ShercoUSA/RYP Desert Race Adventure

Maplesville, AL
June 2 & 3, 2007
By: Curt Comer



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Trials riders Ryan Young and Curt Comer traveled to L.A. (that's Lower Alabama for those who don't know) and competed in the 6th Annual KTM/Perry Mountain 24-hour Challenge off-road race June 2-3, finishing 2nd in the Duo Class on the fuel injected Sherco 4.5i. 184 teams (comprised of 596 riders) set off at 10am on Saturday to put in as many laps as possible by the time the checkered flag fell at 10am the following day. There were 70 Ironman (1 rider) teams, 22 Duo (2 rider) teams and the rest were made up of 6 rider teams spread over various classes. Overall winners were the KTM Southeast-Cycle Specialty Team made up off-road champions Russell Bobbitt, Allen Gravitt, Robbie Jenks, Dustin Gibson, Micheal Grizzle and Jason Chacey.

The loop was approximately 12.5 miles of tight woods, some fast fireroads, a local MX track and a grass track section. Alabama has been experiencing severe drought conditions and with no moisture to hold the dirt together, the trail quickly became 12.5 miles of whooped out, rutted, square edged, silt filled holes producing choking dust clouds making breathing and vision difficult. Trials skills came in quite handy for the technical sections, but machine reliability, physical endurance and the ability to make time on the faster sections were also ingredients for success.

Riders set off in waves (6 man teams first, followed by 2 man teams and finally Ironman) with a LeMans start. I was the first to go out as Ryan held the bike at the start. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite ready when the starter's flag fell and was fumbling with my goggles as I ran for the bike. It helped that the Sherco 450 has electric start so I didn't have to flog away on the kickstarter to get things going. Still, our start was mid-pack at best, and vision on the first lap was so bad that there were times I just had to go down to first gear and putt along until the dust cleared enough to see the terrain, trail and other riders!

Considering the mediocre start, I felt we were still doing pretty good as I was passing a lot of riders and figured we had 24 hours to get where we needed to be. Coming out of the woods at the end of the first lap, I was really enjoying the grass track and tried to use the high-speed sections to slice through some more riders. Then the unexpected happened, the bike began to hesitate, then miss, then it just quit. Oh no, here we were not even finished with the first lap and the bike has quit! I pushed for about a mile (fortunately it was all flat) to get back to our pit. Ryan and SRC/RYP's Kevin Fields jumped on the problem and quickly diagnosed a fuel pump relay wire had come loose from its terminal. The wire was reattached and Ryan was on his way. The episode costs us about 25 minutes and moved us way down the leader board.

We spent the remainder of the race clawing our way back up through the results. Ryan kept saying "we gotta push and at least get a podium position out of this"! I think the competition between me and Ryan also helped us make time. Ryan put in some real flyers for laps and not wanting to be outdone, I tried my hardest to put in even faster laps. We kept up with each others times and see-sawed back and forth putting in the fastest laps. It was good!

Particularly challenging was the night riding. We were fortunate enough to have a super-bright Baja Designs HID headlight fitted as well as a pair of Cyclops HID helmet lights to illuminate the trail in front of us. This system worked well, although it was tough going when catching slower riders as the lights would reflect off the clouds of dust. And of course, we were really getting tired by mid-night. I was able to catch a little 45-minute nap while Ryan was out and I think he got a couple "cat naps" laid out on the floor of our pit area. Our muscles were getting sore and with the heat and humidity, Ryan was struggling with blisters.

Nevertheless, I think we had the best team at the race. I already mentioned Kevin - in addition to helping us round up everything needed before the event, he took care of the bike and lighting all through the race. That included refueling at every rider change, frequent air filter changes during the event, staying on top of chain adjustments and just all the little stuff that has to be tended to during a race of this duration. Ryan and I were just too tired to take care of all that bike stuff! And then there was Kevin's girlfriend Angela, Ryan's wife Adriana and my wife Dewanna who all made sure we were fed, hydrated, had clean goggles and dry riding gear for each session, etc. They really kept us motivated and going. It was great to have so much support!

I had ridden this event a few years ago on a shop sponsored 6 man team, and really enjoyed the experience. Then at the Indy Dealershow earlier this year, I mentioned to RYP's Brad Baumert, Kevin Fields and Ryan that it would be "kinda cool for two former Trials Champions to team up and see what we could do". It would also be a good opportunity to showcase the performance and reliability of the Sherco 4.5i enduro machine. So, thanks to the enthusiasm and support of several people and companies, the program came together for us. However, I never expected the conditions to be as brutal as they turned out to be with the dust and deteriorated trail conditions. Still it was very satisfying, not only finish this extreme event, but to finish with a respectable placing.

As this event continues to grow every year, I am amazed at how much effort the Perry Mountain MC Club put into making it safe and enjoyable for all. With almost 600 riders and all the friends, family and support personnel as well as spectators on the property - it is a crowded place. However, the facilities are set up to handle it and the club even put in a new playground beside the creek to give the kids (my daughter Hannah spent a lot of time there!) a place to meet new friends and play while the parents are racing motorcycles. The trail is marked with reflective arrows so it is easy to follow when riding with lights at night. There are groups of club members assigned to each 3-mile section of trail to ride sweep constantly to maintain makings and help stranded or injured riders if needed. Transponders are used for scoring, so "real time" results are displayed on a big screen monitor at the club house for everyone can keep up with their team's progress.

We knew it was going to be an interesting event when one of the club members commented at the rider's meeting that they like to do something special each year to make for a memorable event -- and that this year's running would be the "first desert race east of the Mississippi". I think he got that right!! Special thanks go out to our sponsors: Sherco USA, Ryan Young Products, Summers Racing Components, Tire Balls, Tucker Rocky Distributing, Maxima Oils, Galfer Brakes, Renthal, Dunlop, and Cyclops (helmet lights).