November 10, 2021

AMA National Harescramble Stillwater 500 & Gobbler Getter National Enduro

0 to 100 is the best way to describe last weekend. The way I do things isn’t for the soft….

Two things I wanted to do before the end of the season was race a harescramble and an enduro to see where my physical capabilities are at. Why not do both in one weekend and call it a test?

Friday night I booked it to Stillwater, OK after work to race the AMA East vs West National Harescramble. I signed up for the 8AM race to get done and on the road sooner. It was also a longer race than the Pro/A/B women’s race lol. The flyer had it advertised as a 2.5 hour and I was concerned about that. During the rider’s meeting they announced they would do it off of the east coast rules, making it a 2 hour! Thank goodness.

I had an ok start. The first few miles was a lot of battling and other people laying it over. The trail had a great combo of tight/technical and fast wide open. It was my cup of tea! One particular section was a downhill drop off. I took a bad line and endoed. Really amazed I even saved it but I managed to do so. After the first lap, I was in 3rd. I made a pass for 2nd and held it almost until the end of my last lap. Conditions were PRIMO. This was my first time racing there and it was a super fun trail! I finished 3rd and felt really good.

After the race, it was a LOAD AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! I rinsed my bike a little to rid of some of that glorious red Oklahoma dirt. I was loaded up and ready to roll by 11:30 to start the 11 hour trek to Alabama for the final NEPG. The first 8 hours went fast, the last three were BRUTAL! Thankful for all my friends that called me to keep me awake! We arrived around midnight. One of the best parts about my van is, I can park and go to sleep with no setting up. I slept great Saturday night and felt ready to rock at 6AM.

The Gobbler Getter is always a favorite of mine! It’s been a full year since I’ve wiggled between tight, turny trees, I almost forgot how fun that is, and how much of a sprint it is.

The first test flowed great and was fun, not too choppy and a good mix of tight and fast. Test two was a little tighter and longer. Test 3 and 4 suited what I like to ride well! There were lots of random sand wash sections, like 10 of them! Lots of fast and wide open too with some hill climbs. Just a great mix and even better flow. Test 5 was a bit more technical but still a fun one. It was a 10 mile section and with 3 miles left, I started to really wear down. I kept telling myself, the faster I do this, the faster I can be done.

I finally finished and got back to the pits. I was toast and out of it. Billy Jack walks over if I want steak or chicken and I said both and both is what I got! It brought me back to life to start the 11 hour drive back home. I finished 7th out of 10 in Women’s Elite. It was great to be back at the enduros after being injured all year! Again, I appreciate my friends who kept me awake on the way back home. I was ready to sleep 20 minutes into the drive lol.