National Enduro TV Coverage

[SouthRider]

For the first time ever there is great coverage of the National Enduro Series available on TV.

It is available on MAVTV. They can be found on channel 361 on DISH Network, and select cable outlets. They are also covering the National Observed Trials Championship, and all GNCC races.

http://www.mavtv.com/mavtv-coverage

http://www.mavtv.com/shows/ama-2010-racing-series

There is some good helmet cam footage by Jordan Brandt riding a BMW in the pro class, and Mark hyde is also running a helmet cam as a chase rider (not a participant). Mark finds a good section in the woods & then waits for each pro to come through & follows him through the woods for several turns.

Along with a 1 hour show about the pros they then follow it with 1 hour coverage of the A, B, & C classes. Our own Dwight Rudder was shown in the race coverage of Greensboro Ga.

[SouthRider]

I have to also say how dismayed I am to see what a National Enduro has become.....

Pits?

Lunch Breaks?

Free time to work on your bike or make suspension changes?

No Timekeeping?

Why don't they just call it a trail ride?



Absolutely disgusting.........



Clark



1979 SERA Louisiana State Champ

[brian kirby]

I like the new format better, it puts us much more in line with WEC/ISDE rules and it opens the races up to more locations and more riders.

Brian

'72 Berkshire

[Jeff D]

Clark, I'm on the same page with you.  The national enduro series that guys like Bill Baird, Dick Burleson, Terry Cunningham, and the Penton clan dominated is a thing of the past.  I was just looking at a history of the Berkshire Trial that Bob Hicks gave to me, and in 1965 the single day trial was a 90-mile morning loop followed by a hillclimb special test and an 80-mile afternoon loop that was on different trails from the morning's course followed by a cross country special test.  The following year saw a 2-day format with 180 miles on Saturday, but Sunday had to be cancelled due to torrential rains through the night.  1967 had two 99-mile laps on Saturday and two 89-mile laps on Sunday, plus the special tests, all on a 24mph average.  A "generous" 15-minute layover was allowed mid-day for refueling.  Al Eames pulled no punches, either.  It was a true test of both man and machine.  Just ask the POG veterans who rode it!
Just my opinion, but I think the enduro world started to change when computers appeared on bikes.  Clubs started throwing in multiple speed changes, layovers, etc., to the point where a route sheet and accurate timepiece and odometer weren't enough to keep from burning checks or falling hopelessly behind.  I recall riding an enduro in Iowa probably 10 years ago where I overslept and arrived at sign-up about the same time the riders on the last minute were leaving the pit.  Not wanting to waste a 4-hour drive, I paid my entry fee and told them I would just trail ride it for fun.  I took off paying no attention to the numerous speed changes, just rode my pace and had a good time.  Passed lots of riders sitting on the side of the trail checking their computers and about 2/3s of the way through the event I had caught up to the first riders out.  Did they come to ride and be challenged by the trails or come to read their countdown timers?  I was never up to A rider status where I had to be careful about burning checks, so I looked at every enduro as a chance to ride some new trails as best I could and hope I stayed somewhat close to the time average.  Throwing a chain or fouling a plug automatically put you time down that I had to work to make up.
There is a positive to the way the nationals are being run now, and that is that we are playing by some of the same rules the Europeans are playing by...ride like the wind in the special tests and cruise the connector sections, just like the ISDE.  This format should help our ISDE riders know better what to expect when they go to "the big show."
But I still miss the old 24-mph days!

Jeff DeBell

[brian kirby]

Jeff said it better than I did. I would love to see timekeeping enduros again if you banned computers and made them straight 24mph averages like the old days. What we have today is second to the old straight 24, but the stuff that came along after the computers was not really racing anymore, it was who could manipulate the system best and I hated it.

Brian

'72 Berkshire