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/125793
'" '" '" i' ... SRA Crack-ol-Dawn Enduro Is Lots 01 .... '" Ol -' a. :> 04: By Ron Schneiders HELENDALE, CAL., July 23, 1972 It doesn't happen very often, ,but Z occasionally there is a reward for virtue W and it was never more evident than this ..J (,) Sunday on the desert. Some 850 riders > (,) answered the call to motorcycling virtue, ignored dire prophecies of intole~able heat in the desert, and showed up to ride, the SRA's Crack 0' Dawn Enduro. Far from roasting in the heat as any non-virtuous slug-a-bed might have predicted, they enjoyed an almost-cool, very pleasant ride. Virtue in this case had a big boost from the SRA 'itself, which hedged its bet by starting the enduro literally at dawn's first light. The first man went off at a very dim 5: 30 a.m, Succeeding waves of seven and eigh t riders took off at one-min u te in tervals un til after eigh t, o'clock, when, admittedly, it was starting to warm up a bit. But all the riders had finished the short 60 mile run long before the desert became as uncomfortable as sweltering Los Angeles. The run was typical of what has come to be expected of the SRA. Abo"ut 20 miles out, there was a 20 mjnute rest stop where Continental breakfast was served from a catering tru~k in th e middle of the desert. Juice, coffee and , rolls were free to all participants. At 32 miles there was another stop, this time for gas, again about 20 minutes. Finally, about 26 miles later, the end. Starting on Number 32 with a mere 210 riders ahead of me, 1 was back at my truck enjoying a not-very-well-earned bu t greatly appreciated bottle of Gatorade by 9:15. Everyone, even the slowest were off the desert before noon. About 600 finisher pins were passed out before the SRA ran out, so jt's obvious that the mortality rate was not very high. Trophies will be awarded according to the SRA policy of awarding a trophy to almost anyone who shows a good performance in almost any recognizable category. ~ w About 600 guys got their finishing pin from this lady: about half tried for a phone number. Neither rain, mud nor heat of desert can stop DiHBrake from making the winners c~rcle. Husband and Wife, Father and Son, Mother and Daugh ter; Best team, you-name-it and there's a trophy for the best performance. The ttophies aren't junk either, at least judging by the ones that were passed out for their last event, which were quite handsome. Of course all this I service and gold costs and the entry fee was a fairly steep $7 or about 10 cents pe. mile ridden. Maybe the SRA shou'ld adopt Hertz's slogan, "We Put You In The Driver's Seat For Only lOt A Mile, You Pay The Gas". The course was not anything to make Arne Lindfors receives champagne and kiss from Dolly DiffBrake after winning the 4th Inter AM!\ at Unadilla, New York. "= """ Dave Evans makes an instrument approach thro~gh the dust. . .'. f .,4 • r " , I , "