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Cycle News 1972 11 14

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en With Some Notes on Why a California Rider Can't Be National Enduro Champion ,; o Z ~ w Z w ..J U >- U An occa'iiQna! bit of smoother stuff. determine, only one rider, Gary Seoul, zeroed the section. Since no scores were available, I made my own survey of some of the better riders to see if we could have some idea of who might have won. Bob Stefan and Dave Ekins report" loss of five points each which would appear to give them a tie for the Sweepstakes win. If so, the club might have an embarrassing situation on its hands. At the tie-breaker check, according to Steffan, he and Ekins were allowed to ride in side by side and given iden tical scores which might mean that there is an unbreakable tie for first place! Jay Tullis reported a loss of seven points which was the next lowest. Carl Price had a few problems and lost something in the neighborhood of 15 points and so, if the scores reported by Steffan and Ekins are accurate, Carl is out .of the can test fat District Number One plate_ DRA Desert R a c e - - - - - by Rita Lewis SOGGY DRY LAKE. CAL., Oct. 22, 1972 - Over 400 dirt digging riders dodged the puckerbushes and twisted through the sand washes to pit man and machine against Desert Racing Association's 38 mile course Sunday. If anybody stole the thunder from the veterans it was a 14-year-old on his first desert ride who said he made his time ... "in the sand washes." The watch holders at the finish line said young Larkin Wigh t, of Buena Park, took the first checkered flag in the Beginner event an astounding seven minutes ahead of the No. 2 overall Beginner winner. Wigh t blinked a bit unbelievingly at a bottle of champagne thrust between his handlebars before his dad, Ed Wight, president of the California Enduro Racing Association, scooped up the prize. Young Wigh t also classified the 38 miles up and down hill as H easy ," but then he had ridden some enduros long before he knew there was such a thing as a desert race. Larkin made his phenomenal ride on a Yam 360 tuned by ever lovin' dad. Taking the second checkered flag in the Beginner event was another throttle-buster Bill Harvey (250 Ossa), follow<;d by John Steen (400 BSA), and Mark Sheridan (250 Hus). Sheridan was riding the under 16 class and took a first place for his division. Steen and Harvey also chalked up first places in the 250 and 400 events. In the Powder Puff division, Leslie KJug (250 Yam) of Capistrano wiped the dust from -her face to grab a finisher Although everyone conceded that the run was quite tough and tiring, no one seemed to have any complaints. The marking was well done, the times were accurate and best of all, there weren't any bottlenecks. In spite of all the rocks, there were no serious casualties. Worst was Gary Calkins who suffered a possible separated shoulder. The course was just a bit short on mileage, only 101. instead of the required 125. This was due to BLM hassles. The BLM apparently changed its mind several times during the period be fore the even t concerning just what land could be used and what could not. Next month will be the Last Chance Enduro. another National Championship. - Come watch Bob Steffan win his fifth in a row.and wonder what a Californian has to do to be called a National Champion. ....;. _ - pin and take first place honors. In the over 35 class, Beginner Arlen Kagen of Whittier trophied for a first place (Yam 400). According to the official count, 236 of the 279 Beginner entries finished. In the Novice class, 99 entries fought through the sand w'ashes to come up with 80 finishers. Creed Binkley, on a 400 Yam, lOok a wrong turn which led man y a rider astray. The rest just followed the leaders. Brinkl~y took first overall Novice honors even if he wasn't too sure where he was. Lloyd Morgan (250 CZ) lOok the second checkered while Novice Kenneth Curre! was third nursing his 400 Husky through the tigh t spots. Phil Elery (400 'I-Jus) took fourth Novice honors with Ken Brown (400 Hus) fifth. When the dust died down and the last rider headed home, race officials wagged their heads at en tran ts, who they said, set aside their desert prowess Sunday and elected to play "follow the leader." "F ortunately for you," continued the race official, "he at least led you in to the same valley and you were able to get to the pits. The association picks a color of ribbon and certain types of arrows and uses them all the way so you know you are on its course. "If you find yourself suddenly staring at different markings, turn around and go back to the last correct markings. Some of these other markings have been known to run allover Luceroe, Big Bear, to the Colorado River and even up to Vegas." And more rocks. • 7241 Orangethorpe Buena Park, CA 90621 ..'. ~ MEANS MAlOO (also Penton & Monark) (714) 521·2420 r p; CUSTOM com:;ti Leath!!rs The Leather Shop 11102 Atlantic Ave:J Lynwood Ca. 90262 (213) b32-7419 • Buy direct & save * 1 Week service OOPS!! SHOULD HAVE READ "ESCAPE BY TRAIL BIKE" -4 // Words, pictures and diagrams worth their weight in gold. Bill Brokaw and Wiltz Wa9ner combine their talents to provIde an Introductory into the off-road world. Should be mandatory reading for all beginner cyclists and recommend readIng for even expert riders. ,Limited edition $3.00. Cycle News PrOdUcts, P.O. Box 498 Dept. CNP, Long Beach, Ca. 90801. 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