Cycle News

INTERVIEW 2014 AMA ENDURO NATIONAL CHAMPION ANDREW DELONG P178 first round after suffering an in- jury. The same thing happened five rounds later when Mullins, who won the first four rounds, also had to drop out with an inju- ry. This pretty much left the door wide open for a new champion. And there were many who were ready to come right on in. DeLong can relate to what happened to both Mullins and Bobbitt. Last year, DeLong was leading the XC2 class in GNCC when he was struck head on by another rider while laying out a course midweek for a local club. He was left with a shattered hand and broken foot. It was a tough road to recovery but he was ready to go by the start of the 2014 enduro season. However, he didn't set the woods on fire right away. He got off to a slow start, but at least it was a consistent start. That con- sistency helped keep the some- times "wild" rider in title conten- tion when Mullins dropped out. DeLong stepped up his game after the midway point, scoring two wins and three other podium finishes to come from behind and take the 2014 AMA National Enduro Championship. Not bad for someone who describes his riding style as "out of control." Despite his early affinity for crashing, the factory Husqvar- na rider has tempered his style over the last two years and has finally learned where to go fast and where to take it easy. The lesson immediately paid off in podium finishes. DeLong is particularly good when the going gets tough, and his mental toughness midway into the year, paid off in an his- toric title for Husqvarna. DeLong's 2014 season got off to a shaky start due to the fact that the team's bikes were late arriving to the United States. "The start of the season was kind of chaotic," says DeLong. "I didn't have a bike all winter long. What I should have done was gone out and bought a bike like Russell Bobbitt did, but they kept telling me it was coming but it never showed up. My bike finally showed up about a month before the first race, and it was the 450. That's the first time I had ridden a 450, so I was trying to get used to it and test it. So I just tried to ride it as much as I could and try to get used to it." When DeLong finally got his 350, which was what he had planned on riding in the enduro series, he had just a few hours on the bike before the start of the opening round of the Kenda AMA National Enduro series in South Carolina. "I got my 350 about a week before the first enduro, and rode it once and then I had to send my suspension off to get it ready for the race," says DeLong. "I actually only rode the 350 once, sent off the suspension and then rode it again on the Friday before the first enduro and then I raced Sunday." DeLong finished a disappoint- ing seventh at the opening round, and with the first round of the DeLong's first enduro title was also Husky's first since 1986. "I wouldn't say I'm smoother, because that's not true, I fall a lot."

• Cover