Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/122626
Rich Lafferty took the overall win at the opening round of the ECEA Enduro Series. Round 1 SANDY LANE ECEA Round 1: Sandy Lane Enduro Story by: Zack Huberty Photos: Art Pepin Netraphotos.com fter a long cold winter and a lot of time to rest, the ECEA Enduro series picked back up with the season opener at the Sandy Lane Enduro. With the season closing in, riders itched to get back to racing in hopes of having fun and getting out of the house for the weekend. Racers headed to the Interboro Gun Club near Green Bank, New Jersey for the first race of the year. Riders came from all over the east coast to get a taste of the first enduro of the year. Unfortunately, it was cold like the first two National Enduros I attended (where has the warm weather gone?). With an 8AM key time, riders headed to the line and took off to race through 80 miles of New Jersey's finest trail. I started on row 32A with Ben Smith along with two other club members. As the clock approached minute 32, we headed off and received a nice warm-up section of trail. It gave riders a chance to warm up the body, get the adrenaline flowing, A 12 Trail Rider and shake off some rust. We soon headed into the first section of the day which flowed well and had a nice tight piece. The section was tough on Jeff Pasquas took third overall most racers' bikes as I despite working through off even started to lose season injuries. my clutch at the end of test one. Jeff Melik explained it the best at the gas stop as he wasn't sure if the clutch lever was in or out as he charged through the tight section. One of the coolest portions of the test was seeing Endurocross racer, Wally Palmer, pass me in a tight section on his Christini AWD motorcycle. Within a few seconds, he was completely out of sight. Through this section, the fastest riders were Rich Lafferty, Wally Palmer, Jeff Pasqua, Chase Compton, and www.TrailRider.com