Greetings,
I wanted to send a brief note about our great trip to Finland for the ISDE. Greg and Krista Gillian (fellow Utah ISDE members) both are super nice people, I am sure they have their own story as well.
This year ISDE was very different from last year. I guess everybody was expecting a tough race from the Finns and it definitely was. I think the reason was they were a little too concerned about the race not being hard enough, so they made it harder and on top of that it rained the first 5 days of the race. Also a very unusual situation was Day 1 and Day 2 were the toughest days of the race. Typically it is Day 3 or 4 that are the toughest.
I was using the 2012 KTM 500 XC-W. Bike was excellent. New fuel injection and frame, especially, makes the bike really nice. KTM is back! I guess I don't have to use my old KTM 2007 again since this is definitely an improvement. Frame is really good on off-road, but you can ride it like a motorcross bike as well. You can keep it on top of the bumps easy, but it still has a little bit of flex for a smooth ride. This 500 motor is perfect for Utah riding and it was scary fast. Not the best bike selection in Finland due to the rocky, muddy, and technical trails, but it would be a good fit here.
Physically I was ready, but I had big problems with my shoulders and hands. We were sleeping on a boat during the race, and I think I got a little cold from that, so it probably wasn't the greatest idea in hindsight. No complaining, this is racing!
Day 5 I hit the bike in a way that it knocked the chain slider out of the swing arm. Chain got tangled around the front sprocket. I got a 56 minute penalty due to that, but was still in the race. I felt bad on that because since up to that point, our team was the fastest US club team with Jeff Ferdette, Dennis Decker.
Trip was very nice, full of family entertainment. Race was held in an area where big battles were fought during the Finland - Russian war in 1939-1940. Over 2 million Russians were killed in that war, and small Finland managed to keep their independence - which I am still very proud of.
Next year the ISDE will be in Germany, which will be a nice race. I have been racing in those hills before. 23 years ago I was part of the Finnish Junior Team when we won the race. This would be a good race to close the cycle for me. Happy riding for all of you and stay safe. See you at the races next year.
Jake Vainio, Park City Utah
I wanted to send a brief note about our great trip to Finland for the ISDE. Greg and Krista Gillian (fellow Utah ISDE members) both are super nice people, I am sure they have their own story as well.
This year ISDE was very different from last year. I guess everybody was expecting a tough race from the Finns and it definitely was. I think the reason was they were a little too concerned about the race not being hard enough, so they made it harder and on top of that it rained the first 5 days of the race. Also a very unusual situation was Day 1 and Day 2 were the toughest days of the race. Typically it is Day 3 or 4 that are the toughest.
I was using the 2012 KTM 500 XC-W. Bike was excellent. New fuel injection and frame, especially, makes the bike really nice. KTM is back! I guess I don't have to use my old KTM 2007 again since this is definitely an improvement. Frame is really good on off-road, but you can ride it like a motorcross bike as well. You can keep it on top of the bumps easy, but it still has a little bit of flex for a smooth ride. This 500 motor is perfect for Utah riding and it was scary fast. Not the best bike selection in Finland due to the rocky, muddy, and technical trails, but it would be a good fit here.
Physically I was ready, but I had big problems with my shoulders and hands. We were sleeping on a boat during the race, and I think I got a little cold from that, so it probably wasn't the greatest idea in hindsight. No complaining, this is racing!
Day 5 I hit the bike in a way that it knocked the chain slider out of the swing arm. Chain got tangled around the front sprocket. I got a 56 minute penalty due to that, but was still in the race. I felt bad on that because since up to that point, our team was the fastest US club team with Jeff Ferdette, Dennis Decker.
Trip was very nice, full of family entertainment. Race was held in an area where big battles were fought during the Finland - Russian war in 1939-1940. Over 2 million Russians were killed in that war, and small Finland managed to keep their independence - which I am still very proud of.
Next year the ISDE will be in Germany, which will be a nice race. I have been racing in those hills before. 23 years ago I was part of the Finnish Junior Team when we won the race. This would be a good race to close the cycle for me. Happy riding for all of you and stay safe. See you at the races next year.
Jake Vainio, Park City Utah
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