My event report, FWIW
The Course.
The first third was mostly tight single track, with ruts and bumps and whoops that had set like concrete. Nothing difficult to ride, but pretty gnarly to try to do quickly. There was also a more open bit in here that was rough and whooped out across a creek bed. I discovered a smoothish line that let you jump over a couple of whoops: it was a lot of fun.
The middle half was much more open, including lots of places where you'd be wide open in top gear. Most of the corners were rock hard with loose gravel on top, but some had small ruts and others were bulldust.
The last bit was mostly smoother, more flowing single track.
The Start.
My bike fired second kick and I was second away - miles behind first, and only just ahead of Yamahaha (Mark) on his YZ400 - I didn't realise how close until I saw the video!
We all had to space out because the dust was bad.
The first half of the race was pretty uneventful - mostly just learning the track and finding the right speed, but a few things became apparent:
1. Rod on the XR250 was making the rest of us look silly. He was taking about 30 seconds/lap off me, as best as I can tell.
2. Jim had snuck past Yamahaha and was hounding me. I was very slowly pulling away, but I really had to work for it.
3. My KDX had better top speed than the MX bikes, despite the power deficit. I reckon this is the only reason I was making any time on Jim.
The Second Half
This is where it got more interesting.
Rod stopped to refuel after the 4th lap, so I inherited the lead. I was trying to work out how many laps I could stay in front of him for (two, maybe), when I had an important realisation: I would have to stop for fuel too...
So I stopped at the end of that lap, and Rod went back past.
Midway through the 7th lap, my brain switched off. Not enough fuel. I was making lots of stupid mistakes. So I cruised through the lap, and stopped at the end - took my helmet off and ate, drank and breathed.
Jim came and had a chat - He'd withdrawn with blisters and fuzzy brain. He told me that Rod was miles ahead, and I had a comfortable margin on Mark "but don't muck around because he's not that far back".
So I was still chewing away when Mark went past.... Ah crap. I'm an idiot (this is not news, I know).
I got going about 20 seconds behind Mark. At the end of the tight stuff, he was about 15~20 metres ahead of me: I could see him, but I couldn't pressure him.
The middle of that lap was both awesome fun and incredibly frustrating: I'd nail a corner and reduce the gap, only to have him nail a corner (or me make a mistake) and have the gap increase again...
I was faster into corners (disc brakes!), he was faster out of them (lower bike, better technique).
Near the end of the lap, I realised this might be the last lap, so I berserked it, and latched into his rear wheel. (And my apologies to the bloke I carved up: that was entirely my fault).
Then I overcooked it, and stalled. Grrrrrr....
I was more than happy to get another lap to try to get past Mark. I didn't have the speed to pass him in the tight, but I just kept the pressure up. He didn't seem to flinch - I was making WAY more mistakes than him, but was on a Do Or Die mission.
In the open I had more chance to pressure him, and he eventually let me past - go went past and breathed a sigh of relief - but he hadn't given up! So I was back into it, and very, very gradually pulled away.
And then back to the finish, and it's not over! Another lap, dammit!
I think Mark had to stop to refuel, because he was miles back when I saw him.
And that was that.
Beautifully run event, great bunch of riders, and lots of fun, highly recommended.
