Event: National Enduro Round: Round One Location: John Scotts property Hauturu Rd Oparau Event date: Saturday, 30th January 2010
CHRIS BIRCH… After last year’s less than perfect start of the season at the same venue, I was determined to go back this year and conquer Oparau once and for all.
This year the Junior class raced first so the seniors started at midday, without having to worry about the track being too overcrowded.
The track was about 150kms, with 5 special tests, three times around the MX style test and twice around the bush test – each one was raced blind in the first lap. I raced well throughout the day with only one real problem – I drowned my bike by riding in the wrong part of the stream... Luckily, I’ve had a bit of practice down in the South Island on training weeks getting water out of motorbikes, so I was able to fix the problem in under 7 minutes, and get to the check right on my minute (disturbing my wife’s thus far peaceful day in the hammock). After this not-quite-setback I was really focussed and got through the rest of the day unscathed, to take the overall win by 22 seconds.
The KTM300 performed brilliantly even after the drowning, and was obviously the weapon of choice as Jason Davis came 2nd overall on the same bike.
No Way in Hell Extreme Enduro- The Sunday after the first round of the National Enduro champs was the first ‘No Way In Hell’ extreme enduro. I was really looking forward to this as this is what I am really into at the moment with the World Extreme Enduro Champs having their trial year in 2010.
After a stunning hot muggy day on Saturday, we all woke up to rain on Sunday. I thought that this might cull the entries to about 20, but there were 80 entrants.
The Ironmen started first, and I got a great start off the line – and went on to lead all day, extending my lead from 10 minutes at the first main spectator point to around 2 and a half hours over Mitchell Neild who came in second.
The track was great, I was fortunate to lead as the ground was really soft and so I no doubt threw in quite a few extra deep ruts for the rest of the competitors. There was a gnarly steep slippery grassy hill which someone told me I was the only one to get up in one go – and even then it took six minutes! Again, I was fortunate to get there before the rain really set in so I didn’t see it at its worst point.
The race was very difficult, including parts where I had to walk the bike down the hills, long slippery rivers, and endless trails through the native bush.
I finished the race in 3 hrs 12 minutes, and caught the organisers a bit by surprise. Mitchell Neild finished second, and the remaining three finishers showed up 5 hours after me – Cam Smith, Adrian Smith, Mark Delatour. Really stoked to have won, my fitness is definitely at its peak, and I can’t wait to rip into Hell’s Gate in Italy on 6 February, followed by The Tough One in Wales on 20 February.
