Trials!

Firstly, Happy Canada Day! For any Americans reading this blog, July 1st in Canada is similar to July 4th in the USA.

Yep, I finally did it. After a couple years of harassment from Dave at GasGas Pacific, I finally bought a trials bike! Unfortunately, due to budget constraints I had to go a little older than I hoped, but it should still be fun and great training. Insert plug for more sponsors here. Just kidding. Sort of. Maybe not. Anyways....the bike is a 1999 GasGas (what else?) TXT270. It's in pretty good shape for its age, and I don't feel too guilty when (not if) I drop it.

I've only had the bike a little over a week and haven't had much time to ride it (riding, racing, work and life have been getting in the way) but so far it's been a lot of fun. And a good reality check. My skills are severely lacking in a lot (most) of cases, but hopefully this trials bike will help me improve those technical skills and make me faster!

Speaking of getting faster, man is it weird to just practice going slow! Last night I went out for a ride on Grass Hopper (that's what my girlfriend named the trials bike) and it was really tough for me to slow down instead of just pinning it. I went out and rode a local trail called whiskey on the rocks. It's a technical trail going up the mountain that has, you guessed it, rocks! It's an expert only trail with some extremely tough rock faces. I figured riding the trials bike I should be able to clean everything that I have issues with on my enduro bike. When I hit the first technical section I learned important point #1 about trials bikes: there is no seat. When you lose your balance and need to dab or get low, your legs still need to hold you up! After a few entertaining moments I started to get the hang of it. Then it got really technical. This is where things got ugly as the trail became littered with near vertical (and sometimes more than vertical) rock faces, some directly out of corners. My enduro instincts told me to hit them with speed, then sit down near the top, both feet out and push over the top. Doesn't quite work on the trials bike. Important point #2 was learned then as speed is not always your friend. Trials bikes are geared super low for a reason. After lots of dabs and get offs I finally cleaned a couple rock faces with the bike revved up and wheelying over the top. What a rush!

That's about it for now. I've been riding and racing quite a bit lately and most of all, spending way too many hours on the road. Since I bought my truck (91 Toyota pickup) in late February, I've put over 13000km on it! And that doesn't include a couple trips carpooling with friends! The past two weekends were the Piston Run (PN race in Chilliwack BC) and the Rock Pile Enduro (AMA National in Cascade, Montana). This weekend is the first two rounds of the Canadian Enduro Championship in Blairmore, AB, then it's off to the Apex Ski Hill near Penticton, BC the following weekend for Rounds 3 & 4. After that I think I'll be taking some time off to save money, ride the trials bike and spend more time with my family and friends. I might even try a trials event!

Here's a photo of my freshly prepped bike down in Montana. I just got new plastics and graphics (thanks to GasGas Pacific, Main Jet Motorsports and Lime Nine MX) though I won't have the bike fully prepped and looking good until Thursday night.


Look for upcoming race reports from the Piston Run (ugh), Rock Pile Enduro (good) and the western CEC races (hopefully good!). Thanks again to: GasGas Pacific, Main Jet Motorsports, Motovan, Fasst Company, Dirt Tricks Ironman sprockets and Lime Nine MX (www.limenine.com).

See ya at the races,

Steve

PN Double Header Race Report

Well, I might as well stay on a roll and fill you all in on the May long weekend's activities. May 16/17 saw me head off to Vernon, BC for the Night Pig Harescrambles and Big Rooster Cross-country. Both races are part of the PNWMA series (www.pnwma.com) and both are points paying events. For 2 weeks leading up to these races I spent quite a bit of time researching helmet lights and how to build my own. My GasGas EC250 has a 35 watt headlight on it, but for aggressive woods riding you really need a helmet light to light up the woods. Some friends of mine have cyclops and trail tech helmet lights (HID) that are great, but great lights come at a price. The $400-$500 price tags attached to these units don't really fit into my racing budget so it was off to plan B. Some friends of mine have tried with varying success to build their own helmet lights using halogen bulbs and 12 volt lead acid batteries (sealed, of course). One that seemed to work particularly well was JP's 35W halogen flood light hooked up to a 12V 12Ah sealed lead acid battery. The 35W bulb stays cool enough to not worrry about melting a PVC housing yet still provides decent lighting. One of my parents' friends had built a similar setup using a 20 watt bulb and smaller lead acid battery. I tested his and found the 20W wasn't bright enough, but if I used a 20W spot, 35W flood plus the bike light I would be doing quite well. I figured a 12 volt 7.2 Ah battery would give me somewhere between 1.5 and 2 hours so if I made some quick connectors then swapped batteries when I pitted for gas I would be just fine.

