great reports! keep them coming! What i love the most is your man Jake - how hes out there on basically a plane-jane looking KTM with no fancy sponsor stickers, and a just as generic looking jersy... and hes out there kicking ass! It just looks like hes out there on "my bike" ('04 450exc) and makes me dream of one day getting out there myself. keep up the good work!
As usual Mike, your posts are AMAZING...thanks for keep us all up to date and putting in all the work!! I can't get enough!!!
Great report, Mike. Your details make us feel as if we were there. I have ridden enduros many years ago but do not know the 6 day format. So, pardon the silly questions.... - Are the riders required to do 1 or more tire changes per day? Or is it as required? - You show a lot of closed course "special" areas. They appear to be almost like a motocross course. Are there big open course areas as well to build toward the "75" ish miles per day> Again, thanks for the reporting. I'll look you up back in SLC.
JAKE MILLER PRESS MANAGER jake@g2fmedia.com TEL +44 161 7636660 GSM +44 7787 564563 FRANCE POISED TO TAKE WORLD TROPHY ONCE AGAIN Friday saw the last full day of the 2010 FIM International Six Days Enduro, with the riders completing a new route that included a mixture of trails and special tests from all of the previous four days. This will be the final time that the competitors face traditional enduro challenges during the eighty-fifth edition of the FIM ISDE, as the final day will see all racers battling one another at a nearby motocross circuit. In the absence of any major problems, the leaders of each of the respective classes, both team and individual, will be hoping for a clear run to the finish in order to clinch their precious titles. Delivering what was arguably their most impressive team performance of the event so far France once again topped the Trophy Team competition, finishing one-and-a-half minutes ahead of Finland. With Johnny Aubert (KTM) topping the E2 class, as well as again posting the fastest overall individual performance, Antoine Meo (Husqvarna) claimed top honours in E1 while Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) won the E3 category. While Frances winning margin was a comfortable one, just twenty-four seconds separated Finland in second with third placed Italy. With only the final day motocross races remaining, and with Frances Trophy Team made up of a number of former motocross racers, the team sits a little over ten minutes ahead of Italy, who in turn are placed four minutes up on Finland. The USA holds fourth. Spain again delivered the goods in the Junior Trophy competition with all four Spanish youngsters performing strongly. Finishing one-minute ahead of Sweden, Spain are now odds on favourites to top the Junior Trophy class. At the end of a demanding day just five seconds separated runners up Sweden from third placed USA. Italy and France finished fourth and fifth respectively. Spain now holds a near six minute advantage over Sweden, and are well placed to deliver a repeat of their 2009 Junior Trophy class win. The USA sits third followed by France. Ten minutes separates the top four nations in the Junior Trophy division. Ludivine Puy was again the fastest individual female rider, ensuring France once again topped the Womens Cup. Finishing a massive forty-seven minutes clear of their closest rivals France now sit more than one-hour ahead in the overall Womens Cup rankings. At the end of day five it was the USA who placed second, separated from Sweden in third by just two minutes. France are followed by the USA and Sweden headed into the final day motocross races. France claimed a clean-sweep of the three capacity classes with Antoine Meo extending his lead at the head of the E1 class. Twelve seconds up on Finlands Eero Remes (KTM), Meo now sits thirty-six clear at the top of the class. With Team USA riders Kurt Caselli (KTM) and Mike Brown (KTM) finishing behind Meo and Remes on day five, an all European top three of Meo, Remes and Alex Salvini (Husqvarna) heads the E1 class with just the day six motocross races remaining. In the Enduro 2 class Johnny Aubert is placed close to five-and-a-half minutes ahead of his nearest challenger having topped day five by thirty-nine seconds. With Rodrig Thain (TM) and Juha Salminen (Husqvarna) battling it out for the runners-up spot, the two riders finished the day with a near identical time. With Thain securing the runner-up spot, Salminen finished third with Manuel Monni (Yamaha) fourth. Johnny Aubert heads into the final day with a commanding lead in the E2 class, but all is still to play for between Salminen, Oldrati and Monni. Christophe Nambotin claimed another E3 class win on day five, finishing eleven seconds ahead of countryman Seb Guillaume (Husqvarna). Italians Simone Albergoni (KTM) and Alessandro Botturi (Husaberg) placed third and fourth while Spains Oriol Mena (Husaberg) finished fifth. Guillaume leads Mena by thirty-three seconds in the overall E3 standings, with just five seconds separating Mena from Nambotin in third, ensuring an exciting final days racing at the eighty-fifth edition of the FIM International Six Days Enduro. For high-resolution copyright free images for editorial use only - please contact jake@g2fmedia.com for the appropriate FTP access details.
