25th Annual Shelton Valley Enduro

25th Annual Shelton Valley Off-Road Enduro

Sometime in March Pete Naylor and I began an off-list email correspondence about getting together for some maggot style dirt bike riding. Several offroad riding areas and events were discussed but our schedules did not come together until Saturday, May 6th. That was the weekend of the 25th Annual Shelton Valley Enduro. Saturday’s event included a 30-mile beginner’s enduro and rider school so we made plans to meet in Shelton on Friday night and enter the event on Saturday.

In preparation I decided to finally complete the “uncorking” or my XR650R by changing the main and pilot jets, raising the needle, removing the US restricted intake carb insulator, opening up my exhaust (with 2” outlet and black plastic 90 degree turn down) and airbox. These mods are shown to increase horsepower by a not too shabby 10hp a whopping 25% increase over stock. I also lowered my stock gearing by one tooth on the countershaft and bought a new Bridgestone rear knobby. My XR already had a resettable ODO but I also added a ToPeak Panaram bike computer. The addition of handlebar mounted handguard/brushguards and a roll-chart holder rounded out the necessary accessories.

Seat of the pants testing the weekend prior showed awesome, linear power, torque, and easier starting as I tried to wear away the remainder of my back tire. The gearing change was closer to what I wanted and my son Jeremy and I rode our biggest dirt miles of the year, 21, yet there was still some back tire left. I felt as ready as I was going to be with very little residual stiffness or soreness on Sunday.

The XR650R is my first foray into offroad riding since the mid-eighties when I sold my last dirt bikes an ’85 CR250R and an ’81 CR450R to concentrate on limited street riding while commuting and riding locally on an old CB750F. At the same time I am 20 years older and about 50 pounds heavier than I was in the mid eighties.

I’ve had the big red pig for a couple years (traded my totaled ’03 FJR for it) but have managed to get out infrequently as I don’t seem to know many local folks anymore that ride offroad. Getting Jeremy and my schedules to coincide only happens sporadically at best although his boy has the bug and a new to him Suzuki 80 so hopefully we can get out more in the near future.

Friday night could not come fast enough for me so when quitting time rolled around it just took me a few minutes to throw stuff in the truck as I hit the road north about 5:40 that evening. Jeremy and I had pre-loaded the bike Thursday night so I just threw in a cooler, a couple chairs, and all my gear. My V1 and GPS were already installed since the FJR won’t be on the road for a few more weeks.

Our plan was to meet at the Super8 in Shelton where I’d reserved a room for Friday night. The fairgrounds start was just a very short drive up US-101. The drive up was uneventful and took 3 hours. I was there less than half an hour when I called Pete and learned he was close by and would be arriving shortly. After Pete showed up we upacked necessities and grabbed a bite at the next door Jack-in-the-Box before retiring to the room to eat and BS before turning in for the night. I told Pete I was unsure that my newly opened up exhaust would pass the required 98db max. sound check. I had brought my stock exhaust tip just in case but this was my biggest concern. Pete relayed how the event went for him last year while editing some spectacular underwater photos he’d taken on a recent diving expedition. In particular he noted that he was always behind at the check-points so was riding to catch up the entire day.

Weather for Sunday was forecast to be cooler and cloudy with rain forecast for Sunday striking the consecutive clear and sunny days we had been experiencing. By my thinking we would have perfect weather. Not too hot, but cooler with a breeze.

By 7:00am we were awake and getting ready to head out. We did visit the motel breakfast room and grabbed a couple cups of coffee, juice, bananas, and some pre-packaged pastry offerings.

Two minutes up 101 and we were pulling into the fairgrounds parking area early enough to unload, register for the beginner enduro, and complete the taping together of our roll charts. As the 9:30 start of the beginning rider enduro class we moseyed that way for tips and tricks.

We learned about “key” time and how to manage our clocks and charts. We learned about “possibles” or possible locations of check-points, odo resets, the kinds of checks and signage, as well as route markers and other trailside informational postings. We also learned about trail etiquette and letting riders pass as necessary. Another point was the cold start. All engines were off until the signal was given to your particular start line to go. Then you could fire it up.

At the close of the class riders began lining up for the sound check and I headed over as soon as I could get ready in case I had to change my exhaust tip and try again. Fortunately, at the rpm used for checking, the big XR I sailed through with a 96db reading out of a 98db maximum reading allowed. I could leave the big outlet hole on the muffler with no changes.

Pete’s bike as a street legal dual-sport did not have to be tested but was just marked off as OK.

After that we were ready to ride and proceeded to hurry up and wait until the 12:00pm start time. We were in line 22 so would start 22 minutes after the official start time. There were 47 lines total with 2 or 3 riders in each line. Due to a registration mix-up Pete and I started in a line with 5 riders. The organizers began the start line-up early and as the first riders fired up and were off at noon the rest of us assumed our start positions sans engines.

