Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1546340
8 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Rocky Mountain Enduro Championship Rocky Mountain Enduro Championship Shady Burro Enduro Shady Burro Enduro By Jeff DeBell & Brea Core By Jeff DeBell & Brea Core Photos By Branding by Bre Photos By Branding by Bre The Shady Burro was actually two enduros on two days (Sat and Sun) on two en rely differ- ent courses. Riders could do one day or both. The Burro is a very popular event, and since it hadn't been run since 2022, the daily 250-rider limit sold out in less than an hour. Trail boss Jud Barlow, with George Pennington leading a great crew of course marshals, laid out some spec- tacular riding amidst gorgeous Colorado forests and mountains. When I lived in Kansas, a ton of local guys regularly made the long drive out to Colorado to ride, and one trip to the Burro made it easy to see why. By the way, George is a returning USA team member at this fall's FIM Enduro Vintage Trophy in historic Zschopau in Germany, and we wish him and all team mem- bers great results. Both days were right around the 100-mile range... and that is actual trail miles, not reset miles. Each day had two remote gas stops (as in 30 miles from race headquarters), six test sec- ons ranging from 4 to over 10 miles in length, and miles of killer transfers, as in 18- and 19-mile-long transfers. Heck, the transfer just out to Test 1 on Saturday was over 14 miles. The RMEC ran a modified sprint enduro format. Riders departed the start on assigned minutes, but once on the course, they could ride leisurely between tests or jump ahead and burn through the tests and transfers as fast as you wanted. At the checkpoints, it was not uncommon to see riders from rows 7, 18, and 52 all show up at the same me. A li le confusing at first, but think of it as a na onal with no "free me" or "resets" required. Assigning riders to rows pre y much eliminated any long lines at the check-ins. The more "veteran" riders of the bunch tended to s ck to their assigned minutes, but plenty of the young guns sprint- ed the whole race, moving up every test. Bo om line is it looked like everyone was having a heckuva good me. Brea Core gives us the "test by test" track report for both days...while on the way to a P3 podium finish behind Women's World Trophy gold medalist Bri any Gallegos. First, Saturday: Test 1 was FAST and fun. My late-start row made for lots of passing, which is fairly rare for me. Test 2 was also quick, with about 2,493 creek crossings! The wa- ter, wet rocks, and slick tree roots really messed with me mentally. I tried to be fast but ba led the mental