October 4, 2009
Upland, IN
The 10th and final round of the 2009 AMA/Rekluse National Enduro Series was held in Upland, Indiana. The start was at the Matthews Covered Bridge which had awesome parking and plenty of room. With a cold front settled in and nearly perfect ground conditions, the final round had the makings for an awesome race. I was placed on row 23 with KTM support rider Cole Kirkpatrick, my brother Jeremy Ketchum, Jared Chonko from KTM, and his brother Jason Chonko. After doing some laps on the practice trail on Saturday, I felt that I had my suspension and bike dialed in and ready to go.
Sunday morning we awoke to very cool weather and overcast sky's. Right off the start we crossed the river and took off down the banks on some tight twisty woods trail. We fell in to place behind Cole, with Jeremy leading me out. In the first section we crossed the river multiple times while also riding along the banks. I'm usually a slow starter but I felt like I handled the first section well, staying upright with no major mistakes. After the first section I grabbed something to drink and eat and headed to the start of Section 2. I really liked this trail and got a good jump off the restart and stuck with Jeremy for a while. This section was really cool because it had good twisting trails as well as a super fast corn field crossing. I kept a good pace and felt strong the whole section gaining momentum toward the end. The third section also zig zagged through the woods and flowed really well.
Completing the third section we came back to the parking area for gas. It was fun to relax and catch up on how everybody was doing. Section four after gas was another back and forth tight wooded section. As was Section five that followed. It was a nice and flowing section starting out on a grass track and I was strong throughout. Even though the B cutoff was after the fifth section. I decided to go ahead and ride the sixth and final A section for practice. It was an awesome mix of fast and tight trails ending in an endurocross course. It was
my favorite section of the whole event as well as my fastest. I ended up staying with my brother Jeremy from start to finish of the section even leading him part of the way before laying it down near the end.
After all the dust was settled and the scores were tallied I ended up 3rd in 250 B and 7th Overall B. With the season now over the points were settled and I ended the AMA/Rekluse National Enduro Series 4th in 250 B. It has been a very up and down season that has taught me so much. I just want to thank everyone who has helped me out along the way. I can't express how much it has been appreciated.
I would like to thank my sponsors and some of my key supporters: My parents, my brother Jeremy, my girlfriend Jordan, Patrick Koether, KTM, KTM Powerwear, KTM Powerparts, Rekluse, Ride PG.com, Motorex, Cycra, Clockwork KTM, Trace Bikes, and FAHQ/Black Rainbow.
Upland, IN
The 10th and final round of the 2009 AMA/Rekluse National Enduro Series was held in Upland, Indiana. The start was at the Matthews Covered Bridge which had awesome parking and plenty of room. With a cold front settled in and nearly perfect ground conditions, the final round had the makings for an awesome race. I was placed on row 23 with KTM support rider Cole Kirkpatrick, my brother Jeremy Ketchum, Jared Chonko from KTM, and his brother Jason Chonko. After doing some laps on the practice trail on Saturday, I felt that I had my suspension and bike dialed in and ready to go.
Sunday morning we awoke to very cool weather and overcast sky's. Right off the start we crossed the river and took off down the banks on some tight twisty woods trail. We fell in to place behind Cole, with Jeremy leading me out. In the first section we crossed the river multiple times while also riding along the banks. I'm usually a slow starter but I felt like I handled the first section well, staying upright with no major mistakes. After the first section I grabbed something to drink and eat and headed to the start of Section 2. I really liked this trail and got a good jump off the restart and stuck with Jeremy for a while. This section was really cool because it had good twisting trails as well as a super fast corn field crossing. I kept a good pace and felt strong the whole section gaining momentum toward the end. The third section also zig zagged through the woods and flowed really well.Completing the third section we came back to the parking area for gas. It was fun to relax and catch up on how everybody was doing. Section four after gas was another back and forth tight wooded section. As was Section five that followed. It was a nice and flowing section starting out on a grass track and I was strong throughout. Even though the B cutoff was after the fifth section. I decided to go ahead and ride the sixth and final A section for practice. It was an awesome mix of fast and tight trails ending in an endurocross course. It was
my favorite section of the whole event as well as my fastest. I ended up staying with my brother Jeremy from start to finish of the section even leading him part of the way before laying it down near the end.After all the dust was settled and the scores were tallied I ended up 3rd in 250 B and 7th Overall B. With the season now over the points were settled and I ended the AMA/Rekluse National Enduro Series 4th in 250 B. It has been a very up and down season that has taught me so much. I just want to thank everyone who has helped me out along the way. I can't express how much it has been appreciated.
I would like to thank my sponsors and some of my key supporters: My parents, my brother Jeremy, my girlfriend Jordan, Patrick Koether, KTM, KTM Powerwear, KTM Powerparts, Rekluse, Ride PG.com, Motorex, Cycra, Clockwork KTM, Trace Bikes, and FAHQ/Black Rainbow.
No comments:
Post a Comment