Promoter: WFO Promotions
Event Name: Silver Dollar Shootout
Location: Geneseo, IL
Date: September 30, 2018
I traveled to Geneseo, IL for round 9 of the AMA District 17 Enduro Series. Around home, temperatures were supposed to be in the low 80s and sunny. When my buddy Randy and I arrived at the event we were surprised to see that it had rained and it was a chilly 50 degrees. Upon signing up, the rain again began to fall and continued the better part of the event. Randy and I chose row # 26 thinking the rain would stop and the earlier riders would clear the mud from the trails. As the rain continued to fall, I regretted our minute choice thinking we should have chose a much earlier number. Hindsight is 20/20. We were scheduled to do 6 sections.
Section 1: Started the section and traction was a touch better than expected. We then hit some fast field sections and the miles started to click off. We went in and out of some woods sections and the trail became very slick. It was a hard base that was polished off on top. I managed to get through the section keeping the rubber down. I ended up a 14:23 which was 22nd overall and 3rd in the 30+ A. Not great but I am a slow starter so I was not too concerned.
Section 2: Started the section with a little endurocross section and then the trail got interesting. Dropped down a nice down hill, through a small creek and then back up a good size hill. Many riders littered the hill so line choice was very important. Got up the hill no problem and continued to the next obstacle. This one was not so easy. Came to down hill and there were riders at the bottom saying not to come down. I listened and tried an alternate route that was a no go, so I ended up going down to the mess. Luckily, I just had to wait my turn and the trail was still passable. Not much farther down the trail was another good uphill. Rider in front made a goof causing me to lose momentum. I had to go back down to the bottom and find an alternate way up. Made it up and continued on. Time through this section was 20:57. This time ended up being quite a bit off the pace which cost me 2nd place in the race.
Section 3: Old section that have not been ridden in quite a few years. This section was the longest and the tightest woods of the day. Conditions were slick but not many bottlenecks. Had a good little crash that took me a little bit to get going. Time was 27:38 which was good for 18th fastest in section.
Section 4: Short little 3.5 mile section that was pretty fast trail. Last little bit was darn slick, but nothing worse than we experienced earlier in the day. 11:47 was the time which was good for 11th fastest. Okay with this time as it was my best of the day.
Section 5: Cancelled due to conditions. This section was going to be a repeat of Section 2. I was not disappointed as I could not imagine the amount of bottleneck there would have been.
Section 6: This section was section 1 but in reverse. I knew there was nothing too difficult as we rode the section earlier in the day. Really struggled to get going as the trail was extremely slick. Ended up with a 13:43 which was 15th overall.
Summary: Ended the day 3rd in the 30+ A class and 18th overall. Not my best ride by any means, but got through the day okay. Congrats to Jeremy Smith for the class win and Michael Manuel for 2nd place.