As I walked with Alex , Mark , and Lewie Bolopue down to the start line , the tension was obvious . Alex had signed up for the Pro class , meaning he was part of the first qualifier . With some experience racing flat track in his younger days , Alex wasn ’ t new to multi-rider starts , but it had been a few years since he was banging bars with his competitors .
Nervous energy waiting on the line turned into nervous energy off the start before rationale kicked in . After getting the holeshot coming around the first turn , Alex realized he didn ’ t want to be the first to go into the woods .
“ The holeshot in hard enduro is not that important , I came to find out ,” said Alex . “ There were a lot of really fast guys on my line , so I just tried to get my best jump . I ended up getting off pretty quick , and as soon as I was approaching the woods , I realized I didn ’ t want to be first into the woods . I took a wide line and allowed two guys to sneak in front of me ; I think it was Ryder LeBlond and Jackson Davis . From that point , I was right in line with them . Then Pat [ Smage ] snuck up because he was on my row , too . We were all clumped together for quite a while . It made me feel a little more comfortable not going in first because you ’ re in the front of the tube of toothpaste , you know ? You ’ ve got to move [ laughs ].”
VOL . 7 ISSUE 8- AUGUST 2022 // PAGE 77