This is an abbreviated race report, so I'll just stick to the quick after-action summary and video!
First off, I thank everyone who made this race happen. I know events like this take a lot of work and organization and I appreciate it. Even with limited space at the venue, everyone fit in for camping and parking and the race and workers were well organized and overall very helpful. Thanks everyone!
I'm new to enduros, this was my 4th race. I ride in Vet-C, and I finished mid pack or a little better at Pine Ridge and Cucharas. I did one lap at Hard Rock, got some minor injuries towards the end of the second test, and decided I wouldn't be able to finish the race without injuring myself further. By the time I got back to gas, I was 20+ minutes late to my 2nd lap start time anyway.
When I pulled up to my camp, my two neighbors were also back already: one with a broken front brake lever; the other (a Sen-C rider I believe) with the comment "Jeez, that just wasn't even fun, just torture." I will be interested to see the attrition rate for this enduro. At Cucharas, more than half of all "C" class riders didn't finish (59 of 109 dropped). There were about 263 racers at Cucharas, so C class riders were 41% of the field. I think C is the largest class by size.
Contents- TBD
With Cucharas already in the books and some posts indicating that this enduro would be easier or at least less rocky, I expected this enduro to be easier than Cucharas. I think this enduro was too hard for C class riders, and realistically so was Cucharas.
Quote:
There will be adequate time to reach the next test for all skill levels. ... The good news is that we feel we've pulled together a course that will be fun and challenging for all skill levels.Hey, if the majority of C class riders are having a hard time finishing the race let alone having adequate time to reach the next test on time, I think that's a clue that the C route is too hard. Yeah, we can "keep plugging along", and we're all trying to become better riders; however, it is discouraging to new riders to be thrown into relentless terrain in a race they are not going to finish. Hey, we're in "C" class for a reason! We're newbies.
I heard several comments at Cucharas and saw some comments posted that it was the person's "first and last enduro" or that they "wouldn't be back." This is probably not the reaction one wants to hear from new racers! In any case, thanks to everyone who helped out and I'll see you at the rest of the 09 RMEC series!