Trail Rider Magazine

8 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com ANEC Cross Timbers ANEC Cross Timbers Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma City, OK By Rachel Gutish and Jeff DeBell By Rachel Gutish and Jeff DeBell Photos By Art Pepin Photos By Art Pepin Round two of the ANEC series was held on March 22nd in Oklahoma City. I suspect that as most of the East Coast riders drove westward toward the se ng sun, their expecta ons were low, simply because the race was in Oklahoma… Full disclosure. I do not like Zink Ranch. I hate to knock it, because someplace to ride is be er than no place at all, and any club that puts on a Na onal Enduro works incredibly hard. However, I do not like Zink Ranch. I have never liked Zink Ranch. Most people I know do not like Zink Ranch. I would say it is because I think Na onal Enduros should have trees. But I like the Texas rounds just fine. Irra onal or not, my opinion seems widely shared. Our last ISDE on American soil was held at Zink Ranch, and I think that experience was so jarring for the Europeans that everyone who rode it will need to be dead, and the collec ve memory of '94 and the resul ng blisters will need to be erased before the USA is allowed to host again. For many years, I thought Oklahoma as a whole just happened to suck a li le. But then I became friends with a few people in Oklahoma, did a lot of riding with them, and realized that basically every- where in Oklahoma is be er than Zink - and Cross Timbers was no excep on! Overall, the cha er amongst the other riders wai ng in line to enter the tests was quite posi ve. It was very hot and dry - temperatures in the upper 80s, no humidity to speak of. I hit an espe- cially large bump in test two and am pre y sure

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