On The Pegs January 2020 - Volume 5 - Issue 1 | Page 97

On The Pegs
BENJAMIN HERRERA
VOL. 5 ISSUE 1 - JANUARY 2020
97
got a hole in my radiator hose. So a couple nice guys
helped me get back on track and finish third. So it
was a long six hours. I was cramping unbelievably. I
just couldn’t even sit anymore. Happy to finish third,
though.”
Fourth went to veteran Hard Enduro rider Cory
Graffunder on the SRT Husqvarna.
Cory described the hectic first lap when several of
the top riders got lost.
“Yeah. I was in second, and then eighth, and then
third, and then seventh… Just all over the place,” said
Graffunder. “That part was really fun. I was having a
really good time, even though it was frustrating get-
ting lost. It was cool to be in a race and also have fun,
because at that point in the race it really didn’t mat-
ter. Everyone’s learning the track. So the race hasn’t
really started yet. Manni got away, but other than
that no one else was able to get away. So it was really
cool. We were yelling at the other riders and throw-
ing our hands up in the air like, “Where’s the course?”
Then someone would see it and take off and then
we’d all take off. So I had a lot of fun there.”
Sherco USA’s Nick Fahringer rounded out the top
five. The Indiana rider got to the start late and was
back in the rear of the pack on the first lap.
“It was just a chaotic start to begin with,” said Fah-
ringer. “I was way back in the pack so I got pretty
aggressive on the grass track getting into the woods.
I think I went from tenth to third. I don’t know. We
were just kind of training together, riding in a tight
group the top three, five, whatever it was. We diced
it up a little. I knew we had to pace ourselves and try
to find the course because the markings left a little
to be desired. I wasn’t comfortable racing on the
first lap because I didn’t know where we were going.
Then I started riding stronger and stronger.
“I had a few little incidents here on the course.