2009 Off-Road Tough Tour

A month through the gauntlet of American off-road racing gave me blisters, blurry vision and the need to apply Neosporin to places I hesitate to mention (it's my butt--there, I said it). But it also gave me invaluable insight into the difficulty of each off-road series. After I hit Florida for an off-road adventure with Yamaha, I knew I had a story. I'd race each of America's Big Four off-road races and settle this "which is tougher?" business once and for all.

How am I qualified? I hear you already, and no, I'm not a professional racer. But I do test motorcycles for a living. I race the 30-plus age classes and intermediate-level skill classes, so I consider myself the average American rider who gets to ride an above average amount of time every year. Besides, if you don't trust me, hit the American dirt riding safari for yourself and let me know what you think.

WORCS Round 2
Racetown 395, Adelanto, CA
www.worcsracing.com
This is the first stop on my off-road blitz. This story wasn't even planned when I raced my second-ever WORCS round at Racetown 395. But this race definitely started something.

The challenge in a WORCS race is finding the fine line between pacing yourself and going all out in an MX sprint. These races make regular Sunday 20-minute motos feel like warm-up laps. Races are 30 minutes for kids, one hour for big-bike amateur classes and two hours for the pros.

WORCS is the most concentrated form of off-road intensity in the Big Four. Your heart rate will shoot up quickly and arm-pump is imminent if you're out of shape or a tense starter. The start for the amateurs is flag style with classes arranged in rows similar to other Scramble or GP-style races (like the GNCC series). Pro classes usually start behind a falling gate. Generally, the course sifts through sections of an MX track (sometimes an entire lap) before heading off-road.

Of course, in any form of all-out racing, fatigue is going to come on quickly. Starts are important if you're racing for points, and if you're racing for fun, you'll likely be pulled into a faster pace by your close proximity to other competitors on the track. As the laps go by (usually in the 10-minute-each range) you'll start to dread the roughest sections of the course and actually use the motocross sections for resting your lungs, muscles and blistering hands. Then there's always the EnduroCross-style obstacles WORCS owner/promoter Sean Reddish incorporates into the track for even more fun.