track. The first special test section of the day was slippery but tons of fun. I think I actually made it all the way through the first test without taking out the majority of the ribbon markings.

We then rode out to 1375 and did a few miles of easy paved trail, better known as the "farm to market road", until we darted back into the forest. Check #1 came up quick at mile 8.8. There was plenty of time to top off all my tanks, gas and water, and relax a bit before heading out. It would be quite a ways until the next special test, mile 35.5 to be exact, so it was time to enjoy the trail. If you are someone who loves tons of sand whoops, a few more tons of roots, an extra smattering of tons of trees, most vertical others horizontal across the trail, then this is the place for you. In fact, I was having great fun until my misadventure through the woods on unmarked trail. Fortunately my bike stayed on the marked trail. After dusting off my leathers and my pride, I quickly remounted and railed on for more sand, whoops, roots, trees, etc.

Special test #2 was extremely tight but short. Right after the test was Check #2. I had even less time than at check one, but enough to top-off and relax until my minute came up. There were several factory support vans and personnel at this check including Team Green’s Dennis Hawthorne. Since my newly purchased stead was of the Green persuasion, I felt like a full factory rider, except for my non-blistering speed. If anyone has ever met Dennis, they would know he would lend a hand to anyone, regardless of the color of their bike. He’s a great asset to the sport of motorcycling. Now if I can only talk him into supporting me for the rest of the TSCEC series I’ll have it made.

It was kind of nice to be able to see the check, roll up to it, and then wait until my minute came up, which was completely different than an Enduro. The next 25 or so miles would be the biggest challenge of the race. There would be three terrain tests over some terrain that is not really meant for berserk speeds, or at least for us non-super humans.

All three tests were full of roots, fallen trees, and whoops. Definitely challenges to all that were riding. By the end of the third one, I was questioning my sanity and wondering how fast I could shortcut back to camp and the comforting contents of my ice cold cooler. I decided to venture forth and see what the rest of the day had in store.

Check #3 finally came at mile 63.1. Something must have happened out on the trail with the clock because there was no way I could be this late for the check. It couldn’t have been the fact that my primate looking behind was now permanently plastered to my seat for lack of energy to stand up. I did take one minute to gas up and then headed out for the home stretch.

The short course would now tool through the woods for a while until we headed back to camp via the smooth paved trail. The long course got more of the woods and then did the first special test of the day, in the opposite direction from the morning, before finishing. I showed up back at camp only to find out that I had almost 40 minutes to wait before I could go through the last check. Somewhere the mileage or time must have been off. I definitely could have used this time at Check #3 and not at the end. Eighty something miles and five hours later, I finally went through the last check. Woo hoo, I at least got a Bronze medal.

The guys from ProClean were kind enough to wash my bike for me, and anyone else’s for that matter, for free and they did a great job. They have been at the last few enduros and really do a great job with a great product.

After the dust cleared and the points were tallied, Randy Hawkins finished first with Mike Lafferty right behind him. After four of ten rounds Lafferty still leads Hawkins in the series by 31 points. A job well done goes out to Brian Storrie and Rick Higgins who finished 10th and 11th against some extremely stiff competition. Overall it was a great time. The weather wasn’t too bad, the trails were fun and challenging, and the test sections were a blast. Some things to hope for when we all return in September.