FINKE I CAN! Finke Desert Race for Rookies

THIS FEATURE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN ADB ISSUE #441 – JUNE 2016
WORDS: STEPHEN TUFF – PHOTOS: MITCH LEES

Sure, Finke might have a certain mystique but the truth is only 19 riders have won it in 40 years and hundreds have failed to finish. It’s bloody hard work.

The simple reason why I’m back in is that I want to live. I figure at 41 I’m practically one foot in the ground. Racing dirtbikes is the only thing that gives me the ultimate thrill, challenge and sense of accomplishment. So stuff sitting on the sidelines for another year, I’m back in. Blisters and all.

ROOKIE MISTAKES

I raced my first Finke in 1999 on a Honda XR400R. I hadn’t the slightest clue of what to expect and it was a steep learning curve for a young bloke from the east coast who thought he could hold his own in the bush. Let me tell you, the bush is different from the desert.
That said, the red Finke dust found its way into my veins and I clocked up seven starts for seven finishes until I scared myself enough to give it away after 2010. I’ve been back every year since and enjoyed some riding on the track but certainly not racing.

BACK TO BASICS

Once I decided to race again I figured I should draw on the hard lessons I’d learned on that fearsome mongrel track. You need to be bike fit. Your legs and lower back will be smashed to a pulp, guaranteed.

Blisters will be your constant companion when you’re at your lowest. Bike setup is key to doing your best. Do your best in preparation so you can enjoy the ride. Don’t ride too fast or you’ll come unstuck.

Choose your weapon carefully. I’ve raced everything from a KTM 200EXC to an actual Finke-winning bombed-to-the eyeballs Honda CR500 and my best result came on a Honda CRF250X, when I placed 80th outright. Perhaps the biggest lesson is to not listen to anyone who hasn’t raced Finke.

GRIND AND GRIND SOME MORE

You’ll probably laugh at me, and plenty have, but I joined the local gym on New Year’s Day. I had a workout, sweated buckets then went to the pub. I managed to get three rides in for the month. A month later I still felt slow, uncoordinated and out of tune with the bike.

My fitness was definitely getting better and I was beginning to feel stronger. I hadn’t lost any weight but I didn’t take that important step to cut out the beer to shed some kilos. The biggest thing is bike time. It’s hard with heavy work commitments but I was trying.

I got to ride with Motul Pirelli Sherco Factory rider Justin Carafa a few times. He’s awesome fun because he always goes the extra moto, the extra mile, the extra lap. He just loves riding more than anyone. He’s fit as hell and his positive vibe rubs off.

DAY DREAM BELIEVER

I started thinking about Finke almost every day in February. The romance of the desert, the images of racing the track and the possibility of crossing the finish line had disappeared. My subconscious has been telling me to work harder, get training and go riding because it was going to hurt.

It’s going to be dusty, exhausting and painful. The fear has been driving me to prepare better. I’ve been there and I know it hurts. Even when I did well, it hurt like hell. I was exhausted for weeks. Why am I doing this again?

By late March my confidence wasn’t high. My good mate Jehi Willis raced his fair share of Finke Desert Races and he couldn’t believe it when I told him I was going back.
He said: “You’re a bloody idiot. Have you forgotten how much it hurts? Its six years since your last go, and now it’s going to hurt six times as much.”
Hardly inspiring stuff from a close mate who was fairly handy in his day.

COMMITTED COMMITMENT

I made sure I entered the race the very morning entries went live on www.finkedesertrace.com.au. Entries can fill fast and I didn’t want to back out.

With my entry confirmed there was no backing out. Time to ramp up the riding, training and mental game.

After submitting my preferred race number and my entry was confirmed a strange thing happened. My best mate and two-time Finke champion Rick Hall phoned me. Unbeknown to me, Rick had also entered.

Being of similar age I knew we’d be in the same class but, bugger me dead, I didn’t know we’d selected race numbers that would have us lining up next to each other. Rick phoned me and said: “Guess who you’re lining up against for the prologue? Me!”

