Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1048523
25 Registra on was Sunday night and really smooth. For Monday, everyone arrived at the bike paddock at 10 a.m. The event organizers broke the riders up into Bronze and Silver groups for a tour so the riders could get a taste of what to expect. I rented a stock 2018 Husqvarna TE 250 which turned out to be a perfect bike for the condi ons. The guide took us into the canyon and then onto a brief sec on of the Mountain race course in reverse direc on for the bronze tour. It's hard to describe, but think a Clarkie's amount of rocks, along with sand sec ons and ledge at eleva on. The boul- ders weren't all planted with many rolling hunks of loose jagged rock. The tour took about three hours and was challenging yet doable, similar to an A/B only technical sec on at one of the hard- er NETRA enduros. There was one tough climb (I thought it was tough at the me) that went on for a mile, with a several switchbacks and sec ons of ledge at the top. To clear the hardest sec on, it required you to execute a 90-degree turn to the right, back up as much as you could, get on the pegs, compress the suspension and wheelie up it in first with as much momentum as possible to clear a three-foot ledge. This was the only real stopper for the day. The rest of the ride was just being careful and ge ng used to the stock suspen- sion. Day 2 on Tuesday was spectacular. For those inter- ested in more seat me, the organizers took us to the start of the final gold sec on of the mountain race. This was only a few miles long and wound up past the tree line to the gold finish, 2365M high at the peak of Mt. Olympos in Kemer. This sec on was very demanding and absolutely incredible. I couldn't imagine tackling this sec on at the end of an event. At this al tude, everyone's bike was bogging and losing tons of power. On the ride back down, I was gaining confidence and feeling pre y good about where things were going. Big mistake. With Wednesday, the racing finally started with the beach race. There are a total of four race days, with each day determining posi oning of the start list for the next day's event. There is the Beach race, Forest race, Canyon race and finally, the Mountain race. The only day that counts is Sat- urday, the Mountain race where you race for the Bronze, Silver or Gold gate finish. It was 9 a.m. on Wednesday and already really, really hot. Roughly Photos by Burhan Kacar