Second enduro of the season. Willington, South Carolina.
Turned out to be a controversal race. We had been warned by the club organising the event. That the police and the USFS, (forestery service. federal) will be in attendance to spot check riders.
We as riders have been getting slack over the years at not having our bikes meet legal requirements. Almost none of the bikes we race are registered, most races dont require lights. A spark arrester will usually get you through.
The entry form for this race states that your bike should "appear" legal. Most riders take this to mean, it should have some form of lighting and a licence plate off some bike.
On Sunday morning at the riders meeting, it was announced that all tags(licence plates) should be current and up to date....I for instance use the plate off my Aprilia road bike. It has a sticker on the plate that has 'JULY 10". That means my registration is paid up until July 2010. It is current. Although not for the bike I"m using it on..
As everybody is headed to the starting line, the police and forestery people are checking all plates and warning riders that once they leave the starting line they will be at risk of fines up to $300 for an expired plate.
Probably a quarter of the riders did not start the race for fear of fines.
I lined up with three other blokes on row 4, there was no row 3 ahead of us, only one guy on row 2. We had a 2.7 mile untimed section to the first check. We popped out onto a country road, had to cross a bridge and back into the tree's for the start of the first timed section. No cops so far.
Off into the the first section, 13 miles of good fast trails, lots of roots, some rocks a little moisture on the ground, conditions were great.
I got pretty severe arm pump again for the second week in a row
. Struggled though and we finished on a gravel road, down half a mile or so and back into the bush for the start of the second section. This time about 12 miles. Great trails again, my arm pump was gone now so I really enjoyed riding this section, I was able to push hard and came out ahead of the other 3 chaps on my row.
Then we had a four mile ride down a gravel forestery road to the petrol stop. We get a bout a mile down the road and there is person standing on the side of the road with a sign. "LAW AHEAD" We slow down and talk about it. Then proceed. We see people off their bike walking them toward a roadblock of USFS officers.. I thought scew it, I'm not pushing my bike a half a mile for these jerks. So I slowly ride up to the officers, there were three of them, all writing tickets with about ten riders waiting for their tickets to be written. I cruised at walking speed past hoping that they were too busy. But one stopped writing and looked at me. He looked at my plate, which is cable-tied to my camelbak. See's the current date on it. "your ok, see ya"
i just smile and take off, careful not to roost him in my eagerness to get the hell outa there
The people who walked their bikes past did not get fined. But at the petrol stop, a large percentage decided to stop because they were worried that more roadblocks could be ahead.
I was the only one left on row four for the remainder of the race. Great trails to finish up on in the remaining two sections. There was no more roadblocks. I think the USFS had made their point.. The police didnt issue any tickets that I heard of..
I did finish 5th in 45B. Only five of us finished in that class
I had a great time, the online dirtbike forums are full of people crying about this race, . It may not be on next year, we will have to wait and see. It was the 41st running of the Long Cane Enduro
