Mud in Your Eye

There’s an ISDE format enduro coming up this weekend which has my stomach knotted with excitement. Of course, it’s barely untied itself after learning that one of our northwestern AA riders was killed at the last event. The 24-hour race at Starvation Ridge was even longer than usual with the heavy news that Washington’s Kevin Parks died on the course.

What do you do? We weren’t friends, hell, I didn’t even know the man. He was just a rider from my geographic region, but it’s still painful. I’ve done the Goldendale event before, and I had the opportunity to participate with a new team this year, though I passed on the invitation. On one hand I’m extremely glad. Endurance races are tough enough, but it would have been enormously difficult to mount up and ride on knowing the competitor list was one name shorter.

But, ride on we must. I’ve been looking for a way to evaluate the new 2010 Husqvarna TE310, and the Fort Rock Enduro sounds as good as anything. Sure, testing this dirt bike is my job, and it’s dangerous, but I ride because it’s what I love - we all do. Kevin was no different.