Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

. (; , III The Agony and the Ecstasy of the ~ Tecate 500 Enduro t - 1:' 1:' 0') 0 - CN ...... .... $-< ~ 0.- < ~ ~ > '" § ~ IAbovel The high point of Saturday's course was dropping down into this valley. The view was spectacular. (Leftl The finish on Sunday was • . . ecstasy. (Belowl Malcolm Smith Ion the right! thaws out in front of one of two large bonfires burning at the Saturday lunch break. In one tough section where most riders dropped handfuls of points, Malcolm dropped just one, Ride r/reporter Larry Langley jokingly called Malcolm "a showoff." By Larry Langley T ECATE, MEXICO , APR . 2-3 Fewer than 100 of 260 starters finished the rugged 1977 Tecate 500 Enduro. The enduro has become a word-of-mouth classic and many riders wouldn't miss it for anything. In the past, the.Tecate 500 has overn,ght~d In San FeI~pe at the end of Sa turd.a y s cou rse. T h l~ yea r , the ?rgamzers, .Los Ancla,nos M.C. , .decld ed to overn ~gh t ba~k In Tecate ,. ~nst ea d of. San Felip e, T his saved ~amlh~ and friends a .lon g five hour drive. Pit crews for th e ride rs were. not n ecess~ry the club provided all gas, Oil and food on the course.. . . Staying In the ?,ountalns South of Teca te made laying ou t the course harder for the club. T here were numerous large r~nches u~e~ , a nd the club had to obtain perrmssion to use t he. land from t ~ e owners. . Los Anc ianos M.C. enliste d the a l~ of hon.orary club ~embers and Mex ican nationals Enrique and George Troncoso , Tecate ~ayor Ba yl.on Ceasar, Te.cate Chi ef of Pohce Rudolfo Gutierrez , Pedro an~ Arturo Santana of the Dept. of Tourism and Jose Peretta, owner of the EI Passeto Restaurant in Tecate. Without the cooperation and long hours of help from these men, the Tecate could not have happened . In past, the schedule did not even resemble a ' real •enduro - the club • eo\" , wasn't into timek eep ing. Howeve r , they decided this year it was going to be right and the sch edule was not only right but the club even allowed an ext ra minute for all highway crossings , an excellent safety id ea . Since the majority of entrants were not what you would call " ti me kee pe rs, " the clu b deserves a pat on th e back for trying to make everyone happy. Winning th e T ecate 500 ta kes not on ly a good timekeeper, but also a very good rider. The majority of th e speed averages were 30 and 36 miles per hour , fast by anyone's standard . 260 riders may not seem like a "ROOd" turnout but it's all the club anows. They just can't haul enough gas in to the remote areas to handle any more entries. The long course discourages any more rid ers also. As it was, t he late numbers were finishing late Saturday afternoon. Sat urday - agony Riders went to bed Friday night with a light rain falling . They woke up at 5:00 a .m, with a light rain falling. The prospect of riding 250 miles in the rain wasn't particularly enthusing. But l ,J ,J ~ .. t r J ':! r ° j row by row the optimistic riders lin ed up to be flagged off by the Tecate Ma yor Ceas ar on th eir .long trek . The course headed East right smack-dab in the m iddle of railroad tracks. Riders on number on e were understandably nervous. T hey were praying the club hadn't . screwed up and gotten the railroad schedules mixed up. As on e rid er put it , " I sure didn't want to become a hood ornament on a train ." After five miles down the track, the course turned out of the railway and into the countryside. The rain made goggles useless - it was either slow do wn to a crawl or take off the goggles. to see with the rain in the eyes. Most riders opted to forgo the goggles. The . J. J 1 ) 1 V c r ., , i. 0 ra in also made timekeeping difficult a nd most riders gave it up, just riding a nd tryi ng to cope with the increasing wetness and cold . T h e rain did el im in a te dust , an d , su r prisingly , there wasn 't much m ud . T raction was, a t most times, just great . Most riders dressed p retty warmly, and Tecate 500 veter a ns caine prepared with ski gloves, rain suits, and long underwear. Eventually, the r ain got through most outfits and the game was to try and keep warm . Wet sand sapped horsepower and increased gas consumption much to the dismay of the riders with bikes with marginal (Continue d on page 46) • I .1 l •• . L (, j ... • 'J ~ ,j " I, .. c 15

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