Round three of the National Enduro Series is the Red Line Oil Black Buffalo Enduro in Kingston, Arkansas. The Wilderness Rider Buffalo Ranch has some of the best views and technical single track. For the 2024 version of this event we had a ton of rain coming into race week. The rain continued to come down throughout the weekend, creating one of the muddiest race I have ever raced in (almost as bad a 2022 Shady Burro).

Did you keep your goggles on?

Waking up to extremely dense fog on race morning was very interesting. It gave a weird ominous feeling throughout the property. If you hadn’t started your mud preparation by that point, you shifted into high gear. It was going to be a long day on a dirt bike in the backwoods of Arkansas.

Though the terrain is very similar on the property, due to the rain, each test had its own feel and vibe. Some tests had amazing dirt and really slick rocks. Some tests were a stream of water pouring down the trail, or up, and you just did your best to follow the flow of water. It all evolved a lot throughout the day.

Goggles were a precious commodity that were hard to hold on to. I actually kept a pair of goggles through the first two tests, but I lost them in test 3. After that, we were goggles off for the rest of the day! It wasn’t the smartest decision, but there just wasn’t anyway to keep the water from getting behind the rolloff strip. For those wondering, I was running Scott Fury’s and their Roll-Off System.

Test 6 was CRAZY fun, but also a little dangerous! I did catch a few bottle necks that slowed me down, but considering my front brake pads were metal on metal, I also wasn’t pushing it. When I came up on the raging river creek crossing, a bike was dumped over, one rider was crossing and another was waiting to cross. So I sat there for a few waiting my turn. The downhill into the creek was steep, with slick roots off-shooting every direction but down. Once down, it was time to pull up my pants and get her done. Luckily I made it across and up the next hill climb. WHAT A DAY! Some dudes were pissed. 

I finished 69th overall & 7th in the A 40+ class. 5th-7th in our class were seconds apart, which I thought was awesome. We each had a test that was ‘worse’ than our fellow competitors. Few riders had ideal rides. Enjoy #GettingSeattime & Stay #Stoked! 🤘🏻🤙🏻⚡️