National Enduro Round 3
Alligator National Enduro, Daytona Beach, FL
www.nationalenduro.com
Racing a National Enduro has never been easier. Of course, I'm talking about the format of the event, not the physical feat it takes to race one. These days, the enduro scene is void of complex timekeeping requirements and really only asks for you and your dirt bike.
Two days after the GNCC we made our way to the Alligator National Enduro as the unofficial Vet B Yamaha two-stroke media team. The Alligator is notoriously tough with sand whoops and palmettos trying to put you on the ground and ultra-tight pine trees working your hands even with chopped bars. It didn't disappoint. I bashed trees hard enough to launch me over the bar. And I had my only mechanical failure of this story thanks to a tree attacking my front brake line banjo bolt.
Enduro is endurance, plain and simple, combined with real single-track racing. You race in groups of four (taking off each minute) from the start and link timed test sections together with alternating untimed transfer sections. Sounds simple, right? It is, until you get hammering through those timed tests! And even the transfer sections can be brutal. Try a 10-mile transfer through the sand-whooped poky bushes followed immediately by a 10-mile timed test through the same style of whooped-out single-track. Not easy.
The Torture Test YZ250 was...
The Torture Test YZ250 was shipped back east and pulled duty at both enduro (pictured) and GNCC.
Every stop on the National Enduro tour has its own unique obstacles and challenging terrain as the race series covers nearly the entire country from Montana to Florida. And if the ground wasn't competition enough, you can actually race with and against current, former and future enduro champions.
As far as seat time goes, nothing is more grueling than the enduro. You're on your bike all day. (Five-and-a-half hours in Florida to be exact [and that's in the B-class which cuts off an entire timed test].) Brain fade creeps in, and you can't forget to eat and fill up your drink system at the stops. Enduros give maximum seat time and test real off-road technical toughness. But is that the hardest thing to do in a day?
Jesse's Ticker Count:
What Jesse's Heart Said While He Raced
Duration of Workout: 1:00:15
Max Heart Rate (bpm): 198
Average Heart Rate (bpm): 179
Calories Burned: 916
Class/Place: Industry-B/1st
Duration of Workout: 2:26:46.687
Max Heart Rate (bpm): 195
Average Heart Rate (bpm): 172
Calories Burned: 2160
Class/Place: Sportsmen 12-35/10th
Duration of Workout: 5:30:00
Max Heart Rate (bpm): 188
Average Heart Rate (bpm): 154
Calories Burned: 4686
Class/Place: Vet B/3rd
Duration of Workout: 3:05:00
Max Heart Rate (bpm): 197
Average Heart Rate (bpm): 157
Calories Burned: 2624
Class/Place: Vet B/1st