Saturday morning it was off to the not really sunny Okanagan for the races. After a couple stops in Kelowna it was up to Malcolm Hett's house to help him finish prep on his DRZ400E (yes, he races a DRZ400. In the pro class, no less. I think he's nuts) and then convoy up to the race site. The DRZ has to be one of the most awkward bikes in the world to work on, but we managed to get everything buttoned up and ready to go. We finally arrived up at the Bardolph riding area around 3:00pm and got camp setup. I went out with my girlfriend, Victoria (she races the womens' class), for a pre-ride on the night loop, then it was time for sign-up, dinner and final prep before the race got going a little after 8:00pm. The first lap is run with some daylight still available to give all the riders a chance to see the course and any hazards before it gets dark. This is important as lighting systems are as different as the riders, ranging from expensive HID systems down to flash lights duct taped to the bike and helmet. My home-built system fell somewhere in the middle.

Monty, the organizer, decided to start the experts (A class) motocross style. Engines running, go when the flag dropped. The start area was pretty grassy and was tough to get good drive on, especially in the evening with dew starting to form. Off the start, I was a little to aggressive with the throttle and spun out sideways. I corrected, but the damage was done and I was relegated to last place (4th) off the start. I quickly caught the rest of my class though and went to work pressuring the 3rd place guy. The course was pretty tight with minimal passing opportunities. I decided since we were all bunched together to just try to pressure 3rd place into crashing, but not push to pass if he didn't crash. Unfortunately, I couldn't force any major mistakes so I was still in last (4th place) at the end of lap 1. After the first lap I switched on my helmet lights and was really impressed with how well they were working. I was still right on 3rd place and by the way he was riding, knew I'd get around him soon. Unfortunately, half way through lap 2 my helmet lights suddenly went out. I figured the quick disconnect had come loose and I just needed to plug it back in. It was still semi light out (well, not really, but I didn't want to stop) so I pushed through to the next check point to get them to plug it in. By this time it really was dark and I was riding solely by the headlight on my bike. I made it to the check still right with 3rd place but I got some bad news. My battery fell out of my camelback! No wonder it felt lighter...

I finished off the lap having issues seeing but still staying close to 3rd place. I had one crash into a stump on a downhill that set me back about 15-20 seconds but I could still see 3rd place not far ahead of me. At the end of the lap I stopped to get my parents to give me my other battery. They zip tied and duct taped it in place so there was no way it would fall out. I headed out mixed in with the vet experts determined to catch back up to my class. I pounded out laps 3, 4 and 5, watching my lap times steadily drop. On lap 5 I caught 3rd place and blew by him. By this time it was completely dark out, the course was a chewed up mess and unfortunately for me, my helmet light battery was dying. On lap 6 I alternated between running the 35W and 20W light separately to try to conserve battery power. It didn't work. Maybe a quarter of the way through lap 6 the helmet lights weren't giving off much light and I was riding almost exclusively by bike light. The only saving grace was after so many laps I knew the course well. I came around after my 6th lap, sure that it was cutoff time (they were running a 2.5 hour cutoff). Much to my surprise, they sent me out for one final lap. I was starting to get a little sick of riding only by headlight, but headed out into the dark determined to catch 2nd and hopefully 1st in my place. I rode hard the final lap, but had a crash on some slippery roots hidden in the darkness. I got going and finished the race, but couldn't catch the leaders. At the end of the race (7 laps) I ended up 3rd expert and inside the top 10 overall. I'm kind of happy with this result, but know I can do better with a trouble-free ride. Next year....

