Is one the worst experiences I’ve had on a bike so far…
Come do an Endro race, they said. It’ll be a lot of fun, they said. Well, those jerks were wrong! I just wasn’t prepared for how hard this was going to be. Of course, once I’m there, I’m told that it’s the hardest one they’ve got for the two different organizations that put them on. I even had one of the RMEC tell me I pick the wrong one for my very first Endro type race.
This was one, if not the worst days I’ve ever had riding a motorcycle. I’ve even had them send me to the hospital and I wasn’t this upset or crushed by the experience. It was the closest I’ve ever come to tears in years. I’m not used to failing so miserably at things.
Now, this caused me to take a look at a few things in my life. Most of that I’m not going to get into on this blog, ever…. But I did evaluate my riding more and the bike I was on. I really liked my Husky 250, but it wasn’t the right bike for that race. It also wasn’t set up properly for doing the race. I really needed to change out the gearing. It would have made it easier on me. I also had to look at the mindset I had for the event. I was expecting it to be fun, not azz kickin’ work. I don’t think I’ve scared myself that much on a dirt bike since I started to ride them. I really was in over my head. I should have just done the practice loop and the beginner race. Instead, I again listened to my “friends” who were telling me that I’d be just fine. That was my biggest mistake.
At the race track when I’m coaching I talk about the 5 main reason that riders crash. I needed to think about those for this too. Now, cold tires aren’t an issue for dirt riding. However, Over confidence, Lack of Focus/Lack of a Plan, Abrupt Inputs, and Rushing Entrances/Repeating Mistakes. These all pretty much cover my issues for the day. Compounded by the issues that I’ve always had with the Husky. I’m not going to really blame the bike, but there are things about that bike made it even harder for me to succeed. They are really intangible things that I didn’t even realize that were issues until very recently.
After riding that 6days KTM 450 in Sonora for 4 days I was feeling confident that I could ride sand without any issues… (yeah, over confidence.) I was comfortable on my bike, I’d been riding it for years, I didn’t really feel that it would be that tough. I didn’t think I’d be fast, but I also didn’t think that I wouldn’t be able to finish.
Reality.. you b*tch.
The start line was in the arroyo, not a big deal, for about 1,000 feet before you turn right to climb a hill. It didn’t look tough, if I’d been out trail riding without a lot of others around it would have been just fine. Instead, I was in the middle of a number of people who weren’t going to wait and let you go up it one at a time…. Nor did I know that others where going to struggle just as much as I did or worse. So I had a couple of attempts at the hill thwarted by riders getting in the way. I being nice wasn’t going to run over their wheels, just I could get up the hill. (I’ve since been informed that is exactly what I should have done.) So I had to stop, back down, or fall down and try it again. It was unnerving having rider constantly coming up and trying not to be in their way, but still get myself going. I did make it up the hill, but technically I was off course. I didn’t care at that point.
It wasn’t so bad winding my way around the part of the course. Until I got to the next tough hill climb, I had the same issues, and after the 5th try, one of the spotters took pity on me and rode it up the hill for me. Which left me to have to scale my way up on my hands and knees in full gear… Not the easiest way to climb a steep hill.
After that I worked my way around to another small hill that I was happy to see, it looked super simple, easy, not steep at all. I just didn’t give the bush hanging out into it enough respect. It smacked my bars hard enough to send me off down the side of the hill. That was the last straw for me. I was beat, I was wheezing (I discovered I didn’t have an inhaler with me), I was getting over heated, and was low on water. I got the bike down the hill turned it around, and rode to where I could see the campsite, I worked my way down the hill and parked the bike at the trailer.
It was in the trailer where I just about lost it. I was defeated. Not a feeling that I like or have experienced much. Anyone who has asthma, knows that emotions often can make it worse… I spent about an hour in the trailer attempting to get my act together and get my breathing back to normal.
I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Jim complete his laps and talked to a few of the people I knew there. Not a bad afternoon considering. It was at this time I learned that this was the hardest event of the year and that it was hard for the better riders too. I wasn’t quite so depressed after that. I also wasn’t sure that I would try it again.
