Watch out marshal............................ I’m coming through!
Well, this is where it all started for me exactly a year ago when I had my first race. This time I hoped that I wouldn’t have the same outcome as last year!
Rifton has got to be one of the most easiest venues to get to, straight off the main A361, with a nice big massive field to park in too. Lets not forget that it’s summer, you wouldn’t have thought it with a cold wind howling across the place. Chilly indeed for a thin bloke like me!
Upon signing on, met Debbie Tucker (self confessed dirt bike lover, organizer, photographer, pit crew, enduro secretary) who without, I wouldn’t have some rather decent snaps of me on this blog! Had a quick chat, then it was back to get changed ready for the off.
Got chatting on the start line to Michael Coates (had a bit of banter with him in the race as we kept passing each other every time one of us got stuck!) whilst waiting for the race to start proper.
Flag dropped and off we went, didn’t make a bad start, about 5th or 6th, until the 2nd field we crossed and oops……………….off I came. Got back on quickly and entered the woods where there was a massive queue waiting to get down a steep drop, I got off and gingerly walked the bike down there, no probs and I was off again. Through the woods we went, until we dropped down into the rocky little river, this is where I done an absolute ‘classic’. I went up a bank and passed a rider who was stuck, I went to the side of him and dropped down back into the water, as I went down the other side my front wheel stopped dead (a you‘ve been framed moment) and I went straight over the bars and landed on my arse in the drink! The front wheel had sunk and was stuck in a boggy hole, luckily 2 guys helped me out and off I went again.
Further on the lap another sticky, slimy, tree lined treacherous downhill followed, nice! I crawled down it at a snails pace, fair play to the experts, they were flying down the thing as though they were on a pushbike having a bit of fun.
Out of the woods we came to some open going, not as easy as you might think, the grassy off camber slopes were like an ice rink in places, and certainly got worse as the race went on. One of the ‘hard options’ for the more experienced to save time was riding over a car, and then up and over a pile of logs, I did think about having a go, but then again, maybe next year!
On the 2nd lap whilst grimly hanging onto the bike on one of those treacherous downhills, I saw in front of me a guy that was pinned under his machine and couldn’t move, I looked behind and saw Michael following me and shouted ‘Oi, down here, someone’s in trouble’, we both slid down to him, dropped our bikes, and managed to haul the thing off of him, checked to see if he was alright, and off we went again.
As the race went on it seemed everything just became more and more tricky as the track got cut up, and if you didn’t pick the right line on the hills or the slopes, you just got stuck(along with quite a few others). This happened to me quite a few times, and a couple of times even the spectators came to my rescue (great camaraderie these enduro’s). The lap was probably about 8 miles or so in length and believe me, it was certainly a test of man and machine, a proper enduro course, which made it all the more worthwhile riding given the conditions, which I think is a great leveler.
I took a longer pit stop than usual to change my goggles, gloves, and let some more air out of the back tyre, then it was off to get stuck a few more times on the ‘ice rink’ of those grassy slopes, and test my riding skills through the woods (whilst running out of energy) before going on to finish.
Really enjoyed it, I love it when the going gets tough!
Finishing position: 3/19
Bike status: new graphics
Injuries: none
