2024 AMA East Hard Enduro Round 2 Results

| May 14, 2024

Rieju USA’s Quinn Wentzel took home the win at the River Monster Hard Enduro, hosted at Kairos Wilderness Resort in Glen Lyn, Virginia, a repeat of his finish at the same event during the USHE Fall Series in 2023.

Quinn Wentzel at 2024 River Monster Hard Enduro — **Rieju’s Quinn Wentzel was the big winner at the River Monster Hard Enduro in Virginia.**

Story and Photos by Stephanie Vetterly

Property owner, Jared Spencer, took feedback from last year’s race and upped the ante. The race started with a 22-mile first lap, the first few miles of which eased riders in, with section difficulty progressing as the course progressed. Riders were treated to battling the infamous White Whale, a rocky, uphill ravine that is a must-see for anyone riding the property, along with plenty of hillclimbs that took full advantage of the Virginian elevation changes. The 14-mile second lap was a mostly different course, pulling in some quintessential hard-enduro terrain, including a section known as “Clam Rock,” a tight, hilly S-turn that many riders resorted to launching their bikes up in their fight to reach the top.

More than 180 riders took to the start line. In the Pro class, Wentzel was second going into the woods, but less than a mile in, had already made the pass for the lead, with Nick Fahringer and Ryder Guest on his heels. Just as he did at this race last year, he was slowly able to add to his lead at every check.

James Flynn and Gauge Key at 2024 River Monster Hard Enduro — **James Flynn (55) and Gauge Key (8) battled it out for runner-up honors.**

Until the start of the second lap, it was a battle among Fahringer, Guest and HTR GasGas’ Gauge Key for second and third place. IRC Beta’s James Flynn found his groove in the second lap, slowly making his way up the pack from his eighth-place start, making the pass on Key just before the finish line to take second place, with Key rounding out the top three.

“I was second going into the woods and made a pass pretty quickly in,” said Wentzel. “About seven minutes in, we hit the first creek and got out of there in first, and I never saw anybody again for the rest of the race. My game plan was to just go hard on the first lap and try to get a gap. I knew I could beat these guys. I just had to throw it down and try to get a little gap in there and then cruise to the finish on lap two. Everything went perfectly today, and we ended up taking the win; it was a pretty great day.

“It was harder than the last River Monster. Coming off a race like Battle of the Goats, which is just insane, makes this race look easy. But in the scheme of things, there was some pretty difficult stuff out there. I could always stand for a few harder sections, but all in all, it was good.”

Chelsea Sizemore at 2024 River Monster Hard Enduro — **Chelsea Sizemore was the lone Women’s-class finisher.**

“I had a pretty rough beginning of that first lap,” said Flynn. “I was in eighth at one point, not doing very well. I told myself that I was going just to do my best to get on the podium. I was able to make up some time on lap two and capitalize on some of the harder sections. I ended up in second place. I’ll take that. A win would have been awesome, but it’s all good. I felt like I learned a lot today and got better, and I was just happy to be able to put on a charge towards the end and make up some time.”

“The race was really good,” said an excited Key on his first podium finish. “I gelled with the track pretty good. It was kind of faster with some techie bits, which suits me a lot. I have a hare-scrambler background, so I was having a lot of fun ripping through the single track out here. There was a pretty hard section called ‘Clam Rock’ on the second lap that was tough. I walked it and saw what to expect, but, really, nothing too terribly bad. Everything was just a little slippery, and the creeks were super slick. It was wetter than I expected, but it was just a slow, grueling, long hard enduro. I had a lot of fun and am super stoked to be on the box.”