Finally, at 12:22 Pete and I were at the start position and given the go. Five riders thumbed their starters or reefed on their kickstarters. A couple kicks and my XR was jumping at the clutch. Pete and I let the other three riders go and I followed Pete across the start almost instantly eating the dust of the four riders that started in my row. We were out quickly and I dropped back to let the dust settle a bit. It was breezy as well and the dust blew quickly off to the side. We quickly dispatched some whoopy ground and passed the riders in our row as well as a father and daughter. Pete made a couple stops for adjustments and we were passed ourselves. We would play leapfrog with the guys in our line and the father/daughter combo for the next couple hours.

Conditions were extremely dry and dusty and the trails were a bit tighter than some of what I’ve been riding this year. My arms began to pump up badly right away and my right knee seemed to have a painful catch. I seriously worried at one point, about 8 miles in, that if I did not relax it would be doubtful that I would even finish. My goal for the day was to finish, to at least finish. Position was unimportant.

We reached the first checkpoint in the 23rd minute so we were already a minute behind. As Pete predicted, time management went out the window as we concentrated on making up time lost. One crash later, for each of us I think, and we were 4 minutes late to the second checkpoint.

The trails varied from 4-wheeler stuff to brand new single-track plotted across fresh clear cuts of the private timberland the enduro was set in. Occasionally there were small water crossings or large puddles but no major water was encountered. Trees, roots, and rocks were in abundance and it was difficult in many places to maintain the required average speed. Very small sections of gravel road were used to connect the various trail sections. Without knowing exactly where we were it was plain that we were roughly criss-crossing a series of east/west roads in roughly north/south directions. For the most part the terrain was dry and seriously dusty making visibility extremely difficult in many sections of the course.

Somewhere before the third check I crashed hard. I saved one possible crash but had lost my seat and out of control, hanging on with only my throttle hand, I grabbed and handful as the bike launched and I did not landing gut down on a small stump. Pete said he heard the XR rev and stopped to look back and watch it land. I was in a heap on the ground with the wind, all of it, knocked straight out of me. The XR was across the trail ahead of me and I was laying in the trail on my back trying desperately to gulp in some air.

By the time I had gained some of my senses, but still not breathing yet, I had 5 guys backed up able to go no further until I moved and my bike was moved. Someone asked if I was okay and I gasped back “No, but I will be in a minute.” As I began to suck a couple of tiny breaths I stood and pushed the bike off to the side. By now Pete had walked back and with the XR moved and me on my feet the other riders took off. With Pete’s help we got my XR turned around and I began kicking a flooded big bore 4-stroke back to life. Unfortunately we had turned it around but planted both tires in alternate brushy holes and once running I had to rock back and forth numerous times while applying throttle before I was freed and running on the trail again.

As we were running again I thought to myself that the stump had probably stamped me good and would be leaving a mark.

At the next checkpoint we were 10 minutes behind. Fortunately for us there was an ODO reset before the next check and we picked up three miles. We passed more folks and more riders passed us. We would pass a bike or two on the trail only to be passed later by the same bunch and vice versa. The father and daughter combo kept plugging along and we saw them often.

At the last check we were only down a minute and we were about three miles from the finish. I could already taste one of the two beers Pete had stashed in the cooler.

I had four separate get-offs this Saturday and on the last I had kept it running and only stalled it as I picked it up. Except for the stump landing everything else was minor, either a washout or too big a handful of gas.

Pete got in his three over a longer period and had the last crash on a front end wash out, downhill, at a right turn. Somewhere along the day he’d bent his rear brake lever and his rear brake was all but useless.

After the finish we motored back to the trucks, geared down, and loaded up. I was definitely tired, more than a little dirty, but satisfied that I’d finished my longest offroad ride of the year. The beer went down easy as did the two Pepsis, a bottle of crystal light and a bottle of sweet tea. We sat for a few minutes and then headed back to the registration building for the finish results.

As the finish positions were posted Pete was 13th out of 27 riders in the open division and 58th overall. I was 21st out of 42 in the over 40 division and 60th of 133 overall. I am sure Pete could have done better on his own as he was constantly gaining ground on me in the tighter sections. I am just happy to have survived. I haven’t even shown Linda my silver medal yet. We each finished with 16 points plus change. The totals were 1 minute, 4 minutes, 10 minutes, and 1 minute for a total of 16. One check timed us to the second as a tie breaker hence the 16 minutes plus change.

All in all this was an excellent event and the organizers, Puget Sound Enduro Riders and the NMA (Northwest Motorcycle Association) should be proud. I would personally like to thank them both for providing this excellent opportunity for riding. Thanks to Pete Naylor also for suggesting this ride and baby sitting me on my first offroad competition in 25 years.

As I write this on a Monday I have survived the painful and stiff “day after”. The stump I landed on indeed stamped me hard as the rainbow bruise approaching plate size is testament to. Today I still have stiff and sore places but the “gut stamp” feels far worse than any other stressed joints or muscles. Hopefully I can enter a couple more “beginner” enduro events this year and try a real enduro next year.

Doug Chapman
5-8-2006