Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1546787
24 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com ANEC Burning Rock National Enduro ANEC Burning Rock National Enduro Sophia, West Virginia Sophia, West Virginia By Jeff DeBell By Jeff DeBell Photos By Art Pepin Photos By Art Pepin The next-to-last round of the '26 ANEC Na onal Enduro Series descended into the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia for the second Na- onal using the two-day format that debuted last spring at Kevin Windham's Farm 14. In the spring, the pros, AAs, and As rode Saturday, with the Bs and Cs on Sunday. In Sophia, the race order was reversed: the Bs and Cs rode Saturday, with the Pros and other fas es racing Sunday. This actually worked to the benefit of the Bs and Cs, because even though they had to deal with some dust on Saturday, overnight rain made Sunday's course greasier, more technical, and be er suited to the more experienced riders. Race headquarters was the Burning Rock ORV Park tucked in the middle of some great mountain riding. Eleva on change was the word of the day. The park is popular with the 4-wheel crowd, and there are plenty of side-by-side trails to enjoy. The ANEC crew and some local riders spent countless hours cu ng and clearing miles of singletrack for the na onal. The guys had been working on the course since last spring, and there were plenty of post-race compliments on how good and technical the enduro was. Lots of smiles. Stew and the ANEC crew are trying some new ideas to enhance interest in enduro racing. He's posted some helpful instruc onal clips for new- comers, and in Sophia they offered a free begin- ner's class for first- mers. Around 20 first- mers signed up, raced on Saturday, didn't get any series points or awards, but got a taste of enduro and hopefully will spread the word and be back to race in a regular class next me. They are also trying to have riders return to the pits a er each test, some mes straight into the pit, some mes up or down a short transfer, but at least offering racers the opportunity to fuel bike and body whenever they want. This eliminates the headaches and manpower required for remote gas stops and lets family, friends, and spectators see their racers several mes during the event. You can kiss goodbye to spending the day away and then wai ng for the gas trailer to make it back to camp. There are sure to be some venues where that just doesn't work, but this format seems to appeal to just about everyone I talked to. At Farm 14, the Super Test was introduced as head-to-head compe on around a prepped moto