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l-o 0- -< Everyone had a few little "problems"'ike a rear wheel bu ried in mud up to the hub. The besl easler-D eDduro west of the Mississippi Story & Photos by Ron Schneiders FOREST HILL, CAL., APRIL 21 The Polka Dots annual 4ger Enduro IS the most popular AMA enduro in California and has been for several years. This year it was a National Champ ionship. All 750 entries were sold out within a couple days and over 200 entries were returned. In many ways the 4ger is like a typical eastern enduro. It is largely on private ground (most other California runs are on either U.S. Forest or BLM land), and the Polka Dots Motorcycle Club have worked for years to establish a good working relationship with the landowners and the people who live in the area, alo ng wi th the Forest Service, which controls a small but significant portion of "their" enduro ground. The Polka Dots do not have a very large area; the farthest one can get from the base is about 10 miles, so rather than resembling a loop, or figure eight, it is Hit thi s mudcly little number too quick and the front whee l slides right out from under. 8 more the configuration of an intestine, with one trail passing another within stone's throw, but usually out of sight, hidden by trees. Like eastern enduro clubs, the Polka Do ts d o not rely on elaborate schedules to sort out the riders. This year o nly 18 and 24 MPH were used . Nor is th e sche d ule kn o wn beforeha nd: You fin d out wh at the n ext section's schedule is when yo u get to the end o f the one you're o n . Gas checks are sim ple "on your own time" a ffairs an d t here is no Iunch b reak. B ut t he most e a s t e r n-l ik e characteristic is that when you finis h a Polka Dot enduro, you're covered with mud. In dry years t here is also a fair amo unt of d ust, so then you are covered with mud which has a frosting of dust, sometimes. But always, there is mud. So metimes there were little logs across a trail that were covered with mud that would slick a front wheel out from under yo u, and once there was a log you had to crawl un der and then drag your bike after. But mostly these were just inconveniences. There was lots of scrap lumber lying around because the area has been logged in the not too distant past. It's really dis concerting when the joker in front of you picks up a three foot chunk of dried, splintered wood wi th his knobby and heaves it at you like a wobbly javelin. Getting lost was a problem for some peop le, including me and Jim Jenkins. T he difference was that Jim m an aged to find himself and get back on the trail with a loss of "on ly" fou r m inute s. When I got back on the trail, I was 35 n umbers ahead of whe re I was supposed to be. I guess ( ride a lo t faster than Jenkins wh en I'm lost. When yo u weren't tryi ng to cope with little prob lems, you co uld loo k at so me of the scenery , whic h was pretty spectacular . Occasional ly there wo uld be g limpses of the magnificen t, ' snow-covered Sierra, regally situated above the green forest floor. There were trees, bubbling streams and wildflowers, all the stuff to make your ow n Kodachrome calendar if you felt like it, or may be just to remember for the next time you feel like a picnic. In one part of the woods th at we wen t through , you r se nses took a we ird trip be cause the groun d was covered wi th lea ves , a bit dried and silvery, b ut still lo o kin g like they had fallen the week before , so it see med like fall. Then back o ut into the sun and those swollen streams, and it was spring again. The best sco re of the day, (all results are unofficial, until the club checks them thoroughly) _belongs to Cosby Chestnut, a 250 Husky rider who uses a computer manufactured by Enduro Works, which is another name for Cosby Chestnut. He lost only_four points. If you want a computer like his (Ben Bower uses it too) write to him at 4298 Crescenda Avenue, San Jose, California. (If you want a plug for your product, use it to win first overall at a National Championship.) Co~y beat a Who's Who of enduro riders to take his first spot : In his own class were George Newsom (Pen, -5 ), Kim Proctor (Pen, -7), Hawley Slayton (Pen, -9) and Don Stover (Pen , - 12 ). All five top guys in this class have managed to pile up some points toward the western AMA end uro championship by doing well in both this one and las t week's Red Garter Cha mpionship. T he leaders in t he Championship h owever , should be among the winners of the Open A class. Jack Harness (Hus, -5) was first , b ut t ied with him in points was Ben Bower [Hus, -5) who now has two seconds to his credit. Bob Keys took third on Sunday (Yam, -6) and he now has a first and a third. For the first time in years it looks like the AMA Enduro Championship might mean something o u there. Our Southern California bunch, Steffan, Hoffer and Ekins were riding this one too, but all three were down around I I th place, both in Sunday's event and in the Red Garter, so they've got some ca tch -up to do. The Honda Chaparral team (Tullis, Munyon, et, al.] who did well in last week's Red Garter, did not enter this event, so they are also down a bit. The next round is at Olympia, Washington . In the 125 A class, Carl Cranke, who lives just over the hill in Hangtown, won the class with minus eight. He rides a Penton. So do Jim Jenkins and Jim Haire who finished second an d third wi th ·12 and -14 in the same class. Jenkins was philosophical about it: "Carl wo uld have beat me if it was a Hare an d Hound, too, He always does." That 's a bit too modest fo r Dis trict 36 Number One , but the re's 'no den ying t hat Cranke is one awful fast dude . So me modesty is a b it refres hi ng sometimes. Fo r th e op posite extre me, take a guy named A ndy Ho rwath wh o signed up as a Class C rider, an d then wrote in the comments box on his score card, "Too easy. It was like a road race! " T his chap got disqualified at check fo ur for being twenty minutes early, and lost a total of 848 points. His t h rottle hand is admittedly q uick, but the brain is disconnected. Most comments were favorable, but the 900 entries really tell the story. When that many riders sign up for your event, you're doing something very right. When someone says this run is too easy, I kind of sputter a little bit, because I've tried three times an d haven't finished yet. This time I made it all, except 15 or 20 miles aro und Check Five, so mayb e next time the Polka Dots will eve n sell me an entry (I was one of the ones who got turned down, b ut I fo und a guy wh o couldn 't ride and bough t his n u m be r). Joe R a n n in burg, a Husky rider, commented wistfully on his score card , " I sure wo uld like to win a trop hy . .." He did. Thirty-eight points was good fo r second in Class C. Me, I'd ' j ust like a • finishing pin . . . Results O VE R ALL : COSby Chestnut (Hus) -4 . O PE N A CLASS: 1. Jac k H ar kness (H u s). 2. B en B o w er (H u S) . 3 . Bob Keys (Y am). 25 0 A CLASS: 1. COSbY Ches t nu t (Hus). 2 . George N ewsom (P en) . 3 . K im Pr octor (Pe n) . 12:5 A CLASS : 1 . Carl Cra nke (Pen). 2 . Jim Je nkins ( Pen ) . 3 . Jim H aire (Pe n)_ OPEN B CLASS : 1. Ron CaSh (SUZ ). 2 . J ohn N o o r (HuS) . 3. B o b A nder so n ( Hus). 250 B CLASS : 1. Dave Ki ng ( Han) . 2 . Ir o! Allen (Pen) . 3 . Dave Ow ( Hus) . 125 B CLASS: 1. Johann Tam (HU5). 2 . Clark Frentzen (Han) . 3 . Carroll H end r i x (Pen) . O PEN c. 1 . Larry Chapman (Hus) . 2 . Joe Branm burg (Hus). 3. Steve Blackwood (H us). 2 5 0 CLASS C : 1 . Brad Evans ( Bul) . 2 . B . Yendrey Jr. (Hus). 3 . Pelton Nammen (SUZ) . 12~ C CLASS : 1. Joh n B r ai n (Suz) . 2. Jack Sl'liasi (Pen) .