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/126285
CN M (1) ..c 5 > o Z (Above) Rocks were a feature of the Tonto 150. The primary feature. (Right! Getting ready to start in the early Arizona morning. (Below) We're mortified right down to our socks that we can't identify the rider in the picture. ,-unyonwins first enduro at rugged Tonto ISO By larry langley SUNFLOWER, AZ, OCT. 16 ISDT rider Rick Munyon won the Sixth Annual .Tonto Arizona State Championship Enduro with a score of four points lost on his IT-175 Yamaha. The win was Rick's first overall enduro win as he handled the rugged 170-mile course with ease. Around 280 entries were on hand to try and beat him but 10 none came close . .Second overall was J im Halford on a YZ Yamaha , who won the 250 class. Jim , a local racer, put an end to the class wins being dominated by Southern Ca lifornia enduro riders who make the long trek to the enduro eac h year. The locals did very well this year, partly due to the high speed averages which were posted which made m uch of the enduro mor e of a race than a timekeeper, which favored the racers.: The event was hosted by the Road and Trail Associati on , a small but dedicated group of Ph oenix-based en t husias ts who work a lm ost yea r round on th e run . They ha d the course map turned infive months before this year's event and two days before the enduro , the local ranger (The event was held entirely in the Tonto National Forest) called and wanted the club to change the course. The club agreed to a m inor change but when the ranger wanted them to not cross the Verde River at all , the club balked and wouldn't agree. The river had been crossed in all previous years and is crossed by four whe el veh icles daily so the argum ent tha t it would be " h a rm fu l" was skep tica l at best. Whatever , th e Road and Trail Assn. worked out th eir problems with the Forest Serv ice and with the aid of a reset at th e poi nt where a short section of course was taken out , everyt hing went off as pl anned. It was tou ch a nd go for awhile. The weather was wa rm er tha n usual for th is time of yea r and contributed to the low finisher rate. Riders studying the sched ule who have ridden the T~nto could pretty well predict where the course was going and savvy. riders even had the checks pretty well pinpointed. The club is go ing to have to use just a little more imagination in future ye a rs to keep th e riders guessing. Street legal bikes were required as the course ran down Beeline Highway until turning off into Sycamore Creek . A speed change to 15 rn.p .h. and up th e creek. Sycamor e Creek is a typical Arizona wash, san dy and rocky. with the emphasis on rocky. At 15 m .p.h . , a fa irly low enduro average , the "A" riders couldn't afford to make a mistake if they wanted to get to the wai ting check on time. A couple of water crossings screwed things up for a few riders earl y. Ed Maz enko will forever be known as " 9 .8 Miles Mazenko" as he crashed into a rider and fell over int o the water whi ch immediately was injested into his PE 250' s engi ne . Ed houred out before he could get it running again . The second check was located down a canyon in which th e riders had to ride down some rock wat erfalls wh ich made things interesting. Most of th e "A" riders made it to th e check on time . Aft er cro ssing th e river , riders gassed at the emergency gas, got some Gatorade to quench th eir thirst and headed out for home . They kn ew they had to re-cross t he river and a few were overly anxious, especially with a very fast 34 m.p .h , average com ing up . The club had a check waiting right at the river which caught some riders by surprise. Honda-mounted Terry Swets was most surprised of all . He hit it six m inutes early. (Famous last words" "T hey're not going to have a check in this section.") The course crossed th e rive r and headed into the fastest section of the enduro. Naturally a check was waiting up the trail and most riders were anywhere from two to five minutes late. The average then dropped to 12 m .p.h . and ran up in to a tight little canyon with rock steps which p roved to be extremely tough to get up and over, especially if another rider stalled which happened frequently. National enduro rider Don Sanford broke an oil pump on his . factory fou r-stroke Honda and the ca m refused to sp in anymore without a supply of oil. When it qu it , the engi ne locked up mom entarily and spi t Don off. Don and anothe r rid er had to walk out whe n th e sweep rider bro ke down and d id n' t : make it to wh ere th ey wer e broke. I Finally the riders came back out on Sycamore Creek and much to their unhappiness , the course ran backwards on the morning section which meant all those rocks again for mile after mile. Very tiring. It was apparent that not many riders would fini sh this yea r's T onto. Back down the highway to th e big town of Sunflower and into the pits for a half hour break. The ..attrition rate was severe as many of th e riders who got back to the pits loaded their bikes up rather than try another 100 miles. The second loop went north up Beel ine Highway befo re . turning off into the hills . At this point very few riders did any timekeeping. Most just rode as fast as they could over very difficult terrain. The mo st memorable section was Tonto Creek - mil e afte r mile of rock. It was the general consensus tha t the club overdid it just a bi t . If the "A" riders wer e complaining, think what th e "B " riders were thinking. The Tonto in past years ha s always been cha llenging and that was pretty well accepted, but the pounding they took this year took away any fun th ey wer e having. At the finish , the wea ry riders received their well e a rned finishing pins , some Duralube and Pennzoil and a cold drink from their waiting friends . For many it was a long wait and the riders were straggling in . L ess t h a n a hundred finally finished in cluding the first woman to ever complete the course, Ann Mennell on her Husky. Ann is one of Southern California's best women enduro riders and sure proved it at the Tonto. Her husband Bob managed to avoid the cactus and won the B Open class for a very su ccessfu l weekend for the both of them. Team Montesa's Fred Hayes and Dave Evans finished but the team's finishing streak finally ended when Roy Sheridan had a flat and the tire came off the rim about 40 miles out. Previously, the team had compiled an amazing 100 or SO finishes without a DNF. The club start ed "A " r iders first this year and it worked very well . The "A" riders were able to get through the tough sections without running over the slower riders and the "B " riders didn't have the faster "A" riders riding up their tailpip e trying to pass. Some very n ice handtooled leather covered trophies wer e .handed ou t by 6:00 p .m. and the p its cleared very fa st as the riders headed home: m any just an hou r away. a nd m any to a long n ine- ho ur dri ve with visio ns o f satisfaction or "wa it till next yea r" dancing in th eir head . • Results in Resu lts Section .