The 2025 National Enduro Series might be over, and it now has a new name (AMA American National Enduro Championship), but here in Texas, we’re still racing! TSCEC and Black Jack co-sanctioned the Red River Dirt Riders Enduro outside of Callisburg, TX as the penultimate round of 2025. The RRDRs laid out 60 race miles that tested our speed, stamina, and tight singletrack skills, truly keeping endurance in enduro.
The RRDR Enduro included four test sections, each repeated twice. There were minor tweaks to the earlier sections, but they were roughly the same throughout the day. With an 8am key time and 60 race miles across all eight sections, I knew we were in for a long, tough day. The layout of the enduro had us come back to the pits after each section, giving us the chance to stop by our vehicles for hydration, nutrition, and rest.
I normally wear my USWE hydration bladder and my Leatt over-the-jersey chest protector during enduros. Due to the pit situation, I wore my under-the-jersey Leatt protector and kept all hydration and nutrition ready for consumption at the moto van. It’s wild how strange this setup feels when I first get on the bike, since I’m so used to the weight and feel of my usual USWE/Leatt combo.
New GasGas Shrouds and BikeGraphix Install
If you’ve been following along during this year of enduro racing, you know the GasGas EX350F has been put through all manner of interesting situations. The radiator/shroud setup on the GasGas lends itself to easy breakage from the simplest of tip-overs, and we all know I don’t just simply tip over. Due to this, I installed Bullet Proof Designs Shroud Straps with my new white shrouds (since the red ones were backordered), and so far they’re holding up well.
Knowing I was going to have to adapt to the white shrouds, and it was clearly time for some updated graphics, I asked BikeGraphix to reorganize the current Seat Time graphics for this new color scheme and layout. I think they killed the design, and the look of the white breaking up the red is a strong visual for the Seat Time brand.
If you’re looking for dirt bike graphics, reach out to BikeGraphix and get a Seat Time logo added. It’ll look cool, and easily add +5 to your speed stats.
8am Enduro Key Time
As mentioned above, the key time for the RRDR Enduro was 8am. I say this is early because at the Nationals, and a lot of local enduros, key time has been pushed back to 9am. This allows the sun to rise, riders to travel in from hotels, and just allows for a tad more relaxed morning. I’ve become a fan of sleeping in on race weekends.
The 8am key time here was because we were going to have a long day on the bike. 60 race miles when you’re wiggling through the tight Texas singletrack keeps you moving forward at a slightly slower pace. With the early start and end of Daylight Savings Time, the sun stayed low, beaming straight through my goggles and right into my half-awake retinas.
The other interesting environmental concern for this race was the lack of rain, bringing the possibility of rough conditions and hanging dust. When Colson Kovar (A Open) and I started catching lappers about half-way through the first test section, it was a kaleidoscope effect of sunbeams that instantly brought our trail speed down a notch. The hanging dust at the Leadbelt National this year was the worst dust conditions I had ever seen, but these were a close second. The dust itself wasn’t horrible, but the sunbeams slicing through certainly caused me to rethink sending it blind.
Fueling Strategy for Endurance
At the beginning of the race recap video I discuss how I planned to hydrate and consume calories for the long day racing. After the race, I posted to instagram an entire breakdown of what, and how, I consumed the ~2,200 calories on the day I leveraged for enduro energy. Consider anything I share about nutrition as tools, not hard-and-fast rules. No one person should copy exactly what another rider is doing, unless you’ve tested it for yourself before race weekend. Race weekend is not the time to be learning what works, what doesn’t, or what might cause diarrhea.
After bonking in test six at the Gobbler Getter National Enduro, I decided it was time to step up carb intake even more. For this race, I relied on the SiS Beta Fuel gels as my main source of carbs, while supplementing between them with my UCAN Energy Gels. The SiS gels have 40g of carbs, while the UCAN gels have 20g. These gels, along with LMNT, Water, rice, mandarine oranges, Neutonic Focus, and Podium’s Beta-Alanine kept me more energized and focused than I expected on the dusty and hot day.
Here is a breakdown of the macro and micro nutrients from the day, including pre-race breakfast. This instagram post has more details on the day. If you want to understand more about nutrition, this enduro nutrition post is a good place to start. If you want to understand more about electrolytes for a long day on the bike, this is where you should start.
Looking Ahead, or Not Riding the Front Fender
I thought “Not riding the front fender” was an interesting way to say to look ahead. I had some thoughts at the end of the video about how I was looking through the turns, instead of looking at the turns. A commenter mentioned the line above, when I hadn’t heard it phrased that way before.
I like having another way to discuss looking ahead with riders because not everyone makes the same connections when trying to solve a problem. Some riders are more visual, and need to see the issue on video. While other riders need to find different phrases or slogans that help them understand the concept being discussed so they address it next time on the bike.
In this case, I stopped seeing turns as obstacles and started viewing them as tools to help me get where I needed to be. A direct example to this would be a left hand turn that has a sandy rut right down the middle. If we focus on the rut, we’re going to begin to slow down, because we’re thinking about how the rut could cause us to crash. What we need to be doing is focusing on where the turn is pointed, and how the rut is capable of catching us to help us carry speed through the turn. By looking further ahead, as mentioned above, we look beyond the rut and the direction we’re headed. This allows us to gauge the speed needed to enter the turn in a manner that carries more speed through the exit of the turn.
I believe this shift in the way I was looking at the trail, and how it could help me move forward, was why I saw my times get faster as the day wore on. We’ll see if I can keep making progress when we hit Barnwell Mountain in a few weeks.
Test 7 Full Section POV Video
2026 Seat Time and Beyond
I am working on the Two Stroke vs Four Stroke video, as well as a full recap of the 2025 National Enduro Extravaganza. I currently won’t be able to afford to do the Nationals again next year, as this year brought in less youtube revenue than expected. If you would like to continue to see Seat Time content in 2026, supporting the content creation on Substack, or purchasing through Amazon links, is very helpful. As well, if anyone would like to work with me on performance mindset coaching for their 2026 racing endeavors, please reach out.
I’m considering bringing the Seat Time Podcast back for 2026, but I’ll need support to make it happen. $5/Month on Substack from 20-40 supporters can be helpful hosting fees and technology needs.
Thanks for reading and being here for the good times. Enjoy #GettingSeattime & Stay #Stoked!
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