Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1527076
22 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com NEPG Flying W National Enduro NEPG Flying W National Enduro By Jeff DeBell By Jeff DeBell Photos By DirtBike Dream Photos Photos By DirtBike Dream Photos Round 8 of the NEPG Na onal Enduro Champi- onship Series visited a brand new venue in Cher- ryville, MO. The Flying W Ranch is about 2000 acres used for farming, ranching, riding, and hun ng. It's five miles down a dirt road with no cell signal, remote from civiliza on, and features some typically gnarly southern Missouri terrain. This enduro would be no cakewalk, as 100 percent of the trails were virgin fresh-cut single track. The 55-plus mile course had the usual six med tests; however, they were shorter than usual at most NEPGs. Test 4 was four and a half miles; the rest were six miles for a total of 34.5 med miles and 20 miles of transfers. With the excep on of a squirt down a gravel road to get to test 3, the remainder of the normally easy transfer miles were more fresh-cut single track. Back in the day, the legendary Al Eames used to run his enduros like this...a few miles to "wear a rider down a bit" before throwing them into a gnarly sec on. It would be a true test of the fi est and fastest this weekend. I arrived Saturday and helped with the junior race (signup and sweep) and the signup for Sunday. KTM's Mark Hyde, "the Possum", does a fantas c job for the youth of our sport. The youngest of the riders, on 50s and e-bikes, had a hare scramble that included a nice grass track (great for specta ng parents) and a li le over half a mile of woods. There are kids as young as 3 and 4 out there soldiering through on their li le bikes while the older mini-rid- ers do some pre y good bar-banging racing with smiles all around at the end of the race. The bigger kids, on 65s, 85s, and 110s, got a taste of ght Missouri woods riding as they rode tests 1 and 2 of the Sunday course. Tests 1 and 2 were fairly unforgiving and very ght, with lots of loose rocks, dust, and some very challenging eleva on changes. No stoppers for the big bikes, but I was impressed with the abili es of these kids on their li le bikes. Our sweep crew had to assist a few at a couple of the steeper hills, but other than that, the li le rippers did a darned good job. The kids rode Test 1 once and Test 2 twice for a total of 21 miles, and the top trophies were well-earned. I also spent a few minutes visi ng with the parents of 2024 ISDE club riders Jhak Walker and Trevor Maley. Trevor is riding on the Hough Legacy Rac-