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/126037
' All riders will probably have two minutes added to their score at this check which ·will make those who were mar ked two minutes early happy. Only a very few were in that position. Most 0 f the fast local enduro riders dropped one point at the check (if the y adjust it) with many riders losing two or three . The first loop was mostly narrow and windy, which at times was very dangerous if you got off the trail. I saw one rider down in a wash below a narrow trail. It was about a 15 foot sheer drop off into the wash. lie was trying to start his bike so I can assume he. . went down the dropoff. He 's one lucky. dude. . As mentioned before, the averages were high for the terrain. It was fun, though, but. tiring as it see med the course turned every 15 feet or so. The last six miles were a ball buster with most riders hitting the finish check anywhere from two to ten minutes late. Sin ce there was only a 15 minute break for gas, there was no time to relax. Don Sanford (Team Honda) thought the break was unique. You gas on your own ti me back in Texas. By Larry Langley BALLINGER CANYON, LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST, CAL., MAR. 2 1 Jay Tullis led a Honda sweep of the first four positions (slightly unofficial) at the Dirt Diggers' annual Red Garter National Enduro. Over 200 entries were returned as the Forest Service limit of 500 riders was easily reached. The field was .composed / of all A and B riders, no Cs due to the limit. Tullis smoked the field on a MR-175 for his second Red Garter win . The tight terrain especially favored a fast, light, good turning small bike such as his . Jay credited the Mettco mods for the power needed to main tain the fast averages. Results are unofficial due to a number of protests that have to be resolved; but. it doesn't appear that the top positions will change. Rick Munyon picked up second overall, first trailbike on his very special trick CR-125 enduro/racer built by American Honda for the ISDT Qualifiers and endures. In at - third overall was Honda teammate Mike Adams on a virtually stock MR-250. Fourth overall and first A Heavyweight was , let's see, what was that name? Oh yeah, some squid on a XL-350, not exactly the ideal woods bike but it did get the job done. Bob Nickelsen, Honda's unofficial enduro coordinator, was reportedly very pleased with the results. Bob rode his TL-300 trials t h u m pe r and admitted the schedule was too fast for the bike. He enjoyed the ride though. The first loop was extremely fast with very few riders able to maintain the average. The first check caused many headaches for riders and the referee as the good riders were being clocked in one and two minutes early whe n in actuality they were either on time or one minute late. There were quite a few protests on this check but for a long' time no one knew what was wrong. The flip cards matched the key time and the clock used was within three seconds of the master clock. Finally Dave Evans figured out what happened. The key time posted for the milea .was wrong - two minutes off. Loop two was so mewhat the same as last year, only run backwards, Riders took to the highway and then turned up Apache Creek at a fast 30 mph. This year the creek was somewhat dry so the going wasn't too difficult. There was a check to 'cat ch you if you were loafing along. Those who ride - the Red Garter every year particularly like this section as it heads back into the high mountain country. The usual goat trail was used but 'it was much easier this year as the snow which was present a few weeks ago had melted and it was smooth going. There wasn't any passing, though, and if you got stuck behind a slow rider it was tough to make the next check. The next section was a jeep road at a fast 24 mph which was fairly eas y to maintain until the course cut through the woods to a waiting check. From there it was free territory to the emergency gas stop. In this section was a canyon -which was a trials rider's delight. It was one bike wide, rocky, muddy, "you name it - it had it" type canyon which seemed to go on forever, but actually went maybe for two miles. The gas st op allowed the riders to recover before con tinning. The course consisted mostly of sandwash before lettin g out back on the highway for the run to the pits. Another 15 minute break and it was on with the third lo op. The Diggers ran p ar ts of t he first loop backward s for the third lo o p . Two fre e sections we re on th e sched u le and the savvy riders knew what was coming. What was a downhill on the first loop was now a treacherous uphill on t he third. The hil1 developed into a giant bottleneck. Many riders gave up in disgust after waiting over a half hour for a try. It was a one bike trail up a very narrow ridge. If a rider didn't make it there was noplace to get around. Some very good riders had good scores going in to the thiril loop only to fall prey to the bottleneck. There was one protest of the entire third loo p : The speeds on the third loop weren 't quite as fast as they were on the first so if a rider was lucky enough to get through ' the bottleneck on time he could maintain the average. The last check (Ch eck M) was protested also, as they were flipping the cards late, therefore scoring riders early. This protest was upheld and the check was thrown out. Finally after 132 miles of long tough enduro it was all over and a lovely lass from the Dirt Diggers slipped a very nice finisher pill on the famous Red Garter on your arm. You could take satisfaction and p ride in . your accomplishment - you had finished. Most riders thought the enduro was u p to National Enduro standards (excep t for the check hassles and t he bottleneck). Only Mike Hannon thoug ht it was too slow. However, his teammate "Bo b -St effan thought it was too fast . Next year the Dirt Diggers promise no bottleneck. • Unofficial Hesults 1. Jay Tulli s (Hon ). 2. Rick Munyon (Hon). 3. Mike Adams (Hon). 4. Larry Langley {Han). 5. Ron Fry. 6. Walt Fulton. 7. Ben Bower (Bul) . 8. Thomas Barn es (Yam). 9 . Don Leech. 10 . Mike H annon (Bul). THE SERT YelE E April ,25t h, 1976 Las Vegas, Nevada Entry $250.00 plus insurance 60%payback in class ,4 classes 1. 0-175cc 2. 176-25.0 cc 3. 251 cc and over 4. Riders age 38and over any displacement motorcycle $1,000- Bonus to Istoverall if 0-17~ cc t eam. Professional, on course, gas pitting service available. Course and gas stops readily accessible from interstate 15. A race course laid out for motorcycles only. 400miles of open desert, mountains, mine roads, and sand washes. A challenge to test the endurance and sk ill of expert riders . Parking for campers 'a t start/finish. . Write: Mint 400 Racing Headquarters P.O. Box 2160 Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 , DELWEBI'S MINT HOTEL &WINO, · LASVEGAS 9