Harcus, good questions if you're not familiar with the ISDE. Riders are not required to change tires, but most do...at least one a day, and a lot of guys do both, but they have to do it all within a 15 minute timeframe or else they are penalized on their score. As for the special test areas, those are timed/scored tests. There are usually about 7-9 a day. The riders performance in those tests (cumulative time) is what accounts for their overall score. If they get route points by being late to checks, it's added to their score. Once they exit the test, they are then back on course, and ride trail and sometimes road in between transfer sections that link the test.
Day 5 of the ISDE. It's hard to believe. We all keep saying to each other that we can hardly believe that we're here at an International event, as a bunch of friends from Utah, supporting and cheering on our friends. It's all been very surreal but we've loved every minute of it. The mood in the pits today was very different. Early on in the week there was a lot of anxiety and anticipation. By Day 3-4, riders moods had shifted, bikes and bodies were wearing down, and the reality of 150 hard miles on the bike every day was setting in. But today everyone seemed a little more ready to go and excited at the prospect of finishing the 5th of 6 days. Dave Kamo finds a nice soft spot to take a nap this morning. Part of the Utah contingent (minus Jake and Pam) ready for Day 5! While waiting for the guys to get ready in the morning I had an opportunity to chat with Jeff Fredette again for quite a while. He was telling me stories of his experiences in the ISDE over the last 30 years. I asked him how this one compared. He admitted that the trail quality was comparable to those of more challenging ISDE's of the past, but he said the old ones were definitely tougher primarily because he said the times were tighter between check points. Considering how brutal this has been, it's hard to imagine how hard they were 20-30 years ago. Proof once again that he is an absolute IronMan to be finishing his 30th ISDE. He has never had a single DNF in 30 ISDE's...absolutely incredible! He also said he has only missed 3 years during that time (due to injuries). A lot of the US team's bikes and bodies are really banged up. Jordan Brandt was limping home from dinner last night and could hardly walk. Jeremy Ketchum took a spill off the bars yesterday and injured his wrist, but toughed it out today and stayed on his minute. Wally Palmer had a huge get off yesterday. He came into the pits before impound with his exhaust in his hand and had to swap out a subframe. When he got off his bike, he could barely even stand. He got most of his bike put back together and had to finish it up this morning before heading out again for the day. He was hurting so bad he had to stand on one leg, and then when he got on the stand to leave he couldn't get his bike started so he had to kick it with his left leg. I have no idea how he did it, but he rode the entire day and stayed on his minute, but when he got back to the pits he literally could barely even walk. Cory has been toughing it out all week with his hand. These guys are tough as nails! Here is Wally Palmer trying to swap out his subframe and exhaust during the 10 minute work period in the morning. This guys bike and body have taken a beating this week! Anybody buying this bike is definitely not getting a "clean, one owner" :) Wally could barely even push his bike to the start line. Here is Nolan Irwin, pushing his bike to the start line for Day 5. Nolan is a crack up and comes into the pits with a huge smile on his face everyday. Nicole and Ben Bradford from Colorado. Shawn had to swap out a pipe this morning. Good thing his bike is a rental :) Cory gets some last words of advice and a pep talk from Gunny Claypoole before leaving for Day 5. Cory flashes 5, ready to tackle what lays ahead of him for the day. This little guy was riding the smallest Husqvarna I have ever seen. All the Trophy Guys are still doing great and I haven't really seen any of them banged up. It's amazing they can ride that fast and that hard for that long and be so healthy. Today's course was different from days 1-4, but it used a lot of common course. The riders have all named the gnarly uphill sections from yesterday as the "Mexico Erzburg". Today, they went down those same hills and most of the riders seem to really enjoy today's course. However, when Kurt Caselli came in for his first pit after the first loop, he had considerably less time than he has had in the previous days. The next rider, Mike Brown, was a minute or two