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/125858
17S-2So. Nov ice /Beginner combined win ner Ro be rt Jenson (Yam ) go t into the first turn f irst an d stayed o ut fr o nt. Daisy NRA Spring GP By John Hesson VALEN CIA , CAL .• APRIL 2 1 , A Le Mans start was used to get th e guys and gals on to the super fast course. After a run down the sandwas h, th e co urse picked up t he Dune's Int ern at ional MX track, then 0 ff the track into the open country, three wate r crossings, a large up hill, a blind dropaway j um p which kept everyone on their toes . Minis and Powder Puffers ran togeth er, th e girls up first with the Minis in hot pursuit, as soon as the dust cleared . Nancy Payne (Ho n) j umped out in front right a t th e start, never to lose it. Cherry Stockton (Bul) and Kell y Bartlett (Yam) had a handlebar to han dlebar battle for the first few laps , Cherry proved the strongest and faster through the water cro ssing. , Minis had their ups and dow n. Ti m Ochoa (H on ) led fo r a few laps on ly to be passed by Kurt Sofka,Jr. (Ya m) and Mike Petty (Hon) for first and second Mini Expert. After a 45 min ute practice at noon, the 175 -250 Beginne r and Novice event got underw ay . A big pil e up on the gian t uph ill fo rced a re-start. It sure would have been nice if Indian Dune s kept th e p lay riders off the co urse, or m ayb e try som e of Larry Langley's "cures for pit racers." T he pile up was caused b y play riders ridi ng on the co urse backwards. Robert Jenson (Yam) took on all comers for th e win in th e 17 5-2 50 Novi ce divi sion. Mike Morrison (Ho n) was sec on d . Mike Hamel (Hon) rode a very impressive Beginner race. At t he start o f the Intermediate and Expe r t race , Larry Watkins (Ho n) jumped o ut in front o nly to b e passed by Randy Scott (Mail. w ho led t he ra ce right to the midway point where mechan ical p roblems sto pped hi m . Rick Sh irey (Ya m) took ove r at th is point to lead the pack to the white flag . On the last lap th e big battle started. J im Conn olly ( Bul) took home the chec kered after a fight down the home stretch with Shi rey. A m o tocr oss rider said there was too much sand, and a desert rider said there was too m uc h m o tocross ra cing . Both riders liked the water crossing, a rare treat in Sout he rn California. Result s in the Resu lts section. Roughest road I ever did see: roads we re n ot like those most California enduroists are fami lar with, how ever . T hese lit tle beauties had so me of the most treacherous ri ding surface seen short of trials rounds. T he first st re tc h , for ex ample , was cobby, rocky rutted uphills and do w nhills that permitted main tain ing th e average fairly. If you miss ed yo ur start right off and h ad to make up time, it co uld be sp oo ky. Ever y once in a while a startled cow or - bull wo uld pull up along sid e and then p ass in a flash as th e loop rounded r an cho s a n d fa rm s approaching everyo ne 's "rural ide al " dreams of undisturb ed o pen co untryside . One guy center punch ed a co w. After st opping t hrough a logging tow n for the first of th ree gas stops (gas and o il w ere provided in th e en try fee and tru cked in by CR C officials) , wh ere children again waved , sold sandwiches, an d begged for money, the co urse went to hell as th e sce nery went to heaven . R uts can be dealt with. Dust can be dealt with. Ninety degree turns an d ravines aw aiting those w ho miss can be dealt with. Co mbine all three and add a behind ti me rid er , an d yo u've got tro uble. Th e course m arki ng p oin ted CRC Gringo 100 Enduro By John Ulrich I ENSENADA, BAJA CAL IFORNIA, MEX ICO, APR. 27 The California Racing Club (CRe) held its first end uro in Mexico this S a t u r d a y . 654 Gringos made the trek 60 miles south o f the border to ride the event, and 12 zero ed the course. Harold HoIsted (Hon) won, zeroi ng even the tie-breaker. ,Some of t he Min is ha d problem s with the downhill. T he whole thing carried som ew ha t of a pa r ty atmosphere. The Mexican government ro lled out the red carp e t treatment with po lice directing traffic alo ng t he en duro route and within En s enada itself. T he enduro was preceeded by a p ar ad e of bikes escorted th rough th e city by police mo torcycles and cars, red ligh ts _flashing. Children out of school for the weekend wa ved ti reless ly at every bike wh ile American tourists gaped in horror. About fifte en h ighw ay mil es out of the city limits the par ad e ended, leaving behind ta rm ac shoulders littered with th e seized and o verheat ed, learning th e hard t w o- s t r o k e r e alit i e s of roading end uro- geared m achines . The start its el f was at th e Piedras Go rdas (Fa t Rocks) store. Th e 10 5 mile loop ran over dirt roads used as public highways by the local populace and tourists, and at leas t one rider hit a t ruc k whi le slidi ng arou nd a turn. These Powder Puff Nancy Payn e (Ha n) did the same to the girts. At the first gas stop every rider wa s a hero. Th is intrepid Harley rider cut off a flat t ire and rode over 90 miles to finish only 20 minutes off t ime . rlJ ~ out many less worrisome dang ers, but J.1b surprisingly some of the worse ones) ib were not marked. '13 If a rider stayed serious th e w hole.·1lll way, kept his eye on ti me keeping, an d A never fell be hind, none of th e course was • dangerous. Still, billed as it was, I r wouldn't ha ve wanted to bring inexperien ced fam ily riders along over wh at often was a hard pa cked surface coa ted with slippery sand.