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/126251
NORTHERN DATELINE Faces show the toll of fatigue and cold at a Sawmill Enduro checkpoint. " Do I dare try t his?" Ch utes li k e this resembled an otter's mud slide. The only consolation - it's too wet to crash and burn. (Crash and steam ?) " T he faster you tried to go, the co lder it got ..." Th is ri d er TTing t hrough the clammy mist must be freezing. Sawmill Enduro: "They all laughed when I left the start in my rain gear." By Mike Kinsella MIDDLE CREEK CAMP. CA , FEB . 20 The weather always adds something to the Sawmill. Two years ago it was a couple feet of snow" last year it was miles of mud. This year it gave riders a little snow, a lot of mud, icy winds and ra in, rai n , ra in . Even in th e second yea r of Northern California's drought the Nort h Bay M/ C ca n prov id e at least an inch of rain , a nd set up an excellent end u ro at t he same tim e . An olde r fello w named J im Sa iton e (Bu l), who appa re n tly rides only a co uple of end u res each year. took th e first place trophy with two m in ut es 31 seco nds lost over the 98.7 mile course. Sairone is as unknown as rain is rare around the end uro circ uit. He rides in t he 250 Expert class a nd is a vete ra n of ma ny motocross battl es. ' Bob Mull arkey (H us), an Open A rider , took seco nd place wit h a score of 4:00. Maico rider Glenn Toplieff followed with 4: 18. The youngest of the top finishers was 18·year-old Jeff Hen ni ng who rides a Husky, and his score was 5:40 . This was a toug h enduro . It was an enduro in which even the most hard pressed C rider wh o pushed on as far as he could deserves to have his nam e mentioned a longside the names of the victors. O ne of t hese is Bru ce Marhenke . He rod e a 250 Yamaha and sta rted b ack on th e 109th m inute. By th e tim e he left th e sta rt line t he Experts were pu lling into th e gas chec k 51 miles out , the rai n was whi pping down a nd the hi llsides were becomi ng a foa mi ng m uck . T he icy wind was swirling a long t he ridge to ps. Bru ce is no turkey. But afte r th e A a nd B rid ers ha ve chu rned up t he steep clim bs and afte r less fort u nate or less skillful ride rs have slum ped to a sto p on these sa me hills, blocking a ny access to the top , Bruce m ust st ra in , p ush , carry an d cuss that bike uph ill. The bo tt lenecks - after the five mile check and be twee n checks two and three - were like a clogged sink d ra in . T he effort drained energy needed to fight t he wet a nd co ld . The fas ter you tried to go t he co lde r it got ; it beca me a major effort to steer . to clutch . to bra ke , to co nce ntrate. Glasses and goggles beca me fogged over, coa ted with slime. co m p letely useless . At the gas check, like most other C riders , he tu rned off the co urse and took the paved roa d back to ca mp. He was 23 poi nts down , completely ex ha usted and wet , and so cold th at not hing other th an th e van 's heat er cou ld be th ou ght a bo ut. No t even a finis he r's p in for h is effort. Hu nd red s of riders coasted down the road ba ck to the start/fi nish line in the mis t and d rizzle of the ea rly afte rnoon . They were sto pp ing a t th e ca m pfires bu rn ing a longsi de th e rou te, wa rm ing u p a litt le , tal king littl e , laugh in g not a t a ll. Most of th em had looked forward to a dry. sunny day a nd a fast run - th ey wor e ligh t clot hing - and a ll had found th em sel ves slogg ing th rou gh a n unending. fro zen ha ze . There wer e no protests. T he time and distance factors were a ll co rrect. T he new District 36 clocks were used for the first tim e a nd at th e end of t he ru n they were a ll within one second of each ' other. These digita l readou t pieces will be used a t enduros fro m now on , eliminating much inconsistency in the qua lity of each clu b's tim ekee p ing abili ties. The Men docin o Division of th e Na tional Fores t Serv ice hel ped grea tly in the layout a nd presentat ion of th is su pe rio r end uro. T he ra nge rs used th e opport u nity of ca tc hing a la rge gro up of off road riders a nd the ir fa mi lies in one p lace to state th eir case for a n off road vehicle p lan th a t's in th e making. T hey gave a slide show Satu rday night a nd passed out ' inform a tion packets. T hey ga ve the impression th a t they wer e not ent irely a nti -mo to rcycle and th e plan Seems reason ab le on th e face of it. An other Sawm ill Endu ro has bee n run . It fit in well with th e tradi tion thi s en du ro enjoys for difficu lty , technical efficie ncy and good organization. Most everyone will be back next yea r, struggling for that prized finis her pin. Officia l res ults whe n available. . Castleman • surprises, Gumbman dominates at Action Raceways MX By L. Moore CO RNING , CA . FEB . 27 T here was lots of action from the Mini class as 17 riders lined up. Bob by Moore (Suz) had his trou ble staying aboard . A new fa ce in the cla ss Br ad W ilson (Suz ) see med to have better luck as he took both moto s, T he 100 Junior class was sewed up by T om Dempsey (Ya m) who was far out in front. Second place was local fa vorite Scott Dorm an (Yam).