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1 .... '" N " ,' ~ W Z w oJ o > o "This was the worst bottleneck I ever saw.. ," First-Effort Enduro Resembles Hillclimb By Ron Schneiders FOur SPRINGS, CAL., Oct. 24, 1971 - Riding the first enduro that a club sponsors is always pure genuine unadulterated excitement. Since the club is inexperienced, it's not a question of whether or not they'll make mistakes, but rather of what kind of mistakes they'll be and how bad. Will they run you across some private property without permission and get you shot out of the saddle by an angty fanner? Will they run you down into some deep hole where it'D take a helicopter to get your bike out? Or will they just screw up the marking so badly that everyone gets lost five miles from the start? You never know. Tody the Oakland Motorcycle Club sponsored their first enduro. They picked the extraordinarily beautiful mountainous countJ:y above Clear Lake in which to hold the event. In the morning the run started out on fire roads and climbed relentlessly up to probably 8 or 9,000 feet. Near the top, towering pines were covered with snow and there was ice on the roads. More than one rider suddenly discovered that traction on ice is 9f a negative quantity and he who is heeled over is subject to the laws of gravity. Immediately. Thump. After awhile came the fIrSt check - a 8.2 miles! Now it doesn't matter what the mileage is at a check as long as the time -works out to an even minute, so the club could have legitimately placed the check at 8.0 miles (20 minutes out) or 8,4 miles (21 minutes out) but 8.2 miles works out to 20 minutes and 30 secs. which is a bummer for the serious riders, and contrary to AMA enduro rules. Several other checks were similarly out-of-whack. Not long after the first check the rou te started taking ~.a few trails and we found out what the contest was really about. It was a hillclimbing con test. The first few hills were fairly straightforward but they got progressively worse, both up and down. Shortly after the second check there appeared a stream of riders running backwards on the course. They were looking rather glum and it wasn't long before th e reason became apparent - a hill with about a dozen riders stuck on it. When I got there some guy who was just sitting on his bike said, "Don't go up there, you'll only make it wone". I looked at him in disbelief. What did he expect me to do? Park my bike and go to a movie? That hill actually wasn't bad; there were a few turns on the way up and that was what was causing the trouble, but there was plenty of traction and I was able to thread my way There were several watercrossi ngs but most were shallow. These riders are waiting for their chance at the bottleneck. That's Al Fox who owns a shop in Burbank on the left with the unhappy look on his face. through. When you reached the top you were treated to an absolutely fearsome downhill with a loose surface and criss-crossing ruts several feet deep. A bunch of guys were inching down at a snail's pace with a check clearly visible at the bottom I Most everybody was late at that check. Fortunately the course between Check 3 and the noon stop was easy ":"d it was possible to make up some tune. The noon stop was something else. Everyone had been told to have their gas on a truck early in the morning with the implication that the noon stop would be inaccessible to the pit crews. In fact, the noon check was less than a quarter of a mile away from the camp ~~a and the two camps were clearly V1Slble to one another! A dirt road connected them. The arrangement was kind of silly, but harmless, I suppose. After the halI-hour lunch break we were checked out and sent across a small stream onto the afternoon section. We climbed a succession of bills, each a bit steeper than the last until at last we got to a Bottleneck. This was the worst bottleneck I have ever seen. There was dense foliage on either side of the trail that was completely impassable and the trail ~as so choked with bikes and riders that I don't think anyone could have walked through the mess. My parmer and I decided to find a way around. We did, but it took us an hour which meant disqualification, so tbe rest of the run was just for fun. Back on the trail ahead of the me.. we found the going tougher and tougher. Hills were the only obstacles worthy o~ mention, but there was every varIety hill known to mo torcyclists. There was one moderately steep hill that went up and up and up for what seemed like five miles. By the time I hit that one it was getting on in the afternoon and the ruts wove in and out of the sunlight and shadow making for a very difficult ride. And there was the constant fear that if you once got stopped or had to drop into first gear, you'd have to go all the way to the bottom and try again. Next there was a rocky trail, not too terribly steep but very treacherous. A trials rider's delight. Just get up on the pegs and steer carefully, hoping aginst hope that you don't get a flat just 20 miles from the finish. That section was only a mile or so long, not really bad. Co. TFa YOIr a ENDURO SPIOCIETS 2 TOOTH CZCounter Sprockets $9.25 Cal. res. add 5% sales tax. C&M SPECIAL TIES-P.O. BOX 717 MOUNTAIN VIEW ("-UF.9404O Sales * Serviee custom work * all .... kes TROPHY PU~~Z~~ICO CYCLES Mt. View,Antonio Rd. 184 San Calif. 94040 941·7317 ~ Montesa· BMW· Selby Motors Sales Parts Service 346 El Camino Real Redwood City. Calif. (415) 369"112 COLISEUM CYCLE MAIL and ORDER ACCESSORY CO. ~KAWA5AKI _ ~ MOTORCYCLES 3958 E. 14th ST., OAKLAND, CAL. (415) 534-5461 94601 1-----------. I I I kenyon's I :.~,;"':~~~ I I .. 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