The format for the TKO is pretty simple and really cool….in every race you need to qualify for the next race…if you took too long or finished below the cutoff line as far as the result goes your were knocked out – Tennessee Knock Out.
Saturday morning, knock out race number 1: The course was about 13 miles long, 2 laps, 2 hour cut off and the top 70 would move on. 5 guys started on a row, enduro style, dead engine start. The terrain was awesome….a great mixture of rocks, rock gardens, wicked climbs, and flowy trail. I had a decent start and felt pretty comfortable right away, but at about mile 2 I tagged a tree with my handlebars and took a nasty digger. My bike fell down a ravine and I hit the dirt face first. It was a hard crash…my helmet mouth piece snapped off, my visor broke, and my knee hurt big time. I picked my bike up and rode it out of the ravine when I smelled burning oil. I looked down and saw oil gushing out of the motor…I had put a big hole in the bottom of the case. Unreal…we just drove 18 hours and my race might be over after less than 2 miles. I rode the bike very carefully to see if I could find a way out to get back to the truck, when I saw dad at the bottom of a really gnarly downhill. He looked at the case and said we need to cut out, the bike won’t survive this…back to the truck. You have no idea how disappointed I was, I just could not believe it. By the time we got there dad had figured out a plan and started digging around in his tool box. He pulled out a stick of quick setting epoxy and said: I’ll fix it, you’ll go find oil. We might be able to get you back out there.
On my way back out the last thing I heard was dad shouting something along the lines of “don’t worry about the bike, ride it until it won’t roll anymore”. Uhmmm…ok.
I rode the wheels off that thing…I knew what I had to do and I was having way too much fun to have this day end early. I think I passed something like 60 guys on the 1st lap and kept moving forward. At the end it all worked out, I finished in 28th place or so, which meant I made it to round 2. I was pumped, that was probably one of the better fights I had put up in a long time.
At this time our cabin neighbors from Texas got involved and helped out. This was awesome….these guys were so helpful, I don’t know if dad and I would have been able to complete the bike work in time without them.
One hour later it was time for round 2: This time it was a 1 lap 1 hour race and they would take the top 35 into the next day. They also added a few more “skill sections” to the course to challenge us a little more. All I could hope for was that the JB weld job would hold long enough for me to make it through this awesome race…I had one of my best laps of the weekend. I found a great rhythm, things flowed, and I was having a blast. I finished in 2nd place and made it into the Sunday show as one of the top amateurs.
Yeeeeaaaahhhh!!! As my Texas friends would say.
Time for bike work…new tires, oil change, coolant flush, sprockets, etc….then the amateur awards and then off to dinner to Las Margaritas, the only restaurant in town…their chicken fajitas were the bomb! Thanks for the treat Mark Koch!!!!
Sunday – hot lap time. This was a short 1 lap time trial to determine the starting position for the next knock out race. Again, they added some more skill sections to make it more challenging. Right after the start we had to race through the “play ground” which I rode pretty smoothly (enduro cross section), no major mistakes, and then we set off into the woods to finish the lap and race for a good starting spot.
I turned in the 22nd fastest time…I was happy…this put me with the pros. Back to the truck where dad discovered that the weld had let go and I lost a lot of oil…good thing this was a short race! We (Mark Weeks and the Texas crew) went back to work to fix the hole again when Mark Koch came ripping up the hill on a bicycle with his fist pumping…”I got you a new clutch cover kid!!!”
That man has the gift! …he convinced another Texan to take his cover off his bike and let me run it…if I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now: Yeeeeaaaaahhhh!!!
I was back in business.
On to the 1st knock out race on Sunday…top 25 get to move on. I felt good and seemed to have a decent ride going to about mile 3 when I noticed that I had a flat front tire. Here we go again, more “opportunities” for me to prove my resilience. Dad and I had discussed this….if I had a flat, there was no time to change it…ride it until the wheel won’t move anymore, and then carry it push it, drag it. So I did. I rode this wicked gnarly course on a front flat and made it to the finish, but I didn’t expect to qualify as I could not really push. I came through the finish in 23rd or so, but there were quite a few fast guys still coming in and I figured they would ultimately beat me. Dad watched scoring while I went back to the truck where the Texas boys went to work on the bike. They changed the front wheel, threw in new brake pads and just made sure all was good on the bike. At that time dad came running up the hill fist pumping and telling me that I made it…finished 25th, and that we need to get the bike ready…too late dad…already done. Relax.
I tried to work out any muscle pains during the short break, re-hydrate, stretch, get something to eat and get ready for the next knock out race…wait…what? I made it into the top 25??? Whoah…I was going to line up with off-road royalty? Who cares that I had been racing for about 6 hours in a day and a half. This was way more than I expected. I rolled to the line, I was on row 5 with Mike Brown, Kyle Redmond, and Wild Wally Palmer. How much better can it get?
