This was the third time we returned to Upton, WY for a National Enduro, and it was the best race there yet! Everyone from the town was super nice and the conditions of the track were primo. The club did a great job marking the trail and really made improvements cutting back some of the branches that could grab you from the year before. The racing was super close all day and full of tight battles. My teammate, Charlie Mullins, and I got out to a quick start tying for the fast time of the first special test despite a small fall I had halfway through. The second test was a little longer and I managed to have a good time, but wasn’t the fastest and dropped a little time to both Thad Duvall and Charlie. The terrain was fast and flowing and had a deceivingly tractable hardpack ground. You could actually brake really hard when in a straight line. Although I did feel as though I was struggling with the bikes power a bit with the higher elevation through out the day. The third test went well, but again I was not the fastest. I felt as though I was riding well and was having a lot of fun, but had a little trouble in a mudhole.
My bike was set up well and knew I was in the hunt to be able to win. The day before we were testing the bike and it was the first time in weeks that I was riding the bike and more worried about “it” then my body. My wrist injury was finally not bothering me and I wanted to get the bike as dialed as possible. Tanner, my mechanic, did a great job helping me get my bike jetted and set up for the event. As the second half of the race began to get underway I started riding a little better and making improvements on my times. I won the fourth special test, and tied Duvall for the win of the fifth special. Going into the last test, Mullins had the lead by 12 seconds and I was only up on Duvall by a mere 2 seconds! I knew I was going to have to make a strong push to make something happen. In the previous years the last section has always been a blast! It is much more technical than the rest of the course. It has a mix of fast sections with some really rocky ravines and wall rides that are similar to arena cross corners. I had good energy going into the last test and kept pushing for the entire test. I caught up to Cory Buttrick not far from the end and I knew I was putting in a good section to be able to do that. After the test scores were all gathered I had won the test by 25 seconds and was able to pull off the win! I was really happy to be able to come back and get a victory after a struggle with being hurt and a dismal finish at the round in Arkansas. It was great having my dad there and a nice present for fathers day as well!!
