6 minute read
ALLIGATOR ENDURO RACE REPORT
by Ed Tobin
The Alligator is back! The Daytona Dirt Riders (DDR) recently welcomed over 340 racers to the Strickland Ranch in Central Florida for the 69 th running of the Alligator Enduro which was co-sponsored by Florida Trail Riders and Southeast Trail Riders.
Advertisement
Congratulations to Zach Hayes who joins a long list of Alligator Enduro winners dating back to 1949, a list that includes some of the most famous names in American off-road racing including Randy Hawkins with 4 wins, John Penton with seven wins, and Mike Lafferty with an impressive fourteen Alligator wins.
Long a March destination for woods racers tired of the winter cold and snow that plague the Midwest and New England this time of year, the Alligator Enduro returned in 2021 on its traditional date, the Thursday of Daytona Bike Week, as a sprint enduro.
The club made a concerted effort to get the word out about the Alligator returning to Bike Week by contacting major motorcycling news outlets and racing organizations across the East Coast and Midwest. The GNCC organization was very helpful and published the Alligator flyer on their website. The result was that riders from across the Eastern U.S. journeyed to Central Florida to challenge the sand. mud and palmettos that Florida enduros are known for.
Lucas Martin and Jared Borgew drove down with four friends from Massachusetts. Lucas wrote:
“We traveled from Swansea, MA to enjoy some of the Florida riding and decided to give the enduro a try while we’re here. Known about the Alligator Enduro for years, never made it to Florida to ride but glad we did make it. Great piece of property and awesome event. Thank you to all involved with putting it on.”
Lucas finished 5th in Vet B and Jared took 2nd in Vet C.
Attendance at the event was helped by being sandwiched between two rounds of the GNCC, the first in Palatka, FL which is only about 40 miles from the Alligator. While the majority of riders were from Florida, 23 other states and one territory were represented. Several riders commented that it was great to have a mid-week event to ride as they took the entire week off to vacation in Florida. None of the comments, of course, came from their wives who presumably would have preferred to vacation at a theme park in Orlandoor a beach in Daytona to a cow pasture in Favoretta.
In preparation for the event, club members spent months manicuring the trails so as to provide the riders with a memorable experience. Under the watchful eye of trail boss Randy Griffin, the test sections came together to challenge all skill levels while having safety built in.
Because the area had experienced a relatively dry January and February (uncommon for the Alligator Enduro), Randy knew the course would most likely be fast and dusty and took steps to limit speeds. As a result, the club had no serious injuries to respond to.
Zack Hayes took the overall win at the Alligator Enduro
While DDR are known for their well-marked courses, they elevated it a notch by having FTR enduro riders Tony Livingston and Scott Gawler Sr. and Jr., all of whom chose to work for points, critique the markings by riding the course at speed and adjusting arrows to prevent blown turns.
Hoping to make the event attractive to not only enduro riders but also motocross and hare scrambles riders, the club chose not to use many of the tighter, more technical (i.e. palmetto root) trails that are a staple of the Alligator National Enduro that the club holds periodically.
This year’s sprint enduro format consisted of a loop with three tests. Test 1 was envisioned as a fast, flowing section with a few trees thrown in to remind the riders that this was an enduro. Test 2 challenged the riders with tighter trees, some palmettos and a little sandy mud to remind them they were in Florida.
The third test, a mostly grass track course with a few short woods sections to tie the fields together, ran through the pastures surrounding the start area to provide 5 miles of twists and turns and an opportunity to ‘air it out’. Most A and B riders made three circuits around the loop for a total of nine tests and approximately 55 miles of trails while C Riders and beginners finished at the end of the second loop.
For the lucky A and B riders who got to ride the third loop, Randy wove in several virgin trails on the first test of the loop to remind them of the national enduro heritage of the Alligator and to give these faster guys a little extra challenge.
Overall Alligator Sprint Enduro winner Zack Hayes, who won the 2020 GNCC XC3 title, set the pace right from the start by winning the first test by 11 seconds over Garrett Edmisten, a past Alligator Enduro champion. Zack went on to win five more tests and placed second in the other three. Garrett won two tests, and placed third in four other tests. Rounding out the podium was AA rider Nick Kordana who placed second in three tests.
Zack, commented “I really like the course and the format. The first test was pretty open like a GNCC. My favorite test was the second test. I liked the tight trees and the rooty, muddy trails. The third test was also great. It flowed good and I liked the little bits of woods between the fields. You need to keep that design. Could have used a little more ribbon but I like how you didn’t cram so many turns into the fields like some other races. I also like your sprint enduro format. Didn’t have to sit around and wait a long time in between tests.” Amber Trapnell took home the win in the Women’s class
In the Women’s class there was a good battle between first place Amber Trapnell and second place Holly Langford. Amber, on 14D had a “lot of fun”. She won two of the six tests and took second in the other four while Holly bested Amber in four of the six tests. Test 5 proved to be the deciding factor with Holly dropping 163 more points than Amber.
Holly commented “This was my first enduro I have ever done. In Test 5 I made a lot of mistakes and fell quite a few times, the track was rough by the time I got to the test because I was on row 74. I used to race hare scrambles and not training or racing for two years took a toll on my strength and endurance that I had forgotten about. I enjoyed getting back out there and the club members were extremely helpful at the checkpoints in letting me know what to do next and where to go. Thank you guys for an awesome first enduro! ”
DDR, FTR and SETRA want to thank all of the competitors that showed up to the 69th Alligator Enduro!
DDR ALLIGATOR SPRINT ENDURO TOP 30
