1. Riding Off Course



We all occasionally miss an arrow, blow a corner, or fly through some yellow tape. If you haven’t ever done any of these, well… you’re just not trying hard enough! When this does happen, you need to reenter the course at the point you went off, or at the very least as close to it as possible and practical. If you don’t, and the situation creates an unfair advantage, you risk being disqualified. If done intentionally, you most certainly will be disqualified.

While this is a published rule to ensure a fair and level playing field, staying on the course is absolutely critical, and is in fact non-negotiable when riding on private property. There is no “gray area” here; this is a black and white – period.



Clubs spend an enormous amount of time and effort knocking on the doors of dozens of landowners, introducing them to our sport, explaining how we would like access to their land, building a relationship, and gaining their trust. Landowners are not paid huge sums of money for the use of their land. They do it because they see it as noble gesture, and a way to help out a sport most of them know nothing about. In exchange, clubs promise that our riders will respect their land, and the boundaries of the course provided - for a single Sunday afternoon ONLY.

If we have riders riding off-course, whether intentional or not, whether it’s ten bikes or only one, the result is the same – We’ve broken that trust, and damaged the relationship clubs worked so hard to build.

​

Most (if not all) of the enduros in our series would not be possible without the use of private land and the generosity of landowners. All it takes is a few riders to piss off a landowner, and it’s game over for hundreds of other riders, riders who did everything they were asked to do. Take a few key landowners out of the mix, and suddenly we no longer have an event. Thousands of man-hours and years of work can disappear in a matter of a few minutes by the actions of just a few riders.