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
Mike Hannon relaxes after finishing - and winning - an enduro with his score card with him. Hannon wins Coyote Derby rock lest By Larry Langley ~ .. RED MTN. , CA. MARCH 6 Bultaco rep Mike Hannon piloted his 250 Bultaco (what else) to a convincing win at the Chaparrals National Enduro over 400 riders. Hannon made sure his score card was securely atta ch ed to his person as a lost ca rd cost him t he ove ra ll win at th e Pr ospectors en du ro in Februa ry. Mike lost just two points. The win was not an easy one for him as th e 139 m ile cou rse was fa ir ly tough , (re ad ro cky). Hannon drew number three which left him trail-blazing by t he secon d loop. He dropped on e point wh en he mi ssed a tu rn and go t lost briefly on th e second loop. Second overall Gary Woodling (Yam 400) had zeroed th e first two loops even after stop pi ng to help clear out a minor bottlen eck so he could get through . How ever th e third loop was Woodling's undoing as he dropped three points . At on e point his speedometer ca ble broke and he was flying blind. When he came across Earl Wilson who was rest ing in a rock pile , Gary "borrowed" Earl 's sp eedometer ca b le. Third overall went . . . o Sam Ornck (Suz 370) who IS Just etting back into. action afte r ~ lon g a yoff due ~o a sen ous traffic .acctd~nt . am had installed a new p isto n Just ef.ore. the end uro and went out .fo~ a ra il n de on Satu rday. to b rea k It m . . owever the new ptst?n prom~tly iezed a nd Sam had no Idea th e bike would even mak e it to th e five m ile check, much less the entire en d uro . Obviously it did . The first loop was fa irly to ugh by "C rider standards with a lot of rocks and severe dust. Only on e uphill was wh at you would consider challengi ng , a nd most of the riders made it in OK. Ele ven-year-old T erry Dean Swe ts dropped j ust three points on his XR· 75 . There is a 15 dollar gi ft certificate from Ro ys Honda in Santa Ana for th e you ng~ t "C" finisher a nd T e:'1' Dea~ looks ~tke, a good bet to ~ash It m . ~tS ?ad d~dn t do too . bad. either, cO~Illng m at six th overa~1 m spite ~f burn~,ng a c~eck on the third loop ( Dumb , he said). ,, !h~ second loop was ~or "A" and B r~ders only. It was fairly fast and contained a lot. . .oh yeah , almost forgot. Lots of rocks . The loop also ha~ a couple small. bottlen ecks which cos t some nders pomts. It was a matter of luck. Some riders d idn't hav e anyon e stuck in fr ont of th em , while others h ad a bunch . T he loop was mostly on tra ils which had been used often but the Chapa rrals di d a good job of tying th em together. Their en duro was or igina lly schedule for the Cadiz L ake-a rea below 29 Pa lm s b ut a. of screw u p on th e part of BLM lost the a rea for all events until they get their studies com p leted properly. The third loop was for "A " riders on ly. T he sched u le told th e story: 39 miles an hour righ t off th e start. There was a five m ile check but nobody stop ped to check their speedometer. They knew th ere was go ing to be a check wai ting up the trail. Needless to say th is check caugh t most riders at least one m inute late. The n ext check was d evilishly d eceptive . R iders were in an easy 17 MPH section , and as th ey came d own a wash they could see a check loca ted on top of a hill just ahead. A speed change to 26 MPH was comin g up and some figured th e check was a t th e speed cha nge so th ey followed th e course right over a rise andgotcha! A secret check was waiting right over the rise. The check on the hill in p lai n sight was an observation check! T ricky, those Chaparrals! It was perfectly legal as they were flying the requ ired white flags which knowl edgable riders noticed and backed off. N ational Enduro rider Don Sa nford , all the way from Odessa . T exa s go t su cked into th e check two m inutes ea rly. Don admired th e way th ey did it th ough. "Shou ld ha ve known better . T he club used some im ag in at io n " . sta ted t h e T e x a s Tornado . The cl ub scou ted in a new area just East ,of Red Mountain , One rid er , wagged "just what we needed , a new rockfield" , A sedate 15 MPH average had riders picking their wa y through. A c1everly-hidden check in a sma ll ravin e (where the check crew was lit erally lying in wait) caught a few riders who were careless. After picking their way at a slow speed, things p icked up wh en th e course crossed Trona Road and it was 30 MPH time, which translates to get it on! T ight trails made maintaining the average most d ifficult as most riders were tir ed by now. The distance through the roc ks had made a rms and legs weary. Finally the last check with somewhat flat desert all the way to the finish whe re th e tired riders collected their very nice finisher pin, a memento to remember the run by. Th e new Di strict clocks were proving their worth as no squabbles were received over any check. One mil eage protest was received as John Townsend thought the first check on th e second loop was over the . 1 allowance and forked up his $20 to ha ve it re -rneasured. Referee Mike Adams p romptly did so and John ende d up bu ying th e club some beer. Mike Hannon and Don Sanford th ou ght the en du ro cou ld hav e been a "little" faster but t he m ajo rit y of the other ride rs t hought it was fast enough. • Unofficial resul ts in Resul ts Section. ... ... ... 21 .