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Paihiatua Enduro 25 April,
Last week, working at Sawyer Motorcycles down in Wellington, I finally found the courage to confront Brendan about borrowing a shop bike for the weekend. Surprisingly he was more than willing to lend me a bike and on Saturday morning we pulled a bike out of his van, WRF250 - electric start. I’m liking the sound of that. With a wicked bike to play around on & nice weather forecasted, the enduro was looking good.
The day started well with me dragging myself out of bed and off to the local dawn parade. It was looking to be a promising day; little did I realize the extent of what lay ahead.
With 150km of track laid out for the day this seemed a little daunting as I usually struggle to finish rides a lot shorter. Yet assured by many people that the trail times were set quite loosely I entered the enduro and waited a little doubtfully at the start gate for my minute to roll over.
Despite the countless bog holes which swallowed many bikes throughout the day (including mine quite a few times) the track was really well set out. The weather in the morning made for an interesting ride as people slipped and skidded their way round copious switchbacks and long hills. Yet I was not satisfied until I had managed to plant my bike in nearly every mud patch I came across. (Evidence of this was the brown outline of what used to be my bike and my gear looking as though I’d been dragged backwards through the mud). Many thanks to the numerous people who, as they came flying past, lent a hand to set me on my way again.
After managing to finish the Makara enduro riding a KTM450 kindly loaned from AFC motorcycles in Palmerston North I had high hopes of a finish at Paihiatua on the WRF. Unfortunately I ended up getting a DNF, mainly from losing too much trail time and running out of energy towards the end. Nothing to do with the bike I was riding of course which, compared to my normal weapon the KDX200, required heaps less energy to ride, and yet still tractored up the long hill climbs with power to spare. On similar hills the \'Turtle\' takes a lot more concentration and effort just trying to keep the revs up so the bike doesn’t stall.
Overall I had a really fun day, thanks to all the people involved in organizing a great event, Sawyer Motorcycles for lending me a bike, and all the support I had from friends and family.
Hazel Rushworth
