Hi folks, been a while since I've been here as I've done so little riding this year. Not sure what came over me but there was a big quad bike festival not far from where I live, 6 hour enduro with a 'Le Mans' style start. Managed to rope my mate into it (rides an 07 yfz450) and is quite a useful rider, for a six hour event I quite fancied our chances.........
So on saturday we arrived at the track (one I've never been too) and it transpires that it's basically a very, very long motocross track. The weather forecast for the weekend was beastly, watching the youth classes ride in massive clouds of dust under reasonable skies seemed like we might get lucky...
The minute the youth race finished, the heavens opened. This meant that the qualifying for the race was cancelled largely due to the riders being unable to decide whether to go out in it or not, and those of us wanting to go out, losing it on a coin toss. Basically a day wasted.
So I pack up and head back home. My team mate remains trackside with our kit and a hastily gathered pit crew (one of or other quad riding buddies, and their girlfriends). It rains. Non stop. I leave home later than I want to because I'm banking the time that I spent on the saturday signing on etc. i get a phone call at 9am as I pull into the car park 'where are you??, practice is about to start!' I throw my kit on and do the sighting lap while my teammate does three flying laps and I wait to take my turn.
He pulls into the pits, and I head out. The course is largely unremarkable, quite flat, and at this point quite grippy. We bag 13th from qualifying, which I think secretly we are overjoyed about. There's 40 two man teams and we are from from the most experienced. I also suspect that some riders haven't bothered to post times, so mid table is possibly a fair reflection.
I don't think I've ever been so nervous as I am standing holding the tape, waiting to run to my bike. Fortunately I don't end up flat on my face, and I make a great start before I get to a corner half way round the lap and do a graceful spin. Costs me a small chunk of time and a couple of places. The weather is a mixture of clear periods followed by heavy rain, and further clear spells. this means you arrive at a corner on one lap and fly round it, the next lap you tiptoe your way round for fear of spinning out. Our plan is to graft out four 1 and a half hour stints, as I'm comfortable that the fuel will last this long. I do my first stint, and pit. We're running 22nd, which I'm very pleased about. I hand the transponder to my team mate, tell him to stay out for as long as possible, and go to refuel myself.
At this point I'm by our makeshift race van not expecting to be called back out again for some time, but I'm mindful that as yet, I've not seen my team mate come past our point......
And then he does. Round the back of the van, being towed by a recovery quad! I run back to the pits, refuel the cannondale, grab a spare set of goggles, and tell our spectating pit crew to signal me when it's ok to change back riders. i do a single lap before being told to re-pit. I pull in, look for my team mate and his bike, but find only him standing there. As he left the pits, the chain snapped, smashing the crank casing. We're down to one bike, allready. He's never ridden a cannondale.
I tell him to go easy on the revs, but stay out again for as long as possible. He does, and he and the bike are flying. It's absolutley covered in mud, but she's running fine, and the exhaust note is standing out loud and proud above all the others (needs re-packing). Secretly, I'm really not sure the bike is going to make it. Yes it's been recently re-built, but, you know, it's a Dale........
The clock ticks by, and after another hour or so, it's time for me to go again. He pulls into the pits, we refuel the bike, I get on, go to start it and.........nothing. One of the starter solenoid wires has come off the terminal. Push it against the block and it works. We strip the wire, stick a load of electrical insulation tape to it and I head back out. 'Do not stall the bike' I tell myself. The weather is getting worse, but the bike is still there, still going strong, mud weighing down the rear fenders, and the old splits on the back are starting to open up. I do my stint and there's an hour and a half remaining. At this point we're down to our last few rolls of tear offs/films and seeing is the hardest part of trying to race. Despite everything that's gone on, a brief dip down to 27th, I've steadied the ship and we're back up to 23rd.
At this point the list of retired bikes and riders is vast. In my last stint I'm wondering if they're going to stop the race. At a couple of points on the track I feel like I'm the only person riding, still slogging it out against the track. Time for another rider change.