All I could do was laugh and so did he. Not because of apprehension on my part or sinister reasons on his. It was just a weird coincidence and, truth be told, I was stoked to line up against the legend. It’ll be a short race to the first corner because I won’t even see his dust after that.

GETTING FIT

I’ve been riding almost every weekend but it’s all trailriding or occasionally on a motocross track. It’s just not possible to practice in desert conditions when you live near the beach. I’m definitely fitter but I’m not feeling any faster. I’m still too conservative and not pushing my luck. Maybe that’s old age? Maybe I’m smarter than I used to be?
My training consists of gym work. I run 4km or cycle to start every session then I mix it up with some weights, concentrating on legs and back mostly. Some days I box-on with my mate. I’ve been on the rowing machine and I hate that thing. Every Finke legend tells me a rowing machine is the go. But shit I hate it.

All was going well until I suffered a lower back injury in mid-March. What pissed me off most was I didn’t even know how I did it. It took two weeks to get over that and I felt like I needed to start all over again.

My diet is still shit. My food intake isn’t too bad thanks to my wife being a gun in the kitchen. We eat a lot of greens with lean meats but I’m enjoying beer a bit too much. Okay, a lot. It’s just so beautiful. The scales haven’t moved. Maybe they’ve seized? Maybe I’m kidding myself?

With 80 sleeps to go I decided I needed some professional help. Matt Parkinson is a gun personal trainer who raced enduro at pro level and raced Finke so he knows his stuff. He’s also worked with Daniel Milner.

I booked a session with Matt and took Sherco’s Carafa and Jai Wedlock with me. It was punishing. I went dizzy a few times and thought I might spew but I got through it. I was sore for three days. It hurt. A lot. It also proved I needed to work harder on my training and was the kick into gear I needed.

I’ve got some riding coming up with Sam Davie in the weeks leading up to my departure for Alice Springs. Sam is a gun. He had his first crack at Finke last year and came home in ninth, which is a mighty fine effort. We’ll be tackling this year’s race together so I’m hoping he can instil some speed, confidence and skill into my feeble body and mind. Time will tell. Here’s hoping I have a good story to tell after I cross the finish line. Until then…

CAMP AND FUEL ESSENTIALS

For the overnight camp at Finke I’ll need my swag which will be packed with some clothes and shoes. I’ll need a clean air filter, selection of spare parts, tools, a spare tyre, food, drinks, toilet paper, something to cook on and anything else I’ll need to survive. I’m relying on mates to man the two fuel stops and the overnight camp at Finke.

Finke Check List

1: I’ve decided to ride a Sherco 300SEF-R this year (2016). I think it’ll be a good mix of power and agility, which should make it a lot of fun. To get it desert ready this is what I’m planning to do with it.
2: Tyres. You need solid tyres for Finke so I’ll be running Pirelli Scorpion XC Mid-Hards front and rear with ultra-heavy duty tubes.
3: I have soft office worker pussy hands, so I’ll be fitting the softest handgrips I can find. I thought about roadbike foam ’grips but my hands are too small to grip them, leaving me with arm pump.
4: Gearing is crucial to getting your bike’s engine working in the meaty power when the going gets tough. I’m thinking 14/45 will do
the job.
5: The big guns burn through plenty of fuel but I reckon I might be right to run the standard tank, which holds 8.5 litres. I won’t be twisting the throttle too hard. I do need to test this theory and if I’m caught short I’ll opt for the 12-litre Sherco tank.
6: Steg Pegz are pretty much standard equipment for Finke. I’ve got some and I’ll be putting them to good use.
7: A steering damper is the essential item for the high-speed and rough terrain. Aussie brand MSC Moto makes excellent dampers and I’ve got one ready to go. The MSC crew know Finke and love it as much as me so they know what you need in a damper.
8: Keeping dust out of your bike’s engine can be a tough ask when you’re back in the pack like I will be, so I’ll be using Uni-Filter ProComp2 two-stage elements to stop the dust getting in.
9: One of the biggest and most effective mods you can make is suspension dialled in for the desert. The track is fast, rough, chopped-out, rocky, sandy and whopped-out. It’s a nightmare and a general suspension setup just doesn’t work on this track. Choose someone who knows what they’re doing.