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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125845
Frosty Cactus: Low on frost but plenty of prickles (Remember, folks, enduro's just a four-letter word!) By John Ulrich Photos by John Huetter CALIFORNIA CITY , CAL., FEB. 3 Over 1200 riders turned out for the Un ited Racing Association's Frosty Cactus Enduro, twice what the URA ex pected. The riders had co me to play the end uro game , and those C riders who thought the first 30-mile loop was a snap learned wh at it was all about on the second 35 . T he first lo o p was designed wi th the rank Begin n er in m in d , bein g m os tly fla t with a few m in or hills, a shot- up old car an d aban do ne d mi n es for scenery t hat everyone had to ti me to enjoy , co upled an easy a n d s lig ht ly w it h d ownhill-and-tw ist y rockwash. Much of th e lo o p was ru n on th ings th at wo uld have been called fire ro ads if t he d esert was prone to catchi ng on fire. Par ked vans visible for miles marked checks "hidden" in shallow wash es. The whole l oo p w a s on the o rde r of ride-easy- th en-wait-awhile. In fact, two boys on bicycles finished ~ of the course before the URA crew picked them up. It is nice to once in awhile have time to collect pretty rocks from piles of old silver mine tailings . Obviously, our minute didn't drink enough wine Saturday nigh t as we were a minute early to every check but one. T he first-ti me riders who had it easy riding Kawasaki street 90s and the old style Yamaha 80s with trials tires on the first lo op were in for a bit of a su rprise if they left on the second lo op. I t, too, looked easy as it ran along a trail nex t to the ne w BLM Tortoise Preserve closed area. Then the trail narrowed, follow ing the spinef l] of a small ri dge, d roppe d down a lo o se an d rocky hill , along another ridge, and down agai n to the first check. There was no way anyone could see that check fro m m ore than about twenty feet away, and, for some of the inexperienced it was hard even to stop for the check on the side of the lo o se d o w nhil l. That was , re latively speaking, nothing . What fo llowed was shear te rror if you lacked confidence. Some obviously d id , as parked b ikes and reclining riders everywhe re attested. It was up a narrow canyon, d ow n a narrow canyon. Dodge a rock, dodge a bike, dodge a rider. T he length of the course URA put in to a small area without redu ndancy was amazing. T he re we re few sandwashes whooped up by ea rlier ride rs , so me giant bumps they call " h ummocks" nex t to a dry lake, then a nice flat stretch along the edge of the lake bed. Then it was back to the washes and canyons, ridge running, uphills and downhills, twisties and turnies, and good-traction uphills and downhills. It was easy to make u p lost time here, which is what some people did. Included abo ut the middle of the second loop was a har d -way /easy-way choice. While some riders thought the easy-way. consisting of a lo ng series of sandy hills, was h ard , others thought the bard-way wasn't. It was simply a short a nd steep downhill with a few curves thrown in. T here was supposed to be an extra point thrown in for taking the hard way. It would have been a wise c hoise, but t he URA forgot to put a checke r at the bottom of the h ill. Oh, well.. . Afte r more narrow canyons, bo ttlenec ks built up . A cl uster of puzzled riders at the bottom of a lo ose hill after a sharp left turn in t he course made getting a good run at it diffic ult. Fo ur strokes , big bores, or pushing were the hot set-ups. The biggest hill was farther along the course, b ut there was plenty of ro o m for a good run at it, so it was no problem.The rest of t he course was m ore fast trails and canyons, then over a series of hills described by o ne rider as " gian t, very well -spaced whoops." T he URA reports no p ro blem (as usual with URA events) with the Bureau This dog ridi ng on th e tank th ing has gotten completely ou t of hand . Unreco nstructed flat-tracker forti fies for an attack on th e wilderness. So mewher e in thi s desert , th er e's a Frosty Cactus. Act ually cou rse marking was right fine . Some parts of the first loop were less than challenging.You had to work not to be early. of La nd Management in obtaining co urse permits, probably because URA leaders follow BLM directions when . filling out BLM forms. The course was very well marked and it was im possible to get lo st except for one p lace very near the end, and then it was easy to get back on the trail. The cleanup crews were already working on the first loop while the second loop was still running. They did run out of finisher pins, but promised to mail them to finishers on late minutes, who m issed out. They Partially reconstructed flat-tracker showed up with a Yama-Cotto n and AMA-disapproved black leat hers. w ere pretty fine p in s at that, and worth a wait. The overall organization was rig h t fine . At so me so-called "family" endures, C ride rs co me in and say to their buddies "OK, now let's go for a ride. After finishing the Frosty Cac tu s, a rider felt like he had done something. A t least two riders zeroed t he co urse. If nothing we nt wrong it was not too hard to stay on time. The secret was to keep you r bike from falling down a cliff upside down, among other things. Of "When t he big hand is on the 9, I'll dro p t he flag, th en you guys get out .:" -