words by BLAKE TERRY - AMERICAN HARD ENDURO photos courtesy of JOSH BOLLING & GREG NOLF
The Second Round of the SEER Hard Enduro Series took place in Young Harris , Georgia at the Rockcrusher Farm . The weather was absolutely perfect for the 4-hour day of racing and 161 riders lined up from 17 different states .
I found myself on the second row in the Silver 35 + class with 18 other classmates . A punctual on-time start sent the Gold class off the line at 10 AM and promptly one minute later we were heading into the 4.5- mile course starting in the pit area with an exceptionally well-designed Endurocross section . The features were technical but wide enough for multiple line options and side-byside racing . We quickly went into the woods and onto the freshly cut , extremely tight , off-camber single track . With over 1000ft of vertical elevation to the property we climbed and dropped several zones allowing for the race order to sort itself out before the first trail split dividing the
Gold / Silver riders from the Bronze / Iron class at what was referred to as Hill 10 .
Upon arrival at hill 10 , the Gold class was still working their way through the loose rocky ravine , requiring multiple riders to immediately realize that some teamwork would be the only way to clear out of the first special test . As several of the Silver riders from the 16-34 class had now joined our row the first 15 of the silver class riders were watching the mid and last of the Gold class riders and preparing to team up with their fellow classmates to work our way up the now deteriorating section . A spring was hiding under the rocky valley and with each Gold Class rider through produced more mud on the roots and rock faces . By the time I and the early Silver class riders were finally attempting the most technical section of this hill the race promoter Adam McCluskey and a few other course workers had
VOL . 7 ISSUE 6 - JUNE 2022 // PAGE 171