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Little Raccoon Enduro
Appalachian Dirt Riders
ACES Round 4
Wellston, Ohio
May 25, 2013
By Heather Wilson
The Little Racoon Enduro / ISDE Qualifier photos are available by emailing me directly, due to the photo account being maxed out on memory for the time being.
Bench Racing
Overall: Sam Evans
Sam Evans (KTM) has been riding mostly cross country style for over 11 years.
“I’m from West Virginia. In the winter, it’s hard to get riding in,” said Evans. “I started going down south to practice. The enduros were some racing I could do in the winter. I really hadn’t ridden a lot of enduros until just the last couple of years. I’ve not followed the series, but I’ve been able to catch a few.”
He said his AOMC-backed KTM 250XC and he said his Genuine Dirt Racer suspension “worked great all day, as always” thanks to his mechanic, who just happens to be his dad.
Not only did his bike have to endure the trails, but Evans’ body did as well. That’s where fitness came into play. “I do a little bit of everything,” Evans said. “I’m in the gym at least three days a week. I run, bicycle and ride throughout the week.”
“Since I had such a great experience, I’d like to catch some ACES in the future,” Evans said. “The goal for the rest of the season is to continue to focus on the GNCC series and have a great year-end finish in the XC2 Pro Lites class.”
He thanks his mom and dad, Appalachian Offroad Motorcycles, Genuine Dirt Racer Suspension, Fly Racing, Ride PG, Thornhill Auto, Mohr’s Tire Farm, Dunlop tires, Leatt, EVS, Balzout, Worldwide Chiropractic, Silkolene, FMF and Outlaw Motorsports for supporting him.
Overall A: Billy Farmer
Billy Farmer (HSQ), a sixth year ACES competitor, made his way to the podium for the Overall A spot.
“I first started riding when I was about seven years old,” commented Farmer. “I raced my first hare scramble in 1992 when I was 16 and my first enduro in 2008.”
His dad is the one that got him into enduros. “He always talked about doing enduros back in the day, and he convinced me to start doing them,” Farmer said.
Enduros are unique in comparison to other forms of racing. “I think the best part of enduros is you hardly ever ride the same trail twice, and you never now how you do until about an hour after the race is over,” Farmer said.
Often times, racing isn’t right out competitors’ back doors and requires a lot of travel time. Farmer said, “The worst part is we have to drive from 2.5 to 4.5 hours to get to the races.”
During the winter Farmer said he worked out with Joel from Joel Younkins Training. Lately, he’s been trying to do some bicycling, but he said the biggest thing for him is being able to get in the woods to ride the bike.
“My 2012 Husqvarna TXC 310 motor was perfect,” commented Farmer. “The forks beat me up in the first couple sections, so I made a few adjustments and it really seemed to help.”
“Hopefully this is a step in the right direction to some more overall A wins, the Vet A championship and another Overall A championship,” Farmer said.
He would like to thank his dad, Bill. “Without his help I would not be able to do this,” commented Farmer. He would also like to thank his wife, Rachel. He thanks his sponsors: Beaver Creek Cycle, F.A.R. Husqvarna, Jytraining.com, Cyborg Supplements, MSR, Kenda, Silkolene, Sidi, PitMX, Ripped Vinyl, Snyder Carpet, Freeze MX and R.L. Best.
“I would like to thank the clubs for putting on good events for the riders and also thank Husqvarna for sponsoring this series with their contingency program,” Farmer said.
Overall B: Adam Clark
Adam Clark (KTM), now in his third year competing in the ACES, was inspired to start riding enduros because he was tired of riding beat up trails at his local hare scramble series. “I had some friends that said I needed to come try the ACES,” he said. “Once I tried one, it was just what I was looking for.”
Clark enjoys the enduros because of “all the fresh single track, the full day of riding and being able to ride with friends.”
He liked the race layout, but prior to the race he had to stiffen his suspension a little because of the speed of the race. “It was my favorite trail we’ve ridden all year,” Clark said. “The grass track was also a nice change of pace.” He was glad that there was a 15 second gap between the riders in the special tests, so the dust wasn’t as bad.
“I would like to continue to contend for the Overall B and battle with the rest of the Open B class,” Clark said. “The Open B class is stacked this year. There are five of us that could win any given race. That has been making this year fun.”
He would like to thank AES KTM in New Philadelphia and Mark McGrath for letting him ride and train with him.