Kawelo Huddy led his Kauai Racing Develoment (KRD) teammates for a Pro podium sweep of the Ultimate Hawaiian Hard Enduro this Saturday where Cody Webb struggled in the “Hawaiian mud ice”.

Hosted by the Garden Island Motorcycle Club, the inaugural Ultimate Hawaiian Hard Enduro on the island of Kauai was not an official round of the US Hard Enduro Series, but an exhibition round (non-points scoring) and the first event of the week-long IRC Endurofest-Hawaii, Presented by Pasha.

The Ultimate Hawaiian Hard Enduro consisted of two different loops that had splits for three categories, from the Pros to the B classes. This section of Kauai is a stone’s throw away from one of the wettest spots on earth, so the amount of growth and slick dirt are hard to fathom for most riders who aren’t from the islands.

The races started off with an endurocross track, and then went off into the mountains for the first loop which Webb led comfortably.

After refuelling, about an hour into the race, they headed back into the mountains and that comfortable lead slipped away dramatically for Webb as they hit the climbs of “Hawaiian Ice” (incredibly slick mud). Mixing that Hawaiian Ice with the steep volcanic ridges, wet lava rocks, and endless roots was a perfect recipe for a very tough afternoon.

There were several hill climbs that took many tries to get over, losing valuable time and energy for some but not Huddy who “tried to clean every hill first time”, passed Webb and didn’t look back.

Guest and Kamakana who train in the terrain a coupe of times a week, were battling and helping each other, gaining ground and eventually overtook Webb.

At the finish Huddy clocked in on three hours, winning the class and a full 49 minutes ahead of Ryder Guest second with Kamakana third and Webb a surprise fourth, an hour and 13 minutes behind Huddy with Travis Taldo rounding the top five. 

For his part, Cody explained, “I feel like I’m a decent rider…and it hurts my feelings a little bit when it takes me eight tries to get up a hill!”

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The truth is the local boys had the set-up dialled and the KRD teammates all rode very strong races, showing their local knowledge and time spent training on this terrain.

The GIMC and Ultimate Hawaiian Hard Enduro hosted a great race event and Exhibition round for the US Hard Enduro Series. The second race of IRC Endurofest-Hawaii will be the Koa Mauna Hard Enduro this Saturday Match 2 at the Kahuku Motocross Track on the North Shore of Oahu.

Full results: http://www.moto-tally.com/USHE/Results.aspx

More information: www.ushardenduro.com

Photo Credit: Sheadon Photography