RUST magazine: RUST Tref Special

ust enduro
A doozy
Given the terrain it was a real surprise that, over the three days, there
wasn’t a real killer climb. With 550-odd riders you wouldn’t want a
‘stopper’ of a hill, though i was fully expecting the occasional ‘third-gearpinned,
hold-on-and-hope’ ascent. MCL did, though, throw in a real
doozy of a descent…
it came mid-way through the first check. a car-width trail was winding
its way innocently up through a woodland when suddenly the tapes
marked a turn straight off the edge of the track. it was steep, not quite
‘heart in mouth’ steep but enough to get you hanging right over the rear
fender and feeling your way down. S..l..o..w..l..y...
i gave way to the rider next to me, only for him to insist i went first,
gesturing to where his rear brake lever should’ve been. ‘Bon chance, fella’
i thought as i pulled ahead of him, picturing his runaway bike taking-out
everyone in some kind of dirtbike avalanche.
Both wheels gripped then slid then gripped again on the loose surface
and a couple of vertical drops meant freewheeling or flipping. Somehow,
there even managed to be a small bog partway down!
The MCL’s 31 years of Tref’ course design were really showing –
breaking up the fast stuff with just the right amount of technical riding
to make it feel challenging, yet enjoyable.
Les Mousseketeers
Warren and Pedro were suffering their own particular challenges, and
those definitely weren’t much fun. Both arrived at the first check with
melted rear mousses. The Rabaconda mousse rig was back at the
paddock, there weren’t any mousses in the van, and there was precious
little time to swap-out two rears.
Pedro was adamant his mousses wouldn’t last the day, and headed
off around the service area to hunt-out a solution. Warren resigned
himself to a slower pace and nursing the bike round. There was still
150km, and four special tests, to go…
The previous day we’d seen plenty of spectators out on the going,
but now it was the weekend and the locals were really out in force.
Standing by their properties and waving; pointing the way at junctions;
picnicking by the special tests; cheering us on from the middle of
nowhere (sometimes in fancy dress); kids waiting, arms outstretched,
for a high-five.
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