Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

By Mike Kinsella CAMP VIRNER . CA. MAY 21 The California Enduro· Riders Association (North) put on Northern California's best enduro Sat- , urday and Can-Am mounted (Above) Scenes from the Fool's hold . (Below) Ben Bowers (11A ) gasses his Bultaco thr~gh a mud hole in the first western enduro to follow all the rules. Skip O lson blitzed to the overall win with a score of nine points. Olson. who new in from Minnesota for the event . started way back with the C riders on mi nute 124 . O lson's strategy was apparently to let his competitors brea k trai l so that he cou ld blaze through the forest at his spectacu lar bes~. He managed to slip around the beg~nners without too much trouble even 111 the many tight section~ of th~ 138 .6 .'!'ile . six-hou r-a nd- Zu-m inu u- ride . Criders ca me into th e checks asking "Who th e hell was that ?" with looks of outright awe . For Olson . this win was another step towards a top ranking in nat ional points. Olson also com~ ented that this was the " most technically correct west coast enduro" he had ever participated in . . Honda rider Don Sanford finished second overall with a score of 13. The Texan came into the last check in a 40 m .p .h . power slide with a big ~rin on his face . shouting "Super birchen' run! " Mike Hannon (Bul) from Southern Cal took third place with 14 - six of these points accumu lated when he burned a check. Fourth place was 19'year-old Kevin Snapp a~oar~ a Can -Am which he brought with him from his home in Wisconsin . Snapp had 15 points. Local hot shoes John Clark (KTM) and George Hendrix (Yam JT400) were separated by seconds at 20 points each. Cla rk won fift h and Hendrix sixt h . Another tie breaker gave Rand y Carles (Husky) the seventh posit ion and Ben Bowers (Bu l) the eight h spot. They both dropped 23 . John Troutt (Husky) had 25 and Charles Ma rshall (Hon) pulled a 28 to be ninth and 10th overall finishers. First overall B rider was Len Terharn (K.TM) . who scored 40 . This trophy put him in the A c1~ss . 343 riders left the start line beginning at 7:30 a .m . Three rid.ers left every minute. making the check ihg less - hectic and more accurate , and discouraging serious bottleneck~. It was hoped that the three-per-minute schedule would compensate for d usty conditions, however . thanks to the late springmoisture. dust was not a factor. The course was super rugged. particularly where the tig ht trails were run at 24 and 2 1 m .p.h. The slowest ave rage was 18 m .p.h. and the fastest m.p .h . Some 244 riders 27 fin ished . . . but not necessari ly wit hin their hour. Riders who had hou red out at the 52.0 mi les were first gas at disqua lified , but riders were allowed 90 at the finish. Surprisingly . there were few late riders for the sweepers to account for because those who were out of it wisely took the alternate route ba ck to pitside, The last rider - Duk e De Ponzi - came in at 7:15 p.m .. having had to ride slowly because 0 transmission trouble. His reward was a cold beer and a finisher pin . . . a nd a very relieved wife . The course layout was excellent , thanks to the detailed attention 0 Harvey Able and Ron Martinez. Tigh 'woods trail began right at the stan a n went on for about 2 .8 miles at I m .p.h , down 10 some fire road. The the course looped back and fort across the road at 26 m .p .h . u nt il left turn brought the riders on the tra i to Bald Mountain . where a horrendous up h ill awaited them . Th first check was ju st over t he cres t of th mou nt a in and few riders were on thei min ute a t t h is point. A dow nl1il followed wit h lOIS of ta ll waterbars t cross a nd lots of roc ks to t hro w fro n wheels out of track . Next t he rider negotiated a number of p aths wh!c contai ned plenty of body-sla pp in b rus h and pines. An in terest in feature of the morning loop was huge mud ho le located a long a n 01 rail road grade which . while not reall (Continued on page 1

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