Well, after racing my first hare scramble this past Sunday, I can definitely relate to what this guy was going through. RU2112SH is right - it's unbelievable how tired you get. That's one of the hardest things physically that I've done, and I wasn't even going all out - being my first race my goals were 1) don't get hurt, 2) don't bust up my bike, 3) have fun and take it all in, and 4) hopefully don't finish last . But damn, my arms pumped up, my heart rate went soaring, I constantly had to tell myself to slow down and take it easy, breathe, don't wreck, hang on, crap what did I just run over, ouch I can't believe that hole in the middle of that uphill turn was that deep, and did that guy over there just get used for traction, I bet that hurt?

My forearms are very sore today.

Here's my glamour shot from one of the local photographers.

 

If that's true then a KTM will be my next bike. I just remember sitting on one & it being pretty tall.

 

Yep been there, I had 3 get offs in the weekend like that, didnt start falling till I had done about 40kms, thinking back it was like, what? there was no reason to fall off other than tiredness and mud all over my goggles.
I saw my son looking back at me in one where I ended up as part of a tree and he is just laughing, seems only a couple of years ago and it was the other way round. Good prep on my part wearing armor, ended up with grazes under the armor where the broken branches hit.
Point being, that after 40kms I was feeling the weight up high in the KLX and a few times felt like it nearly overbalanced me. I have never owned a bike that felt like that and after 40km I would have been down to half a tank full of gas.
Had one slow crash and that was one of those deep mud ruts round the ankles, and front wheel kind of gets crossed up and spits you highside. Once again seemed to provide amusement to the youngsters. they are 15/16 and ride 125MXers in the enduros.
Lee

 

All right Brian!! Congrats on entering.....

Good lookin pic....I'd ask about buying/getting a hi-res version from the photog if I were you.

 

Already did. I'm getting a poster. And I felt pretty good just to finish - that was some intense stuff. It looks like I finished 17 out of 19 in my class, and 187 out of 230+ overall. So, not that great, but I achieved all my objectives.

BTW, guys, HardTaco did very well on his KLX. I'll let him tell his story if he wants, but the short version is that he would have done even better had some ****** not run him off the course into a tree where his shoulder cushioned the blow for his bike, yet still busted his headlight and headlight shroud. [:@]

 

How could a klx 331? beat a modded ktm 450? .......... Couldn't resist

Seriously, I find it impressive that HardTaco can seriously compete on the klx....does hehave a mod summary?

 

Something to do with the rider, I think.

Turns out the Senior-C 40+ class was one of the most competitive. In fact, our class winner finished 2nd overall which is damn good! As to which class to race in, I think I chose poorly - those old guys will use you for traction! [&:] Josh still would have beaten me, though, even if I raced in Heavy-C like he did, but I would have had a better class finish than the one I raced - 35 out of 47 or something like that based on the lap times. Still not that impressive, though, but it was a very fun and rewarding experience. I'll definitely do it again ... once my arms recover, they still feel like rubber, lol. But I know I can do better now that I know more of what to expect.

 

Well, so much for the 'eliminate arm pump' benefit that most steering dampeners claim. It probably would have been even worse without one though

 

Funny you should mention that because after the 2nd lap, it felt like the damper was making the bike very hard to steer in the tight sections and was wearing me out so I turned it completely down to disable it.

 

Takes a lickin' and keeps-a-tickin'!

Thanks for sharing the vid. Some of those spills where painful to watch!