Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Tonto 150 Enduro I . • Arizona State Cham~ionshi~ ~ N ~ CU ..0 S CU ;> o Z By Larry Langley TONTO NATIONA L FO REST, ocr. 17 Tom Sp urlock made his first visit to the Tonto 150 Enduro a worthwhile effort and came back to California reigning as the new Arizona State Enduro Champion. Tom dem olish ed the competition, which included many o f Southern California's best enduro riders, by losing only one point after 150 rugged miles. Torn's closest com p et it ion came from a pair of Hondas. Jay Tullis on his . slightly modified MR 175 dropped three points while MR 250 mounted Terry Swets lost four. Jay was running under the handicap of a stock wide ratio transmission as he was wa iting for a new '77 close rat io transmission to arrive. Last year's overall winner, Montesa team captain Dave Evans, was fourth overall, losing five points. This year's ch am p io nsh ip lived up to its nickname, the "Tonto Massacre. Only about 40% of the 240 or so starters managed to make it to the finis h . Speeds were extremely fast in so me sections while others were painstakingly slow. Jeep trails in the area were a particular favorite of the sponsoring Arizona Road and Trail Association. The trails, cut thro ugh decomposed granite, p rovided more of a challenge than fir st met the eye , a nd one rider likened it to riding on BB's. Tract ion was minimal, especially at 24 MPH . Compounding the slippery terrain were the numerous washouts and ruts • which seemed to pop up over blind rises, and more than one rider at it. The enduro was bro ken into two long loops with an emergency gas stop situated about halfway through each loop. The first loo p ran west of the camping area located near the little town of Sunflower. Riders rode down Highway 87 under the wa tchful eye of the Arizo na IIighway Patrol until t urning up a jeep road, which was little more than a sandwash. At 36 MPH it was get it on right off the bat. The first check caught many of the riders asleep and they fou nd themselves down a lat e point or two . MR·250 rider Don Sanford, all the way fro m Odessa, Texas, found himself seven m in utes late as his factory MR seized just before the check. Don got it ru nn ing agai n , and limped along, but cou ldn't make it to the finish. " It was fun while it lasted" gus hed the Greenhorn winner, "This enduro . is good enough to be a national. " This year the river crossings were a piece of cake. The water level was down considerably and referee Phil Briggs succeeded in talking the Water Department out of 'releasing their scheduled level into the river until after the enduro. It would have meant tank r'eep crossings if they had. Sand washes were an absolu te joy to ride, at least fo r the fast A riders, and California desert riders, who accounted for more than ha lf the total entry, were estatic at not having to flog their bikes over unending whoopers. After the 36 MPH section a :Z.5 MPH . section put everyone back on time and novice timekeepers learned a harsh lesso n as they burned t he check at the end of t he section. Many were over 10 U (Abo ve) 57·year-old J .T. Clark rode h is Bultaco to fo urth Open A class . (Below) Ro y Sheridan and Fred Hayes of Team Montesa. A Team class winners. minutes early, and at two points a minute, it hurt! .A small hiJI after a hard left tu rn with no run at it after the emergency gas congested into a bottleneck at times. A number of riders exhausted themselves pushing . over only to find there had been an easy way around. There was a check just beyond and many of the riders caught in the bottleneck felt it wo uld have been appropriate fo r the check to have been t hrown out. The club decided not to . The second loop ra n East of the p its, into the Tonto Basin. The emergency gas was located at good' 01' Punkin Center. Averages were brisk with not much time to dilly dally. Ric k Munyon ran into m isfortu ne before Punkin Center when his float stuck open an d his gas ran out the overflow tube. By the time the riders had entered the eight MPH section late in the enduro most were pretty whipped, bu t they had to gr ind it out through a . Io ng rocky downhill canyon wh ich resemb led a tria ls section at ti mes. Passi ng was a major problem during t he enduro and a good n umber of riders wo uldn't mo ve over for the faster riders who we re main taining . the av erages. Na turally there was one last check to catch the rid er s at the end o f the canyon. Tired, but pleased, riders received t heir nifty finisher p ins ("I earn ed this mother!") . In years 'p ast , local riders had not provided a lo t of challenge for the Califo rn ia- h otshoes but t h is year they came on p rett y strong. Steve Ridout (Yam) proved he can ru n with the shoes and rode to a A Open clas s win . Steve lost seven p oin t s, edging out Dirt Digger Gary Woodling on his IT-400. Gary seemed to be a little unstable after a long ride in the Dirt Diggers' bu s, which arriv ed late Saturday night. The biggest puzzle is why the Tonto doesn't draw more riders. They have been averaging about 240 entrants now for the last three years. Apparently the Arizona play riders think the event is too to ugh. While t he Tonto is defmitely a challenging enduro , it is hardly a "killer" enduro. The Road and Trail • Association is a small group of dedicated enduro enthusiasts who spend considerable amounts of th eir time, effort and money to promote the Tonto Enduro . It's worth an eight h our d rive for the Cal ifo rnia enthusiasts who make the trek every year. Word of mo uth insures only a minimum turnout. The enduro was less thin an hour's drive from Phoenix, which houses man y thousands of dirt bike riders. Where ' were they? I' ll be back next year, hope they will be too . . . . Result s SW EEPST A K E S, Tom Scur to ck 1 (H u s) . 125A : 1. Mark Wronski 13 (Pe n ) . 1258: 1. D ave Higbee 3 0 (H o n) . 2. Jim Roewer 63 (Hon) . 3. Jo hn Cro ss 110 (Hus) . 200 A : 1. Jay Tullis 3 (Hon ). 2. B r uce Kessler 12 to ss) , 3 . Dave Ma tus 1 3 ( KT M). 2 0 0 8 : 1. Keit h Lewis 90 ( Hon ). 2 . Greg Ochotorena 103 (KTM). 3. Don Ha ney 107 (H an). . 250A : 1. Tom Spurlock 1 (H u s). 2 . Terry Swets 4 (Hon). 3. D av e Evans 5 ( M o n). 25 0 B , 1. K en Caler I S ( KTM). 2. B ill Re m i c k 16 (Bul) . 3. B ob Kei rn 19 (Pen) . 4 . Ed Nime cek 30 (CZ). 5. D arr yl T ussing 35 . (B ul) . O P EN A : 1. Steve Ridout 7 ( Y am ) . 2. Ga ry WOOdling 7 ( Ya m ). 3. Jim l oge rsol 9 ( Y am) .. O PEN 8 : 1. Marc Henes 14 ( Hus). 2. Chr is Ha m pt on 21 ( Pen). 3. Pooch 29 ( Hus). 4. John Crain 29 (Yam ). 5. Jo hn Koz li k 40 (Hus) • A TEA M : 1. D av e E va ns. Roy She r idan. Fe d d Ha y es. B T E A M: 1. Jo h n KoZlik. Br uce M il ler . N ile Down.r. 11

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