2009 Shelton Valley Enduro

May 4, 11:06 PMPortland Motorcycle ExaminerBen Baucum

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An army of off-road racers yawned and stretched after an early morning commute to the fairgrounds in Shelton, WA. A light fog was a warm welcome for the majority who were expecting rain. The mist burned off by the time the race began exposing light gray clouds and creating perfect visibility. The Puget Sound Enduro Riders put together an epic course through the woods adjacent the Mason County Fairgrounds. The short course covered about 50 miles while the long loop stretched over 87.

The first few miles of trail passed over an unpleasant mix of small river rock whoops with kiddie pool size puddles. It was just enough to get your goggles steaming and moisten your boots. Socks soaked up the brown liquid and once cozy feet began the early stages of pruning. It also lowered the spirits of any newcomer who would believe that the majority of their day would be spent in those type of conditions.

After the brief presoak, the puddles vanished into the thick woods. The trail width decreased into beautiful single track that twisted around the mostly flat forest floor. Turns were tight and technical but the dirt was in good shape and free of any noteworthy ruts. The farther the race pushed into the woods the more impressive the course became. Participants were pampered with immaculately maintained paths.

Two strokes and small bore fours proved most useful and prevalent. High speed/steep hills were nonexistent making maneuverability a priority over power. Big bore four stroke pilots were scarce and rarely rewarded. They wrestled the extra cc's weight around turns for the better part of the day.

The short loop participants split from the long loop folks after the first gas stop and headed back toward the fairgrounds. The extended loop saw a lot more elevation change. With the climb came a few bottle neck situations. Tire choice may have been key there for trials tires seemed to have excellent traction everywhere on the course and were preferred by many.

As the race wore on fatigue could be seen in the faces of pilots who seemed to have experienced too much of a good thing. The trails still had great rhythm and character as they passed through immature to middle aged evergreens. Small chop and fresh ruts developed over time, increasing the degree of difficulty as the event came to an end.

Long loop rider Tim Harrell said, "This was one hell of an enduro. Awesome trails, good speed averages that didn't kill you but kept you riding, and well timed resets so you didn't spend a lot of time sitting around, but had plenty of opportunities to get back on time when you needed it. . . I was amazed at the amount of new trail the PSERs threw at us, and it was nice stuff, too. We really lucked out with course conditions; I expected it to be sloppy after the downpours (yes, plural) we had Saturday night at the fairgrounds, but there were only a few spots that were a little sloppy, and the rest was dreamland. Great assortment of soil types at Shelton, too, with everything from greasy clay to glacial till to sandy loam, and they seemed to keep us in a lot of that sandy loam. Sweet. They (PSER) always put on a great ride, and this year was a standout."

 
Successful breaching of a bottleneck.

One lucky rider enjoying flow of the Shelton single track.