I’ve always loved trail riding. I love the laid back, or sometimes strenuous, climbs to get to that rewarding downhill. I love having to earn the fast, technical single track descent, or the whoops and hollers with friends as we race down the hillside. To me, trail riding is not about fitness or training, but instead it’s about having fun and enjoying riding, something that can be easy to lose touch of in the midst of racing.

Watch out for 15-year old Scout Clark – one of East Coast’s most talented young female riders.
Watch out for 15-year old Scout Clark – one of East Coast’s most talented young female riders.

Two years ago, when I was 13, I became interested in competitive mountain biking, but with so many disciplines to choose from, I thought I’d try my hand at a few to see what I favored. Cross-country racing was the first format of racing I competed in, and I actually really enjoyed it. At around the same time, I had a friend that started to participate in downhill races. He convinced me to take a trip up to Beech Mountain in NC, and after a day of riding the bike park, I was hooked. Throughout the summer, I began to ride downhill more often. It played to my strengths and love of technical trails. By the end of summer, I had a downhill bike and received an offer to ride for Grom Racing, a youth gravity team based on the East Coast. Thrilled at the prospect of riding for a team, I began looking forward to the next season of racing, with no thoughts of cross country racing in my mind. During that first summer of racing, I competed in two enduros, both of which I had a blast at. The endurance and fitness factor mixed with having to read new trail and pick lines played to my strengths as well.

Scout Clark is the only girl among boys at Grom Racing, a youth gravity team based on the East Coast.
Scout Clark is the only girl among boys at GROM Racing, a youth gravity team based on the East Coast.

In the following year (2014), I focused primarily on downhill, attending races across the East Coast with my new team. Overall, it was a successful season and I improved a lot. While I enjoyed going to races, I found that I became increasingly stressed out and nervous, to the point where I could hardly stomach breakfast on race day. I missed just riding for fun.

Scout sending the infamous Cupcake road gap at Snowshoe Bike Park.
Scout sending the infamous 18ft wide Cupcake road gap at Snowshoe Bike Park.

This year, at 15, I decided I would try to compete in more enduros because I missed that kind of format. I’m still attending downhill races too, and thanks to coaching from former pro, Geritt Beytagh, along with my dad and friends, I’ve been less stressed out and able to enjoy racing more. In my struggle to deal with the nerves that come with racing, I’ve found that one of the reasons I like enduros so much is because I’m not nearly as stressed out before them as I am with downhill races. Enduros, unlike downhill, aren’t a “one and done” kind of race. One mistake won’t cost you the race (usually). If one stage doesn’t suit your strengths, maybe another stage will. After my first enduro this year, I realized how much I enjoyed the format, and I made it a goal to compete in more just to see how I’d fair, which led me to the Snowshoe Epic Enduro.

Scout at Bryce Bike Park: After a day of riding the bike park, I was hooked.
Scout at Bryce Bike Park: After a day of riding the bike park, I was hooked.

The Snowshoe Epic Enduro

Two days. Eight stages. 38 miles. Over 9000 feet of descent. I knew the race was going to be heinous, and that was before the bad weather rolled in. After seven hours in the car, my dad and I rolled into the Snowshoe village in the middle of a deluge. Rain came down in sheets, making it hard to even see, not to mention difficult to unload the bikes and luggage. As soon as we settled in, my teammate Phillip Steele’s parents returned from dinner (Phillip was passed out on the couch when my dad and I arrived), so we all caught up while the thunderstorm raged outside. Since Phillip had ridden these trails before, he gave me some insight as to what to expect the following day. The trails sounded fun from Phil’s descriptions, but with the weather forecast predicting rain, I had mixed feelings of excitement and hesitancy.

Snowshoe Enduro Riders Meeting: The trails sounded fun, but with the weather forecast predicting rain, I had mixed feelings of excitement and hesitancy.
Snowshoe Enduro Riders Meeting: The trails sounded fun, but with the weather forecast predicting rain, I had mixed feelings of excitement and hesitancy.

The next morning (race day), Phillip and I ate breakfast, stuffed our packs, and hurried down to the bike shop to grab our bikes. Phillip rode his Stumpjumper and I had my Enduro. With the conditions expected to be wet and muddy, I asked the mechanics to place 2 mud guards on my bike while Phil had his drivetrain converted to a 1×11. Once the bikes were ready, we rode down to the village for a quick riders’ meeting and then we hit the trails.

Race Day No.1

By the time I reached the first stage, my neon jersey was brown, my rain jacket was no longer waterproof, and my shoes oozed water whenever I took a step. All that to say, the conditions were less than ideal. 30 minutes passed while a friend and I waited to get to the front of the line; Phillip had reached the first stage quickly and had already started. Having ridden stage 1 previously, racing it in muddy conditions was much like meeting an old friend. I could remember bits and pieces of the trail, but most of it I didn’t recognize. Since there were 8 stages in total, I decided I’ll give you the highlights of the first and second days’ racing.

East Coast gnar: Scout shredding the 2014 Massanutten Yee Ha DH race.
East Coast gnar: Scout shredding the 2014 Massanutten Yee Ha DH race.

Stage 1: First stages never seem to go well for me, maybe due to the nerves that go along with the start of a race or the fact that I’d been sitting in the rain and 50 degree weather for over half an hour before I reached the starting line. Either way, I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike and I ended up crashing once and running off the trail twice. Great way to start the weekend, right? The first stage didn’t go so well for my teammate Phillip, either, when he found himself swimming in one of the “stream crossings”. Stream crossing is in quotations because after all the rain, the stream was more like a river with class 3 whitewater rapids. Exciting racing, yes. Safe racing, not entirely. I’m just glad Phillip didn’t get washed away. This first stage ended up being both of our’s slowest stage of the weekend. I wonder why…

Having ridden stage 1 previously, racing it in muddy conditions was much like meeting an old friend.
Having ridden stage 1 previously, racing it in muddy conditions was much like meeting an old friend.

