High jinks at top of world
By Jonny Walker on 1st Nov 13
I HOPE youve already bought your tickets! Round one of the SuperEnduro World Championship at Liverpools Echo Arena is just around the corner and by all accounts its shaping up to be a cracker.
I know I was talking about it in my last column but I honestly can't wait for it.
A new championship that's actually starting in the UK – it doesn't get much better than that.
Right now I'm busy preparing for it – albeit it on the other side of the Atlantic.
I'm currently one week into a five-week trip that is taking me from Ecuador to California and back to Colombia, before arriving home in time for the doors of the Echo Arena to open.
With two hard enduro races taking place in Latin America within a couple of weeks of each other, I decided to use my time wisely and stay in America.
As I write this I'm on a plane to California where I'll stop with my friend Kyle Redmond.
He's got about seven endurocross tracks within one-hour of his house so I'll be able to get tonnes of riding done during the two weeks that I'm here.
I had thought about returning home between those two races – but getting to California and spending time riding various endurocross tracks in perfect weather conditions will prepare me well for a top result in Liverpool.
The Enduro Ukupacha Hard Enduro that I raced in Quito, Ecuador was a mixed one for me.
On the Saturday, an endurocross-style prologue determined the starting order for Sunday's main race.
It was a really cool track built in the town's bull-fighting arena. It started outside, ran through the alleys they keep the bulls in and then around the stadium floor.
There was nothing overly difficult but with the extreme altitude in Quito – 3,000m above sea level – it was hard to catch your breath.
In my heat race I had a couple of problems but managed to qualify directly through to the main event. Taylor Robert was also racing and I knew, based on his results in the AMA EnduroCross Championship, that he'd be the guy to beat.
Robert holeshot the final and I gave chase only to crash on the third corner. I caught him but then crashed again.
By the time I picked myself up for the second time my head was spinning from the altitude so I played it safe and took second.
In the main event I started well and quickly caught and passed Robert to get into the lead but after that things took a turn for the worse.
I damaged the radiator and lost the coolant and although I tried to repair it and carry on the bike again dropped its coolant, leaving me with no choice but to stop.
It was disappointing as I felt I was riding well but sometimes in racing, situations happen that are out of your control.
Moving forward I've got one more race in Colombia and then it's super-enduro time. So on November 17 make sure you're in Liverpool to cheer me on. It's going to be epic.