We check the electrical tape and it fires up without any intervention. My team mate rides like he's got nothing to lose. The rear fenders are completely knackered, flapping around like a pair of eagles wings, I watch on wondering how long they'll last before they fall off completely. Scott is having a really hard time of seeing what's going on. Last race he completed, he spent some time in A+E beacuse he rode in atrocious conditions without any goggles. I give him my last set of Oakleys, as the pit crew try and salvage another set of goggles for him. He does two laps and pits again. We have nothing left to offer him. There's about 20 minutes left at this point, as he desperately tries to get another set of goggles clean and loaded with film.
I start to clean the mud off my helmet. I check the lap scoring and there's a couple of laps between us and dropping down to 24th. I take the last pair of clean gloves, wash a pair of goggles, which are filthy, toss them to one side and start the bike. I desperately want to take the flag. For two laps I'm going as fast as I dare, trying not to get crap in my eyes, before I take the flag and the rush of relief rides over me.
6 hours, miles of tear offs, six pairs of goggles, one broken quad, one very knackered quad, 44 laps, 23rd place. My astonishment and that of everybody watching? priceless.
I've no idea what mechanical damge there is to the bike as it's still covered in mud, scott's washing the bike off today in repayment for me letting him ride it. Seems like a fair deal. But I will report my findings. His closing comments on riding the cannondale 'no slower than my Yammaha'
Not bad for the oldest quad in the field. Apologies for the massive post, while I've done enduro's in the past, I've never done anything on this scale before. I bumped into a guy ion the pits that also has a cannondale, he's got problems with his bike and he'll be here shortly!!
Uk International Quadfest
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BlackToothGrin
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marshall100
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Thanks. It certainly felt like a victory of sorts, and we may have got a good result in our class, we just don't know yet.
I got my bike back this afternoon, aside from that broken wire and trashed rear plastics, I can't find any faults. I've dropped the oil, which was pretty thin, at least as thin as I've ever seen it, but the filter is completely clean and free from any 'bits'.
My team mates bike on the other hand is trashed. Needs a complete engine rebuild as the chain has wiped out one half of the casing COMPLETELY. He's gutted, but he really shouldn't be.
I got my bike back this afternoon, aside from that broken wire and trashed rear plastics, I can't find any faults. I've dropped the oil, which was pretty thin, at least as thin as I've ever seen it, but the filter is completely clean and free from any 'bits'.
My team mates bike on the other hand is trashed. Needs a complete engine rebuild as the chain has wiped out one half of the casing COMPLETELY. He's gutted, but he really shouldn't be.
QUOTE (marshall100 @ Jun 4 2012, 11:11 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Thanks. It certainly felt like a victory of sorts, and we may have got a good result in our class, we just don't know yet.
I got my bike back this afternoon, aside from that broken wire and trashed rear plastics, I can't find any faults. I've dropped the oil, which was pretty thin, at least as thin as I've ever seen it, but the filter is completely clean and free from any 'bits'.
My team mates bike on the other hand is trashed. Needs a complete engine rebuild as the chain has wiped out one half of the casing COMPLETELY. He's gutted, but he really shouldn't be.
I got my bike back this afternoon, aside from that broken wire and trashed rear plastics, I can't find any faults. I've dropped the oil, which was pretty thin, at least as thin as I've ever seen it, but the filter is completely clean and free from any 'bits'.
My team mates bike on the other hand is trashed. Needs a complete engine rebuild as the chain has wiped out one half of the casing COMPLETELY. He's gutted, but he really shouldn't be.
Good read, congrats on making it to the end after nearly 6 hours straight on the 'dale
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marshall100
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QUOTE (marshall100 @ Jun 5 2012, 05:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I really must buy a mud scraper.....
Why isn't the guy in back so muddy
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marshall100
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I wish I knew. It's not like I spent ages following bikes either! Some riders were washing their bikes when they pitted.
Still really stoked, amazed at how well the bike coped broken plastics aside. I'll be doing some work in that area when the replacements arrive. The rears don't get alot of support if you don't run stock heel guards.
Still really stoked, amazed at how well the bike coped broken plastics aside. I'll be doing some work in that area when the replacements arrive. The rears don't get alot of support if you don't run stock heel guards.