Stage 2: Nothing too exciting other than a brief encounter with a tree.

Stage 3: Getting to the start of stage 3 required a decent pedal up a mix of gravel roads and old logging roads, the latter of which quickly turned to riverbeds in the persistent rain. But riding upstream is fun, right? After what seemed like hours, I reached the start. On my way down, I quickly realized why the trails were named “Point of No Return” and “Headset Adjustment”. Both of those names are 100% accurate in my opinion.

Stage 4: I was familiar with the trails used for stage 4, so I was able to make up lost time. This was probably my favorite stage on Saturday because after racing technical trails all day, I didn’t mind flying down a jump line.

Scout at Snowshoe Opening Weekend 2015: most of the trails at West Virginia’s famous bike park she knows like the back of her hand.
Scout at Snowshoe Opening Weekend 2015: she knows most of the trails at West Virginia’s famous bike park like the back of her hand.

With the first day of racing finished, I was sitting in 6th in the pro women’s class. Even though I wasn’t thrilled with this result, I knew I could make up time on Sunday if I calmed down and rode like my normal self. After recapping our day and discussing tomorrow’s stage, Philip and I went to sleep early so we could have a good night’s rest before the busy day ahead.

Race Day No. 2

The next morning, as soon as I stepped outside I regretted signing up for this race. Howling wind, persistent rain, and temperatures in the 40’s didn’t exactly make for ideal weather conditions. At 8:30, the racers all gathered at the start of stage 5 and tried to keep warm as people went off one by one. After standing in line for a few minutes, I noticed white stuff accumulating on the tops of the trees. I looked up and sure enough, it was snowing. In the middle of July. What the heck, Mother Nature! Little did I know the extreme weather conditions would be the least of my worries that day.

What the heck, Mother Nature! Snowshoe Enduro Day 2, at the start of stage seven.
What the heck, Mother Nature! Snowshoe Enduro Day 2, at the start of stage seven.

Stage 5: Just a muddy flow trail that didn’t have much flow. Plus, I couldn’t feel my hands after standing at the top of the mountain in the wind and snow, waiting to start.

Stage 6: I’m not a huge fan of climbs, but after riding the lift up from stage 5 in the freezing rain, I was more than happy to warm up on the pedal to stage 6. This might’ve been my favorite stage of the weekend with its technical descents and endless rock gardens.

Stage 7: I thought this was the most difficult stage because the trail was off camber 90% of the time, and with 3 inches of mud, staying upright was nearly impossible.

Snowshoe is located in a temperate rain forest – torrential downpours and nasty trail conditions are part of the game.
Snowshoe is located in a temperate rain forest – torrential downpours and nasty trail conditions are part of the game.

Stage 8: The much anticipated final stage – a run down Upper Hairball and Pro DH, two infamous downhill trails at Snowshoe. Thankfully, since I compete in gravity races at Snowshoe, I knew these trails like the back of my hand. I rolled up to the start gate and put on a full face helmet as I waited to give the guy in front of me a decent gap. I took off from the gate, and sure enough, after about three minutes I caught the guy in front of me. We were approaching a bridge I normally gap, but since I had slowed down behind this guy, I misjudged my speed as I went to jump the bridge and pass the racer. Just as I’m about to clear the creek, my back wheel smashed into the bank and I went flying over the bars (at least I think that’s what happened – it’s all kind of a blur).

Thumbs up! “I rolled up to the start gate and put on a full face helmet as I waited to give the guy in front of me a decent gap.”
Thumbs up! “I rolled up to the start gate and put on a full face helmet as I waited to give the guy in front of me a decent gap.”

It took me a minute to get back up, and as I hopped back on my bike, I noticed the handlebars were badly bent. Whoops. At this point, I didn’t have anything to lose, so I sped on down the trail and caught the guy again, successfully passing him this time. I reached the bottom of the stage, hopped on the lift, and headed back up the mountain. As far as I could tell, I wasn’t hurt from the crash. It wasn’t until I was hosing myself and my bike off in the village that my dad noticed a bad cut on my calf. With mud covering everything, we were worried about getting it properly cleaned, so I quickly went back to the hotel room, rinsed off, and headed to the medic center on the mountain.

Snowshoe Enduro Women's podium. Scout 2nd from left in 4th overall.
Snowshoe Enduro Women’s podium. Scout 2nd from left in 4th overall.

After just a quick glance at my leg, the medic told my dad and me that I would need stitches soon. Great, I thought. A visit to the sketchy local hospital is just what we needed to start our 7-hour drive home. With my leg sufficiently bandaged for the time being, we decided to stay for awards. When I glanced at the results sheet for the first time, I thought something was wrong. I had moved up to 4th place even with that bad crash! Had I not decided to gap that bridge, who knows how I would’ve ended up… And how much better my leg would look without the big scar…

“Riding is about more than just riding; it’s about the experience.”
“Riding is about more than just riding; it’s about the experience.”

All in all, I’d say the weekend was successful, despite the extreme weather and six stitches in my leg. In the midst of all that chaos, I was reminded of two important life lessons: 1.) you don’t need everything to go perfectly to have a good time, and 2.) riding is about more than just riding; it’s about the experience. And the Snowshoe Enduro was one to remember.

For further info on Scout’s team and sponsors head to: GROM Racing | Snowshoe Bike Park | Hawley USA | Industry Nine | Smith Optics | Gamut USA | Wicked Wash Cleaner

Words: Scout Clark Photos: Calhoun Clark, Ian McAlexander (ITM Exposures), Steve Barker (IconMedia), Paul Busa


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