TX2 Round 1 at Doc's Backyard — Racing the Kove 450 Rally

This weekend was Round 1 of the TX2 Cross Country Racing season at Doc's Backyard, and I decided there was no better way to kick things off than by lining up the Kove 450 Rally in the Adventure class.

The conditions were about what you'd expect from a Texas race in September: hot, dusty, and deep sand. And when I say deep sand, I mean deep sand. That made the Kove an interesting choice.

Bringing a Rally Bike to a Woods Race

I've spent plenty of time racing enduro bikes, so throwing a full-size rally bike into a cross-country race is definitely a different experience. The Kove 450 Rally continues to surprise me with how capable it is off-road. Once you get it moving, the bike works incredibly well and is an absolute blast to ride.

But there's no hiding the fact that it's more work than an enduro bike. In the deep sand, you're constantly managing the extra weight and size of the bike. Where a lightweight enduro bike can be flicked around and corrected almost instantly, the Kove requires you to stay ahead of it. You have to be deliberate with your lines, keep your momentum up, and commit. The faster I rode it, though, the happier the bike seemed to be.

The Day Before the Race

Looking back, my preparation—or lack of preparation—probably made the race harder than it needed to be. The day before the race, I took the Kove out on a dual-sport ride. That ride turned into two hours of hard enduro after I ended up lost in the woods. I spent the afternoon crossing deep creeks, hopping logs, and working my way back out.

It was a great adventure, but it was not exactly ideal race preparation. By the time I made it out, I was dehydrated and already worn down. Riding hard enduro on a 380-plus-pound rally bike the day before a cross-country race probably wasn't the smartest plan.

TX2's Two-Moto Format

One of the things that makes TX2 interesting is the race format. Instead of one long cross-country race, the adult classes run a two-moto format with roughly 30-minute sprint motos. That makes for a completely different kind of racing. There isn't much time to settle in or conserve energy. When the gate drops—or in this case, when the race starts—you pretty much need to go.

Moto 1

I was the only rider entered in the Adventure class, so TX2 started me on the same row with another class. Apparently the big rally bike didn't get the memo that it was supposed to be slow off the start.

I grabbed the holeshot.

There's something especially satisfying about putting a Kove 450 Rally on TUSK Dsport DOT tires ahead of a row of race bikes heading into the first section.

From there, Moto 1 went really well.

The course was brutally sandy in places, and the heat and dust definitely added to the challenge, but the Kove handled it better than you might expect. I was able to settle into a good pace and complete three laps during the 30-minute moto.

By the end of it, one thing was very clear:

Racing a rally bike is a lot more work than racing an enduro bike—but it might also be more fun.

The Kove isn't the easiest tool for this kind of racing. It's bigger, heavier, and makes you work for it. But that's also part of what makes it so much fun. Anybody can look at a rally bike and say it's too big for tight woods or cross-country racing. It's a lot more entertaining to actually line one up and find out.

Moto 2

By the time Moto 2 came around, I was in rough shape. The heat, the race, and the hard riding from the day before had caught up with me. I was dehydrated, exhausted, and honestly came close to not lining up at all. But it was one of those moments where it was time to nut up or shut up. So I geared up, walked back over to the big rally bike, and got ready to race.

At the start of Moto 2, my only plan was to complete one lap and then pull off the track. I didn't know if my body had enough left for anything more. Somehow, I managed to squeeze out two laps.

About a quarter of the way into the second lap, I could feel my body starting to shut down. I began stalling the bike and dumping it in corners more often. Every mistake took more energy to recover from, and the Kove's weight became harder and harder to manage.

But every time I hit the starter, the bike wanted more. The Kove kept firing up and pulling forward, almost like it was daring me to keep going. So I did. I finished the second lap and made it through the moto, even though I was completely spent.

More Than a Race Result

Being the only racer in the Adventure class, you can probably imagine what place I got. But this race wasn't really about getting first place for me. It was about proving to myself that I could ride a 380-plus-pound rally bike like it was an enduro bike.

I had already spent the previous day riding hard enduro on the Kove, getting lost in the woods, crossing deep creeks, and hopping logs for two hours. I showed up to the race dehydrated, exhausted, and still running the Tusk DSport dual-sport tires from that ride. No excuses. Just race.

The Kove may be a big bike, but it continues to prove that it can do far more than people expect. It survived the abuse, grabbed a holeshot, completed three laps in Moto 1, and somehow carried me through two more laps in Moto 2 when I was running on fumes. That was the real win.

TX2 Round 1. Doc's Backyard. Hot, dusty, ridiculously sandy—and the Kove 450 Rally proved it could be raced like an enduro bike. Not a bad way to start the season.