Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

I. ,, &\11. By Larry Langley _ • ,.1.1 • • I I ' • PASADENA, CAL., MAY 29-30 260 enduro riders signed up for this year's National Championship Greenhorn Enduro, far short of the 500 rider limit. The turnou t was off due to the night portion of this year's return leg. The Pasadena Me decided to make things a little more interesting and scheduled the Sunday start at 12:30 a.m, Apparently many riders felt they couldn't handle the nigh t riding or couldn't get their bikes rigged for decent lights. The enduro started at John Muir High School in Pasadena with the first riders out at 5:46 a.m, on Saturday. Early morning risers were greeted by the sight of street legal dirt bikes cruising on Lincoln Blvd. Soon . the riders fou nd the mselves on fire roads and heavy dust. Approximately 8.7 miles out disaster struck for many riders as someone had tom down ribbon at a fork and retied it going .th e wrong way. By the time the riders had figured out what happened and got back on course -they were down anywhere from five to ten minu tes and were late to the first check. The speeds were low enough so that most riders got back on time, when just before the first emergency gas the ribbon just plain disappeared. Apparently a bike-hating miner had taken down all the ribbon in the area. Since the roads went in all different directions it soon developed into mass confusion. Since 10 minutes was alloted for the gas, most riders got back on time and took off down the highway hoping that the next section was going to be better. After some highway riding to relax, the course turned down a narrow sandwash at 40 mph, turned to 30 mph and it was boogie time! It was flat out to the check and most good riders just barely made it. The cards were being flipped wrong but the check knew it. A speed change to 13 mph and riders relaxed a little, knowing they were in free territory and figured no sweat, 13 was easy. No way! Soon they were in a little wi ndy canyon bouncing off r ocks, ducking through brush and crossing a little stream. Most riders came out of the section anywhere from two to ten minutes la te. Bultaco's Mike Hannon was a minute early! A check here would have spread the riders out a little but none was waiting. From here on to the gas stop at Pearblossom it was easy riding on good fire roads. The schedule provided only a minute or two at most gas stops so a . good pit crew was mandatory. The course now turned East towards Cajon Pass on highways until it left the pavement and headed back up into the mountains on a fire road. Riders who rode the 'Horn two years ago recognized the area and sure enough, there was a check in the same spot as two years ago where the road came out to the highway at Jackson Lake. The next check was a beauty, located just as the riders turned off the highway. More than one was caught early. An emergency gas at Cajon Pass, then the course crossed under In terstate 15 and up in to the San Bernardino Mountains. The next section was mostly lire road and scenic bu t had riders very upset as the mileages and times were so far off as to be ridiculous. The first check was off, get this , 1.2 miles. What to do? No problem thought the riders, there was a speed change coming up and they could zero at the change and straighten things out. Unfortunately, the speed change .sign was missing or located where no one could find it. So now the riders had to make a choice - go with their original mileage figuring the check was indeed mislocated, or dial into the mileage at the check figuring it was just misclocked and hope for the best. The riders who dialed into the check were three minutes late to the next check. To cap things off, the next check was somewhat in the vicinity of the right mileage bu t the sign had the wrong key time. This whole section got protested. After a run down Highway 18 to the desert and gassing at Camp Rock Road, riders were back on their old familiar ground. Here the course looped around to Anderson Dry Lake, turned towards Soggy Dry Lake with the riders gassing at Bessemer Mine Road, then making a long loop out in the Johnson Valley before heading back to the last gas stop where they would be pitting for the layover. Just a shan 17 mi le loop and they were done for seven hours. One check was a standout. It was located at the top of a tough sand uphill and many riders burn tit in their haste to make it to the top . Day Two After a brief rest the riders and pit crews were busy preparing the bikes for the night section. Quartz lights were the favorite and many variations of instrument ligh ring to be seen. A few short hours of restless sleep and it was time to get up and back in the saddle for another 12 hours. At 12:31 the first riders sped off into the blackness with their beams of light providing them with a tunnel of vision. PMC used reflective arrows and stakes to mark the course and no problems were encountered that I heard of. Speeds were very slow as PMC was worried that higher speeds with the expected dust could create safety problems. A brisk wind kept the dust off and the biggest problem was avoiding burning checks. One loop back . to the pits and then off for the next gas at Rabbit Dry Lake. The sight of the riders off in the distance was like watching a slow motion movie of fireflies lined up like a parade. The pit crews were again on the move as they probably got less sleep than the riders. As dawn filled the sky the riders started arriving at the Rabbit Dry Lake gas. The course led up High Road back into the San Bernardino Mountains for the return leg. Awaiting was a free section that only went 0.9 mile yet allowed an hour to complete. Riders were a little apprehensive of what awaited them but as it turned out, it was the same rocky water crossing as last year. Most made it through in ten minutes so they had a 15 minute break at the other side. A large group of riders turned spectators soon were cheering on any miscue of a later arrival. The next section was laid out by the same guy who screwed up Saturday. It wasn't much better. When the riders hit Cajon Pass gas they just shrugged it off; they expected it. The course led down highway 39 in what was described by one rider as a "road race pure and simple." A brisk 45 mph average had them really gassing it down the hill to maintain the average. A couple of checks were waiting to catch the tardy. Finally it was back onto fire roads for the final leg into Pasadena and a huge crowd was waiting , for their heroes to motor in. Montesa team n der Fred Hayes finished his first Greenhorn after five attempts and team captain Dave Evans wanted me to mention that it took Fred getting a Montesa to do it. Who won? That will be decided when all the protests are in and checks adjusted. There are a number of riders who figured they did good in spite of the screwups. Last year's winner Tom Getzfried seemed dialed in and pu mped up to make it two in a row. Team Honda member Don Sanford all the way from Odessa, Texas felt he had it unde r control. The Bultaco team of Mike Hannon, Bob Steffan and Sam Lyman all looked good and finished intact. So did the Montesa team. 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