HVD

[Chippertheripper]

I'd never ridden there before. Yesterday it was part of the tri-state enduro, we used a bunch of the trail with orange paint. Holy flow. Very fast third gear wingin it. I actually burnt the first check because I wasn't paying attention and came in early. (I burnt a few others because I wasn't paying attention at all, but that's my fault)

Hvd is everything the Freetown parking lot side wishes it could be.

[breakdirt916]

ya nice trails for sure!

most of it is pretty smooth sand whoops section is open...some of it has roots that are pretty annoying, and the upper section is pretty rocky and technical, but it's a nice place to ride!



open year-round too (federally owned)

a bit smaller than freetown, and far for ya though, right?

[Chippertheripper]

Like 1:20. The upper section has some really techy climbs. Seperate the men and the boys quickly.

[maxim_X]

How did the race go? I think I may join you for KP, depending on work again. How's an enduro compared to a scramble?

[Chippertheripper]

Loooooooong.


I had a kickass ride, but scored poorly. Next time I'll pay attention to the route sheet so I won't skip a reset, and consequently burn a check(s). The funny thing with enduros is: he who is the fastest is not necessarily the winner.

[Chippertheripper]

Somebody's helmet can of the first section...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCLF8...ature=youtu.be
It was a total dick tease, right after we went up the hill to the left and it got grizzly.

[slowkermit]

You guys have to do the KP. You'll see a lot of the trails we ride around here. I still don't understand the scoring, but I look forward to going faster, falling less, and feeling less dead after it's over.

[typeone]

great spot to ride, love the mix of flow and technical out there. psyched it's local for me.

hope that guy posts the second section, i'd like to see how they patched it together on that side.

[Chippertheripper]

KP is next scooter. I need to find some time to wash my bike in between now and then. Which is a huge project at this point.

[Chippertheripper]

This one picks up where the other one left off at 18:20. It stays pretty mellow till about 24min, but still cuts short before anything really gnarly:

http://youtu.be/H9WTELS_epk

[R7]

Chipper, do you plan on riding the Little Rhody Enduro, I think it's the 23 of June? A friend of mine is coming over from Europe and wants to ride it (and the Union scramble the following week) and I don't think the scoring/timing/checks is the same across the pond. He may need some pointers on how to run an enduro here

[Chippertheripper]

If he needs scoring help, I'm the wrong guy. But it's on my calendar if I'm not working. I'll learn something yet!

He gonna ride your 200?

What I meant above is: I'm incredibly stupid. I'll help any way I can, but I'm no guru of enduro scoring/timekeeping at all.

[R7]

Haha, ok. The scoring is what I think he will need help with, the riding..he's a B rider by FIM , probably an A by our local class.
Yes, he's gonna use my 200..hopefully it'll come back somewhat in the same condition...haha

The Little Rhody is only 10-15 minutes from my house, welcome to crash here if you want the night before or after if needed..and ride some practice laps

[Chippertheripper]

I'd love to get down there again for some laps and smack talking. This dude from Finland or where you went on one of those epic adventures?

[R7]

You're welcomed to rip some laps anytime. I haven't had the time to ride....all season, so I'd only hold you or anyone I rode with up.
Yes, same dude from Finland, I went there 2 years ago for 2 weeks..best trip I have ever had.

[Chippertheripper]

I don't know that I'll have time to get down there before rhody, but maybe that Saturday night for some BS'n. I'll hit you up as we get closure for sure. I really appreciate the offer.

[R7]

Cool, let me know

[slowkermit]

Mark, come do the KP this Sunday. You'll have 5hrs to shake the rust off

[typeone]

This one picks up where the other one left off at 18:20. It stays pretty mellow till about 24min, but still cuts short before anything really gnarly:

http://youtu.be/H9WTELS_epk

thanks. yeah, i'm curious where they sent you after his vid stops. it gets dicey up top to the right, back towards the standard entrance road.

checkpoints and timing do sound tricky. was wondering why the second vid guy was yelling to pull over.

[Chippertheripper]

Because they skipped a reset and were ahead of schedule. (I did the same thing, because I was just following arrows)
I will be putting a more concerted effort into timekeeping this next one.
It's tricky, but it adds sort of a "game" element to your standard race. I'm not sold on the format, but it's something different. Besides that, you pretty much never ride the same trail section twice, and they last 4-6 hrs depending, vs 1.5hrs for a regular c class scramble...for the same entry fee.

[typeone]

huh, so you timekeep between 'resets'? how do they score? take everyones timekeeping sheets and tally?

[Chippertheripper]

Yup. Collect them all and tally. They have some software thing they just started using.
The resets are there to help you get back on the correct time. Because theoretically, you should be late outta every woods section. It also keeps people from speeding on the road connector sections.
It's sounds complicated, and I certainly don't have it dialed, but I'm confident I'll figure it out someday.

[typeone]

interesting... i've run 3hr hare scrambles (C class, triple lap) but i see what you mean by 'timing game' with enduro...

-----------

Enduro Timekeeping How-To

Not sure where this belongs, but since it is a form of racing, I'll stick it here.

There have been a few requests for a how-to on enduro timekeeping, I've got time today (stuck overseeing an upgrade at the office, can't leave, but not actually needed until fecal material hits the rotary oscillator), so here goes. Hope this helps.

To understand timekeeping, the place to start is with the theory involved. I'll take a shot at that, then I'll add some of the detailed rules, then I'll go to the practical side of how to run a race. I firmly believe everyone should start riding enduros with nothing more than a watch and an odometer- learning with a dedicated enduro computer means you won't really understand what's going on and how to fix it when things screw up.

