Sumter Prep

This Friday, Ed V. and I'll head for South Carolina and the Sumter National Enduro.  I'm pretty excited for my first national.

Spent the last two days getting the truck ready for the haul.  Yesterday I put the new rear shocks on and spent all of today on the struts.  I had a real tough time with the passenger side until I got it figured out that the sway bar links had to be detached on both sides....can't just do one side at a time.  I also finally installed the iPod2car adapter for tunes for the drive.

The trailer was prepped last week and the week before that.  Greased the wheel bearings and ramp hinges.  Last weekend I put new tires on it.

I'll spend most of tomorrow getting the bike ready.  I bought a used set of wheels in good shape from Mark P.  I'll put the soft-terrain Dunlop 756s on the new rims and leave my rallye studs on the stock wheels for the Snow Run the week after Sumter.  The FMF Q arrived this week so I'll mount that (good deal through the new sponsorship).  Then all the typical stuff:  change oil, air filter, drain gas, etc.

Walden Mud & Snow Scramble

Went out to the MX track in Walden, NY today for the scramble.  Had a great time.  Rick B. and Kevin O. also raced.  I didn't change my suspension or my jetting.  Didn't seem to need to.

There was no snow to be found.  I rode with the rallye spikes on the bike.  I'm still pretty impressed with how this tire is holding up.  Cheng Shin 755 with 22mm rallye studs, Gorilla Glue on each.  Conditions today were the toughest possible for the studs and I think I only lost 10 or so on the rear...none on the front.

I felt good in the small woods sections and had a decent pace there.  The many sections where we used the MX track were tough.  Lots of frozen mud ruts.

I feel OK about the way I rode, but whenever I do a scramble I forget about the shorter length and hold back a little...like I'm riding an enduro.  Gotta learn to just cut it loose.  Not really sore or tired.

This guy was moving.  Passed me from a line behind (at least I wasn't the first guy he passed).  Had a big Suzuki and regular digital camera taped to the chin bar of his helmet.

YouTube Video

Pachaug ride today.

Shawn B., Steve E., and I rode at Pachaug today.  It was a great time.  Most trails had 3-5" of virgin powder on them.  It was definitely easier to make your own track when there was a track already there.  It was about 20 degrees but still sweaty under the enduro jacket.  We did the second part of the loop backwards and forward back to the trucks.

Snow "warm" up

Finished up the work on the bike and let the grip glue set up.  Took the bike out for a few laps around the backyard.  Did a couple miles.  Traction was good.  3-5" of grainy, wind-driven snow.  I think the log with the 90-degree wheelie needs to go.  Good practice, but too much chance of smashing a pipe....not worth it for backyard practice.

It was a good reminder of just how fast you build up body heat.  It was 17 degrees with a fierce wind but I was soaked in sweat after just 2 miles.

Lots of work on the bike today

Used today today to do a lot of work to the bike.

• Mounted the spikes
• Rerouted the vent tubes to the airbox
• Installed the radiator guards
• Installed the grip heaters.

Thinking about doing the Winter Scramble with Ed V. this weekend.  Someone just posted a video of the terrain, looked pretty sweet.  Not too much snow there.  Could be a fun time.

ALSO:  Got another couple sponsorships this week.  I applied to FMF directly and KSR Wheels on MXSponsor.com.  Not sure if I'll accept the KSR one, they didn't give a specific discount in the offer.  Seems a little shady.