shorter, and by the time they got to Nick Fahringer, he only had about 1 minute. They were all saying something about getting lost, and losing time. As a result, we were thinking that by the time the club riders made it in, they were going to be behind schedule or not have enough time to really do any sort of pits. However, they must have found the right course because they all arrived on time. Cory, Shawn, and Jake all seemed to be in good spirits and we were encouraging them to just make it through the second half of the day. Shawn was hitting the wall a bit but he toughed it out for the second half of the day and as evidenced from the test scores, he and Cory and Jake were consistently within seconds of each other. It's weird how three guys from the same State could travel to another country and compete in an event of this caliber and end up with final scores almost right next to each other. The guys all made it through their second loop again without issue. When they came in it was awesome to think they have made it 5 of 6 days and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Cory was really feeling better today (Day 4 was his rough day) and his attitude and perspective seemed to be drastically different from yesterday. Today he had fun and was loving the course. When all the US Riders got back to the pits, it was almost like a small celebration. Although there is still one day left, everyone has been congratulating each other for making it this far and everyone seems much more relaxed and it seems that tomorrow is kind of a wind down. The format for tomorrow is about a 40 mile course out to a Motocross track. They will start the Club riders earlier in the day tomorrow and send the Trophy guys last, that way all the spectators will stick around to watch the Trophy Teams. They do their regular 10 minute impound work period tomorrow morning, head out on the course, and then they get another 15 minutes before their moto. After their moto, they have a final check and inspection and then that's it.....it's all over. I sure hope they can all get through it safely tomorrow. One other funny thing about tonight was the US pits turned into a huge garage sale. Everyone was taking their used tires over by the fence that separated spectators from the racers/pits. After a while a large crowd showed up and there was a lot of bartering going on for used tires, mousse bibs, and even gear. Jeremy Ketchum from Tennessee rolled into the pits and he had the local Mexicans offering to buy his gear before he was even off his bike and to impound. Lots of the locals were coming up to the riders asking for pictures and asking Shawn for his autograph. He didn't really know how to take this, but took it all in stride. Another fun thing that occurs is that teams and support riders and fans all like to trade and buy team jerseys and t-shirts. It's pretty much the same thing as buying and trading Olympic pins, but instead it is jerseys and T-shirts. If Shawn had brought a lot of the T-shirts that he had made up to help fund his trip, he could have sold a ton of them. The locals love it as well as all the other international teams. It's really been an incredibly fun environment and experiencing it for the first time has been awesome. I hope to maybe be a part of one again someday, but not sure that I could ever duplicate the unique environment and group that we've down here with the Utah contingent. Definitely an experience of a lifetime. I've got to hand it to Mexico. I didn't think they could pull this off, but it's been a successful event. View of the paddock and city from the third level of the mall. 　 　 　 　 　 　
DAY SIX - 2010 ISDE ORGANISERS CANCEL FINAL DAY The organising committee of the eighty-fifth FIM International Six Days Enduro has decided to cancel the final day of the competition, a decision that has been fully supported by the FIM Jury. No one involved in the event has been effected in anyway by the actions that occurred in the region overnight. These actions were in no way connected to the event and took place some considerable distance from the host city of Morelia. The decision has been taken to ensure the safety and security of all persons involved with the event and of the spectators due to watch the final motocross test. Results as of the end of day five, most of which were already clear and decisive, will now be declared as the final official results of the eighty-fifth edition of the FIM International Six Days Enduro. The prize giving ceremony will take place as originally planned this evening in the city of Morelia. this is a great report thanks for doing it!!!!!