After the race I quickly got changed, hung up the dirty gear to dry, stuffed my face with more food (gotta fuel the beast!), picked up my trophy at awards then went to bed. I got up around 9am the next day after an extremely restless night (not much sleep) to get ready for the day race. They delayed the start until after 1:00pm, but I was still tired and not feeling overly energetic. It didn't help that most of my class today had skipped the night race and was completely fresh. Oh well, such is life. After waiting around in the hot sun for way too long, we again did a motocross style start to kick things off. I had about a 6th place start and managed to move up to 5th on the grass track before heading into the woods. I caught up to my friend, Jordon Hett, on his RM250 pretty quickly and settled into a good pace following him. Jordon absolutely amazes me as he doesn't train or ride a whole lot, was out drinking the night before yet can still absolutely haul ass! I wish I had an ounce of his natural talent on a bike. I rode all over Jordon's rear fender for the first lap but couldn't find a way around him. We came into the scoring tent 2 seconds apart after the first lap. I tried on the grass track to put a pass on Jordon but couldn't get one to stick. So it was off into the woods for another lap glued to his rear fender. Part way into the lap, Jordon bobbled on a log crossing so I beetled around him and tried to put some distance on him. Fortunately, I managed to open up a decent gap relatively quickly. Unfortunately, I then gave that up when I made a bad line choice and got stuck in a nasty rut terminating in a huge root. Jordon squeaked by me while I was lifting my bike out of the rut and got a bit of a gap on me. I got going and tried to get my rhythm but started making mistakes and going backwards faster than I could go forwards. Out into the clear cut sections (complete with HUGE mud holes) I saw the yellow RM250 with Jordon about 45 seconds ahead of me. Knowing this I started trying to pick up the pace and catch him. I made a couple dumb mistakes and came in at the end of the lap about 30 seconds down on him. For the 3rd lap I again tried to put in a mistake free ride and catch Jordon. Again, I fell just short. By this time I was getting tired and my shoulders were taking a pounding. I keep my suspension relatively stiff for cross-countries to let me hit things as hard as I can. Unfortunately this course was filled with braking and acceleration bumps and chop that was killing my shoulders. Especially after racing until 11:00pm the night before. I pitted for gas after the 3rd lap but had a pretty slow pit as I got some extra food and water to try to get some more energy. Jordon managed to pick up a spot on the pit and I left just behind Darryl Wright, sitting in 5th place. I left the pits about 15 seconds behind Darryl and was determined to get by him and Jordon. I put the hammer down and caught Darryl shortly into the 4th lap. I then crashed. I got going quickly and again caught Darryl, only to crash again. I repeated this way too many times on the last lap. I finally caught him and saw Jordon about 30 seconds ahead of us in the mud pits. I got right up to Darryl's rear wheel, only to crash trying to pass him on a log crossing. I lost some time picking up the bike and getting going again, but was going to try my damnedest to catch him and Jordon before the end of the race. I hammered through the rest of the lap riding as fast as I had all race. The fatigue was pushed out of my mind and I was solely focused on catching the riders ahead of me. Coming in to the final grass track I saw Darryl 2 turns in front of me. I pinned it, putting my previous ISDE experience to good use, but it wasn't enough. I crossed the finish a mere 9 seconds off Darryl in 4th place, and 40 seconds behind Jordon in 3rd place. I think 2nd place was a few minutes ahead of use and Bruce Baker (riding buddy of mine and former pro motocrosser) absolutely ran away with the expert class win in his first race back after missing most of the past 2 seasons with a wrist injury.

Sitting here now, I'm a little disappointed in my results at Vernon. I'm riding well, but can't quite put everything together to run a good race. Small mistakes are costing me positions and I need to get those sorted out before the Canadian Enduro Championship kicks off in July. As it stands right now, I'm sitting 3rd in points in the PNWMA series (Expert Class) and now need to decide if I'm going to pursue the PNWMA championship or stick with my original plan of doing a few PN races, but focusing on the CEC plus doing some more interesting races around the pacific northwest. I'm still talking it over with my sponsors to decide as I hav e a few weeks before a decision needs to be made (next race is June 20/21 weekend).

I'd like to thank all of my sponsors for 2009:

-GasGas Pacific for helping me out with bikes and parts. I truly believe GasGas makes the best enduro bikes on the market and can't say enough good things about my bike. Want a bike that has the best handling and suspension right out of the box, not to mention a versatile engine that will lug along like a thumper yet still absolutely scream on a track? Do yourself a favour and check out a GasGas. Yes, they're different. But that's a good thing.

-Fasst Company for the Flexx bars, hand guard mounts and spoke wrench. Fasstco makes some of the best products on the market, and the Flexx bars have allowed me to ride harder for longer without getting arm pump. As a side benefit, the bars are stronger than conventional handlebars and offer superb bark buster mounting using the hand guard hitches. The spoke torque wrench is a wonderful tool that gets used quite often. It makes checking spokes a breeze, so I do it a lot more often.

