Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1456806
March 2022 17 First, please thank any club members you see. Whether you loved or hated the course, they worked incredibly hard pu ng it together, and making ma ers worse; they don't even get to race it! Instead, they get to stand around in the cold, working the checkpoints and watching other peo- ple have fun on their dirt bikes. The least you can do is say thanks. The other reason I bring this up is that each NEPG feels very different from the others, and some- mes even different tests at the same event have a different vibe. Everyone has their own style of trail cu ng, and you can tell that different members worked different sec ons. O en the aforemen- oned check workers will eagerly ask how you liked the last test, or inform you with an air of pride that the next test is the best one. Why? Because they're the ones who laid it out, of course! I believe there are two theories on trail cu ng for NEPG. First, you have people who want to create fun, flowy, single-track that the whole family can enjoy. Then, you have the people who would have ridden hard enduro, except they were born several decades too early. They aren't happy unless you aren't happy. The trails are so ght that there will be two sets of notches taken out of the trees: one where the handlebars hit, and the other where the footpegs hit. This is why I'm a big fan of my Enduro En- gineering barkbusters (full wrap-arounds), unlike most of my peers. One of the pros (not naming names, but it rhymes with Bosh Goth) even implied that wrap-arounds are for vet riders. Maybe I should be of- fended, but between my barkbusters, 9 p.m. bed me, and jumbo-sized bo le of ibuprofen, I suppose I'm truly a vet rider at heart. I think I got the last laugh though; my knuckles are pris ne, while I saw lots of riders with bloody knuckles and even a few broken fingers. Do I maybe clip a few more trees due to the extra half-inch or so on either side of my bars? Maybe. Is it worth it? Absolutely. Plus there's something kinda fun about realizing you're going to clip a tree, bracing extra hard on that side, then watching wood chunks fly when you make contact. They aren't called "barkbusters" for nothing!