Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/280528
R olling into the parking lot you could see the enthusiasm on the rider's faces, eager to kick off the 2014 NETRA Enduro se- ries. Even though I was just there as a sweep rider I have to admit I was excited to get the 2014 sea- son started - it has been a long off-season and I have been off the bike since November. Mother Nature cooperated by dropping 10 inches of what seemed to be fluffy snow on Eastern CT just days before the start of the 60 th Annual Snow Run Enduro. This is the first time since 2009 that we have had any snow at all for the Snow Run en- duro. If I remember correctly, that year we had around a foot of snow packed into a rock hard rut that was tough but very rideable. The talk of the morning was when to sign up. Did you want to have fresh snow to make your own tracks or wait and go in the back after the main race line had formed and you can seemingly rail the rut. With 90 rider spread out through 24 rows I was in no hurry to suit up, as I would not be going any- where till at least 9:30. I rolled into the first known control about 15 min- utes after the last rider had left. After a quick chat with the check crew I was off to clear the course of riders as well as arrows. Less than 200 yards into the woods I quickly realized that even as a sweep rider it was going to be a survival run. The conditions were almost indescribable; there was absolutely no rhyme nor reason to anything that I was doing, just trying to move forward was a fight. It felt more like I was riding in a pinball machine. Every time I thought I was getting something going and moving forward I would hit a rock or a stump or god only knows what under- neath the snow. One of the first thoughts I had was that this is going to be a long day of sweeping dead soldiers. I could not have been more wrong. It was a long ROUND 1 NETRA ENDURO SERIES Dylan Macritchie Story by Jim Senecal, Photo by Al Ebstein