WORCS COMES TO TOWN
Sean Reddish and the WORCS crew came to Southern California earlier this week to work on the next race in the series. I got together with them under the pretense on helping them set up a race course, but I really just wanted to go riding with Sean. He’s actually an accomplished former Pro racer himself, and from what I’ve seen, he still has a little fire for riding.
First he took me through some of the pro sections we was considering for the event this weekend. I know every inch of Glen Helen and the surrounding area because, for almost 10 years, I have designed courses for the six-, 12- and 24-hour races held there. Sean went straight to one of the most challenging trails in the area. To be honest, I don’t even know how he found it so quickly. I call it the David Knight trail because of a photo shoot I did there a few years ago, and it’s never been used for a race. I consider it one of my private reserve trails, but it was everything I could do to just stay with Sean.
‘I still don’t know,’ he said when we got to the end. ‘There’s a lot of stuff in there that can tear off radiators and stuff.’ I took him to some other, easier trails that he could use as an alternative, but the problem was that he would have to run the course along a mile or two of junk to get there. He really wants the course to be tough for the pros and doesn’t want mileage for the sake of mileage. The bottom line is that pros had better come prepared for real off-road stuff. There will also be some Glen Helen iconic features, like the bridge, Mount Saint Helens and a particularly nasty EnduroCross section with an enormous mud hole.
How has WORCS been standing up to the economy? ‘Pretty well,’ reports Sean. ‘Turnouts have been steady. Racers have to race in order to be racers, but they don’t necessarily have to do it on a new bike.’ He says that next year’s program will have a number on concessions to the times. He’ll try to reduce travel and time required to attend, and he plans on expanding into motocross. There are still unresolved issues with the Hare Scrambles series, where he has run into unexpected controversy. One way or the other, WORCS racing still has a very good looking future, making it one of the more inspiring success stories of recent years.
First he took me through some of the pro sections we was considering for the event this weekend. I know every inch of Glen Helen and the surrounding area because, for almost 10 years, I have designed courses for the six-, 12- and 24-hour races held there. Sean went straight to one of the most challenging trails in the area. To be honest, I don’t even know how he found it so quickly. I call it the David Knight trail because of a photo shoot I did there a few years ago, and it’s never been used for a race. I consider it one of my private reserve trails, but it was everything I could do to just stay with Sean.
‘I still don’t know,’ he said when we got to the end. ‘There’s a lot of stuff in there that can tear off radiators and stuff.’ I took him to some other, easier trails that he could use as an alternative, but the problem was that he would have to run the course along a mile or two of junk to get there. He really wants the course to be tough for the pros and doesn’t want mileage for the sake of mileage. The bottom line is that pros had better come prepared for real off-road stuff. There will also be some Glen Helen iconic features, like the bridge, Mount Saint Helens and a particularly nasty EnduroCross section with an enormous mud hole.
How has WORCS been standing up to the economy? ‘Pretty well,’ reports Sean. ‘Turnouts have been steady. Racers have to race in order to be racers, but they don’t necessarily have to do it on a new bike.’ He says that next year’s program will have a number on concessions to the times. He’ll try to reduce travel and time required to attend, and he plans on expanding into motocross. There are still unresolved issues with the Hare Scrambles series, where he has run into unexpected controversy. One way or the other, WORCS racing still has a very good looking future, making it one of the more inspiring success stories of recent years.
Sean Reddish prepares for the Glen Helen WORCS race.
The WORCS guys are all good riders who take a lot of pride in putting together a good race course.
Ian, a Glen Helen regular, poses proudly on the EnduroCross section he helped build.
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