As you saw on the home page as well as other pages on this site, a big change has been announced! We are now a part of the AMA Extreme Championship series for the East coast! That is a huge deal and a big honor to be a part of in only our second year of operation. We are really excited to have the BEST hard enduro riders in the country and world in Iowa (of all places!). To view more of the East and West coast rounds, check out their website by clicking the image below:
Right now, there are a lot of things happening in the background that only other organizers, promoters, and volunteers will know the time/effort takes to make happen. This is all done while we wait for the snow to melt off so we can get out to the trail and start marking GPS coordinates so we can make a well informed map just as we did in 2020. That said, we have a ‘few’ ideas being developed that will make this year a good step ahead of last year in a number of ways.
This post is really meant to tell you, prospective riders & spectators, what you can expect in the way of changes since we are now part of a large series.
Registration – To make things clean and organized, all of the AMA extreme championship races that are a part of the East and West rounds will be hosted under the same umbrella within LiveLaps. This means all points will be tracked within LiveLaps as well. If you ride more than one round in the series, it will make your life MUCH easier to register and track points. Each race will have pre-registration go live ~60 days in advance of the event. As we get closer to that date (March 3rd) we’ll also keep you informed here as well as on our social media platforms
- ** NOTE ** For the Iowan Hard Enduro, we want to ensure racing remains competitive so we are limiting riders to 200. We had 120 register last year with all the COVID-19 shenanigan’s so be on top of it when registration goes live!
- ** NOTE ** As we will be AMA, you MUST have a valid AMA card. If you do not have an AMA card, use the following link to obtain one or renew your past one.
Scoring System – Remember that little headache last year, while we corrected a few oddities? I sure do! Well this year the AMA is using LiveLaps’ RFID system. This is the same system that the NEPG uses for their national events, where they can have upwards of 900 riders. It will definitely do the trick! If you already have a LiveLaps RFID sticker on your helmet, bring it with so you do not have to purchase a replacement!
Number Plates / Starting – Last year we had enduro plates made for each rider. These indicated what row you would be starting on. With the AMA, you have the option of purchasing official numbers plates for the series (more info coming soon).
As noted in the race details, the top 10 riders from last year will get the front two rows. The third and fourth rows will be designated for the top 7 riders overall and the top 3 women riders in the points. After these riders sign up, they will be manually moved to these positions for the hot lap. Riders outside of these positions will be input to their designated rows based on when they signed up. At the scoring trailer, you will see your designated row for the hot lap.
After the hot lap, we go into the same format as last year. That is, your start row is determined by your placement in the prior race. IE, if you placed 6th overall in the hot lap, you will have the first choice on row 2 for race 2.
The final starting positions is the same as race 2. IE, your finish position in race 2 determines your start row for the final. ONLY the top 30 from race 2 qualify for the final.
Placement Determination – All class positions are determined by race 2 except for the Men’s Pro class. For this class, we are utilizing moto scoring. Last year, we found that riders just wanted to ‘get through’ the hot lap and race 1 cleanly and save their energy for the final. We want race 2 and 3 to mean more. For that reason we are using moto scoring for this class.
Race Difficulty – We’ve gotten some questions on race difficulty since we’re part of the AMA series now. My intention is not to make the hardest race in the country. Could we make a race where no one finishes? Sure, but that’s rather silly. The hard part of scaling this type of race is to create something that is both fun for your casual rider that has to go to work on Monday, but also challenging enough to create separation and some struggle for the pros. You can’t ostracize your amateur riders as they are the ones making it possible.
For this reason we created the three phases we currently have today.
- –Race 1 (hot lap) is like your more technical Midwestern hare scramble. We have a couple small things added in to ensure it favors the technical rider over the pure speed rider.
- –Race 2 (Pro Moto 1 / Amateur Final) follows the same overall trail layout, but adds in some real hard enduro obstacles. There is a mid-way checkpoint in this race as well as race 3 as some riders may not be able to make it a lap. It will challenge you both mentally and physically to their near limits. If this is your first hard enduro, change your mentality going into it. The rider next to you may be your new best friend as you help one another get through. The goal in this race is 2 laps within a 2hr hard cut off time.
- -Race 3 (Pro Moto 2) takes the top 30 riders from race 2. If you are an amateur and qualify within the top 30, I would highly recommend you race this still so you can test your capabilities next to some of the best riders there are. No other type of race allows this. Race 3 includes ALL extreme sections. Will it be harder than last year’s final? Yes.
Stay tuned as the snow melts and we get to laying awesome trail for you to experience in less than 100 days!
The Iowan Hard Enduro 