Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1534827
The trails, though – the trails were incredible. A er the moto track and nearby enduro test, a fast, open trail through the trees, closed down for the day at 2 pm, I'd go off exploring the single track. I happily rode for hours through their forest and along the powerlines, up massive hill climbs, through creeks and under roadway bridges. I even did a li le bit of light dual spor ng along some winding gravel and dirt roads. At one point, as I'm taking a picture of a ruined stone building that probably existed long before my ancestors ever le this con nent, I had to laugh to myself – I wonder if on the other side of the world there's a Spanish guy on a rental street bike taking photos of the burned out buildings in Detroit. My only regret was not having a GoPro because there was so much I wanted to show my friends back home and couldn't. By the me we le Spain, I was twelve seconds faster on my five and a half minute test loop. That weekend I trail rode and trained with a friend a few hours away in France, to see if the new setup was just as good in so dirt and mud as it was in the dry hardpack. As best I could tell, it was. We finished out the trip in typical Gu sh fashion, with a puncture wound to my arm that I refused to get s tched up because that would mean three hours at a French hospital instead of three hours on the French trails (al- most a week later if I bump into something it s ll bleeds a li le – totally worth it though), a broken rental van 200 kilometers from the airport in Madrid (don't ask), my lunchbox exploding on the high speed rail (I hope nobody stepped on the pork chop), and a long day and a half on various airplanes. But I'm typing this from the good old USA, and despite how much fun I had on my adventures, I'm happy to be home. Racing for a championship half a world away from home is a complicated dance. Riding EnduroGP last year was so different than our racing at home, it felt like trying to foxtrot when you've only ever tangoed. Se ng up and learning to ride an en rely new brand of bike, well, you're bound to step on your new partner's toes a few mes before you figure out their rhythm. But two le knee braces and two le feet aside, I think I'm finally star ng to learn the steps. And for the first me since I stepped out onto the floor this season, I feel like I'm headed in the right direc on. May 2025 31 Fred Ccy Photography Fred Ccy Photography