About 5 months ago a buddy and I went out on a 24 mile enduro ride on a national track in Parras Coahuila that gets used officially once a year. The track was an initiative of a hotel golf resort manager and active national level enduro rider that was appointed head of tourism for the town years ago and sent locals from a nearby ejido out with burros and pickaxes to make the trail. At that time not even goats were living out there.
The trip started with 5 participants and ended up just being two of us with no idea what we were getting into. I didn’t bring any tools or water as we were supposedly just taking a single lap on the “practice track” before sunset…
It ended up being a terrifying “ride for life” adventure that saw us get back to the hotel about 10 seconds before sundown. I swore I’d never go back. That was until I found out that my GoPro disc was full before we started the ride and that aside from my buddies word I had no proof that I’d survived the course.
I decided we needed to do it one more time and record the ride, but this time there was no way I was going in with less than 3 guys.
As luck would have it we managed to convince the now 48 year old and still actively racing architect of the course as well as a 53 year old rider who won both a Veteran MX and Enduro championships last year. To round up the group two more active enduro racers and 2 other much less skilled riders that I usually roll with.
We set out at 10:30am with just the slightest of hangovers and hit the trail. This was my first ride on a bike in 4 months aside from last week’s bad fuel fiasco which was more of a push and pull event than a ride.
About 5 minutes into this ride I realized I was totally out of shape for this and started wondering when I was going to realize my limits. Unfortunately this track is a “no return” track (at least from my perspective) and can only be run one way unless you are able to do things I haven’t seen a trails rider do. There are two sections that would likely be suicidal to try in reverse. I say suicidal not because the inevitable falls would kill you, but because there is no way out other than walking or riding a bike. You would literally be buzzard food if you broke a leg or arm. There is nowhere for a helicopter to land and to be carried out on a stretcher or burro from the middle of the course would take the better part of a day in and out.
Fortunately I was able to make it through every obstacle on my own with the exception of the one shown in the first clip. In that section everybody got help, they even have to help each other in competion through that section. Can’t say the same for my buddies. They had to pass their bikes over to the racers in a few spots. The 450 KTM quickly became the most hated bike in the group.
My liter of water ran out midway and my throat started closing up when I would try to swallow my saliva. There was water in the river bed, but it was pretty green. Last resort only! I lost track of how many times I fell just because I couldn’t hold the bars. Fortunately only once was over 10mph. The rest were at a walking pace and usually to the high side of the ledge. All but one that is.
As we exited the riverbed and entered an ejido the guys decided to break into three groups. One that would tuck tail and go home, another that would go to the MX section and play around and the third that would finish the advanced section of the course called “la berrinche” or “the tantrum” likely named for the way one feels as they realize that they have reached the hardest part of the course with only 30 yards to go to get to the finish line. Only two of the racers opted for la berrinche and of course I’d gotten a second wind after seeing civilization, so I decided to tag along with them and throw my manliness into my buddies faces over beers that evening.
Unfortunately the police tape that says entering the area is dangerous and prohibited was at the other end of the course, so that was nice to see after I fell off a ledge near the end and landed into a pile of volcanic rock. At that point I walked the bike down to the bottom as it was insanely steep. I found out later that both the racers fell where I did (but to the high side of the slope) and walked their bikes down, so that made me feel like a little less of a wimp.
You can skip right to the forth link if you want to see me fall. My tire had gone flat and I was trying to hug the high side of the track a little two much. I will post a couple other clips up later to show how well Milner’s forks work in the rocks. Unfortunately the GoPro fisheye lens doesn’t capture the slopes and depth of the drops, but let me assure you they were there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlTjTZYlkXQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyZ229HPE8g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL5wk_6-jo8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a3dHSxGvI4