Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125666
700 Tackle Shamrock's "Farewell" Enduro more or less controlled falls. At the bottom he gave thanks for his narrow escape and retired. The mileage vias Story by Ron Schneiders Photos by Ron & Ellen Schneiders The Sunland Shamrocks, one of the Southland's oldest and most respected clubs, runs one event yearly as a benefit for the Sunair Home for Asthmatic Children. This year it was the enduro. Since well over 700 entrants showed uP for a decidedly cool 7 a.m, start, the Sunair Home will be receiving a fairly sizeable donation. The run consisted of two loops, each starting and ending in Jawbone Canyon some 20 miles north of Mojave. The first 5 miles of the first loop were fairly eaSy, and most riders walted at the 5mlle check to get back on schedule. Some of them wished that they had those precious minutes back when they hit Jawbone Hill at the 6-mile markl Those that made it down Jawbone Hill in one piece spent the next half-hour crossing back and forth over Cottonwood Creek. Since the water, in spots, was carburetor-deep, those who were careless about their waterproofing soon found themselves "hip deep in the big mUddy" as the saying goes. After Cottonwood, the route wandered down a new trail on Pine Tree Hill (the old one, long a!avorite of the Shamrocks, was ruined by the dune buggies). After a quick transit of the Playground, the trafl ran torturously through the mesquite on its way to Hoffman Canyon and through Butterbread. The Shamrocks constructed quite a bit of new tratl through the high brush, most of it about 20 inches wide and 20 turns per hundred yards. Those who were not adept at making sharp turns soon became adept at picking cactus needles out of their hides. The first loop f1n1shed with an incredibly steep sand descent down Butterball Mountain into the camp site in Jawbone Canyon. Don't bother looking for Butterball Mountain on your map: It's named for the Shamrock Club President, but nobody's noMed U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey yet. One first-timer managed to reach Butterball hill and promptly froze. After- half an hour he f1na11y found the courage to tackle the hill and brought his bike down in a series of 51.3. ' The first loop tested a number of skills, and variety was the key word; the second tested Endurance with a: Capital E. It started out down the wide sandwash in Jawbone, followed the pipellne for awhUe, and then crossed under it through a 5-foot in diameter corrugated metal culvert, about 100 yards long. That culvert was dark, noisy, close, and filled with exhaust fumes. 1'he footing was uncertain, and you had to bend over almost to the gas taWc. For anyone with even a trace of claustrophobla, it must have been nightmarish. Of course there was a check right on the other side. After the tube there was a run through Frog Canyon, to Orgasm Valley, then up to the top of Bird Springs. Naturally we dropped into Bird Springs Wash - bottomless sand and choicely-placed rocks - on the way to Horse Canyon. For approximately fifty miles the traIl was hoop-de-does, washboard, and deep sand with precious little ,r ellef. The schedules were fast but reallstic, and as the fiftymile point came UP, most contestants were more than a llttle bushed. So at that point the schedule dropped to 12 mph and the going really got rough. Mostly it was steep climbs and even steeper descents along razor-back ridges clumina~ at - you guessed it - Butterball Mountain. There were few contestants wbo really felt llke tackllng that descent ( Conti nued on page 21) The Shamrocks sel up a speedo check a I lhe SO mile polnl over looklnl a broad deserl vlsla. The resl of lhe cOlI'se covered everythlnl from deep ' water 10 boulder-slzed_rocks on "butt.ball hili". r-""""'' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '.' ' '~ontt~a' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 'Vlkt ''''''''''''''' ' '~ ~ ~\VA ,T E ESOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MONTESA DEALERS HS INVITE YOU~lr""A. Ir.... I~ Ir.... C . I~.... TO COMPARE • BUrbank: ROEHR BROTHERS 311 North Victory Boulevard D. 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