Enduro, short for Endurance. Maybe that should have given me a hint of what was to come. This was my first go at riding an Enduro in the Green Triangle Club - http://www.gtenduro.com.au/
It all started well, I arrived at Long Lead all revved up and ready to go. Maybe too ready. I'd been dreaming (nightmares?) about this for about a week!
I wandered over to the sign in area, and was nearly runover by a bloke on a DR350 coming out of the forest, complete with tomohawk in a neat pvc tube on the front of his bike. I could tell he was a master bush rider. If the trees start getting in his way, he just whips out the tommy, and away he goes! However, it did make me wonder on the conditions in the forest!
Sign in was completed without hassle, with me being assigned number 3A for the start. (Mental note, try and get further back in the field until you get a bit faster, or you spend a lot of time pulling over).
Well, the WR breezed through scrutineering, as it should, and I got to talking to a couple of guys who also owned WR250F's. They had staintune systems on their bikes, and I got the impression they were seasoned racers, as opposed to newbie me.
Riders briefing revealed a turnout of 22 riders total, including a young bloke on a YZ 80!
The event started a few minutes late, with the first rider having a little brake bleeding problem right on the start/finish line, and having to borrow some brake fluid quickly to get himself organised.
The third minute came around, and we were off. I started with a guy on a Husky 360, and let him go first, as he wasn't a newbie, and I was. This being my first enduro I was pretty nervous, and the forearms were very tight. This wasn't to change until near the end of the first lap.
I had no trouble sticking with him for the first bit, but when the third minute guys came past, and I pulled over to let them go, he got away.
I took it very easy on the first lap, and made it around in around 43 minutes. I thought this was pretty good, as the allowed lap times were 60, 50, 40, 30 minutes. I'd done the first one with 16+ minutes to spare!
Off on the second lap, and The Husky bloke was not getting away this time, I was really getting into the groove, with the forearm pump gone, I could go a lot faster. He pulled over for some reason, and away I went. However, after a while I realised that my stamina for going faster just isn't up to scratch 
My second lap was much smoother, and my best at around 38 minutes. Again I had a bit of time to munch before starting the third lap.
The third lap, and things were starting to get hard. The muscles were aching, left hand was hurting, lower back pain. Stand up I thought, that will be better for the back. Well, it worked, and it did make it easier to take the corners as well.
I came around on the third lap slower, with only about 45 seconds to spare before I had to go again. I was half tempted to give the 4th lap a miss, and just record a DNF, but my brain told my body it could make it (that will teach it for listening)
No time for a rest, eating or anything. All I could do was check my left hand to try and see why it was so *&^% painful! But there was nothing in the glove (I suspected a prickle at this stage).
Off we went on the 4th lap, and I took it quite slowly, which I think was what caused me to hit about three yukka bushes, once knocking me off the bike. I dropped the bike a couple more times in the thick sandy corners due to going to slowly!
Finally I had to stop and pull my glove off to see what was hurting so bad. I found a big blister. That eased my mind a bit, as I was really starting to wonder what the heck was under there, but unfortunately, it didn't make it any easier to finish.
I continued to struggle around the last lap, a couple more drops of the bike (dang, these standard bars are standing up well on the WR), and i finally stopped at the finish checkpoint.
My first thought was to get the bike loaded straight away while the adrenaline was still flowing, and the pain hadn't set in yet, so I did that, then proceeded to get changed, groaning and moaning like an old man the whole time. I reckon the people parked next to me would have thought I was dying!
I also grabbed the sandwiches for lunch out of the car, and scoffed them down, as i'd gone for about 2 hours without food by now, and it was way past lunchtime.
After packing all my gear away, ready to leave, I went back to the sign in area, and awaited the results.
I'll put all the results up on when I get them through. a Fellow WR 250F rider (the guys with the staintune) won the overall event, with a final lap time of 29 minutes, 59 seconds.
They had a raffle after the results were announced, thanks to Monza Imports, and I picked up a FOX jumper, which in itself is worth way more than the entry fee!
A very worthwhile trip. I learnt a few things too:
- Standing up is much better for seeing ahead
- Getting tired makes you crash
- The WR stays going when you crash if the clutch is kept in! (The old XR sure didn't)
- The WR is a lot more capable than me
Congratulations to the Green Triangle Enduro Club, the event was run very smoothly and professionally, thanks in no small part to the work that the Casterton Motorcycle Club put into preparing the track, and the facilities.
Thanks heaps guys, I had a great time. Now I just gotta get over the aches and pains.
As for a career racing Enduro's - I dont think so, damn Wattsy must be an iron man. I'm sure I'll go in a few more, but it would take years to get the ability up to what those prefessionals can do.