The idea for an enduro is to stay on a precise time schedule and course, following a pace exactly as described by the event organizer. The organizer will put checks on the course to see where the competitors are, compared to where they should be. Going faster than the "perfect" pace results in a penalty of 2 points per minute, slower equals 1 point per minute. Points are bad- to "zero" a check is to have done perfectly.

Now, the reality is that the organizer will set unachievably fast averages for certain sections, so the fastest rider should be able to lose the least time compared to schedule, and therefore the least points, and there's your race. But the organizer will almost certainly also put slower averages in than are possible, even easy, in an attempt to catch these racers ahead of pace. So, it's a cat and mouse game between whoever set the race up and those riding it.

Now, let's start with the basics. Enduros are started from a key time- usually 8:01 AM, but this will be printed on a sheet. For the sake of an example, let's say that the first section of the enduro is 6 miles long and the speed average is 30. The second section is 3 miles long and the speed average is 15. Because the organizer knows the speed average for a section, and because he knows the distance between his checks (even though you don't), he can set a check at say, 3 miles into the first section, which he knows should take you 6 minutes to arrive at. Therefore, the clock at that station will be set to read 7:55 when the race starts at 8:01, so when you come through, if you are riding perfectly, the check worker will write :01 on your scorecard and it will be clear that you are "on your minute"�.

But, only 4 riders are on the first minute. Let's say you are on row 34, starting at 8:34 (8:01 + 33 minutes for each row in front of you). Before the enduro, you will have taped a card on you front fender that will be written on at each check, to prove you were there, and to facilitate scoring.

You will set the clock on your handlebars to keytime minus 34 minutes. So, when you take off, your clock should read 8:01. When you arrive at that same check, assuming you are on time, their clock will read 8:34 (when you started, their clock read 8:28). And so on. Each checkpoint will mark your card with the minute, and in some cases, the second that you arrive, and write that time in a backup book as well in case the card is damaged or illegible or there is a protest.

The reason you don't set your clock to keytime without the offset is that you want to use an enduro rollchart, which are not made specific to your row but generically for the event. By offsetting their clocks, everyone can use the same rollchart without issue.

So, over the course of the day, you'll be following the course, arriving either early or late and that progress will be recorded on your fender card.

The next installment will explain the different types of checks and how to keep time so that you can arrive when you should, and the final installment will be tips and tricks to bring things as much as possible into your favor.

Checks

So, we've established that there is a schedule to be maintained. Now we'll show how the organizers check to see how close to schedule you are. The final installment will be how this all plays out in reality, and how to work the system to your advantage.

For all you smartasses out there, I'm going to write this pertaining to standard AMA rules. I've never run a brand-X enduro, so it'd be a bit presumptous to call myself an expert on that, and the increasingly popular qualifier style races don't really require timekeeping, so there's not much to explain...

So, checks.

There are several types of checks to keep track of.

1) Secret: records the minute that you come through, no seconds. A perfect score is achieved anywhere in the 60 second window of your minute. Early is 2 points/min, late is 1 point/min. Will have a red and white flag like this:



2) Emergency: records both minutes and seconds that you come through. Perfect score is the exact middle of your minute- 30 seconds into your 60. Emergency points are only used break a tied score. Enduro organizers are canny about using these at the exit of a special test to give an advantage to people who were faster by a matter of seconds... in my experience, it's rare (but not unknown) to have the luxury of getting to one of these in a situation where it's possible go through in the middle of your minute.



3) Known Control: Known in advance of the race. Yellow flag. You can arrive up to 15 minutes early without penalty... typically, these are used to either restart or finish a race, in both cases, the assumption is that most riders will be on time or early.

4) Observation checks: Time is not recorded- basically used to keep you from shortcoursing.

Now, what makes the game of enduros is that these checks can't be just anywhere. The event organizer has a set of rules that he or she must follow in where they place the checks. Basically, the check has to be on a tenth of a mile (ie, 3.1 or 3.2, but not 3.15) and also on a whole minute (ie, 9:30:00 or 9:31:00, but not 9:30:30). If you think about the pace described in the first section, you'll realize that these two factors don't coincide too frequently at most speed averages. In addition, checks cannot occur within 2 enduro miles before a known control or for 3 enduro miles after another check. You'll note I said enduro miles- the mileage covered on the ground is NOT always the same as enduro mileage.

I guess now is the right time to bring up resets. One of the main tricks in the enduro organizers bag is the reset. A reset happens when mileage is advanced artificially, without riding. So, for example, a 4 mile reset in a 20mph section would advance your time by 12 minutes (4 = 1/5th of 20).

Organizers typically use resets to get people back on time after a special test, BUT NOT ALWAYS. And, if you just went through a check, they can use a reset to get rid of the 3 miles you would ordinarily have before the next possible check.

Organizers can also give you free time, that is, not advance mileage but give you a few minutes for free. Again, typically used to help people get back on time.

Wearing out the keyboard, not sure if this makes any sense to anyone but me... but I think we've got the groundwork laid for the next installment which is how to use these rules to your advantage. I think this will all come together in a useful fashion whenever I get a free half hour again...

[slowkermit]

OK, so I've ridden (and completed) 1 enduro, researched the rules, read this, and I still have no fucking clue how it all works. There is steam coming outta my ears. My brains are jammed like the radar in Spaceballs. Does anybody just read this shit and have it make sense? I guess I'll read through it again.....

[slowkermit]

I've decided to give up on trying to understand it, and just ride.