Race time: I was a little bit intimidated and didn’t get a good start, and then promptly proceeded to crash in the rock garden, relegating me to the back of my row. That was probably a good thing because now the pressure was off and I was able to get back to just riding and having fun. I actually started to reel these guys in and as we got to the waterfall (I think they also call it the Brownie Hole) I was within a few feet of Kyle. Unfortunately that’s where my lack of trials skills started to show…while these guys were able to maneuver their bikes up this crazy climb within 10 minutes or so, I ended up fighting this climb for a total of 45 minutes. I don’t know how many times I tried, I don’t know how many times I picked my bike up, but I kept pushing. This was a no help zone, so neither the course marshals nor dad or spectators could offer any help other than encouragement and water.
Speaking of the course marshals…these guys were awesome. They talked me through, pointed out lines, and basically gave me a free trials lesson. The spectators kept cheering for me, none of them left, they watched me give it everything I had and sort of “willed” me up there. I’ll never forget that feeling. After 45 minutes I conquered the water fall and rode on to the next few obstacles before my time expired and they pretty much pulled me off the course. I was pumped. I did what I set out to do and then some, and in the process discovered what I want to do with my racing career…hard enduro racing is where it’s at for me. I know what I need to work on, my zaps and splatters need to be refined :) and I need to buy more JB Weld. I met some of the coolest people in Tennessee, the enduro cross pros and their sponsors are awesome and super helpful, Texas guys rock, Seat Time is run by a cool cat that races quite fast, and New England is a great training ground to prepare for an event like this.
There are a lot of thank you’ s needed….I could not have done this without the help of soooooo many people:
I rode the wheels off that thing…I knew what I had to do and I was having way too much fun to have this day end early. I think I passed something like 60 guys on the 1st lap and kept moving forward. At the end it all worked out, I finished in 28th place or so, which meant I made it to round 2. I was pumped, that was probably one of the better fights I had put up in a long time.
At this time our cabin neighbors from Texas got involved and helped out. This was awesome….these guys were so helpful, I don’t know if dad and I would have been able to complete the bike work in time without them.
Yeeeeaaaahhhh!!! As my Texas friends would say.
Time for bike work…new tires, oil change, coolant flush, sprockets, etc….then the amateur awards and then off to dinner to Las Margaritas, the only restaurant in town…their chicken fajitas were the bomb! Thanks for the treat Mark Koch!!!!
I turned in the 22nd fastest time…I was happy…this put me with the pros. Back to the truck where dad discovered that the weld had let go and I lost a lot of oil…good thing this was a short race! We (Mark Weeks and the Texas crew) went back to work to fix the hole again when Mark Koch came ripping up the hill on a bicycle with his fist pumping…”I got you a new clutch cover kid!!!”
That man has the gift! …he convinced another Texan to take his cover off his bike and let me run it…if I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now: Yeeeeaaaaahhhh!!!
I was back in business.
On to the 1st knock out race on Sunday…top 25 get to move on. I felt good and seemed to have a decent ride going to about mile 3 when I noticed that I had a flat front tire. Here we go again, more “opportunities” for me to prove my resilience. Dad and I had discussed this….if I had a flat, there was no time to change it…ride it until the wheel won’t move anymore, and then carry it push it, drag it. So I did. I rode this wicked gnarly course on a front flat and made it to the finish, but I didn’t expect to qualify as I could not really push. I came through the finish in 23rd or so, but there were quite a few fast guys still coming in and I figured they would ultimately beat me. Dad watched scoring while I went back to the truck where the Texas boys went to work on the bike. They changed the front wheel, threw in new brake pads and just made sure all was good on the bike. At that time dad came running up the hill fist pumping and telling me that I made it…finished 25th, and that we need to get the bike ready…too late dad…already done. Relax.
I tried to work out any muscle pains during the short break, re-hydrate, stretch, get something to eat and get ready for the next knock out race…wait…what? I made it into the top 25??? Whoah…I was going to line up with off-road royalty? Who cares that I had been racing for about 6 hours in a day and a half. This was way more than I expected. I rolled to the line, I was on row 5 with Mike Brown, Kyle Redmond, and Wild Wally Palmer. How much better can it get?
There are a lot of thank you’ s needed….I could not have done this without the help of soooooo many people:
The Texas Crew - Mark Koch, Mark Weeks, Steve Collier, Chuck Longhenry,Rick Nowlan, Eric Middough, Brian Pierce from Seat Time
My awesome sponsors: Mike Tosch from Kenda Tires, Craig Thompson from SRT, Fly Racing, Magical Gogo, STS Motorsports, EKS Brand Goggles, CCycle Suspension, FAHQ MC, Carbon Zero Fuels, Tube Saddle, Offroad Papparazzi, The Colin Krenzul Memorial Fund, Brendon Sheehan from Zero Fitness, and of course my mom and dad, my sister, and my grand parents.
And if you are still reading...take a few more seconds and share my blog...it really helps, and my sponsors like the exposure.
Thank you Thank you Thank you,
Hunter "747"Neuwirth
