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/125792
;;<. By Ron Schneiders BARSTOW, CAL., July 15, 1972 There's nothing like having a weird problem to encourage one to try an equally weird solution. For instance, suppose you like to ride in the desert, but dislike the idea of being cooked when the temperature climbs to the 115 degrees point? Now this is definitely a weird problem. Most people avoid things like wars, earthquakes, forest fires, and the desert in the summer. But not motorcyclists. Really, what's life if you can't ride your scooter 0.11 the weekend? Some riders solve the problem by ignoring it. These hardy . types load themselves with salt tablets, their campers with beer and dare the desert sun to do its worst. But others have found a new solution, one which has been gaining popularity all out of proportion to its inherently weird nature. The solution? Ride at night of course, when the temperature drops to a mere 95. Two years ago there was one nigh t enduro, a savage affair marked by blinding powder dust and hosted by the Prospectors. Last year there were two nigh t enduros and this year there will be three or more. One club even asked to put on a night enduro National Championship! The first of the series was held this weekend near Barstow and was sponsored by the NRVRA. This organization which sponsors such mindblowers as dunecycle enduros and minibike enduors found nighttime endur'os to be perfectly in keeping with their image. And lots of riders who wouldn't have come within 300 miles of the starting line if the same group threw a normal daytime enduro, eagerly signed up for a night time version. Like [ say, the word is weird. The desert is very, very dark at nigh t. [n fact, it's hard to appreciate just how dark it is without spending some time' out there without ligh ts. To cope with the si tuation the riders very imaginatively rigged up lights of every description. The best and most expensive solu tion is a quartz-iodide light such as is used in races like the Mint 400 and Baja. Another solution is to tape a large dry cell battery to the gas tank and use it to power either a headlight or a miner's ligh t which is mounted on the rider's helmet. Many riders take the nigh t enduros seriously and rig Ugh ts that enable them to see their timekeeping devices. One rider fitted his headlight with a translucent shield that not only kept the glare from his eyes bu t also trans-illuminated his rou te sheet which was taped to the shield! By daytime standards the run was so easy that it would not have rated the classification "Enduro". But at night, it's different; even a dirt road can be challenging, especially if there's some dust, which there always is in the desert. The course was laid out in two loops, the first 44 miles long and the second 38 miles long. Actually the second loop was more like a Figure eight than a loop, and it brought the riders through the pits about 10 miles from the end. The tie breaker check was righ t in the pits, though no one knew it beforehand. Course obstacles were kept to a bare minimum. There was a mildly rocky hill on the first loop and a sandwash on the second to provide interest, but the entire. cours'e could easily have been ridden op 'a .road bike, and 9/10's of it could )5e driven in a pickup. Schedule speed's were also kept low, with much of the course being run at 12 and 18 mph. This cau tion on the part of the organizers paid off in a high number of finishers and universal good feeling. Everyone had a good time; and there were no reported injuries. A person who kept his eyes open could see a number of strange sights at the enduro. There were some old four strokes running this one including a Goldstar. You don't see many of them these days. Some of the ridets tor,k girl friends and wives along for the ride and they did just fine on the mild course. Not all the 'strange things were related to motorcyclists. This writer obsorved a three-inch long scorpion wandering around camp. I thought of that little bit of meanness quite often in the course of the evening as I noticed the chicks wandering around the camp in skimpy sandals and bare feet. The organization of the run was excellent. The course was well marked, thanks. in part to the help of Ed Wight's CERA bunch, and the checks were reasonably accurate. The club was a bit short handed and appreciatively took up Chuck Clayton's offer to help by giving him a check to handle all by himself! No winners were announced but tales T OFE A-,: THE MIDNIGHT HOUR • 8. l!. N .... en N '" > .., '" ~ :; w Z W ...J U >- U • Lark Wight comes home. of very low scores were common after it was over. The best I heard was Dave Ekins who lost only one poin t and beat Bob Steffan, who also lost only one point, in the tiebreaker. Kluttz of the month award goes to whoever dreamed up the idea of marking the timecheck cards, which were white, with a yellow pen. Next best thing to invisible ink at night! Results in about two weeks. Hook up your lights. There's two or three more nigh ts of moonligh t madness scheduled for this balmy su~er season. I . \ _f'1"II~ I ~ --...J That quartz-iodide lamp comes in handy. Tom Patton. "'- The Compleat Enduro Competitor.