Well, all is said and done at LTR and all I can say is: "Dang, that was fun". This is stuck in my head because that is what I said at the end of every section of that enduro. Dust, dehydration, leg cramps. Nothing could wipe the smile off of my face.

We left the house at 10:00 on Friday night in the Schaffer's van after wrestling a mouse into each of Cody's tires. All five of us, Cody, Kyle, Barry, my dad and me all piled into one little van. Filed into an overhead storage bin, I woke up the next morning in Lubbock Texas. We left civilization after a quick breakfast and went into the land of the dust and the wind. Wind generators poked out of the ground like beacons reminding us of the high gas prices which we paid to get here and for the first time so far on the national enduro circuit I felt somewhat at home. We spent Saturday prepping bikes and trying not to get sun stroked. The commentary of David Klein could be heard all through the pits and there was a rumor of "Chuck Norris" somewhere on the trail to give us a good round house kick to the face. I felt that despite Mike Lafferty being absent, this race had a lot of competition and there were a lot of people who could walk away with a big win.

The first test was a typical high speed Texas mesquite section. I'm pretty sure I blew the first ten corners before I calmed down and started to get in the groove. I was lucky enough to only have only two guys on the minute ahead of me and I only caught one of them. I had about the minimal dust possible for that section. I came out with a 2:35 which put me right in with Cole Kirkpatrick and Nick Brozovich. I couldn't believe it when I heard that poor Russell Bobbitt got the shaft with a 3:00. But unlike me, Russ and everyone else knew that this was an enduro. Root the word endure. The next test was very similar and I was told I was only two seconds off of Cole in that test also. Only two tests were done and I was already feeling worked. The third test was when the race actually started. This section consisted of very tight trees on a side hill. I was glad to have a "un-stallable" YZ250F with the Rekluse clutch. I lost a point to Cole, Nick and Russ through that section. The next section I was motivated. It was a 13 mile test through open bermed up trail with lots of fast creek beds. I was railing but I was on the edge and at the end of a fast bumpy creek bed, when I chopped the throttle I swapped and got launched up into the air and landed on a bush. I wasn't hurt so I just picked up my still running bike and kept going. I got to the "motocross track" which had just some turns and natural hills. I was definitely a little bit winded. Coming out of a corner, ironically right in front of my dad, I was sliding, got caught and high sided. Bike was still running and I limped into the finish. 9:07. Cole came in at 8:58. Two tests to go and now the endure part of enduro was about to come into play. I hadn't seen "Chuck Norris" yet so I was a little concerned. Chuck turned out to be an extremely steep downhill followed by several miles of tech trail in which I was battling leg cramps. Still, talk about a killer trail section. Relentless rocky trail. Awesome. Cole and Russ put a point on me through there but I was able to tie Nick. Next was the last section of the day. I was having leg cramps already as we were just leaving the check in. Good thing I practice standing up through corners at home, because there was no bending my right leg. I endured that section, but Cole and Russ put another point on me. I think I need to tighten up my training program a little bit eh? I ended up fourth overall. Jordan Brandt was right on my tail all day. I think he had some issues in the fourth test.

I am not sure what other nationals I am going to hit this year but you will definitely see me at Nevada and Arizona.

Congratulations to Cole Kirkpatrick for his overall victory. I want to thank Vickery Motorsports, Rekluse, Topar, Off Road Champions, Durelle Suspension, NEPG and LTR for putting on a killer enduro. I will see you all next time.
Photo by GoFasters.com