-Dirt Tricks Ironman sprockets. Nate at Dirt Tricks recently stepped up to the plate when it was time for me to get a new chain and sprockets and man am I glad he did. The ironman sprockets are by far the strongest and most durable sprockets on the market, and you don't even pay a weight penalty for them! Do me a favour and order a set, and let Nate know who sent you!

-Motovan for their continued support. Through Main Jet Motorsports (www.mainjet.ca), Motovan has been helping me out with deals on any parts I need since 2007. They distribute a full line of motorcycle, atv and snowmobile parts and accessories, so help out the guys who are helping out racers.

-Finally, Main Jet Motorsports. Main Jet is a local Honda and KTM shop in Nelson, BC. Even though I ride a GasGas, Aaron has been helping me out with deals on anything I need. I can't say enough good things about the shop (except they need to start carrying GasGas bikes) as they are the best source for bikes, parts, accessories and info in the Kootenays. If you're ever in Nelson, make sure you stop by and say hi to good folks down at Main Jet.

I'm going to try and post a couple times a week from now on, but with an already busy schedule sometimes there's just no time for the blog. Thanks for reading,

Steve

Orofino Endurocross Race Report

First off, sorry for the delay in getting another post up. Life has been extremely busy between work, racing, training and maintaining any form of a social life. Early mornings and late nights are the norm to juggle working 40 hours a week at my engineering job plus a full time race schedule. A typical day involves getting up around 6am, biking to work by 7:30am. Get off work at 4pm, pedal my bicycle home hopefully before 5pm (12km with grades up to around 10-12%). Have a quick dinner, then go dirtbiking. Get home from that sometime around 9pm, clean up the bike and riding gear, then clean up my basement suite, check my email and maybe chill out for a bit before finally hitting the sack sometime between 11 and 12. Then get up in the morning and do it all over again. On non-ride days I'll lift weights and/or go for longer bicycle rides plus spend more time doing dirt bike maintenance. It's a busy schedule, but I enjoy it and really hope to improve my race results. Which leads me to the past couple weekends...

Let's back track a few weeks to May 8th. I had heard on the internet about the Orofino Endurocross and a rumoured $7000 pro purse. That peaked my interest so my girlfriend, Victoria Hett, drove over from Keremeos Friday afternoon, then together we drove from my place in Rossland down to Orofino, Idaho. Victoria's dad, Rob, and brother, Malcolm, had drove down earlier in the day and had the trailer all set up by the time we arrived sometime after 11pm. Malcolm said the course looked pretty gnarly which worried me a little bit. After a restless night's sleep, Victoria and I got up early (6am) and headed over to check out the track. The course was muddy, with big logs, a couple water pit crossings, rocks, tires, an over/under section and a race through the pig barn. Crazy! While being pretty gnarly, the course was still rideable. My worries subsided and we headed back to the trailer for breakfast and bike maintenance.

We ate then spent the morning swapping tires and finalizing bike prep. After that we took the trucks with bikes and gear over to the field adjacent to the track and setup our pit area. We were parked next to Derek Mahoney and Mike Metzger! With our bikes prepped and pits setup we went and got signed up for the race - Malcolm and I in pro heavyweight (I decided to try the pro class even though I usually race the A class), Rob in Vet and Victoria in amateur heavyweight. After sign-up I helped Tory get her new steering stabilizer installed before the riders' meeting at 12:30pm. Practice started at 1:00pm but my practice wasn't until 3:30pm. I spent most of the time though watching the other practices to try to figure out lines.


When my practice finally came around, I was excited to check out the course. Some guys decided to race during practice but I just spent it trying out various lines and making sure my bike was setup correctly. My arms pumped up really bad in practice so I pulled off after 4 laps, instead of the usual 5. Endurocross is probably the most physically intense form of motorcycle racing. It's a full out sprint with no breaks that absolutely saps all your energy. I figure 1 lap of an endurocross track at race pace is similar to about an hour of a normal harescramble.

