On Saturday, October 17, adventure riders rolled onto the AMA’s Campus for the Adventure X Time Trials, a race against the clock on a loop of modest jumps, trails, hills and creek crossings. The course rewarded nerve and finesse in equal measure, and after plenty of rain, it demanded both.
The woods were slick, tight and unforgiving. Somewhere out there, Lightning Weppler took an unscheduled bath. “It was refreshing,” he said afterward, grinning. “It woke me right up from my little nap.”
That’s the spirit of the Adventure X Time Trials. Middle Weight class winner Scott Hayes summed up the day in four words: “Slippery, but fun.” His strategy for hauling a 375-pound adventure bike through it was just as plain: “Four pounds of air in the rear, maybe six in the front,” then stay in the middle and keep it in the ruts.
When the timing sheets were tallied, James Holter took the top step in the Light Weight class, with Lightning Weppler second and Nate Primm third.
The course itself has grown up alongside the event. This event was the third running of it on the AMA campus, and this year it’s been widened and softened a little more for big bikes. This year’s loop was built with help from AMA Motocross Manager Willy Browning, whom the course designer called “the epitome of ‘other duties as assigned.’”
Ask the riders why they keep coming back and the answer isn’t about the clock. Nate Primm, back for his third year and living just five miles from campus, put it this way: “Just the camaraderie with riders and enjoying the good time.”
RESULTS:
Light Weight Class
1st Place: James Holter
2nd Place: Lightning Weppler
3rd Place: Nate Primm
Middle Weight Class
1st Place: Scott Hayes