SMITH OFFROAD - NOTES OF A NOVICE DIRT BIKE RACER
Zak Smith is a trail rider and novice enduro and hare scramble racer in northern Colorado. This
site features
ride and race reports,
photos, video, and GPS tracks.
.
He rides a 2009 KTM 450 XCW for dual-sport and hare scrambles and a 250 XCW for enduro and trail. Some assistance provided by Elite Motorsports KTM in Loveland, Colorado.

2009 RMEC Enduro Series DVD Now Available!
Relive the 2009 RMEC enduro season!This DVD video contains over two and a half hours of helmet-cam footage from the 2009 Rocky Mountain Enduro Circuit (RMEC) enduro series.
Available on the PRODUCTS page - click here!
2010-01-22
Last Saturday evening was the RMEC Banquet for the 2009 season. I ended up 3rd place in Vet-C, woohoo!
Older blog entries are here.
Last Saturday evening was the RMEC Banquet for the 2009 season. I ended up 3rd place in Vet-C, woohoo!
The 2010 RMEC season is already upon us. The first two races are a double-header Feb 6-7th at Wickenburg AZ. I can't wait to get back on some trails again.
25 JAN 2010 Update: I just sent in my application for the AZ 2-day enduro and the Best in the Desert U.S. Hare Scramble in Laughlin NV.
ARTICLES - RIDE AND RACE REPORTS
(most recent below)
2009 Sno-Shoe Enduro Race Report (09 RMEC 8) -
RMEC's 8th race of the 2009 season was Sno-Shoe. Held on public land west of Montrose, it featured fast, flowing trails with
select rocky and rooty sections and was a lot of fun.
[more >>] |
2009 Greenridge Enduro Race Report (09 RMEC 7) -
The Greenridge Enduro was RMEC's 7th race in the 2009 season, with a good mix of fast, slow, tight, and hard (though not exactly techncal) sections. It was definitely a fun race! The terrain wasn't technically hard and the hills weren't even that bad, but if you got tipped over or snagged in a tree, it could be time and energy consuming to get out.
[more >>] |
2009 Inyan Kara National Enduro (NEPG) Enduro Race Report (09 RMEC 5) -
This year the Inyan Kara enduro was a "national" enduro, on the NEPG circuit, and it was the first I.K. was a national. As a result, it drew racers from around the country, including top riders such as Russell Bobbitt and Michael Lafferty, not to mention local Ian Blythe. Inyan Kara was the 5th race on the 2009 RMEC circuit, and my 5th enduro so far. With two extremely hard and technical enduros just behind me, I was ready for something a little faster and not so physically punishing.
[more >>] |
2009 Hard Rock Enduro Race Report (09 RMEC 4) -
Hard Rock held near Canon City was my 4th race, 4th in the 2009 RMEC circuit. It was an extremely hard race due to technical difficulty. It was more than twice as hard as Cucharas and the vast majority of the C-class riders could not finish the race. I quit after one lap due to a minor injury and deciding that I wouldn't be able to finish two more laps without further injury. In the end, the race results were determined for many riders by who survided for the most checks.
[more >>] |
2009 Cucharas River Enduro Race Report (09 RMEC 3) -
The Cucharas River Enduro was extremely hard- 10x harder than the hardest enduro I've ridden to date
(Pine Ridge, considering the conditions). It sustained a level of physical and technical difficulty
on par with the hardest parts of the hardest trails I've ridden in Northern Colorado.
[more >>] |
2009 Pine Ridge Enduro Race Report (09 RMEC 2) -
The Pine Ridge enduro has a reputation for snow, rain, cold, and mud, and this year's race followed suit. Pine Ridge was the second RMEC series race of the 2009 season. This was my second enduro and my first "time keeper." The Pine Ridge enduro was a blast, a cold, muddy, sloppy, cold, freezing blast.
[more >>] |
2009 Caprock Canyon Enduro Race Report (09 RMEC 1) -
I finished the Caprock Canyon Enduro! This was my first enduro race
and, to get my full "money's worth," I raced the A/B loop in the Vet-B
class. Although I knew I wouldn't be competitive in this class as a novice rider,
I wanted to get the most from the experience and my primary goal was to finish
the race and not get stuck and time or crash out.
[more >>] |
New dirt bike rider tries racing hare scrambles -
I bought my first dirt bike 23 days ago, took two trail rides, practiced at the track for one day, and then raced my first Hare Scramble today at VDR in Berthoud, Colorado.
One of my coworkers has been dirt biking since he was a kid. He walks into my cube one day and says, "There's a hare scramble this weekend at VDR. I think we should race it as a team." It didn't take much arm-twisting to get me to agree. Here's the story of my first race.
[more >>] |
Why I chose a KTM as my first dirt bike -
After 30,000 miles on sporty street bikes, I wanted a motorcycle for more challenge and adventure. A dirt bike
was what the doctor ordered. But which one? KTM was amongst the top choices and many of my friends
recommended them. Looking at their prodigious line-up which fills virtually every possible niche in off-road
riding and racing, it's obvious KTM is serious about dirt bikes and knows what they're doing. Here's
the story of how I decided on a KTM 450 XCW for my first dirt bike.
[more >>] |
VIDEO
(most recent 3 below)
Video: 2009 Sno-Shoe Enduro Helmet-Cam Video A 20-minute compilation of helmet-cam video from the 2009 Sno-Shoe Enduro Race held near Monstrose, CO. The trails included both single track and fast double-track, with a few rocks and roots for good measure. Filmed on a VIO POV.1 helmet camera on Zak Smith, row 41D on a KTM 250 XCW, Vet-C class. [ link to high-quality video ] |
Video: 2009 Greenridge Enduro Helmet-Cam Video A half-hour compilation of helmet-cam video from the 2009 Greenridge Enduro Race held near Phippsburg, CO. The trails were loose, dry, and very dusty, and mixed between fast and tight. Filmed on a VIO POV.1 helmet camera on Zak Smith, row 48D on a KTM 250 XCW, Vet-C class. [ link to high-quality video ] |
Video: 2009 Inyan Kara National Enduro (NEPG) Helmet-Cam Video A half-hour compilation of helmet-cam video from the 2009 Inyan Kara National Enduro Race held near Upton, WY. The trails were smooth, mostly dry, somewhat dusty, and mixed between fast and tight. Filmed on a VIO POV.1 helmet camera on Zak Smith, row 54E on a KTM 250 XCW, Vet-C class. [ link to high-quality video ] |
PHOTOGRAPHY
(most recent 3 albums below)