From CNN "Elsewhere in Mexico on Friday, the arrest of two men believed to be part of the La Familia cartel in the Mexican state of Michoacan sparked violent clashes in the region, including the blockade of several roads with vehicles set on fire, Notimex reported. A string of shootings and other violent attacks were believed to be an attempt to rescue them from police custody, Notimex said. A number of passenger buses were riddled with bullets and set on fire, and two gasoline tankers were also set ablaze using molotov cocktails. A few homes and a convenience store were also targets of the attacks, according to Notimex. The arrests in Michoacan came a day after authorities in the United States announced the arrest of 46 members of the same cartel in Georgia as the result of an investigation that started in May 2009." John
PRESS RELEASE MORELIA, 06/11/10 FOR MORE INFORMATION: JAKE MILLER PRESS MANAGER jake@g2fmedia.com TEL +44 161 7636660 GSM +44 7787 564563 DAY SIX - FIM AND 2010 ISDE ORGANISER STATEMENTS FIM Sports Director - Ignacio Verneda and President of the 2010 ISDE Organising Committee - Luis Otero have now issued the following statements about the earlier decision to cancel the final day of the eighty-fifth edition of the FIM International Six Days Enduro. Ignacio Verneda stated: “Firstly I would like to congratulate the organising committee on delivering an excellent sporting event, which has reflected a good image of the discipline of enduro. After five days of such a good competition, I am happy with the decision that has been taken by the organising committee and the FIM Jury.” “This is 100% the correct decision, as in all cases the security and safety of everyone involved with the event is the most important consideration. Although the risk was only very minimal, we prefer not to take any risk at all. In all cases the decision has been well accepted by the riders, the teams and all those associated with the event.” Luis Otero stated: “The organising committee are extremely sad about this situation, as so far we have enjoyed a fantastic competition. From the start our philosophy was to have fun and for five days everyone has had incredible fun. However due to circumstances beyond our control we have now taken the difficult, but correct decision to cancel the final day.” “Everyone has seen the steps we have taken to safeguard the security of this magnificent event and in no way do we want to jeopardise the smiles that everyone have been wearing on their faces this week. Our main goal has been the security of the riders in the hills, but now the priority is for the authorities to provide security for all the people
What an awesome event. Thankyou for the great pictures & play by play commentary. I've been rooting for Wally Palmer since I met him at the Eastern Husky Rendezvous. It's a shame these druglord terrorist's cut the competition short. If you think about it, they are truly terrorist's. Kudo's to the organizers making sure participants & fans are safe, but it brings a sour taste, reminiscent of the last African Dakar.
Hey Mark, at least that means less work for you in the form of posting. Haha. Seeing ISDE 2010 through your eyes has been a real privilege. Thanks so much for all your hard work and reporting! Sorry to hear your first ISDE was cut short but at least the event wasn't directly affected by the cartels. Here's wishing you, your son, team USA, and the rest of the ISDE participants safe travels home.
Well that's a shame. As one who has been following your commentary and pictures and THOROUGHLY enjoying them, I want to say thanks. Thanks for you efforts in keeping us well informed, and thanks for helping our teams. Have a safe trip home.
Day 6, 2010 ISDE, Morelia Mexico Everyone woke today excited and ready for the final day of moto. After completing Day 5, everyone had a sense that it was almost over and Day 6 was going to be a culminating experience of moto in front of alot of fans. The sequence of riders was completely reversed for today. The C3 class (Open, Club riders), were to go first. All three of our Utah riders are in the C3 class and after 5 days of riding, they all ended up being on the same minute for departure. This was going to make for a great picture and we were all excited to see them off on their final day. What this also meant was that they would be the first to arrive at the motocross track, and would likely be the very first moto of the day and would be able to battle against each other on the track. We were all really looking forward to this. We first gathered for a final picture of Team Utah. Rich Black wasn't in the picture. He was off somewhere still trying to freeload some lasagna from the Finns or something :) (Rich has been a great help to Cory and around the pits, but if you know him, you know he deserves some crap). We then walked to the impound where it was a normal scene with everyone milling about getting ready for the day. All of a sudden we heard someone holler to gather round. It was just like someone calling a riders meeting before one of our local races. I thought it was odd, but everyone gathered and a man from the FIM stood up and began making an announcement. He wasn't speaking exceptionally loud and I don't think he quite had everyone's attention just yet, and I thought I heard him say something to the effect, that today "had been cancelled". I wasn't sure I heard him correctly, and then they conveyed the same message in multiple languages so it was hard to gather exactly what was going on. Then, another man stood and this time they really had everyone's attention, and he said the same thing, but this time he spelled it out in more detail. He said that yesterday there had been a confrontation between the local Police/Government and the "La Familia" drug cartel with them capturing or killing (not sure which one) one of the key ring leaders of the local cartel. The actual confrontation