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Midwest Enduros

Speedy & Gus Offroad

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Moose Run National Enduro - Duquette, MN

8-24-08

I always look forward to a trip up the the Land of 10,000 Lakes. In this case, we could have used one of those lakes to keep the dust down. Well I am not as articulate as Gus or Speedy in the story writing department, but I will give it my best shot. For my journey to the land just South of the Arctic Circle…Ok we were South of Duluth, so this really doesn’t count… I team up with FNG Jay “No Show” Gullixson. We were to meet up with the rest of the Madison crew in Tomah to synchronize our watches and Navigation systems for the trek. Sitting in the parking lot of the Tomah Kwik Trip, I sensed that everyone was as amped to be going to this race as I was. Once roll call was taken and all were accounted for, we saddled up and hit the dusty trail…OK…more on that later. Jay and I discussed pretty much everything on earth from our occupations to past racing experiences. Two things I learned from talking to Jay:

1. He has a pretty cool job as a photographer and has met some pretty cool people.
2. He can NEVER meet my wife because he sides with her and wonders why I still race after some of the crashes and broken bones that I had. Oh well…..I guess we all have at least one flaw.

Well we decided as a group to stop at the Northern most outpost for dinner instead of bringing along food and cooking at the race site. This brought us to the Applebee’s in Rice Lake. Not too much to say about that other than I was impressed with the group as we did not get thrown out and our waitress will live to serve another day. We were off again to finish the last leg of the trip. Now I have been coming up to this race for years. In all this time, I would have thought that they would have found the money to pave the 5 mile stretch of road between the State Line and Holyoke, MN. Well I guess we may have to chip in cause the dust was so thick that I think if I would have stopped, the rest of the gang would have piled into me without even having a chance to stop. Everything in the trailer was covered with a thick layer of dust. At least I was the lead truck! Once we arrived at the race location, we set up camp and proceeded to signup. After the long drive and the bikes were prepped with the needed decals and route sheets, it was off to visit with others from the Southern Hemisphere that made the trip.

After a comfy night at Hotel Short Bus and a breakfast of oatmeal and bananas, it was race time. Due to the cool weather, it was the first time this year that I went with the Moose XCR gear. This proved to be a smart choice as the 1^st 10 miles was gravel road out to the 1^st section. The race itself went pretty smooth for me.  I am having a terrible time with my hands falling asleep. Usually my hands would come back after a mile or two, but now, once they are asleep, they never come back. Makes for some interesting riding when it is fast and technical. I do have to say the my one achievement of the day was the last test section. I knew I was faster than the guys on my minute and because of the hands, had let them beat up on me all day. I decided to tuck in the skirt and let it all hang out for the last 12 miles and even though I was last in the section, I worked my way up and beat them all to the last check. Pat Koether (Rekluse Clutch Dude) was on my minute and asked me at the end of the section “Where did that come from??” I need to get to where I can ride that speed all day!

Photos (click on an image for larger view)

Brian             Bobby Kau            Brian                    Bobby Kau        Dean               Speedy Pete        After Race