After practice I had a few hours to wait for my heat race. They ran all the amateur qualifiers but waited until the night show for the pro qualifiers. In Pro Heavyweight there was 20 racers, with only room for 15 in the main event. That meant finishing 7th or better in the heat to transfer directly. The other 6 would go to the LCQ for a shot at the main event. They did a supercross style start (no gate though, just a flag) complete with 30 second board girl. In my heat race the big name was Mike Metzger. Off the start I was 4th or 5th, but over the first elevated log section I locked handlebars with another guy and went down. My bike did a 180 and was facing backwards on top of the logs and tires. I restarted dead last with approximately a straight away separating me from the 9th place guy. I put my head down and did my best to catch up. In the 5 lap qualifier I managed to catch 2 guys, putting me in 8th place. One place short of a qualifying position. Damn it! Kyle Joiner (American racer who's done many PN races) won the heat, Metzger came 2nd and I'm not sure where everyone else finished. In the other Pro Heavyweight heat, Derek Mahoney won it while Malcolm came in a solid 4th or 5th, even beating pro supercrosser Cole Siebler. Both Victoria and Robb also rode well in their qualifiers to transfer directly to their main events.

After a bunch more qualifiers, the Pro heavyweight LCQ finally came around. I had first starting position pick so I went slightly to the inside to hopefully avoid getting t-boned off the start. After laughing my ass off watching a bunch of guys run around the track in boots, helmets and carrying handlebars for $50, it was time for the LCQ. The flag dropped, I spun out and ended up in 3rd off the start. I quickly moved into 2nd place then set my sights on catching 1st in this quick 3 lap LCQ. I bobbled once in the pig barn so 1st got about a 4-5 second gap on me. On the second lap I took an alternate line through some logs, then coming into the rock section I was suddenly on the ground. The guy in 3rd decided to ram me, punting me off the bike into the rocks and mud. I remounted behind him with muddy gloves and slippery grips. I charged after him to return the favour but had issues gripping the bike. I rolled around to a disappointing 3rd place finish in the LCQ and not transferring to the main event. The 2nd place guy tried to justify his take out move, but I just ignored him. I was pissed off and figured I better not do anything dumb while in another country.

With my night over, I got changed then went to cheer on Tory, Robb and Malcolm in their main events. Unfortunately, Tory tangled with a guy in her race and had bike issues resulting in her DNFing. Robb rode really well in his main to finish 8th in a very competitive vet main event. In the Pro Heavyweight main event Malcolm had a terrible start but managed to work his way through the pack to finish in the top 10. The story of Orofino was all Derek Mahoney as he absolutely dominated both Pro main events to take home the lion's share of the pro purse. Mahoney put on a clinic of how to race endurocross. I studied up and will hopefully be ready for another go on July 17/18 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

2009 Race Schedule

Here is a tentative schedule for 2009. I will be doing the entire Canadian Enduro Championship in the A class.

March:
15 - Spring Mud Fling - Spokane, WA - 3rd Heavyweight, 4th overall

April:
4/5 - Desert 100 - Odessa, WA - 17th 250, 73rd overall
26 - Cat Scratch Harescrambles - Squamish, BC - 3rd Expert, 9th overall

May:
9 - Endurocross - Orofino, ID - crashed out of qualifying
16 - Night Pig Harescrambles - Vernon, BC - 3rd Expert
17 - Big Rooster Cross-country - Vernon, BC - 5th Expert

June:
21 - Piston Run - Chilliwack, BC - Crash/10th Expert
27/28 - AMA National Enduro - Cascade, MT - 8th 250A, 59th Overall

July:
4/5 - Canadian Enduro Championship Round 1 - Blairmore, AB
11/12 - CEC Round 2 - Penticton (Apex Ski Hill), BC
19 - Bear Creek Trials - Deer Park, WA, USA

August:
1/2 - Endurocross - Sandpoint, ID, USA
or
1/2 - Trout Lake Alpine Ride - Trout Lake, BC
29 - Endurocross - Lewiston, ID, USA

September:
5/6 - MRP Endurocross Round 3/4 - St. Maries, ID
or
6 - Squeal'n Pig Harescrambles - Naramata, BC
12/13 - CEC Round 3 - Labelle, QC
19/20 - CEC Round 4 - Parry Sound, ON
27 - Three Worlds Cross-country - Kamloops, BC

October:
4 - Tree Hugger Harescrambles - Castlegar, BC
10 - Outback Bushwack Harescrambles - Quesnel, BC
11 - Overlander Cross Country - Williams Lake, BC
25 - Scarescrambles - Spokane, WA