occurred about 200km from us. As a result, the police were all on heightened security and did not feel that they could offer the appropriate level of security to the riders and fans at the motocross venue. They also said that historically, when such confrontations occur that there is typically retaliation and the FIM and organizing committee felt that it was not worth the risk to have the final moto be a target for retaliation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omk8wVTEQdc When he said it, there were no moans or groans, but just an immediate acceptance from the riders and support crew members. It was all very surreal with everyone kind of looking at each other with that, "Did I really hear what I thought I just heard?" look. Of course, this then caused a flurry of discussions and activity in the pits with everyone trying to get the message out to their team members and riders. Many were already on their way to the track. Kara (Cory's wife) and Trish (Shawn's girlfriend) were already en route to the track to assist with setup of the US pits, and we had no way of getting a hold of them. They did eventually get the word and made it back to the pits safe. Once the news sunk in, there was a sense of disappointment because we were all really looking forward to the final moto, but of course we supported the decision completely. They communicated that all results were final as of Day 5. Jake, Shawn, and Cory would have to settle for this photo on the starting line for Day 6 rather than one on their bikes. We then worked our way back to the pits and started the long and laborious process of breaking down bikes, tents, and loading the U.S. container. This is a huge task and required the help of everyone. Michael Berenbak from the U.S. celebrates completion of the ISDE with a burn out on his Husky 125. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Gl7Xs2JTs The Italians topped it with their entire team doing a burn out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT9NzWfkGJU 　 Jeff Fredette completed his 30th ISDE and was presented with the U.S. Team banner with the signatures of all riders and support personnel. Cory washes his bike in preparation for all the breakdown and packing. As does Destry Abbott 　 After a while, tons of people started showing up and it turned into the biggest moto yard sale I've ever seen. There was a ton of jersey/t-shirt trading going on, but the big thing was selling of gear, used tires, parts, etc., to local fans and riders. Riders were literally selling the shirts right off their back. We had to watch our stuff very carefully because there were so many people walking around we were concerned it would get stolen. People were approaching us wanting everything. I sold some tires for Cory, and later Josh got right in the middle of it selling and bartering on some used tires with the locals on Cory's behalf. It was like a big Mexican Moto Swap Meet and was quite the scene. The Trophy Riders were right in the thick of it as well and the locals were going nuts for anything they could get their hands on.....gear, plastic, used tires, bibs, t-shirts, etc. I think some riders paid for their trip home practically with all the pesos they got during the sale. It was a lot of fun. Mike Brown gets in on the yard-sale action. Mexican Rental Cars love 2-stroke gas :) After all the work was done and we were sunburned, tired, and ready to go, we got dinner, came back to the hotel, and then decided what to do for the evening. There was a large party going on with an awards presentation and food, but we decided to forego it based on just wanting to play it safe. While the "garage sale" and clean up of the pits was occuring, we could see a lot of local police and security come in that weren't there on previous days. The view from the pits is up on a hill overlooking the entire city. We could see some fires burning and they were supposedly fires lit during the confrontations (gas tankers that were set on fire which closed down some main roads). However, if nobody had said anything, you wouldn't have really known anything was really going on. I'll be honest, I had never really been particularly concerned about security up to this point but today kind of put it all back into perspective of where we are and how quickly it can change. This has been the experience of a lifetime and I'm so proud of our riders. It is amazing to think that after 5 days of riding, they ended up having a cumulative time within a minute of one another and finished in direct sequence with one another. Jake 12th GOLD Shawn 13th SILVER Cory 14th SILVER They have done great, and we're looking forward to getting back to U.S. soil tomorrow. One other side note, Wally Palmer from the U.S. Club team was flown out early today. He went to the hospital last night and they determined that he did not need immediate surgery, but it was of significant enough concern that they flew him out today to receive consultation in the U.S. The rest of the team chipped in today and got his bike and gear all packed up and put in the container. He had a major contusion on his leg was in serious pain yesterday and they were concerned that blog clots could form in his leg and cause permanent damage. That kid is tough. 　 　 　 　 　 　 　
Thanks for taking the time to write all this up. Probably as close as I will ever get to attending. It was great. John
I was really hoping this would all come off without an incident... I am quite sad to hear that the last day was canceled due to the threat of violence. Thanks so much for taking the time to write and post those photos!
What is most surprising is that the narcotrafficantes allowed the first 5 days to happen! They are the real rulers of Mexico.It's too bad as the people of Mexico are really wonderfully friendly in the interior. The FIM should have known better than to endanger the competitors/crews/spectators by trying to run it there.
