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/125859
-=====--~_ . - - .' - And what if they don't? The Kit Carson Enduro Ramming trees with your head By Kinsella & Doody WILSEYVILLE, CAL., MAY 5 The Two Plus Two Racing Team held their "club 's firs t enduro this Sunday. The riders who 'p articipat ed In the ' event wen t home knowing that they had run one of the better enduros held in District 36. The first riders were off under the -st art ing banner a little after eight. On a beautiful, warm Trees , rocks, dirt. ..just like a real enduro. 12 spring day they charged out into fresh smelling, green pine wood mountain co unt ry on some very imaginative and tough trails. The first few miles were deceptive like the calm before the storm. The fire roads were easy to ride and more than a few riders got the impression that the event would be a road run. Some got to the first che ck early. However, none but the super rider would be faced with that situation again be cause from this first check to the finish. the run was extremely ch allenging. Suddenly the cou rse led the riders crashing down the mountain sides thro ugh tangle-bush , small pines and over and under logs of all sizes until arms and shoulders ached and even the meanest ha rd-core enduro'er would have traded his leathers for a little stretch of caterpillar trail to rest on . Just past check two the trail turned up a moun tain side by way of a narrow', pine tree thick, water run off ditch . The trees were so close together > tha t a rider had to lean his head forward and use the top of his helmet as a battering ra m - there is no pain in the world like that inflicted as a tree limb whips across the bridge of one's nose. In some places it looked as if the layout crew had found the thickest stands of pine they could and then run - the course through them. You couldn't see the trail, you had to stop and listen for the sounds of engines and the outraged shouts of the riders who were ahead. After the third check the course featured some very nice washouts to fall in to. Most of them deep enough to swallow up a least the whole American contingent to the ISDT and then some. You had to ride a very straight and narrow path if you wanted to continue on at least to the next check. A few riders didn't and as you rode by and loo ked down tliey looked , like fish flopping in a bucket. Some of them just stood there quietly surveying the walls around them no doubt pondering the pitfalls of modem motorcycling in the great outdoors. At about fifty m iles out the riders pulled into check fo ur and gazed in dis belief at the flip cards for awhile before continuing. The next section was a classic st udy of the torture a truly inspired and sadistic layout crew can co ncieve to inflict pain on crazed an d nearly exhausted riders. The trails that now led up, around and down so me mountain were over rocks on which the front end bolted sideways like a bro nc o, on rocks which crumpled toes, on rocks w hich slipped downhill as so on as you p ut your back wheel o n them and gassed it. This rider made his way through the section shouting vile ob sceniti es which he thought applicable to the guys w ho laid out the course. One other interesting cruelty was the nearby prescene of icy, beckoning mountain streams just off the course. Close enough to see, but too far away to stop without losing time. The course only crossed one and only the most tenacious riders passed by without at least slowing and thinking it over. If you survived to check five without falling into a hole, or breaking a toe, or nesting in a clump of thick pine or colliding with a rider coming backwards down the course then you had it made - for a while. Just before the finish they ran the riders off a cliff just in case anyone had made it unscathed thus far. At the bottom of the cliff were gathered crowds of people so that if you fell you were sure, to fee l embarassed wi th all the onlookers. When yo u hit ' the bottom you crossed the finish line an d it was all over except for the pain. Almost everyone said it was a great en duro. Good layout, good organization and super fine camping area (including a trout pond and stream) along with a good outdoor atmosphere. The results • will be along pretty soon. The in iti al easy road-running was to lull riders int o a false sense of security.