Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1544109
Craig Delong Craig Delong my tonsils stuck to the back of my throat. Locals say Wednesday or Thursday showers would have made it perfect… but regardless, it was s ll quite good. The dust didn't feel scary or dangerous. Strong wind gusts kept it from hanging in the air like fog, and visibility was only an issue when immediately behind someone, and even then, it was manage- able. Most of the ground was hard-packed, but many of the corners broke down into a mostly sand, par ally silt mix. The hardpack was a li le dry-slick, but had much more trac on than you'd expect. The sandy corners were awesome. Unlike Zink, there was scarcely a rock to be found, just a couple of ledges and drops in the more-technical tests four and five, which brings me to another point. Being a western round, you simply don't find the same types of forest as in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, or Indiana. There is s ll single-track, but it is wider, faster, and more flowy than the average ANEC. Aside from the woods, there were several fast grass tracks. I also need to take a moment to talk about test six, which was an "experience that I have never experienced, and I have had a lot of ex- periences…" as I told my friend/compe tor Shelby Turner a er the race, as we were both si ng there feeling just a li le bit shell-shocked in the immedi- ate a ermath of test six. The trail had been ridden so much that it formed a gully around it, with walls on both sides. It was fast. Like, really fast. According to my Garmin, I carried a 23-mph average and hit a high of 45mph, which for an enduro is pre y insane speeds, espe- cially considering the number of direc on changes.