I survived my first enduro!   I have to start out by saying thanks to everyone for helping me survive my first enduro (the GatorBait).  I learned a healthy amount over the weekend, and still have plenty to digest till my next enduro (the sidewinder).  I know, I know, the long course for my first enduro? Now if I was to be after the points, certainly the C class would have a better choice, but I wanted to know what an enduro event was all about and that included the long course. I wanted to know straight away what I'm headed for. Now if I had been one that would be discouraged easily .... but I was pretty convinced that I'm really an enduro rider at heart, and now after the first event I know I am! I also know what things I need to train for, and what bike and rider mods to make for next time. A few things happened, that really didn't go according to plan, but if it hadn't, I'd never have seen and/or understood till many races later. more on that later. Things I discovered and learned along the way: first: goggles and tearoffs/roll offs. Right off the bat, my tearoffs gave me problems so I ditched them all ASAP.  Guess I had too many which caused bad vis.  Then soon after I took a tumble in the mud, so my goggles became totally useless and I stuck them in (somehow) on my handlebars.  At the gas check I was relieved to still seem them there so I was able to clean them up and use them the rest of the ride.  I wasn't real fond of littering my tearoffs where ever I did, so I'm going to try rolloffs instead next time.  Also keeping a spare set of goggles on the bike might not be a bad idea.  I saw one guy not wear goggles at all, but clear safety/riding glasses, hummm......... and if I used them as my spare, wouldn't take up much room on the bike (or on me). second:  rollchart / computer I'm going to totally forget about the computer until I can actually go through the entire course well using a rollchart.  And for the next few races, I'm not even going to worry about the rollcharts.  I never ever looked down to see the chart anyway! Third:  Get a Camelback! I ran out of fuel for my body, plain and simple.  I didn't carry any water and I only kept some at my gas check.  Also having a few powerbars here and there would be a good thing to have on person.  I was so drained/hungry , that for the drive home I constantly ate and munched for the entire 5 1/2 hours! forth: Don't follow the person in front of you!  Or at least keep checking for the signs anyway cause they might be more confused than you are!  Fortunately I didn't get too far off course and( I think) made it back directly on course. fifth: Bike armor! My flatland skid plate and more importantly the rad guards were very important bike protection. Someone on the forum said something to the effect of " don't enter till you have hand guards", and that was very wise advice indeed! sixth: for my number plate I used clear contact paper, stencils and a thick sharpie pen. I put another layer of clear contact paper over the first to protect the ink. With everything I went through, it survived perfectly. And can be removed easily enough to put the next race's numbers in it's place. seventh: I had my forks start to bleed oil with all the sand, so I'll need fork protection of some sort. Shock Socks, Seal Savers, Moose, or something similar ... that should help keep the sand away from my fork seals. It's a plan anyway. 8th: Most everything the experienced enduro rider's have to say (about enduro racing anyway) is wise advise, and enduro tested tough! 9th: lower my suspension! It was just too tall, and for most riding tall is ok with me, I found that while I could catch the bike from falling over, by the time I got a foot to the ground, the bike was already at an angle that gave it momentum to keep falling. Also there was no way for me to push the bike back up from being so low, so I had to lower the bike all the way to the ground, get completely off the bike, then lift the bike up completely from the ground level, jump back on, .... and all this extra effort really takes it toll after awhile, especially the last ten miles or so of the long course! The short course I finished still wanting more, and if for only this one aspect, I would have finished the long course. 10th: The Happy Button! Worth every extra added pound! I stalled in some pretty ugly places, and it was just a button push to moving again! Also, toward the end of the long course, I took a rest here and there and actually shut the bike down, but I may not have done this resting if I knew I had to kickstart my bike every time! 11th: Tools. I rode without them but, ........ just in case, I should keep something with me, but this is going to take some research and trial and error to find out what is necessary and what works the best. I remember an old honda wrench that had all kinds of stuff on it, all combined in one tool. That was cool, and way before the leatherman tools came out! Maybe I can find something similar? 12th: Tires. I ran without a spare, and without anything special in my tubes. Thinking back about where I was, ...... scary! Don't want to do that again! Better come up with a plan here ...... What didn't go according to plan but was indeed a blessing in disguise. Somehow I got off course and There I was going the wrong direction! (along with a few others that caught up behind me).  Well I turned around and aligned my direction with the arrows and took off again.  Because of this I had missed a few check points and was well ahead of the fast guys.  I made sure that I gave them plenty of room to pass.  I even stopped and waited till I thought the pack had gone by. ( I did this a bunch of times) At the time I hadn't understood what had happened.  I thought that maybe I was getting lapped and this was not at all a good layout for a course.  At the gas check I was chatting with one of the (very quick) women racers and she explained as that had happened to a few others as well.  Because of this I actually beat my fellow riders on my row to the gas stop, and they know I started out behind them, so I bet they were scratching their heads as they continued on past me!  How did dennis pass us?  Now this is the part, where if this didn't happen, I don't know when I would have seen this, but the fast guys are fast!  You have to actually see this to believe this, cause I thought I was moving along ok.  I now have something to shoot for!  This is one of the things I was looking out for, but if I hadn't gone off course .... who knows when I would have actually discovered this down the road! .... and fast guys, I tried my best to stay out of your way, cause I know you were racing and I really had no business being in your way. It was purely a mistake! Thanks on the trail: You enduro guys (and gals) are the greatest. A very friendly bunch of folk, willing to help out however you can. I sure do really appreciate it. But a special thanks goes out to the guy that helped me out on that huge sand bowl with the short hill climb through that deep sand! He helped me back down off the hill after my second attempt, and I'm really glad to have the helping hands!( I did make it up on the third try) When I researched for my current bike, the 03'WR250F, I wanted a good offroad dirt bike that I could make street legal so that I could also run in an area (the beach north of town) that had been closed off to quads and dirt bikes. The quads got so out of hand so much that the county park police had to make a rule which shut them down, which also closed me out as well. I really enjoy making the run up the beach through the sand to the Mansfield Cut and back but while I was in those endless rutted deep sand roads I was thinking I don't even want to see any more sand for quite awhile! As it turns out though, the next day I was already wanting to ride the beach, but now I have an even more of a reason to do this ride. Those deep sand sections really ate my lunch at the GatorBait Enduro, and while I don't consider not actually finishing the long course a defeat, it did strengthen my resolve to train and practice harder, specifically in deep sand! Fortunately I have a place to practice this and it's in my own backyard! Cool ........ Riding an Enduro I consider a rite of passage ...... there's lots of different kinds of riding to do on a motorcycle, but until you've done an enduro ........ well, at least you enduro guys (and gals) know what I'm talking about! Again, thank you all again for the greatest of support you all provided for this first timer. Without it, well, who knows how my first attempt at this would have been! See you all at the sidewinder!