November:
21 - AMA Endurocross - Las Vegas, NV

Cat Scratch Fever Harescrambles Race Report

I'm now back home after 4 days on the road. I took Friday and Monday off work so I could race the Cat Scratch Fever Harescrambles in Squamish, BC. The race is part of the Pacific Northwest Motorcycle Association's Offroad series (PN) and was my first PN race of the year. I spent Thursday night prepping my bike and packing all my gear and tools. Friday morning came way too early but nevertheless, I dragged myself out of bed to hit the road. A little over 3 short hours later I arrived in Cawston, just east of Keremeos, BC. I met my friends Victoria (Champ) Hett and Malcolm Hett. Champ is a running nickname after Tory won the women's class at the Desert 100 earlier this year. She's not overly fond of the nickname so Malcolm and I enjoy bugging her. I left my truck at Tory's house and packed my bike and gear in with Tory and Malcolm for the drive to Squamish. We hit the road around 12:30pm from Cawston and made short time down to the lower mainland. After a stop at Gnarly Parts (www.gnarlyparts.ca) for some Rekluse clutch plates we continued on to Squamish, but not before getting stuck in Friday afternoon traffic in Surrey which resulted in us switching drivers on the fly to amuse ourselves as we crawled across the lower mainland. Eventually we made it over to North Vancouver where we stopped for dinner (Subway) then continued up to Squamish. After a quick stop at the local dirt bike dealer for directions we headed up to the race site to set up camp before it got dark. Once setup we hung around the camp fire with some new and old faces until it was time for bed.

Saturday we awoke not so bright and not so early to do some pre-riding and check out the GasGas demo ride. After a big breakfast (bacon, eggs, hashbrowns - thanks Champ!) we headed off for a lap. The A course was about 10km of some of the nastiest singletrack this side of Erzberg. Roots, rocks and slimey uphills littered the treacherous course. I tested out a trials tire for my first lap to see how it was. The trials tire worked well but my clutch has been on the way out for a few weeks now so things weren't perfect. Once back from the first lap I headed over to see Dave from GasGas Pacific who had brought me new plates for my clutch. I installed new plates in my Rekluse clutch while Malcolm and Victoria demoed the new Gassers. I've been a fanatic of GasGas bikes since 2005 when I got my EC200 so I was eager to hear their opinions of the new bikes. Both Malcolm and Tory came back with huge grins on their faces after testing out the bikes. Malcolm loved the smooth power and quick handling of the EC300 while Tory fell in love with the EC250, its plush suspension and perfect power output. Poor Victoria was also upset as she just bought a 2008 KTM250XC-W last summer. Looks like the KTM will be for sale sometime soon! After the clutch install and demo rides it was time to fuel the beast (aka eat lunch). Some hot dogs, sandwiches and bananas were on the menu and promptly scarfed down. After lunch I mounted a Maxxis IT knobby tire to go for another lap. This time I rode with Malcolm, Jarrett (May) and Eric Demoulin, all of which race in the Masters (AA) class while I race Expert (A). The knobby definitely didn't work as well as the trials tire on the slippery rocks and roots, but my clutch was much better. About 2/3rds through the lap Eric hit a hidden rock and punched a hole in his clutch cover. He nursed it out to a logging road and back to the pits while Malcolm, Jarrett and I finished our lap. The knobby definitely worked better on the long downhills and the few sections with loamy dirt, but it was less than ideal on the rocky uphills and big roots that littered the course. Once back at camp I decided to give a new GasGas EC300 a demo ride as I will be racing one this fall at the eastern rounds of the Canadian Enduro Championship. All I can say is WOW. While I love my 2007 EC250 Six Days edition, the EC300 is the perfect enduro machine. The bike I rode was bone stock save for some hand guards and a skid plate. The 300 had typical GasGas suspension and handling (ie. perfect for me) and the 300 engine is a torque monster. I've never been a revver and prefer to ride my bikes a gear high and torque it through obstacles. The 250 does a decent job of this but the 300 absolutely excels at it. Even without a Rekluse clutch, it's pretty much impossible to stall the 300 (and this one had the 2k-2 ignition, not the heavy 2k-3 one). For technical enduro riding the 300 is the bike and I can see why they're so popular. I'm now planning on buying one either this year, or at the end of the year for next race season. I'll be getting the racing edition EC300 as I want the slightly stiffer suspension and a few other goodies. Who knows, maybe I'll get a Nambotin replica if I can get the money together. Anyone want to buy a 2007 EC250 Six Days edition with Ohlins suspension? Anyways, after the demo ride it was dinner time followed by bike, gear and body prep for Sunday. I mounted up the trials tire on the back wheel again too.

Sunday morning came early but I was excited to be racing the PN series again. I made myself a big breakfast - bacon, eggs, toast and a banana before heading off to sign-up. Through my Six Days experience, I've learned that if I want to race hard, I need to fuel both the bike and body. I always eat a big breakfast the morning of a race (especially if it's an all day enduro) then eat some more food just before the start. During the race I'll again try to scarf down some food when I'm pitting for gas to keep the energy reserves up. Anyways, after breakfast, I went through sign-up and technical inspection before gearing up for a pre-ride. I always try to squeeze in a 15 minute warm-up ride before the race start to get the blood flowing, muscles warm and hopefully get rid of any arm pump. After the pre-ride I waited what seemed like forever for the riders' meeting and then the start.

We finally got started around 11:30am - a full half hour later than planned. This resulted in my body cooling off and not being totally ready to race. Off the start I slipped on my first kick so it took me two kicks to finally get going. I was last to the first corner but quickly caught up to the pack on the first endurocross section. Then on a small uphill while pressuring the guy infront of me I accidentally hit neutral, losing my momentum and getting stuck on the hill. I eventually got going but by this time I was over 30 seconds down on the rest of my class and Vet Expert (which started a row behind me) was hot on my heels. I pinned it and started making ground on the rest of the expert class until an ill-fated rock knocked my chain off. I quickly got it back on the sprockets and continued on my way battling with a few vet experts as I closed in on my class. I started pushing way too hard early on and my arms started pumping up something fierce. It got so bad I could barely hang on and felt slow, though I was starting to catch guys in my class. Once I got to the really tough hills I caught some more guys, including some of the pros. Over the course of 3 hills, I passed 2-3 guys in the Masters class, and was playing cat and mouse with two more. My arms were still pumped up really bad so I eventually fell back a little bit trying to loosen my grip.

On the second lap I started to loosen up and lapped a ton of intermediates on some of the tough climbs. Bikes were scattered everywhere on the technical rocky climbs but my GasGas EC250 with rekluse clutch and trials tire worked flawlessly. I climbed up the hills with relative ease compared to the those with knobbies and never had any boiling over issues. One the third lap I finally started riding like myself as my arms relaxed and I settled into a good pace. I started passing more people though my chain again fell off when I hit another rock. After lap 3 I was sitting around 4-5th place in the expert class and just outside of the top 10 overall. On lap 4 I put in a really smooth

lap and passed 3 experts and 2 pros in the process. I came into the finish of the lap to find a huge lineup of people waiting for the 3 hour cut-off, but when I asked how long, there was still 30 minutes until cut-off. I gassed up and headed out for another lap in 2nd place in the expert class and up around 6th overall. About a third of the way through the lap I took a bad line choice trying to pass a lapper and got stuck on a nasty up hill. I had to turn around, then got stuck again on my 2nd attempt. By this time all the guys I had passed on the previous lap were passing me back so I finally found line up it and gave chase. I managed to catch 2 of the experts and one vet expert, but there was still a few other guys that eluded me. I finally crossed the finish line sometime later to find out that 2nd place in the expert class was less than 2 minutes ahead of me. After spending well over 5 minutes getting up one hill I was really annoyed by this since I would've had 2nd expert in the bag. My final result was 3rd place expert and around 9th overall on the day. Not too shabby for one of the toughest PN races of the year, and my first time back racing the technical PN circuit since October last year.

Once the race was over we packed up everything, headed to awards to collect some hardware (I got my 3rd place trophy and Tory won the womens class) then hit the road. We arrived back in Cawston just before midnight where I crashed at Tory's place for the night. In the morning I packed all my stuff back in my truck and drove home to Rossland where I was greeted by cold weather and snow. Ugh.

I'd like to thank GasGas Pacific for all their help, including pitting for me and giving me some fresh riding gear. I'd also like to thank Fasstco again for their continued support and the best bars on the market. The Squamish Dirt Bike Association deserves a big round of applause for putting on a gnarly race that challenged even the best riders in the country. Finally, I really need to thank Malcolm and Victoria Hett for letting me hitch a ride with them and stay in their trailer. It was a great weekend that I won't soon forget.